| Friday, March 6, 2026 |
| MSU Awarded $850K From Darpa to Advance Global Ag Security, Early Threat Detection | |
 | An interdisciplinary team of Mississippi State University researchers has been awarded $850,000 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to enhance early detection of threats to agricultural security on a global scale. The award funding will help establish AgSENT, or the Agricultural Security Early Notification and Threat Network. AgSENT is a prototype interface that integrates key atmospheric, environmental, supply chain, biological and societal data to highlight early warnings of potential agricultural security issues. The funding was awarded by DARPA's Biological Technology Office as part of its efforts to defend against naturally occurring and manmade threats to the global food systems that the world relies on. The MSU team is led by Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development Narcisa Pricope and includes Political Science and Public Administration Associate Professor Benjamin Tkach and Computer Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Dimitrios Manias. |
| Winter snow is disappearing across the Northern Hemisphere | |
| For many regions across the Northern Hemisphere, winter snow is becoming harder to count on. The season often starts later, ends sooner, and sometimes barely settles in at all. A new analysis of long-term snow records shows how uneven the changes have become. Roughly 24 percent of regions have lost snow-covered area in recent decades, while only about 9 percent have gained it. That growing imbalance hints at a winter season that is slowly shrinking across large parts of the hemisphere. Decades of weekly Northern Hemisphere snow maps show where winter snow now appears less often than it once did. Examining those records, Jonathan Woody at Mississippi State University (MSU) documented that shrinking snow cover affects far more regions than expanding snow cover. Woody's team analyzed those changes using a Markov chain, a mathematical method that estimates the probability of switching from one state to another. "Using a two-state Markov chain model with periodic dynamics to analyze snow cover across the Northern Hemisphere, we can see how trends vary both geographically and seasonally," Woody said. |
| Mississippi State releases update on study abroad travels | |
 | Mississippi State University (MSU) released a campus-wide international travel update. In response to ongoing conflict in Iran, MSU officials said they will be actively monitoring the situation taking place in the Middle East to keep all students, faculty and staff safe. In the update, MSU confirmed they do not operate study abroad programs in the Middle East. Due to this, officials with the university do not expect changes to faculty and staff travel or to study abroad programs, including those scheduled for spring break or later. MSU also encouraged international travelers to enroll in the U.S. Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) and to actively use the Alert Traveler app with location services enabled to support timely communication and assistance in an emergency. Should circumstances change, MSU said they would share updates. |
| Canadian Brass bringing standards, classics to MSU with March 18 Lyceum Series performance | |
 | One of the world's most prolific music-making ensembles will fill Mississippi State's historic Lee Hall with the sounds of brass standards, classical works and period masterpieces this month. Canadian Brass, a five-person group originally founded in 1970 now with more than 130 albums under its belt, takes to Bettersworth Auditorium's stage 7 p.m. March 18 in the last spring show of the university's 2025-26 Lyceum Series. Tickets are $30 for the general public; $25 for senior citizens and MSU faculty and staff; $10 for children 12 years old and younger; and free for MSU students. Visit www.msstate.universitytickets.com for more information. Widely regarded as one of the most popular brass ensembles in the world, Canadian Brass has amassed 24 combined Grammy and Juno music award nominations and sold more than 2 million albums globally. The Lyceum Series is MSU's longest running performance arts series and is a key part of the university's continued commitment to the arts. For more information visit www.lyceum.msstate.edu or call 662-325-2930. |
| Mississippi faces severe weather threat this Saturday | |
| Mississippi has been no stranger to severe weather as of late. The worst winter storm in over three decades hit the state in late January, primarily impacting north Mississippi and pockets of the Delta. The weekend before Presidents' Day, 12 tornadoes were confirmed in southwest Mississippi. Another weekend of potentially rough weather is on tap, according to the National Weather Service. NWS Jackson issued a Slight Risk (Level 2 of 5) for severe weather on Saturday in the western part of the state, including Jackson and the Delta. The rest of the state is at a Marginal Risk (Level 1 of 5) on Saturday. The risks cover all 82 counties and could mean damaging wind gusts, hail, isolated severe storms, and maybe even tornadoes. "A line of storms is expected to push across the area Saturday afternoon and into Saturday night," NWS Jackson warned. "The storm threat will generally shift from northwest to southeast, and damaging winds and hail will be the primary concern, but tornadoes cannot be ruled out. A few isolated cells could pop up in advance of the line Saturday afternoon." |
| U.S. Lost 92,000 Jobs in February | |
