| Wednesday, October 1, 2025 |
| Lincoln handwriting, campaign doll among new MSU gifts | |
 | After donating a lifetime's worth of historical treasures to Mississippi State University eight years ago, 85-year-old Frank Williams is still collecting and sharing his passion for Abraham Lincoln, something that began in the sixth grade. "I began collecting using my lunch money, 25 cents a day ... to buy paperback editions, and that started the collecting," Williams told Rotarians Tuesday during the Rotary Club of Columbus meeting at Lion Hills. "But it wasn't just the collecting. It was studying the man himself. The man who I think helped to unify our country, and was known for his civility and compassion and leadership. That's what became evident to me." Williams, former chief justice for the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, donated more than 30,000 Lincoln-related and Civil War-era artifacts to MSU in 2017 at the grand opening of the Grant Presidential Library and Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana in Mitchell Memorial Library. The collection included historic memorabilia, artifacts, signed documents, artwork, photographs, manuscripts and statues. Williams said he donated the artifacts to MSU for several reasons. It was a southern institution lacking both Civil War and Abraham Lincoln collections; he had already played a hand in contributing pieces to the Ulysses S. Grant library as President of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, and above all, he wanted to help heal the state's historic divisiveness. |
| Our View: Grant and Lincoln presidential collections remind us of the importance of a united nation | |
| The Dispatch editorializes: When the Grant Foundation's collection of the papers and mementos of Ulysses S. Grant was moved from Southern Illinois University to Mississippi State in 2008, it might have easily been considered a novelty that quickly faded from public attention. That's not what happened. Every few years it seems, a new dimension has been added to the collection ... in 2017, yet another significant addition arrived when former Rhode Island state supreme court justice Frank Williams donated his collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts to the University. Williams has no natural link to Mississippi State or Starkville. He decided to donate his collection to the university because of the care it took with the Grant collection. He, much like Grant and Lincoln, puts great store in reconciliation. "Whether it's North or South, where we lack civility -- we're a house divided," Williams told the Starkville Rotary Club at Monday's luncheon. "We're hoping that these collections, our collection, will help serve to heal the divide." ... The presence of these two collections in Starkville of all places, has proven more than a curiosity. Our understanding of these two extraordinary men at a pivotal time in our nation's history will continue to grow because of the presence of these remarkable collections. |
| 'Prepare to Perform': MSU hosts athletic performance, wellness clinic for middle, high school athletes and parents | |
 | Mississippi State's Department of Kinesiology hosts a free fall clinic for middle and high school athletes and parents on October 18, providing them key insights into athletic performance, wellness, and career paths. "Prepare to Perform: How Daily Choices Shape Athletic Potential" takes place 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in the Jim and Thomas Duff Center, 695 Bully Blvd. Registration is required at https://www.kinesiology.msstate.edu/fall-clinic. Event capacity is limited. Registration closes Oct. 15 or when at capacity, whichever comes first. Lunch will be provided. Experts in the field will share advice that helps young athletes reach their full potential. Topics include rest and recovery, injury prevention, sports nutrition, body composition, career pathways in college athletics and more. The event features guest speaker Rogelio Realzola, major league performance analyst for the Baltimore Orioles, who will present "Sport Science: Taking Science to Practice." Other presentations will be conducted by MSU kinesiology doctoral students and faculty. "We believe that the same science used to support high-level athletes should be available to every athlete, parent and coach, no matter where they are in their athletic journey," said JohnEric Smith, department head. |
| Inside MSU's renovated Perry Food Hall | |
 | The center of Mississippi State's architectural identity for more than 100 years has been Perry, the dining hall with the stony exterior and imposing stature that resembles an old stone church ... Now, the restructured, refreshed and reimagined interior is ready for the next generation on campus, unveiled last month as Perry Food Hall. "Perry has always been more than a dining hall," says Andrea Pichardo, Aramark marketing manager at MSU. "It has been a gathering place, a landmark, and a touchstone for generations of students. The renovation was not about changing that role, but about refreshing the building to better serve today's campus community." The result is a space that Pichardo describes as "both deeply familiar and excitingly new," just the way anyone would want a historic restore/refresh/remodel to go. Before this latest renovation, the last time the interior had been updated was in the late '60s and early '70s, when a kitchen and apparently some cinder block were added. Sometime in the mid '90s, another refresh occurred, but much to the chagrin of Gen-Xers, the mid '90s were 30 years ago. Opening day was Friday, Aug. 15, with more than 2,000 guests attending the celebration and ceremony, including MSU President Mark Keenum, Dr. Regina Hyatt (Vice President for Student Affairs), and Alisdair MacLean (Aramark Collegiate Hospitality South Region Vice President). |
| Cotton no longer king in Mississippi | |
| When it came to planting cotton this year in May and June, farmer Matt Brignac realized his roughly 2,800 acres of farmland in Oktibbeha and Lowndes counties were too wet for his usual even split of corn and cotton. So instead Brignac leaned a little more on corn this year, planting roughly 1,300 acres of corn and about 700 acres of cotton. Most of the remaining land was too damp to plant anything, he said. "Once you get to a certain planting date on cotton, your likelihood of that being a profitable crop (declines)," Brignac told The Dispatch. "... Sometimes we gamble and take that risk, but this year, we were just so far behind after that date that by the time we would have been able to plant that ground it was not a risk that anybody was willing to take." Mississippi is projecting a yield of about 760,000 bales of cotton this year, a sharp decline from about 1.2 million bales in 2024, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Cotton acreage in Mississippi dropped from about 520,000 in 2024 to about 330,000 this year, the USDA reports. The decline in production could have impacts on the 33 cotton gins that are still in operation across the state of Mississippi, the USDA's 2024 Cotton Ginnings Report said. Behind soybeans, cotton tends to compete with corn each year as the second largest crop in Mississippi. But with increased production from countries like Brazil, the cotton market has become more competitive and difficult for farmers in the United States, Mississippi State University Extension Service Agricultural Economist Will Maples said. |
