| Tuesday, October 21, 2025 |
| MAFES renovations benefit MSU students and customers | |
 | MSU is welcoming students and alumni this homecoming week with newly renovated spaces on campus. One of those is a favorite stop, the MAFES Sales Store, where customers can stock up on cheese, ice cream, and other treats produced on campus. "We have a lot of alumni come in," Allee Shuffield, a student worker, said. "We also have people who tour, who get an ice cream voucher, and we then give them free ice cream cones and stuff like that." The Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, also known as MAFES, is continuing to serve the MSU community with its famous cheese, ice cream, and other products. The store also provides unique opportunities for students with research and education about animal and dairy products. MAFES Director of Communications Karen Brasher says the store is a business that benefits the university and its students. "Students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working at a dairy," Brasher said. "Our vet school students get to come and check on the animals and make sure we have healthy herds. Then, our food science and our nutrition students work in the processing plant actually turning that raw milk into all these great dairy products." |
| Mississippi granted $420K to boost specialty crop projects | |
 | Mississippi's two land-grant universities and the state's agriculture department will use a nearly $420,000 grant on projects aimed at enhancing the state's specialty crop growth industry. According to Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, the funds were made available by the federal government's Agricultural Marketing Service through its specialty crop block grant program. The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program is funded by United States Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the program is to enhance the competitiveness of the specialty crop industry by leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops, while assisting producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops. With the money, Alcorn State University will be tasked with training small scale farmers and woodland owners in Mississippi to utilize conifer wood waste for cultivating oyster mushrooms through hands-on workshops. Meanwhile, Mississippi State University will research to investigate the optimal time of day based on climate and soil conditions for transplanting sweet potato slips and determine if transplant water influences sweet potato slip survivability and root initiation. |
| Alcorn State, MSU receive funds to enhance specialty crop industry | |
 | The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) awarded funding to Alcorn State University and Mississippi State University (MSU) for projects to enhance the state's specialty crop industry. According to Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson (R-Miss.), MDAC was awarded a $419,995.50 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in Mississippi through its Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Mississippi State University will conduct research to: Investigate the optimal time of day based on climate and soil conditions for transplanting sweet potato slips and determine if transplant water influences sweet potato slip survivability and root initiation. Enhance the competitiveness of Mississippi-grown leafy green specialty crops by optimizing hydroponic production and identifying the most effective hydroponic systems; customize nutrient solutions to maximize nutritional value; and develop cost-efficient temperature management strategies to improve yield and crop quality. Investigate the feasibility of producing disease-free strawberry plugs by investigating strawberry propagation ratio or efficacy of major cultivars as affected by environmental factors. Assess the feasibility of growing kiwifruit as a high‐value alternative crop in Mississippi. Investigate best management practices in sweetcorn production to meet critical needs in knowledge gaps among commercial sweetcorn growers in Mississippi. Enhance watermelon production through improved plant health management by evaluating a range of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides in watermelon fields under Mississippi growing conditions. Identify and develop superior tea cultivars adapted to the state's unique climate through a combined genotypic and phenotypic approach. |
| Six Students Selected to Take Part in 2025 Gateway to Ag Careers Program | |
| Agriculture's long-term sustainability will rest on its ability to attract the best and brightest among the next generation of college graduates to build long-term careers in the industry. This is the main driver behind the Gateway to Ag Careers program, hosted by AgGateway and sponsored by the AgCIO Roundtable, with additional support from Syngenta. This year, six students were selected to participate in the program. "We're excited to be hosting these exceptional students at the 2025 Annual Meeting and Conference," says Brent Kemp, AgGateway President and CEO. "Interest in the program has continued to grow over the years, and participants bring a wide range of interests and disciplines to the program." The selected students will attend the 2025 AgGateway Annual Meeting and Conference to engage with attendees, sit in on educational sessions, and learn more about the many career opportunities that agriculture has to offer. They include Mississippi State University's Emma Koger and Patton Simbeck. |
| IHL Board approves degree program changes, establishment of new university centers | |
| Adjustments were made to several degree programs by the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, including additions, suspensions and deletions, during Thursday's meeting. The establishment of three new centers and one institute were also approved by the IHL Board. Several degree programs are being suspended or deleted as part of the results from IHL's annual academic productivity review process. In other business, the IHL Board approved the creation of several centers at various universities. At Mississippi State University, the Nancy Fair Link Laminitis Research Center will be located at the College of Veterinary Medicine in the Wise Center. A 13-year donor agreement will provide funding for the center, which will cover the salaries of faculty and staff as well as other expenses. The center's purpose will be to provide research opportunities for laminitis care in underrepresented equine populations, notably those not used in racing. |
| Ask The Dispatch: How are historic markers placed in the Golden Triangle? | |