 | The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, a sign that the job market continues to struggle across a broad range of sectors. The hiring numbers, reported Friday by the Labor Department, fell far short of January's gain of 126,000 jobs. They were worse than the gain of 50,000 jobs that economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected to see. The unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 4.4%. The numbers raise expectations that the Federal Reserve will have to cut rates. For the Fed, a labor market stumble comes at an uncomfortable moment because policymakers are already contending with new potential disruptions to energy and commodity prices following the U.S.-Israel military campaign in Iran that has closed key global shipping lanes. Those disruptions raise the prospect of another bout of price increases in an economy where inflation has been above the Fed's 2% goal for five years. A central bank that simultaneously watches the job market weaken and inflation risks re-emerge has few good options. The job slowdown, alongside persistent cost-of-living concerns, has eaten into Americans' confidence. In its most recent survey of consumers, the University of Michigan found that 58% of respondents expected unemployment to rise over the next year. |
| Mississippi's subpar February revenue report comes at bad time as legislators work on budget | |
| A bad state revenue report for February could give legislators cause for concern as they begin work in earnest on the budget for the year that begins July 1. While revenue, primarily state tax collections, appears to remain stable through the first seven months of the fiscal year, February was troublesome. Collections for the month were $65.3 million below the estimate, a shortfall of or 13.3%. The estimate is important because it represents the amount of money legislative leaders say will be available to budget for education, health care, law enforcement and other public services. The state's financial experts are fond of saying one month of collections does not make a trend. Several factors, such as late reporting or even the late January ice storm, could have played a role in the subpar collections for February. But still, the February report comes at an inopportune time. If it is a start of a trend, that could mean collections could be down for the coming fiscal year. If legislators believe that is the case, they might want to re-adjust the estimate for the coming year and spend less money. It is not farfetched to surmise that the war with Iran that threatens to spike gas prices, and inflation could lead to an economic slowdown and lower revenue collections. At the very least, revenue collections already have slowed dramatically from the post COVID-19 pandemic, when the state had unprecedented spikes in collections. |
| Secretary of State wants high voter turnout; party leaders expect competitive race in Tuesday's primary | |
 | Mississippians will vote in a federal primary election Tuesday, March 10. More than a dozen Republican and Democratic congressional candidates are competing to represent their parties. Speaking at the Stennis Capitol-Forum on Monday, Secretary of State Michael Watson urged voters to participate. "In 2022 midterms, we saw about 11.59% turnout, which is horrible," he said. "So I want to make sure we got that off the top to remind folks to go vote." Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst is optimistic. "I think Mississippians are engaged," he said. "Even though we sometimes see lower voter turnout during non-presidential election years, I think people are watching this round of elections because we have a number of candidates running for both Senate and for Congress. I think you're going to see a higher turnout than normal." Watson said as of Monday, only 9,000 absentee ballots had been received by his agency. He called the figure "abysmal." Absentee voting ends tomorrow Saturday, March 7. Watson acknowledged that his office was working to enhance voter confidence in Mississippi's electoral process. "Having people on the ground is the most important part when it comes to the integrity of the process. Folks that are taking the time to pay attention to what's going on around them," he said. "So when they have those tools that they need to report back to us, I think it's really important." |
| Trump's trade war has hurt farmers. There are new warning signs for Republicans. | |
 | President Donald Trump promised a "golden age" of American agriculture. Farm-state Republicans are feeling pressure to make a down payment before the midterms. Over the past five months, the Trump administration has rolled out trade agreements it says will give farmers access to new markets and reopened Chinese purchases of millions of pounds of soybeans after a trade war-induced, monthslong boycott. It also spearheaded an effort to get $12 billion in direct payments to farmers to recover some of their losses amid the president's trade war. But farmers' sentiment about their industry has seen declines over a similar stretch, according to a monthly survey conducted by Purdue University -- the predominant way their perception of the U.S. agricultural economy is tracked -- and new data shows farm bankruptcies soaring. Republicans from rural America are warning that one of their key voter bases could sit out this election year, a blow for a party already facing stiff political headwinds. "The anxiety, the anxiousness, the angst, the timing is all something that is really weighing on producers," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who said he believed the circumstances farmers in his state are experiencing are the "most difficult that I've seen in my time as an elected official." |
| Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say | |
 | Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to attack American forces in the Middle East, the first indication that another major U.S. adversary is participating -- even indirectly -- in the war, according to three officials familiar with the intelligence. The assistance, which has not been previously reported, signals that the rapidly expanding conflict now features one of America's chief nuclear-armed competitors with exquisite intelligence capabilities. Since the war began Saturday, Russia has passed Iran the locations of U.S. military assets, including warships and aircraft, said the three officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity. "It does seem like it's a pretty comprehensive effort," one of the people said. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. Moscow has called for an end to the war, which it labeled an "unprovoked act of armed aggression." The extent of Russia's targeting assistance to Iran was not entirely clear. The Iranian military's own ability to locate U.S. forces has been degraded less than a week into the fighting, the officials said. Two of the officials familiar with Russia's support for Iran said that China did not appear to be aiding Iran's defense, despite close ties between the two countries. |
| Bulletproof Vests and Rolex Watches: The Rise and Fall of Kristi Noem | |
 | The display of a Rolex at a notorious prison in El Salvador. A self-promotional advertising campaign for mass deportations. The lingering story of the killing of her dog. Kristi Noem never appeared able -- or particularly keen -- to step out of the spotlight during her time leading the Department of Homeland Security. But even for a White House familiar with political crises, Ms. Noem's streak of controversies, handling of government funding and flair for theatrics might have proved too much for President Trump. On Thursday, Mr. Trump announced on social media that he was firing Ms. Noem, and that he had selected Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, to replace her. The decision capped an embattled two-year arc for the former governor of South Dakota, in which she went from a contender for vice president to the first cabinet member to be ousted from Mr. Trump's second stint in the White House. Under Ms. Noem's leadership, the Department of Homeland Security made progress on some of Mr. Trump's core campaign promises, including his effort to bring illegal crossings at the southern border to historic lows. Ms. Noem's ouster came after she was grilled by lawmakers on a range of topics during congressional hearings. |
| Markwayne Mullin faces a straightforward path to confirmation as DHS secretary | |
| In replacing ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Donald Trump is opting for one of the more reliable strategies to guarantee a quick Senate confirmation -- nominating a senator. Trump's choice of Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma sets up a relatively straightforward process, with some Senate Democrats already indicating they are open to voting for him. "We've been successful at whipping everybody the president has nominated, and I expect the same for Markwayne Mullin," Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said Thursday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune separately told reporters that he wanted to move Mullin's nomination "quickly." Trump did not indicate in his Truth Social post when he would send Mullin's nomination to the Senate, but said he would take over "effective March 31." "He's obviously pretty well-vetted around here, so hopefully we can get the process going," Thune said. There is one potential pitfall: Mullin reportedly recently called Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the chair of the DHS-overseeing committee, a "freaking snake." Paul has broad latitude to schedule and advance the secretary nomination. |
| 1,000-plus students attending HOSA conference at the U. of Southern Mississippi | |
 | More than 1,000 high school students are in Hattiesburg this week for the annual Health Occupations Students of America Conference. The conference for the state of Mississippi is being held at the University of Southern Mississippi this year. It gives students the chance to perform hands-on, simulated medical procedures such as medical assisting, CPR, first aid and phlebotomy. "I'm trying to use this program as a way to make connections and get myself out there, meet schools, learn about USM itself, the campus and opportunities it can provide for me," Petal High School junior Samantha Descombes said. Students also take part in workshops and networking events with industry professionals. University leaders said they are hopeful the conference will give students a head start on their careers. "We have a really big representation of HOSA across the State of Mississippi, something I didn't get to experience as a kid," said Melissa Kossman, director of the School of Health Professions. "It wasn't in my high school. So, it's really awesome to have this opportunity here for students that at least have an inkling of what they want to do." |
| National commission visits Delta to discuss problems, solutions for rural communities | |