| State Rice Crop Struggled Through Tough Crop Year | |
| Harvest ended a year of ups and downs for Mississippi's rice producers, with acreage up but average yield down because of numerous challenges. Nearly all of the state's rice crop was harvested by late September. Mississippi growers harvested about 156,000 acres of rice this year, up about 25,000 acres from 2024. Will Eubank, rice specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the year began with growers unsure if they would even receive the seed needed to plant the rice crop. Eubank works at MSU's Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville. "Shortages in seed production, mainly caused by poor seed production the previous year, led to rampant supply chain issues in the state," Eubank said. "Rice producers were forced to contend with waiting for seed until mid-April in some instances, and some had to plant low germination seed supply." |
| Trump cancels food research funding popular with Republicans | |
 | The White House is canceling millions of dollars that dozens of universities use to research food production, despite budget chief Russ Vought's promise to leave that money untouched. Using a controversial loophole to cancel federal cash at the end of the fiscal year -- which comes to a close at midnight Tuesday -- President Donald Trump has targeted $4 billion in federal spending on international aid and development. That includes $72 million for USAID's Feed the Future Innovation labs, which is popular with Republicans. ought's reversal is the latest example of how Trump's sweeping attempt to claim authority over the federal budget without congressional approval is running into his own party's priorities. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), whose state hosts the Fish Innovation Lab through Mississippi State University, sought assurance from Vought at a congressional hearing earlier this year that the funding would be preserved. Vought assured her at the time he didn't intend to target the labs' funding. Then, in August, Vought declared the unilateral cancellation of every dollar in the account that funds the labs, in an end-run around Congress. The Supreme Court has since ruled that Trump can withhold billions of dollars in question, effectively blessing the gambit the president is using to cancel federal cash without Congress' consent. |
| Trump's Agriculture secretary: 'The farm economy is not in a good place' | |
 | Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Tuesday said the farming economy is "not in a good place" as those in the agriculture industry lose sales from trade severances with China and other partner nations. "Right now, the farm economy is not in a good place. We're working around the clock," Rollins said during a Tuesday appearance on Fox Business's "Making Money with Charles Payne." "The president has committed to supporting our farmers, and we'll have an announcement on that very soon, likely next week," she added. Rollins said the "Golden Age" was "around the corner" for farmers. China through July bought 51 percent fewer American soybeans compared with the same period last year, according to The New York Times. Last week, the Agriculture secretary said the White House was in talks about a "farmers aid package" to provide assistance to those who have experienced financial losses. President Trump also suggested that tariff revenue could be used to support farmers as Republicans in rural regions have raised concerns about their constituents. |
| Mississippi State Fair returns to Jackson with heightened security measures | |
| Safety will remain one of the top priorities among officials putting on the Mississippi State Fair. After buffing up security measures at the annual event three years ago, Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson is staying the course in establishing a strong law enforcement foothold at the fairgrounds. "The safety and security of fairgoers is our top priority at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds," Gipson said. "The annual Mississippi State Fair is one of the largest events held in our state, and we are so thankful for the support and partnerships we have with several local and state law enforcement agencies." The 166th Mississippi State Fair will kick off Thursday at 11:00 a.m. Fairgoers can expect all the usual, fan-favorite entertainment, as well as several all-new events and patriotic attractions as Mississippi participates in the Great American State Fair competition. Further, to aid in transportation to and from the fair, Mississippi Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons announced that the road construction on Interstate 55 at the Pascagoula Street exit has been completed, so that the exit is now open for passengers. |
| What led US Sen. Hyde-Smith to move office from Downtown Jackson to higher-cost suburb | |
 | While U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., said in a statement last week that the relocation of her Jackson office to Madison County was "a move intended to better serve constituents in central Mississippi," there is an indication that senator's staff felt unsafe in Downtown Jackson. Hyde-Smith's offices had been in the Pinnacle Building in Downtown Jackson for many years. The new office is located in the Butler Snow Building in Ridgeland. "We listened to feedback from constituents and moved to a location that provides greater convenience for those who come to us for assistance," Hyde-Smith said in a statement. "I look forward to my team continuing to serve our constituents in the metro area from our newly renovated Ridgeland office in the Renaissance at Colony Park." However, Kumar Bhavanasi, a New Jersey developer who owns 35 shopping developments throughout the nation, as well as several properties in Downtown Jackson including the Pinnacle, told the Clarion Ledger through text message that Hyde-Smith left because of protests in Downtown Jackson. Liz Brister, executive director of Downtown Jackson Partners, said she wishes Hyde-Smith had made a different decision. "We're disappointed in the Senator's decision and realize we do have challenges downtown," Brister said. "However, we're very optimistic about meeting these challenges as we have new city leadership, support from our governor and other state leaders and new ownership and investment in several key office buildings." |
| Hegseth rips Pentagon 'decay,' 'fat generals' at Quantico meeting | |