 | Driving through Mississippi, you’ve spotted them -- green, blue and red cast metal signs standing along highways and sidewalks, marking significant moments and people in history. The Golden Triangle has nearly 100 of these historic markers, with more popping up seemingly every day. But who’s behind them, and how do they get there? The Mississippi Department of Archives and History oversees the State Historic Marker program, which identifies and marks historic sites across the state, from churches and cemeteries to sites tied to notable figures and events. In Oktibbeha County alone, there are more than 22 historic markers. One stands at the intersection of Jackson Street and Highway 182, where in 1965, Johnny Cash was arrested for public drunkenness after he was allegedly picking flowers. Another marks the spot in front of Walgreens in Starkville, commemorating Col. Benjamin H. Grierson's Union cavalry's march through the town in 1863. Lowndes County boasts more than 50 historic markers, including one for Sandfield Cemetery, one of the oldest African American burial grounds in the state, and the Mississippi State College for Women, now known as Mississippi University for Women, the first state-supported university for females. Anyone can sponsor a historic marker, but all are privately funded by counties, churches, civic groups, individuals and other organizations. To apply, the proposed site must have proven historical significance on a local, state or national level, said MDAH Historian William "Brother" Rogers. The application must include supporting documentation like newspaper articles or court documents. |
| The Day Amazon Broke the Internet for Millions of Americans | |
 | A glitch with an obscure Amazon database disrupted life for millions of people across the U.S. as core internet services failed to function for an array of companies. Alexa devices couldn't hear. Corporate Slack messages wouldn't post. Students couldn't turn in assignments or access materials from courses. Financial trades were impossible on certain platforms. Users of Zoom, Venmo, Instacart and a host of other services faced prolonged outages that rippled through homes and businesses. The trouble started a few hours after midnight on the East Coast. A minor update to what is called the Domain Name System, or DNS -- the kind of software tweak that happens millions of times a day on the internet -- sent the well-oiled machine that underpins the modern web careening toward a crash. The episode, which turned into one of the most prolonged daily outages for AWS, offered a reminder of the fragility of global connectivity, which has gone dark a number of times in recent years after seemingly minor software updates. By late afternoon Monday, Amazon said it had restored much of the service that had been knocked offline. The AWS outage is poised to accelerate a push among many executives to diversify their cloud services, analysts said. Doing so can make it easier to respond and adjust to disruptions, but software executives cautioned that problems can occur on other cloud platforms as well. |
| House continues to consider ways to address PERS unfunded liabilities | |
| The House Select Committee appointed by Speaker Jason White (R) to consider ways to financially shore up Mississippi's Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) met Monday as lawmakers prepare for the 2026 legislative session. Committee co-chair State Rep. Randy Rushing (R) said retirees have no need to worry. "If anything, be happy we're having these meeting," Rushing said. "Because that is strictly just to make sure that the PERS system is around for many, many years to come." Speaker White has said the system isn't "going broke next year," but he has expressed concern as to what PERS will look life 10, 20, or 30 years. That is what led him to appoint the committee as his chamber continues evaluating opportunities that stabilize and secure Mississippi's commitment to current and future state retirees. Ray Higgins, executive director of PERS, said legislators should continue to work on narrowing the nearly $26 billion gap in unfunded accrued liabilities. He said if the system was 80 percent funded, instead of slightly more than half, state employees and retirees would not be worried. "We would all feel a lot better, and we'd be having different conversations. But it's important to be aiming for the full funding because you never know what's going to happen," he told House members. |
| Mississippi lawmakers continue to seek PERS solutions | |
| A House select committee formed by House Speaker Jason White (R-Miss.) is taking a deeper look at the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS). House PERS Select Co-Chair Randy Rushing (R-District 78) told the committee on Monday that state employees whose retirement comes from PERS have no need to worry. "If anything, be happy we're having these meetings. Because that is strictly just to make sure that the PERS system is around for many, many years to come," he said. Lawmakers heard from several consultants who presented potential solutions to fully fund the retirement system and make sure benefits don't run out. "Based upon the current contributions, there's little to no expectation that the unfunded accrued liabilities is going to go down at all in the next 20 years. It's going to stay up right around that $26 billion figure. And then when we get all the way to the end of that, we still have roughly $10 billion left in unfunded liability," said Paul Wood, senior consultant and actuary with GRS Consulting. He said this means lawmakers need to find additional funds for PERS. |
| House PERS Select Committee holds hearing on sustainability of system | |
| The state's public employees retirement system has a mounting debt. Lawmakers are still discussing potential solutions to pay it off. The House Select Committee on PERS met Monday. "Your everyday life is going to be touched by PERS members, such as a teacher, firefighter, police officer, or others in the community," explained PERS Executive Director Ray Higgins. He explained that while everyone is not part of the Public Employees Retirement System, all taxpayers need to pay attention. Lawmakers did make a change last year. Now, Higgins says the retirement system needs more funding. And the experts who've looked at the system agree. "Pay now or pay a whole lot more later," said one actuary during the hearing. "PERS is putting out more money than we're taking in from employers and employees," said committee co-chairman Rep. Randy Rushing. As we asked lawmakers what you need to know at home, they all stressed the same thing. "Anyone currently receiving a PERS retirement check -- nothing's changing," said Rushing. "You don't have to worry about anything." The committee will make recommendations before the Legislature returns in January. |
| 'Stand for justice': North Mississippi residents gather at second No Kings protest | |