 | President Donald Trump threatened firings and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lambasted "decades of decay" at the Pentagon as they spoke before a silent audience of hundreds of top military commanders who'd traveled from around the world on short notice to hear them at a Quantico, Virginia military base. Trump spoke for over an hour, touching on his deployment of the National Guard to cities run by Democrats and his negotiations to end foreign conflicts. Hegseth, who took the podium first before a billboard-sized American flag, unveiled his major policy priorities, telling the country's military elite that new measures would weed out political correctness among the world's most powerful armed forces. As some reports anticipated, Hegseth used the occasion to laud the "warrior ethos" and "peace through strength," and Trump delivered a characteristic speech, rife with self-praise. Critics said the gathering was a waste of taxpayer dollars and dangerous to national security. But it gave Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor who'd attained a lower rank during his military service than any of his guests in attendance, an opportunity to call for top leadership to get on board with his new Pentagon priorities. Michael Smith, a retired Navy Rear Admiral and president of National Security Leaders of America, said it was "ironic" that Hegseth advocated for stamping out politics before telling them to resign if they were not in alignment with his goals. |
| Cuts to Medicaid and food aid will have biggest impact on women and children, experts say | |
| Mississippi women and their children will be among those most harmed by recent federal cuts to social safety net programs, according to policy experts. Mississippi is one of the poorest and most federally dependent states, and President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" includes the largest spending reductions to Medicaid and food assistance in history. Even sectors that don't face direct cuts from the law, such as child care, will be heavily impacted by shifts in state budgets, experts say. More than a quarter of child care workers nationwide are on Medicaid, and losing coverage or access to services may weaken the already tenuous child care workforce, speakers said Tuesday at the Capitol during a hearing hosted by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus. "The law's cuts to Medicaid will hit the child care workforce particularly hard, and that is going to have major ripple effects," said Ruth Friedman, who was director of the Office of Child Care in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration. "Its unprecedented cuts to health insurance and food assistance and the mandates it places on states is going to make the child care crisis much worse for millions of families," she said. |
| Federal agencies are rehiring workers and spending more after DOGE's push to cut | |
 | The so-called Department of Government Efficiency effort has failed to deliver on its outsized promises to cut costs and increase efficiency, NPR's latest analysis of federal data finds. Agencies ordered to drastically slash their workforces over the last eight months are now hiring back hundreds of workers, as they struggle to perform basic operations or carry out some of President Trump's top policy priorities. Despite DOGE's promise that canceling contracts and terminating leases would help reverse the trend of the government spending more money than it brings in, the most recent Treasury data shows an increase in expenditures by hundreds of billions of dollars more than the year before. The bulk of that spending goes to debt service, national defense, and entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. When it first launched this year, NPR found DOGE's savings and efficiency tracker to be riddled with factual errors, overstatements and unverifiable claims. As a new fiscal year begins, that remains true today. The ad-hoc DOGE initiative's controversial and often haphazard insertion into the federal government is now further complicated by a government shutdown that began Wednesday. |
| Pope intervenes in US abortion debate by raising what it really means to be pro-life | |
 | Pope Leo XIV has intervened for the first time in an abortion dispute roiling the U.S. Catholic Church, raising the seeming contradiction over what it really means to be "pro-life." Leo, a Chicago native, was asked late Tuesday about plans by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich to give a lifetime achievement award to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin for his work helping immigrants. The plans drew objection from some conservative U.S. bishops given the powerful Democratic senator's support for abortion rights. Leo called first of all for respect for both sides, but he also pointed out the seeming contradiction in such debates. "Someone who says 'I'm against abortion but says I am in favor of the death penalty' is not really pro-life," Leo said. "Someone who says that 'I'm against abortion, but I'm in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,' I don't know if that's pro-life." Leo spoke hours before Cupich announced that Durbin had declined the award. Church teaching forbids abortion but it also opposes capital punishment. Pope Francis officially changed church teaching in 2018 to decree that the death penalty is "inadmissible" under all circumstances. U.S. bishops and the Vatican have strongly called for humane treatment of migrants, citing the Biblical command to "welcome the stranger." |
| Annual Welty Symposium to feature Alabama poet laureate | |
| Ashley M. Jones will return to Mississippi University for Women to keynote the 37th annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium, set for Oct. 23-25. Jones will present her new poetry collection, "Lullaby for the Grieving." "At the Welty Symposium, literature comes alive as invited authors take to the stage and share their stories. A free event to all and unforgettable for those who come and listen as they breathe life into their own words -- the way they envisioned them," said T. Kris Lee, acting director of the Welty Symposium. "Books are great -- but hearing an author tell their own story is where the magic is. So, come for the words -- stay for the voice behind them." Jones, the youngest and first Black Alabama poet laureate, has appeared on Good Morning America, PBS, CNN, the BBC and ABC News, as well as in The New York Times, Mother Jones and Poets & Writers, among others. With her latest collection, Jones will open the symposium, which carries the theme "Secrets and Revelations: A Dark Thread Running Through My Story," inspired by Eudora Welty's novel "Losing Battles." Like Welty's novel, "Lullaby for the Grieving" explores themes of family and heritage, as Jones reflects on the loss of her father, her family's history and the challenges her community has overcome. |
| Hosemann gives local update | |
| Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann visited Oxford recently and sat down with the Oxford Eagle to outline key priorities for the upcoming legislative session. From education and infrastructure to technology and fiscal reform, Hosemann emphasized his vision for moving Mississippi forward. At the top of his list: another round of teacher pay raises, the third since he took office. "We've done two already. This one will include teacher assistants, who are critical to our classrooms, and also professors at institutions of higher learning," Hosemann said. Also on the education front, Hosemann touted a new $10 million investment at the University of Mississippi to establish a Early Learning and Evaluation Center at the South Oxford Center. On the technology front, Mississippi is collaborating with Amazon to roll out training programs in schools and universities, creating a pipeline of tech talent. "Amazon is pouring money into this," Hosemann said. Artificial intelligence will also be on the session's radar. Mississippi is launching an AI study group and preparing for hearings to explore regulation. Hosemann acknowledged the housing shortage in college towns like Oxford and pointed to legislation encouraging public-private partnerships to build on-campus dorms, which could free up local housing for families. He also teased a first-time homebuyer program in development. |
| New endowment honors Ole Miss dean, promotes faculty excellence | |
 | Public universities often struggle with hiring and retaining esteemed faculty members who, understandably, often choose to work for more competitive salaries offered by private schools. Alumnus Michael Cohan hopes his $50,000 gift, establishing the Cohan Family Endowment, will help the University of Mississippi's School of Business Administration overcome that challenge. "I want Ole Miss to continue recruiting the best and brightest faculty from around the country," said Cohan, a 2007 graduate who majored in banking and finance. "I've seen the School of Business Administration continue to climb in the national rankings and I hope my gift can help that trend continue." Cohan also said he hopes his gift will honor his professor -- now dean -- Ken Cyree in the year of his retirement. Cyree said he is humbled and honored to be remembered by his former student and that this gift will help transform the lives of hundreds of students every semester. A resident of Columbus, Ohio, Cohan is a managing director at Cliffwater, a New York-based investment adviser that focuses on alternative asset classes. |
| Jackson Heart Study marks 25 years in heart research | |
 | The Jackson Heart Study recently marked 25 years of impact on research, training and community engagement. The ceremony, held on September 20 at the Jackson Convention Complex, highlighted key scientific findings and recognized the more than 5,300 study participants who volunteered to be a part of the study to improve cardiovascular health. The research program is a longstanding collaboration among the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), Jackson State University (JSU) and Tougaloo College and is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, as well as the agency's National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The program was renewed this month with $58 million in funding over the next 10 years to continue its work to understand and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Joining the program as new collaborators are the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), Wake Forest University and G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center, which operates six locations in Canton, Belzoni, Yazoo City, Carthage and Greenwood. |
| Is a proposed back up water system for Jackson State a public utility? Here's what the DOJ says | |
| Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice are asking a federal judge to disregard a memo from Jackson State University seeking help on a proposed water storage system, saying the university is not a party in the case. Earlier this month, officials with JSU reached out to U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate after Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin refused to sign off on plans to build a water storage facility on its campus. Wingate held an emergency hearing on the matter on September 18 and directed the parties in the case to brief him on the matter. However, in a response filed by DOJ on Tuesday, the agency argues the court should refrain from taking any action and allow the Mississippi State Department of Health to determine whether the proposal should be permitted. "The court should take no action in response to Jackson State's memorandum because this matter is not properly before the court," the federal agency wrote. "Importantly, Jackson State is not even a party in this case." "Moreover, Jackson State has not filed a complaint or any other formal pleadings initiating any action and alleging the factual and legal basis for any relief." |
| Mississippi high school students achieve record-high AP qualifying scores | |
| Mississippi has set another record in education, this time with Advanced Placement exam scores being the subject of positive news. During the 2024-25 school year, 11,393 Mississippi public school students took 16,145 Advanced Placement (AP) exams, with a record high of 9,155 exams earning a qualifying score. The rate of exams achieving a qualifying score reached an all-time high of 56.7%. AP exams are rigorous, standardized tests developed by the College Board -- a nonprofit membership organization of schools, colleges, and other educational institutions that provides standardized tests and materials to support college readiness and admissions -- that students take in high school to demonstrate mastery of course curricula at the next level. Compared to 2023-24, the numbers mark an 8.4% decrease in students taking AP exams, an 8.8% decrease in tests taken, and an 18.4% increase in passing scores on exams. Since 2013, the overall number of Mississippi students taking AP courses and passing AP exams has more than doubled, the state's Department of Education reports. Research shows AP students are better prepared for college and more likely to graduate in four years than their counterparts who do not take AP courses. |
| U. of Tennessee expert develops potentially life-saving map after Helene | |
 | When Hurricane Helene hit East Tennessee last year, Haochen Li was teaching engineering courses at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville while receiving updates about the devastation from one of his students, whose hometown of Erwin was ravaged. Neighbrohoods throughout the region near the Nolichucky, French Broad and Pigeon rivers were utterly destroyed. Eighteen people lost their lives. Li knew he had to use his expertise to help. A little less than a year later, Li collaborated with other UT professors, the AI Tennessee Initiative and his students to develop a program model to predict flooding and provide forecasts for East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. "It's kind of become personal," Li told Knox News. "So I feel like, 'OK, I'm teaching this. I know this. Why I cannot do anything about it?' That's when I started to, right after Helene, I said, 'All right guys, let's build something.'" The technical term for the model is a "deep learning empowered real-time high-resolution flood hazard forecasting system for Southern Appalachians," according to a UT news release. Li calls his system the XWM-Powered Flood Risk Viewer. It's available at hydrophylax.org. |