 | An estimated 400 people gathered outside of Sen. Trent Kelly's office in Tupelo as part of Saturday's nationwide No Kings protest. The local protest was organized by Indivisible of Northeast Mississippi. Nationwide, the rallies were held in opposition to President Donald Trump's administration and its policies. An estimated 8 million took part nationwide. Northeast Mississippi residents held signs both handmade and professionally printed, many featuring wry critiques of the president and his policies. Shawn Brevard, a local organizer and advocate, said the event was a chance for those critical of Trump's policies to exercise the American tradition of open speech and government critique. "I love my country with all its flaws. I trust a loving God," Brevard said, citing the Biblical commandment to love thy neighbor. "My neighbor is everyone of you. There are no second-class citizens." The protest was meant as a peaceful show of force to urge local legislators and the federal administration to reverse course on what attendees believe represent profound government overreach, including mass detentions and deportations of immigrants across the nation and the gutting of federal safety nets. |
| Protesters fill lawn outside of state capital for 'No Kings' rally in Jackson | |
 | Dinosaurs, frogs, Star Trek characters and superheroes filled the south lawn of the state capital building Saturday. Large crowds of protesters, some in costume, showed up to speak out against the Trump administration. Organizers of the demonstration encouraged protesters to chant "Vote them out," hoping to mobilize the crowd to denounce the votes made by some members of Mississippi's congressional delegation. Protesters held signs condemning ICE raids and other controversial policies of the Trump administration. Many spoke out against cuts to the federal workforce and the eradication of DEI policies across the country. Indianola resident Samantha King says farmers in her area are being hit hard by tariffs. She's hoping to encourage others not to support Mississippi Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in her reelection bid next year because of the senator's support of tariffs. "I'm not a farmer, but there are fields in front of my house in Indianola," she said. "In Mississippi, especially in the Delta, when farmers suffer, we all suffer because the economy is built on agriculture." At least four counter protesters came to the demonstration. Two walked among the crowd with a "Jesus is King" flag. Others stood off to the side with a sign denouncing abortion and homosexuality. |
| Two Soros donations among $600K Colom raised for Senate run | |
| Democrat Scott Colom raised nearly $600,000 for his 2026 U.S. Senate campaign in just 27 days after announcing his run. By comparison, Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith has raised $1.1 million in the last three months, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission for the quarter ending Sept. 30. For Colom, a Columbus native and district attorney for the 16th circuit, the lion's share of donations came from individuals -- including prominent names like former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who gave $1,000, and George Soros and his son Alexander Soros, who each gave $7,000. Only about $40,000 of Colom's donations last quarter came from political action committees. Conversely, Hyde-Smith picked up $343,802 from PACs last quarter, most prominently more than $160,000 through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Dating back to Jan. 1, Hyde-Smith has raised more than $3.9 million for her reelection campaign, and has $2.34 million of that on-hand. |
| GOP senators balk at Trump targeting blue states | |
 | Republican senators are balking at the Trump administration's decision to cut off transportation funding to Democratic-leaning states such as New York and Massachusetts during the government shutdown, warning that freezing funds as an apparent act of political retaliation is not appropriate. Republican senators are unified in the view that Democrats are wrong to hold government funding hostage in order to win major health policy concessions, but they feel uncomfortable about halting transportation funding to certain states because they are represented by Democrats in Washington. Republican members of the Appropriations Committee, in particular, argue that funding decisions should be made on the basis of merit. They think quashing projects to extract political vengeance, even during the partisan shutdown fight, is a bad idea. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said targeting blue states such as New York by threatening to cut off funding for projects that have been already approved and funded, such as the construction of a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River to facilitate travel and commerce between Manhattan and New Jersey, will hurt people in those states regardless of their own political views. "You show me one blue state in America where you don't have pockets, maybe even big pockets, of Republicans, of conservatives, of MAGA people, of pro-Trump. Do we not care about them?" she said. |
| GOP leaders map out potential Obamacare extension as hard-liners warm to health talks | |
 | Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are quietly ramping up talks within their senior ranks and with White House officials over how to structure and advance a potential extension of key Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies before the end of the year, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the conversations. One option under serious consideration is, once the government shutdown ends, attaching a revamped subsidy framework to a small bipartisan package of full-year funding bills or a long-term stopgap running through early next year, the people said. GOP leaders have been encouraged as some of their party's most conservative members warm up to potentially passing an extension -- albeit with major provisos. Key Republicans have floated a list of possible ways to curb the subsidies without eliminating them entirely when they expire on Dec. 31. Those include imposing an income cap for beneficiaries, forcing some individuals to pay a minimum out-of-pocket premium or grandfathering in current enrollees while cutting off new enrollment. The expiring health insurance subsidies are at the heart of Democrats' shutdown demands, and extending them will require a bipartisan deal to get them enacted in Congress. |
| G.O.P. Senators Oppose Trump Watchdog Nominee After Report of Racist Texts | |
 | The nomination of Paul Ingrassia, President Trump's pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, appeared to be in jeopardy on Monday night after Politico reported that he had sent a series of racist text messages. At least four Republican senators, including the Senate majority leader, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, have signaled that they will oppose his nomination to the office, which is a traditionally independent corruption-fighting agency that safeguards federal whistle-blowers and enforces some ethics laws. Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, told reporters on Monday evening that he had spoken with the administration about Mr. Ingrassia but did not share details. He told reporters, "I do not support him." Mr. Ingrassia, 30, is set to testify on his nomination on Thursday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Four Republicans opposing him would be enough to kill his nomination if all senators were present and the entire Democratic caucus voted against him. The report of the messages adds to a swirl of controversy around both Mr. Ingrassia, a self-described "constitutional law" expert who hosted a far-right podcast with his sister, and Mr. Trump's role in trying to bend the Office of Special Counsel to his will. It also comes just days after a separate Politico report showed that young Republican officeholders and activists had routinely used racist and homophobic language and glibly invoked Hitler and the Holocaust in a Telegram chat. |
| Alabama poet laureate will speak at Eudora Welty writers' conference in Mississippi | |
| Alabama poet laureate Ashley M. Jones will be the keynote speaker this week at the Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium in Columbus -- a gathering that highlights authors and poets from across the South. The symposium takes place Thursday to Saturday at Mississippi University for Women and is free to the public. Jones is Alabama's first Black poet laureate, holding the post from 2022 until next year. She will present her new poetry collection, "Lullaby for the Grieving," which is inspired by her father's death and deals with themes of grief, family and heritage. "I hope the audience hears my humanity, and I hope they take a moment to consider how vital it is right now to hold that truth -- our shared humanity -- very close," Jones said. The symposium is named after Mississippi author Welty, who attended MUW, which was then called Mississippi State College for Women. This year's theme, "Secrets and Revelations: A Dark Thread Running Through My Story," is inspired by Welty's novel "Losing Battles." This year's Welty Prize winner is drea brown, a professor of English at Texas State University who does not capitalize their name. Their manuscript, "Conjuring the Haint: The Haunting Poetics of Black Women," looks into "the intimacies of haunting and grief in Black women's lived experiences and literary productions." |
| Education: Sonya Kovalevsky Day returns to The W | |
| Mississippi University for Women will once again celebrate Sonya Kovalevsky, a pioneer for women in the field of mathematics, with the annual Sonya Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day event Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Held on The W's campus, SK Day has been a staple for more than two decades. "Our intent is to encourage high school students to continue their studies of mathematics and to prepare for possible careers in mathematics-related fields," said Joshua Hanes, associate professor of mathematics and organizer of the event. "Students will take a competition exam with prizes including W scholarships. We hope that students who win scholarships will consider attending The W in the future." Sarah Poiani, assistant professor of mathematics at The W, will be the keynote speaker this year. She will give a talk about mathematics and its application in fiber arts. Aside from the keynote address, there are breakout sessions which seek to explore mathematical concepts which don't always come up in the classroom. This is accomplished through games, puzzles and other hands-on activities. |
| 'No Kings' Protest Held At Oxford City Hall | |
 | Protestors gathered at Oxford City Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday for a "No Kings" rally in a show of solidarity against actions by the President Donald Trump administration the group characterized as authoritarian. No Kings is a series of demonstrations that have been organized by Indivisible, a politically progressive organization founded in reaction to Trump's initial election in 2016, in coordination with a coalition of more than 200 progressive groups. Hundreds of demonstrations were held throughout the country, as well as in 20 foreign countries, in what some experts are estimating will be the largest demonstrations in recent U.S. history. J.T. Cunningham, a freshman political science major from Lehigh Valley, Penn., attended the event to express his discontent with the Trump administration. "The reason that I decided to come here to the No Kings protest today is because I'm very disappointed with the direction that things are going in our country," Cunningham said. "With the administration's current actions on enforcing immigration law, higher education and health care, there's a lot of tension that is boiling over in our society about ways that those in power are (leading) our country. And it's not acceptable just to stay home and sit down." Cunningham hopes that the protests will bring visibility to concerned Americans' opinions. |
| After billions in failed big bets, funders and schools are turning to this small education nonprofit | AP News | |
| Education is the civil rights issue of our time. That's what Leslie Cornfeld decided after a decade advising New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama's two education secretaries -- and seeing how few low-income students went to the universities that lead to high-paying jobs. Cornfeld said she spent part of her time in the Obama administration visiting the nation's Title I high schools, those with a high percentage of low-income students. She recalled: "We heard the same themes over and over again from principals, district leaders and students. That even the most talented, hard-working scholars -- in rural communities, poor urban communities, Native American communities -- cannot get on the radar of more selective universities." And even if they could get on their radar, students did not believe that they were college-ready or college-worthy, Cornfeld said. Meanwhile, when she and her Washington colleagues met with higher education leaders, they repeatedly claimed, "We wish that we could find talented lower income scholars but we just can't find them." For Cornfeld, this made no sense, since universities seemed to have had no trouble finding the very best athletes, often from low-income backgrounds, to play on their teams. Why couldn't they find the very best low-income students to fill their classrooms? In 2019, with $50,000 in startup funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, she launched the National Education Equity Lab, a nonprofit "founded on the belief that talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not." |
| Students arrested at presidential search meeting say LSU won't pursue formal discipline | |
 | A group of students who were arrested at a meeting for the LSU presidential search in October, after one refused to stop speaking after her public comment time expired and others blocked the police car that held her, learned Monday that the university will not take formal disciplinary action. "I think we definitely hit a nerve with them, and they acted irrationally, and I think they've shown clear regret for their actions," student Margo Wilson said about her meeting with the LSU Student Advocacy and Accountability office. Those who were arrested have not yet found out if criminal charges will be filed, they said at a press conference Monday. They were arrested on counts of resisting an officer and obstruction of a highway of commerce, with two students also arrested on the count of interfering with an educational process. The group belongs to the Students for a Democratic Society club and has protested the ongoing presidential search over what they say is a lack of student involvement. "Majority of this board has no stake directly in LSU in terms of their attendance or employment," student Carson Wall said. "We believe that the focus in who gets to pick the president should be the people who are directly involved every day in the university's day-to-day activities." The student group said they will continue protesting the timeline of the presidential search and the minimal student participation, including at the committee meeting on Thursday. |