| Amid failing national free speech scores, two Tennessee universities surge | |
 | In the weeks following the shooting death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, the topic of free speech rights on college campuses has been pushed to the forefront. Just days before Kirk's death, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released its annual survey ranking the free speech protections and climate at campuses across the nation. According to the new data, if colleges and universities were being graded on their policies upholding the First Amendment, the average grade across the country would be failing. But two Tennessee universities, Vanderbilt University in Nashville and Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, scored remarkably well, ranking in the top 20 on the list of over 250 schools. Vanderbilt University had a "meteoric" rise in the rankings, launching from 140th last year to 7th place, according to the data, following last year's series of protests on the campus that led to the arrest of four students and one reporter. Two other Tennessee universities are on the list: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, ranking 36, and University of Memphis, ranking 128. |
| UT System audits gender in courses as GOP targets 'LGBTQ ideology' | |
| After a tumultuous month in which Texas public universities faced heightened scrutiny over course content on gender identity and LGBTQ studies, the University of Texas System announced Tuesday that it will review all gender studies courses at its 14 institutions for compliance with law and the "priorities of the Board of Regents." "The U.T. System has been reviewing courses on gender identity taught at all U.T. institutions to ensure compliance and alignment with applicable law and state and federal guidance, and to make sure any courses that are taught on U.T. campuses are aligned with the direction and priorities of the Board of Regents," the system's statement, shared first with the American-Statesman, said. "This review will be discussed at the November Board of Regents' meeting." The UT System, which educates 260,000 students each year, has largely avoided attention while other state universities faced calls in September to fire professors, expel students and censor courses for liberal-leaning speech after viral videos caught the attention of Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican political leaders. The system's flagship campus in Austin announced an audit of its courses, according to a report by Texas Scorecard on Friday, which detailed classes and readings the outlet said "pushes LGBTQ ideology." UT spokesperson Mike Rosen did not provide information on when the audit began or what it is examining. UT and other universities are navigating the pressure under new leadership, many with conservative backgrounds. |
| Texas universities launch course reviews amid push to limit gender identity instruction | |
| Last month, a viral video showing a Texas A&M University student confronting a professor over a discussion of gender identity during a children's literature class sparked a firestorm in Texas higher education that has led other schools to review their academic offerings. Texas A&M fired the professor in the video and former university President Mark A. Welsh III resigned. Seeking to preempt any similar controversy, the Texas Tech University System issued guidance last week instructing faculty to ensure that their courses comply with a federal executive order, a letter from Gov. Greg Abbott and a new state law that recognizes only two sexes. Faculty and LGBTQ+ advocates fear the directive will limit classroom discussion of transgender and nonbinary identities. They warn the universities' actions are the byproduct of political interference that threatens academic freedom and the quality of higher education in the state. No law explicitly bars teaching topics like gender identity or the existence of more than two sexes. But Texas universities know their courses are under the microscope, with politicians and activists combing through catalogs and syllabi and demanding changes to any material they consider objectionable. |
| New FIRE survey results highlight the status of free speech at U. of Missouri | |
 | The University of Missouri ranked 16th in the nation out of 257 universities and colleges surveyed for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, but some Mizzou students say they are less comfortable sharing their views than the survey suggests. In March 2025, FIRE surveyed more than 68,000 students nationwide, including 317 at Mizzou, to measure campus attitudes toward free speech. While the university earned the highest "green" rating for its written policies, student responses placed Mizzou near the bottom for openness and comfort expressing ideas, placing at 218th and 118th respectively. Many students reported self-censorship in class and among peers. FIRE's chief research advisor Sean Stevens notes that while the sample of 317 Mizzou students might seem small, weighting adjustments ensure the results represent Mizzou's undergraduate population with a margin of error of about 3 to 5 percent. "In terms of the speech code policies that the university has on the books, they are consistent with the First Amendment," Stevens said. "They're not written in a way that's unconstitutional, or they're not written in a way that the wording would be applied in an unconstitutional way. It's a good place to start." The university earned points from FIRE for adapting the "Chicago statement," a policy model for free expression from the University of Chicago, and a stance of institutional neutrality in March 2016. |
| Game Changer: TCU 'Poised to Lead' in Athletic Textile Research | |
| Reuben Burch, TCU's vice provost for research, was telling a story of a National Science Federation grant he had applied for years ago in the wearable tech space. There was a single line, on Page 15: "... and we will embed sensors into textile materials." "The first part took three months, the other six years," Burch said. "So I appreciate all you do and what you bring to science." He told this story in his welcome to the NC-170 Annual Research Meeting on Personal Protective Technologies for Current and Emerging Occupational and Environmental Hazards, hosted by TCU and its College of Fine Arts. Researchers from leading universities came to Fort Worth to collaborate on the next breakthroughs in protective equipment for health care, military, industrial and athletic uses. What do astronauts, as well as health care professionals and agricultural workers, have in common with athletes? The gear that keeps them safe holds the key to the next big leap in athletic performance. This intersection informed Burch's creation of the Athlete Engineering Institute at Mississippi State University and is a big focus for research in TCU's College of Fine Arts. "TCU is implementing a strategy to grow its leadership in textiles research, with opportunities that support athletic performance, enhance safety and create new opportunities for students and faculty," said Charles Freeman, chair of the Department of Fashion Merchandising. |