| Vanderbilt Didn't Accept or Reject the Compact. The Chancellor Plans to Provide Feedback Instead. | |
 | Vanderbilt University's leader posted a response to the compact on Monday, taking a markedly different tack. Whereas presidents for seven out of the nine original recipients of the compact explicitly stated they were declining to sign the document as written, Daniel Diermeier, Vanderbilt's chancellor, wrote, "Despite reporting to the contrary, we have not been asked to accept or reject the draft compact. Rather, we have been asked to provide feedback and comments as part of an ongoing dialogue, and that is our intention." Diermeier said he had participated in a Friday meeting with White House officials and other university leaders "about shaping a productive process for providing such comments." Vanderbilt's forthcoming response, he continued, "will be grounded in our long-held principles and values." Brian L. Heuser, an associate professor of practice in Vanderbilt's education college and a longtime faculty senator, called Vanderbilt's response to the Trump administration "splitting the difference." "I think there's value in it, but I'm not happy with it," he said. "Do I want to protect all of my colleagues who are doing life-changing research? Absolutely. Do I not want us to become a target? Absolutely. Do I think that we get there by appeasement or by not answering the question directly? No, I don't." Heuser had previously sent the Faculty Senate a letter urging a full-throated rejection of the compact. |
| Why U. of Tennessee's supply chain program ranks top 3 for 2026 | |
| Hannah Clark, president of Tennessee Association of Supply Chain, wants prospective supply chain management students to know one thing first. "You cannot fail. You will not, cannot fail," Clark said. Last month, U.S. News ranked the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's undergraduate supply chain management program third-best in the country for 2026. It's the sixth year in a row that UT's program placed in U.S. News' top five. Students and faculty say that the program's industry partnerships, professional development and supportive community among its nearly 1,500 undergraduates contribute to its sustained, prestigious success. Several also said the program's goals are bigger than a high national ranking. Clark, a senior supply chain management major with a concentration in business analytics, said supply chain management students have many opportunities to be successful. For example, Clark pointed to UT's SCM program requirement that every student -- with rare exceptions -- complete an internship of at least 150 hours in less than six months. Clark said this requirement sets students up immediately for success and can lead to job offers. Sara Hsu, a clinical associate professor serving both the undergraduate and master's supply chain management programs, highlighted the importance of the SCM program's partnerships with industry employers. |
| Trans Texas college students bearing more hostility as officials push binary gender definitions | |
| When Liz Graff started their second year of law school this fall, the nonbinary transgender student noticed a shift in how their peers treated them. Male classmates stopped holding the door for Graff or bumped into them on the sidewalk. In class, students called transgender women "men." Peers said publicly that people expressing gender identities that diverge from what was assigned at birth has gotten out of hand. To Graff, these actions add up to represent an increasing hostility on campus toward transgender students. "I'm looking around, like, 'What's going on?" said Graff, who transferred to the University of Texas at Austin from the University of Houston this fall but ascribes the change to the larger political atmosphere. "I'm being treated differently." The Texas Tribune spoke to more than a dozen transgender and nonbinary Texas students about how their lives on campuses have changed in recent years. Many of them asked to remain anonymous or have only their first names published, because they fear backlash from university officials, students, parents or the general public. Many of these students face an internal debate: remain at universities that they feel cast them aside, or leave the state they call home. |
| How the federal shutdown is hurting Midwest farmers -- already dealing with a difficult year | |
| Imagine working hard all year, long hours out in all kinds of weather, dangerous work, just to find yourself tens of thousands of dollars poorer at the end of it all. And then, next year, do it all again, and dig even deeper into debt. That's the situation many Midwestern farmers are in, because it costs more to grow corn and soybeans, and wheat than farmers can make selling them. But through most of the last two years, farmers have all had a reliable partner, the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "We always look at everything as tools in the toolbox, you know, and the USDA is obviously a valuable tool," said Stephen Kalb, taking a short break from harvesting soybeans on his farm near Baldwin City, Kansas. "They're our friend, you know. They help us in so many ways." Good farmers maintain close working relationships with the USDA. But with the shutdown, all that has come to a stop. "The Agricultural Risk Coverage Program and the Price Loss Coverage Program, those payments typically go out in early October. That hasn't happened, that's my understanding, and I assume it will not happen until the shutdown ends," said Pat Westhoff, director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri. |
| Colorado apprenticeship program teaches ag students climate adaptation skills | |
| Before Jackson Watford started his apprenticeship last May at Elk River Livestock in northwest Colorado, he didn't know much about regenerative ranching. He spent the summer moving fences and cattle nearly every day to prevent overgrazing and build healthy soil. Now, he's convinced it's the only way to go. "It's definitely more work, but I really enjoy it and I think it's worth it in the end of the day," he said. Watford is a student at North Carolina State University. He spent the summer here working, earning credit towards the associate's degree in agriculture business management he expects to wrap up in the spring. All the while, he's been learning holistic ranching techniques. "Just better for the environment. You're not tearing up the ground," he said. "Improving the land." That's key for keeping the ranch afloat in a hotter, drier climate. Agriculture is notoriously susceptible to the whims of the elements. Farmers and ranchers can see their entire livelihoods turn on one bad hailstorm or ill-timed heat wave, which are happening more and more as our planet continues to warm. The good news is that there are ways to make farms and ranches more resilient in the face of extreme weather. But it takes special skills to do that work. Programs like the one Watford is in are helping to turn out a new generation of farmers and ranchers equipped to join the climate adaptation workforce. |
| Clemson University to limit parking for freshmen, bridge students | |
| Clemson University will change its parking policy next fall, restricting access for freshmen and bridge students to reduce congestion and improve parking availability on campus. University spokesperson Joe Galbraith said the policy will free up about 2,000 parking spaces for commuters. "We require first-year students to live on campus unless they have a waiver or are within kind of a 30-mile radius," Galbraith said. "For the vast majority of first-year students and bridge students, they reside on campus, so this would apply to them." Galbraith added that the policy comes at a time when the university continues to add on to its facilities. "We have lost parking to some of those academic facilities," Galbraith said. "I also think it is a reflection of kind of the university's commitment to on-campus programming at night and on weekends to make sure that those freshmen that are living on campus have everything that they need." In South Carolina, only the College of Charleston does not sell parking permits to freshman residence hall students. Some current freshmen at Clemson said they are not pleased with the new policy. Graduate students, however, are looking forward to the change, anticipating more available parking spaces. |
| How a Small North Carolina College Became a Magnet for Wealthy Students | |
| On a typical weeknight, students at High Point University might sit down to filet mignon at "1924 PRIME," the on-campus steakhouse. This isn't a mere perk. Servers are told to coach the young diners on body language, professional attire, which fork to use and when to salt their food. It is one of the striking amenities at High Point, which prides itself on preparing students for the rigors of a career -- and has also become a favorite of affluent families. "Half of Wall Street sends their kids to this school," President Nido Qubein says in an interview. Universities nationwide are battling to pad their balance sheets by attracting families who will pay full sticker price, particularly as the Trump administration slashes funding. High Point is something of a blueprint. Its model -- catering to a wealthier student body -- has fueled its enrollment growth, campus expansion and financial stability. Dozens of carefully manicured gardens adorn the lush grounds. Students are almost always within earshot of a fountain; Qubein says the water has an energizing effect. Classical music plays around campus, and there are six outdoor heated swimming pools, each accompanied by a hot tub. "Most high-paying jobs and everything are in nice environments," says freshman Alexander Kirchner. "Just being used to it, walking around in it, helps the psyche a little bit." A debate has long raged in higher education over whether the young people enrolled in universities are students first or customers first. High Point is successfully blurring the lines. |
| Why Are More Retirees Going Back to College? | |
| On a sweltering, 100-degree morning in Tempe, Ariz., Roger Weinreber made his way across the street from his apartment to the woodworking studio on the campus of Arizona State University. "Hi, Roger!" a young woman wearing a striped crop top and olive cargo shorts said as he walked in. "Nice to see you!" "Good to see you," he replied. He set a black wire sculpture he had made down on a wooden table covered with long brown boxes and orange and blue spring clamps. A handful of the class's 11 students had already gathered, and he walked around, chatting with them. But Mr. Weinreber isn't a student. He's their teaching assistant -- who celebrated his 80th birthday on Saturday. "The students love Roger," said Damon McIntyre, an instructor for that morning's advanced wood shop class, whom Mr. Weinreber has worked with for the past two and a half years. "He's such an asset." Mr. Weinreber is one of 373 residents at Mirabella, a retirement community that opened at Arizona State in 2020. They live in the heart of campus in a 20-story high rise and take classes, attend athletic and performing arts events, sit on thesis committees and help international students practice their English skills. For retirees, university retirement communities offer the option to indulge their passion for lifelong learning in an environment that allows for intergenerational interaction with younger students. Since the 1990s, at least 86 of these communities have opened across the country. |
| Drop in Pell Funds Hurts Black Students, Southern Colleges | |
 | Federal funding for Pell Grants, and the number of awards given, plummeted between fiscal years 2011–12 and 2021–22. Black student enrollment in public colleges and universities plunged by nearly a half million students over that same period. A new report, produced by the University of Alabama's Education Policy Center for the Southern Education Foundation, suggests the declines in financial aid and Black students attending college are linked. The report, released Tuesday, traced trends in Pell Grant funding over decades and showed how these fluctuations dealt a disproportionate blow to the South's rural and majority-Black public higher education institutions and their students. Researchers drew on data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and 47 Pell Grant end-of-year reports from the U.S. Department of Education. The analysis found that Pell funding more than doubled between 2007–08 and 2011–12, from $14.7 billion to $33.6 billion; the number of awards grew from 5.5 million to 9.4 million. At the same time, enrollments and Pell recipients hit record highs at community colleges, regional and flagship universities, and historically Black college and universities. Researchers partly credited the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which required states to level-fund higher ed during the Great Recession, staving off skyrocketing tuition and allowing Pell Grants to go farther. |
| Trump Gutted the Institute of Education Sciences. Its Renewal Is in Doubt. | |