| Judge Rules International Student Deportation Campaign Unconstitutional | |
 | In a scathing decision published Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that two federal agencies led a campaign to detain and deport international students and faculty for pro-Palestinian speech with the goal of chilling further protests, violating the First Amendment. "There was no ideological deportation policy," wrote senior U.S. District Judge William G. Young, a Reagan appointee, in the 161-page ruling. "It was never the Secretaries' [Marco Rubio, of the Department of State, and Kristi Noem, of the Department of Homeland Security] immediate intention to deport all pro-Palestinian non-citizens for that obvious First Amendment violation, that could have raised a major outcry. Rather, the intent of the Secretaries was more invidious---to target a few for speaking out and then use the full rigor of the Immigration and Nationality Act (in ways it had never been used before) to have them publicly deported with the goal of tamping down pro-Palestinian student protests and terrorizing similarly situated non-citizen (and other) pro-Palestinians into silence because their views were unwelcome." He also stated unequivocally that noncitizens in the U.S. have the same First Amendment rights as citizens -- despite the Trump administration's argument to the contrary during the trial. |
| How the government shutdown will affect student loans, FAFSA and the Education Department | |
| Already diminished by cuts by the Trump administration, the U.S. Education Department will see more of its work come to a halt due to the government shutdown. The department says many of its core operations will continue in the shutdown kicking off Wednesday. Federal financial aid will keep flowing, and student loan payments will still be due. But investigations into civil rights complaints will stop, and the department will not issue new federal grants. About 87% of its workforce will be furloughed, according to a department contingency plan. Since he took office, President Donald Trump has called for the dismantling of the Education Department, saying it has been overrun by liberal thinking. Agency leaders have been making plans to parcel out its operations to other departments, and in July the Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the department's staff. In a shutdown, the Republican administration has suggested federal agencies could see more positions eliminated entirely. In past shutdowns, furloughed employees were brought back once Congress restored federal funding. This time, the White House's Office of Management and Budget has threatened the mass firing of federal workers. |
| The Federal Government Has Shut Down. Here's What It Means for Higher Ed. | |
 | The federal government careened into a widespread shutdown shortly after midnight on Wednesday, adding yet another wrinkle to an increasingly acrimonious relationship between the Trump administration and higher education. Republican lawmakers have proposed extending the government's current funding until mid-November, which would give members of Congress time to negotiate an appropriation bill for the upcoming year. But Senate Democrats have refused to support such a plan unless their GOP colleagues commit to extending health-care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Government shutdowns have become increasingly common in recent years, but it's been a while since one occurred: The last one took effect in late 2018, during President Trump's first term, and lasted more than a month, the longest in U.S. history. While most colleges don't typically feel an immediate impact, a prolonged lapse in federal funding could create serious challenges, industry advocates said. Travis York, director of the Center for STEMM Education and Workforce at the association, said prolonged shutdowns weaken the competitiveness of U.S. research by disrupting the work of scientists and the many students who work in their labs. “The first thing that a shutdown does is steal time, and so, from peer review or user facilities and field work in science, lost time means lost experiments, lost innovation, and loss of opportunity,” York said. Government shutdowns also work to slow panel reviews and award decisions, York added, which can have a “detrimental impact” on universities and “really be harmful to our innovation infrastructure.” |
| What to Know About the Government Shutdown and Higher Ed | |
| For the first time since 2019, the government is shutting down after Congress failed to reach an agreement to fund federal agencies. About 95 percent of employees at the Education Department who don't work on federal student aid will be furloughed without pay in the first week, along with thousands of others throughout the federal government. Other workers deemed essential to keep key operations running will have to work without pay. The general rule of thumb for a shutdown is that the longer it lasts, the more disruptive it will be. The American Council on Education's fact sheet about shutdowns said brief ones "have limited direct effects" on institutions. But this shutdown, coming eight months into the Trump administration, will likely add even more uncertainty to operations for colleges, faculty and students. The National Institutes of Health will furlough about 75 percent of its staff and stop all grant reviews as well as travel and basic research. Similarly, the National Science Foundation won't be awarding new grants, Science reported. But both agencies will still accept applications. The last shutdown hindered research and caused other headaches for researchers who rely on the federal government for support. Some federal websites are expected to go off-line, and ACE's fact sheet noted that in previous shutdowns, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System was inaccessible. International students might also see some disruptions if they are waiting to get a visa appointment, but the embassies and consulates will remain open, according to ACE. |
| U.S. scientists gird for yet another government shutdown | |
| Here we go ... again. For the third time in a dozen years, the U.S. scientific community is digging in for a potentially lengthy partial federal government shutdown that promises to disrupt research and funding programs. For scientists who went through a 16-day partial shutdown in 2013 and a 35-day partial shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019---the longest in U.S. history---what comes next will feel familiar. As in past shutdowns, there will be many federal websites that go dark, agency meetings postponed, staff trainings disrupted, and research projects halted. Depending on how long the pause lasts, scientific instruments and facilities could be closed and missions delayed or canceled. Researchers who receive federal grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) probably won't feel immediate effects from the shutdown. Their grant payments will continue, and NIH and NSF will still accept grant applications. But with most of their staff on furlough, new awards won't be made, no new program solicitations for funding opportunities will be issued, grant review meetings will be canceled or postponed, and phone calls and emails won't be answered. At NSF, some 250 scientists on loan from their institutions can continue to work, albeit remotely, because they are paid by their institutions. But researchers won't be able to interact with them. |