| Soon after Donald Trump returned to the White House, his administration gutted the federal government's central education data collection and research funding agency, the Institute of Education Sciences. Researchers say the move jeopardized the nation's ability to figure out how to improve K–12 and higher education and its capacity to hold publicly funded schools, colleges and universities accountable. But the president didn't fully erase IES -- which Congress created, and continues to require to exist, through the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002. And officials at the Education Department maintain that the Trump administration is committed to supporting "a national education research entity." But months later, it's hard to ascertain what the agency's future will be. In the eight months since the Department of Government Efficiency and the Education Department announced the slashing of more than $1 billion in multiyear contracts administered by IES, there have been mass layoffs followed by some new job postings; litigation over canceled studies and contracts, followed by reports of some restorations; a request for public comments about how to "modernize" IES, despite the administration's continued push to shutter the department housing it; and Education Secretary Linda McMahon's temporary appointment of a special adviser to "re-envision" IES, who must now finish her work amid a government shutdown. |
SPORTS
| Jeff Lebby reaffirms faith in kicker Kyle Ferrie after trying to get closer for potential winner | |
 | Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby reaffirmed his faith in kicker Kyle Ferrie two days after the 23-21 loss at Florida. The Bulldogs (4-3, 0-3 SEC) were in range for a potential game-winning field goal, but quarterback Blake Shapen threw an interception with 21 seconds remaining. It gave the Gators the win, with Ferrie never getting a chance at a 47-yard field goal. "Obviously want to put Kyle in the best situation possible," Lebby said at his news conference on Oct. 20. "I have got a lot of faith in Kyle and a lot of confidence. We missed a 41-yarder going that direction on the exact same hash. I want to try and create a really good opportunity for him to go win the game and we had a little bit of time to go do it, but we didn't have a timeout. All of those things factor in." MSU hosts No. 18 Texas (5-2, 2-1) at Davis Wade Stadium on Oct. 25 (3:15 p.m., SEC Network). Ferrie, a left-footed junior, entered the game 7-for-8 on field goals this season and 3-for-4 from at least 40 yards until he missed a 41-yard field goal in the second quarter. He's made 33 field goals in his career, the fifth most in program history, and also set the MSU record for longest field goal with his 55-yard make against Southern Miss in Week 1. Lebby said after the game the hope was to get 6 or 7 more yards on the play where Shapen threw the interception. |
| Mississippi State-Arkansas game time announced for November 1 | |
| Mississippi State fans can now make their plans for next week's trip to Fayetteville, Ark. next week. The Bulldogs and Razorbacks were already set for an afternoon kickoff but have now been set for a 3 p.m. kick on SEC Network. It's the third-straight game that the Bulldogs have played in this time slot, all of which have been on SEC Network. It's also the sixth-straight game the Bulldogs will play on the Network dating back to the Northern Illinois game on September 20. The Bulldogs (4-3, 0-3 SEC) will go into that game either looking to get bowl eligible or end a 16-game SEC losing streak. The last win for State in SEC play coincidentally came in Fayetteville on October 21 of 2023. The Bulldogs haven't won an SEC game since. State's latest SEC loss was one of the more frustrating of all as the Bulldogs had a chance to get a game-winning score on the final possession at Florida. In the final 30 seconds and on UF's side of the field, however, Blake Shapen threw an interception that would end the game. The Gators still fired head coach Billy Napier on Sunday despite the win. There's a chance to end that streak on Saturday for the Bulldogs as they host No. 22 Texas (5-2, 2-1 SEC). The Longhorns are coming off of back-to-back wins in SEC play with victories over Oklahoma (23-6) and Kentucky (16-13 OT). Game time on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium is at 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network. |
| Mike Leach to be posthumously honored with national award | |
| Mike Leach, one of the most innovative minds in the history of college football, will be honored as the American Heart Association's 2026 Paul "Bear" Bryant Heart of a Champion Award, presented by Houston (Texas)-St. Luke's Health, honoring his exceptional contributions to college football and the community. Leach, who died in December 2022 at the age of 61 after suffering a heart attack, will be recognized posthumously for his larger-than-life impact on the game, his players and the communities he touched throughout his coaching career. "Coach Leach's impact transcended the game he loved," said Nancy Brown, American Heart Association chief executive officer. "He inspired generations with his innovative spirit, authenticity and fearless leadership -- qualities that embody the enduring legacy of Coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant and the American Heart Association." Coach Leach's widow, Sharon will receive the award in honor of her husband's legacy. "Our family is truly honored that Mike will be receiving the Heart of a Champion award," said Sharon Leach. "We're grateful to the American Heart Association and the Bear Bryant Awards for this recognition of Mike's contribution to college football and look forward to being in Houston on Jan. 21 for the event." |
| Legacy alive and well for former MSU center, a true gentle giant | |
| Drew Hull doesn't plan to do anything specific Saturday in memory of his father, but it was emotional day for him and his family. His father, Kent Hull, a standout center at Mississippi State and later with the NFL's Buffalo Bills, died 14 years ago Saturday at the age of 50 -- just 10 days after he served as Drew's best man in his wedding. While thankful his father was able to witness that, Drew hates that Kent missed the birth of his three children, including his namesake, Kent Hull Jr., who will turn 3 in a couple of a weeks. "I miss being able to talk to him man-to-man about life circumstances and decisions. And I hate that my kids never got to know him," said Drew, who works in land financing in Oxford. Kent's widow, Kay Hull Kimmel, said she will try not to think about it too much because, obviously, it dredges up some painful memories. She prefers to reminisce about more positive things, such as birthdays, anniversaries and other milestone moments in Kent's memory. Kent's daughter, Ellen Black of Madison, said she regrets her father missing her wedding and the birth of her two daughters. "He passed when I was still in college, so I feel I never got to the full 'friend' stage with him," she said. "The life we lived seemed so normal growing up, and now I realize it was something super special not many get to experience." Hull, a member of both the MSU and Buffalo Bills rings of honor, is still remembered by his former teammates as the secret sauce to the Bills' explosive K-Gun offense of the late 1980s and early 1990s. |
| Steve Sarkisian benched Quinn Ewers midgame. Why he hasn't done the same with Arch Manning | |
| Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian set a precedent when he briefly benched starting quarterback Quinn Ewers for Arch Manning last year after a disastrous start to a game against Georgia. Now, whenever Manning plays poorly, it's natural to wonder if Sarkisian will repeat the act. So far, he hasn't. Manning suffered through a 12-for-27 showing Saturday in an overtime win over Kentucky, finishing with 132 yards with no touchdowns. Sarkisian explained that he didn't see the same symptoms in Manning that he identified in Ewers when he struggled against Georgia. "I felt like against Georgia with Quinn last year, we were a little bit overwhelmed as an offense in general," Sarkisian said. "He had gotten hit with a pretty good sack-fumble on a corner blitz that he didn't see coming. At that point, I don't know if he was seeing great. Sometimes, taking a step back when you're not seeing things really well, that's a way to go. I didn't feel like there was anything happening Saturday night that Arch wasn't seeing." These days, the Longhorns don't have a backup with Manning's name recognition and reputation available. Matthew Caldwell arrived at Texas after bouncing around between three stops in the FCS and Group of Five, never as an established starter. But Sarkisian said he made his decision to keep Manning in the game Saturday -- and also Sept. 13, when he struggled mightily against UTEP -- based on how Manning was thinking about the game. "When I was talking to him, he was seeing things well," Sarkisian said. "His communication was good with (QBs coach AJ Milwee), what we were trying to do." |
| Florida AD Scott Stricklin says rules allow him to be 'very thorough' with coaching search | |
 | Even though Florida has retained a search firm to help land the school's next football coach, athletic director Scott Stricklin said Monday he will have final say in the hiring process. And he won't be in a rush to get it done. Thanks to new NCAA legislation, teams that fire head coaches during the season no longer trigger an open window for players to enter the transfer portal. So, the Gators have weeks, maybe even months, to find Billy Napier's replacement. "Time is an asset," Stricklin said Monday, a day after firing Napier. "You would certainly, I think it's going to be beneficial. The more time you have, the easier it is." The main dates that are important in the process: national signing day, Dec. 3, and the opening of the transfer portal, Jan. 2. If Stricklin hires a coach before January, a portal window would open for Florida players five days later. But the tweaked rules would allow Stricklin to wait for other coaches to finish their regular seasons or even potentially exit the College Football Playoff. "We have a chance to be very thorough," Stricklin said. The Gators (3-4, 2-2 SEC) are off this week before playing No. 5 Georgia on Nov. 1 in Jacksonville. |
| Hugh Freeze: Vote of confidence from Auburn AD would be 'huge' | |
| Some coaches view votes of confidence from their athletic directors as harbingers of bad things to come, but not Auburn's Hugh Freeze. He would welcome one from athletic director John Cohen. Freeze, under pressure after Auburn's 0-4 start to SEC play in his third season, was asked Monday about the statements released by the athletic directors at Florida State and Wisconsin. FSU's Michael Alford and Wisconsin's Chris McIntosh both expressed disappointment in their teams' seasons but said they would continue to support coaches Mike Norvell and Luke Fickell, respectively. "It would be huge, That would make everyone feel a lot better, for sure," Freeze said. "I haven't talked to John. I'm going to say John has been so supportive ever since, obviously, my hire. ... They have a job to do, and certainly, he has people he has to answer to. I know how close we are. I know I can get this fixed." Freeze, hired by Cohen in late 2022, is 14-18 overall at Auburn. |
| Mixed-use development creating common ground for Wake Forest, Winston-Salem | |
| Shortly after John Currie was hired in 2019 as athletic director at Wake Forest, he had a Zoom call with Winston-Salem Mayor Pro Tem Denise Adams. Her ward northwest of the city's downtown included two stadiums and an arena owned by Wake Forest ... and the surrounding expanse of empty parking lots and businesses, run-down and shuttered. Annually, nearly 800,000 people take in Demon Deacons college football, basketball and baseball, minor league hockey, high school graduations, tractor pulls, concerts and the Winston-Salem Open ATP Tour tennis tournament at those sports venues and adjacent fairgrounds. But the area's commercial real estate was caught in a multidecade spiral after R.J. Reynolds Nabisco left the city in the late 1980s. Adams and Currie had what she described as a "Come to Jesus" meeting about the site. That phrase carries extra weight in the context of Wake, a Baptist school whose mascot is a demonic layperson. In no uncertain terms, Adams expressed her displeasure that the university had let the front porch of her community go to hell. "Either y'all are going to do something better or do nothing at all, and trust me, that will be your history and legacy at the end of the day," she said. Fast forward to 2025. The abandoned businesses were torn down, and empty concrete pads dug up. Deacon Boulevard, which passes between the football stadium and arena, was rerouted and repaved, and a creek that most people didn't even know existed was exhumed from a tangle of overgrown vegetation and restored. In two years, this will be The Grounds, a 100-acre, $250 million mixed-use development created through Wake Forest, Front Street Capital and Carter's partnership with the city and state. |
| NCAA president urges conferences and schools to be cautious of equity deals | |
| The president of the NCAA is urging schools and conferences tempted by riches offered through potential deals with new equity sources to think about the long-term repercussions before jumping into the deals. "My message to everybody on this would be really simple: Be really careful,'" Charlie Baker said Monday at a Big East roundtable on the future of college basketball. With schools and conferences under increasing pressure to raise funds to pay their players, reports of them negotiating with new equity sources for college sports are becoming more frequent. Recent headlines out of the Big Ten are about its negotiation to bring in an investor that would pay $2.4 billion to help market the conference's media rights and other properties. A meeting of the conference's presidents and chancellors last week didn't produce a vote on the deal, with Michigan and Southern California holding out. One of the most outspoken opponents has been Michigan regent Jordan Acker, who at a monthly regents meeting last week called the equity proposal, which would last through 2046 and pay more than $100 million to each school, an attempt at solving "the same old problem with a new, and this time, rushed solution." Baker wasn't speaking directly about the Big Ten issue when discussing equity. He also wasn't completely dismissive of the idea. |
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