| Student-Loan Debt Is Strangling Gen X | |
 | One of the most enduring relationships of Rick Betancur's adult life is with his student debt. The federal loans have followed him for more than 26 years, longer than he's been married. While his family has doubled with the addition of two children, his $74,000 in graduate school debt has more than quadrupled to $300,000. When the 55-year-old New Jersey chiropractor looks at his current balance, he is stupefied. He's made enough payments toward the loan throughout the years to cover the initial amount he borrowed, but it's been buried in decades of mounting interest. His balance continues to accrue interest -- and repercussions, most recently the denial of a home-equity loan application. Decades of payments meant Betancur wasn't able to save for retirement until later in life. Today he has a little over $200,000 saved, a fraction of the seven times one's salary Fidelity Investments recommends workers have by 55. Gen X is barreling toward retirement with an excruciating student-loan burden. The six million-plus borrowers aged 50 to 61 have the highest average balance of any age group, at $47,857, according to Federal Student Aid data. Now, as parents and grandparents, they are passing along a skepticism toward higher education and its hefty price tag, part of the broader unraveling of America's "college for all" ideology. |
| Broken trust with our American institutions threatens the future of our national identity | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: The hard, cold truth is that trust in our nation's institutions is at a historic low. We don't trust each other, know each other, or particularly like each other. Walk into any coffee shop, tune into cable news, or scroll through your social media feed -- and you'll find Americans less sure than ever that their government, the media, or even whether their neighbors have their best interests at heart. The result? A country increasingly divided, locked in political stalemate, and at risk of losing something fundamental: our shared sense of purpose. Not so long ago, most Americans believed that, even if things weren't perfect, their institutions -- Congress, the Supreme Court, the press -- were working toward the common good. But over the past two decades, that faith has steadily eroded. According to surveys by the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who say they trust the federal government to do what's right "just about always" or "most of the time" has plummeted from over 70% in the 1960s to about 20% today. Even state and local governments, once thought immune to national squabbling, have taken a hit. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs look to shake defeat with road test at No. 6 Aggies up next | |
| The frustration from Mississippi State's 41-34 overtime loss to Tennessee was already being refined into fuel for the Bulldogs by Monday morning. Quarterback Blake Shapen said after the game that everyone in the locker room knew it was a game that they shouldn't have lost, and the belief that the team would win was evident in the disappointment after processing the film. Head coach Jeff Lebby made it clear that despite hanging with the No. 15-ranked team in the AP Poll, he isn't satisfied with the execution. When asked if he was able to take credit for what he did right, he gave a direct reply. "No, I'm not able to give myself any credit," Lebby said of his self-evaluation after the Tennessee game. "We got our ass beat, that's very frustrating. I've got to do better, I've got to coach better. I've got to get done what we need to get done so that at the end of the game we're plus one, and that's the bottom line." While Lebby mentioned the Aggies defense as a challenge, A&M head coach Mike Elko returned the praise for the Bulldog offense. "I think Jeff is a phenomenal offensive coach," Elko said on Monday. "I think they do a really, really good job testing you, they'll stretch you sideline to sideline, they stretch you horizontally, they stretch you vertically. They run a spread offense, but they're really physical in how they run the football. I think that's the thing that not a lot of people talk about with that offense, is how committed they are and how much they want to run the football well, and they do that really well." |
| Texas A&M wide receiver Craver faces his former team | |
 | Texas A&M sophomore wide receiver Mario Craver has burst onto the national spotlight in four games and now he gets a chance Saturday to show his former team, Mississippi State, what it's missing. Craver has 24 receptions for 477 yards (19.9 avg.) with four touchdowns. He's averaging 119.3 yards per game to rank second in the country to San Jose State's Danny Scudero (128.5 ypg). Craver already has exceeded his production last season when he had 17 receptions for 368 yards (21.6 avg.) and three touchdowns when he played in only nine games as he dealt with a hamstring injury. "I came here to Texas A&M to win," Craver said after the season-opening game against Texas-San Antonio. "I felt like last year, the team I was at, I wasn't being utilized. So, I feel that when I came here, they had a plan for me." The Aggie secondary lobbied for A&M to land Craver when he entered the transfer portal. Craver's best game last season was against A&M. He had five receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown in the Aggies' 34-24 victory. Mississippi State second-year head coach Jeff Lebby was asked Monday about the receivers room without Craver. "I've talked a lot about it, [it's] in a really good spot," he said. "We've had good production. The room is in a great place, and I really like where we're at and where we're doing." |
| Road Dawgs win big over Missouri, climb to No. 13 in rankings | |
| Mississippi State soccer kept rolling last weekend with a 3-0 win at Missouri, the team's fifth shutout of the season. The victory puts the team at No. 13 in the NCAA rankings with the sixth-best RPI in the country. The Bulldogs, 8-1-1, are undefeated in SEC play so far, with their only hiccup being a 1-1 draw against Auburn at home. It's a strong start to the campaign as the program looks to defend its regular-season crown. They are currently level with Georgia and South Carolina at 10 points, in second place behind league leaders Arkansas. It was none other than Ally Perry who opened the scoring for the Bulldogs, scoring in a program-record fourth straight SEC game by launching a curling effort from the wing into the net. It wasn't too long before Kennedy Husbands was on the scoresheet as well with an effort from outside the box. It kickstarted another dominant road performance, the second SEC shutout win of the season, and the Bulldogs remain unbeaten in conference play. "I'm really proud of the performance from the group tonight," head coach Nick Zimmerman said. "All week, we challenged them to be a little more patient higher up the field and to create more quality chances. Tonight, they did a tremendous job of implementing the things we worked on in training against a very organized and tough team. It's never easy to win on the road in the SEC, and this is a big three points." |
| College Sports Commission Sets Up Tip Line to Report Violations | |
| The College Sports Commission, which runs NIL Go, is creating an "anonymous reporting tip line" to share information about NIL (name, image, and likeness) rules violations across Division I college sports, a CSC spokesperson confirmed to Front Office Sports. Some in the industry are calling it a "snitch line." The College Sports Commission was established this summer to enforce the new rules of the House v. NCAA settlement. Some of those rules include ensuring no school goes over the new revenue-sharing cap (at $20.5 million per school this year) and no school offers more roster spots than the new limits allow. The CSC also launched an NIL clearinghouse called NIL Go. Athletes must report all NIL deals worth $600 or more with the NIL Go tool to ensure they are being offered at fair-market value for a "valid business purpose," rather than being used as pay-for-play in disguise. The College Sports Commission has faced many issues since NIL Go officially launched in June. NIL Go only has four full-time employees to manually scrutinize every deal. It's unclear how the CSC would be able to uncover rules violations among schools, collectives or other NIL entities. |
| They're the Surprise of the Year in College Football -- and Their MVP Is a 48-Year-Old Lawyer | |
| Vanderbilt's football season is off to a dream start. The Commodores are undefeated, they're ranked No. 16 in the polls, and should they pull off an upset over No. 10 Alabama on Saturday, they'll have a 6-0 record for the first time since 1928. For a program that has spent the best part of a century getting stomped on by the big bullies of the Southeastern Conference, it marks an unlikely upturn in fortunes. But here's the unlikeliest part of all: None of it would have been possible without the help of a former Vanderbilt cheerleader from Puerto Rico, who also happens to be the brains behind the biggest victory of the team's breakout season. This one didn't take place on the gridiron this fall, but in a Tennessee courtroom last December, where an antitrust lawyer named Ryan Downton -- a onetime member of the Vanderbilt Spirit Squad -- successfully secured the injunction that would allow quarterback Diego Pavia to return for a sixth season of college football and lead the Commodores to their unbeaten start. It's no exaggeration to say that it might turn out to be the most monumental decision of the entire college football season. "He is literally changing college football," Downton said, "and changing Vanderbilt football." |
| Ramey, Meeks among Mississippi golfers in Sanderson field | |
| Several golfers with Mississippi ties will compete in the PGA Tour's Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson this week. Fulton's Chad Ramey, Tupelo's Hayden Buckley and Walnut's Kye Meeks are among those in the 132-player field. Ramey, a Mississippi State graduate, has been on the PGA Tour for years and has completed in 24 tournaments this season. His lone win on tour was the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship. Buckley, a former Missouri standout, has made 109 PGA starts with one runner-up finish. Meeks is a former Ole Miss golfer who won the Mississippi State Amateur in 2024 before turning pro. This will be his first PGA start. Also in the field is Michael La Sasso, who stars at Ole Miss and won the NCAA Division I Individual National Championship earlier this year. Another former national champ from Ole Miss, Braden Thornberry, has played 32 PGA events and has a pair of top-10 finishes. Former Rebel Jackson Suber and Hattiesburg native Davis Riley are also competing this week. |
| 58th Sanderson Farms tourney, perhaps the last, tees off Thursday | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: The 58th Sanderson Farms Championship, the 13th and apparently final with America's third largest poultry producer as a sponsor, tees off Thursday at 7 a.m at Country Club of Jackson. Mississippi's only PGA TOUR Tournament, which faces a cloudy future with no sponsor beyond this year and no assured dates from the tour next year, will feature a strong field of players, including an impressive list of golfers with Magnolia State ties. With the golf world still buzzing over last weekend's Ryder Cup matches, the Mississippi tournament will feature several players with Ryder Cup notoriety, including Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard, a member of this years victorious European team, and his twin brother Nicolai, who played on the victorious European team in 2023. ... Defending champion Kevin Wu, who set a scoring record last year, returns, along with a strong contingent of Missisippians ... Since 2013 when then-Sanderson Farms CEO Joe Sanderson saved the tournament, the event has raised nearly $19 million for Children's of Mississippi and additional $2.75 million for various Mississippi charities. |
| Ryder Cup has been getting out of control for years. New York took to it a new level | |
| Rory McIlroy got so fed up with one American at the Ryder Cup that he asked security to throw out the spectator. The noise was so loud and relentless that McIlroy talked about taking medicine for a headache. This was 2016 at Hazeltine. The behavior at Bethpage Black took the atmosphere to a new level, which surprised no one who has seen championship golf on the Long Island public course even without an "us versus them" competition involving flags like the Ryder Cup. The tone was set Friday morning when a fan screamed out, "Fore, right!" as Jon Rahm was over his tee shot. A small section started an expletive chant at McIlroy, which was repeated Saturday morning by Heather McMahan, hired as a master of ceremonies by the PGA of America. The Ryder Cup crowd has been getting out of control going back to Brookline in '99, when Colin Montgomerie took so much personal abuse that his father walked off the golf course. "Things got out of hand --- that was disappointing. We knew the crowds would be like that," former PGA of America president Ted Bishop told golfchannel.com. "If you've attended any New York sporting event, Yankees, Mets, that's what you're going to get in New York." What makes it worse now is a culture in which fans think it's acceptable to do this. |
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