| Jasmine Murphy returned to the Mississippi Delta after years away, driven by the sense she was meant to return home. But decades of disinvestment in the region by state leaders have made it difficult for residents to find stable housing, good jobs, educational opportunities and for culture to thrive, she said Wednesday at a convening of a national commission at Mississippi Valley State University, a historically Black university in Itta Bena. The commission traveled to Mississippi to hear from local leaders and community members about the challenges facing rural communities. "The people here are full of talent and passion, and they want opportunities to be able to dream and to have those dreams come true," said Murphy, an Itta Bena native currently a graduate student studying rural public policy and planning at Mississippi Valley State University. "They don't have those opportunities and those chances because there's no one here to invest in them." The bipartisan commission was convened by two D.C.-based public policy think tanks, the Brookings Institute and American Enterprise Institute, to craft federal policy suggestions that support rural communities before 2027. The committee is chaired by former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, and former New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. |
| MC School of Nursing receives IHL approval for two MSN tracks | |
| The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) approved two new Master of Science in Nursing tracks for the School of Nursing at Mississippi College. One has a concentration in nursing education, and the other has a concentration in nursing administration. These options are fully online. "The Mississippi College School of Nursing is expanding in significant ways," said MC Nursing Dean Kelly Harden. "Applicants for these tracks aim to advance their education and leadership skills in today's challenging healthcare environment." In addition, the school has also developed three fully online Doctor of Nursing (DNP) tracks that are currently in Stage II of IHL's approval process. The DNP in Nursing Education would be the first in the state, and the DNP in Executive Leadership would join only one other. Once approved by the IHL Board of Trustees, recruitment can begin. Remaining steps in Stage II of IHL's approval process for the proposed DNP program include qualifying for the initial accreditation, the submission of a self-study for the DNP program and hosting a site visit by the IHL's nursing education staff. |
| U. of Florida cuts SwampCon drag show, prompting protest event | |
 | Nicki Mirage, like many drag queens who started performing in the 2010s, discovered the artform during her freshman year of college through the hit reality TV show "RuPaul's Drag Race." In 2012, Mirage became a founding member of SwampCon, the University of Florida's student run convention for anime enthusiasts and in 2014 established the convention's first drag show. The drag show had headlined the event for years but was canceled by SwampCon's organizers this year due to a 2023 state law (SB 266) that prohibits universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. UF's SwampCon, which this year was held Feb. 28-March 1, is a Signature Event, a designation that guarantees funding from the university, staff advising and promotional support. Organizers said the event drew approximately 4,000 attendees this year. "It is preposterous to define drag as DEI. Drag is a form of entertainment, not an identity," she wrote in an email to The Sun. She continued, saying that the SwampCon Drag Show is ultimately cosplay -- a major component of the event itself. |
| Tennessee bill requiring public universities build memorial Charlie Kirk plazas stalls | |
| The Tennessee bill proposing to require plazas on public university plazas dedicated to Charlie Kirk has stalled in the House. Tuesday, the House's Higher Education Subcommittee deferred the bill to summer study. It's a move that postpones further discussion of a bill until after the current legislative session, signaling its outlook isn't optimistic. The bill, introduced by Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston), would memorialize the controversial conservative commentator by requiring universities construct 1,600-square-foot plazas called the "Charlie Kirk Memorial Courtyard for Civil Debate." The plazas would include displays of the Ten Commandments, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and declaration of rights in Article I of the Tennessee Constitution. The plazas' construction would also come with a hefty price tag. The bill lists a series of expenditures for government and university boards, proposing millions of dollars in taxpayer funds go into creating the plazas. In the 2026-27 year, the bill proposes the Tennessee Board of Regents, University of Tennessee and local government institutions spend a total of $18,135,000. |
| Former UGA, Falcons quarterback DJ Shockley to deliver spring commencement address | |
| DJ Shockley, former University of Georgia and Atlanta Falcons quarterback, will deliver UGA's spring undergraduate commencement address. The ceremony will take place at 7:30 p.m. on May 8 in Sanford Stadium. Meg Amstutz, dean of the Jere W. Morehead Honors College, will deliver the address at the graduate ceremonies. The master's and specialist ceremony begins at 10 a.m. on May 7, and the doctoral ceremony follows at 2:30 p.m. Both will take place at Stegeman Coliseum. Shockley currently serves as a sports director for FOX 5. He was a quarterback for the University of Georgia from 2002 through 2005 and led the football team to an SEC Championship. He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2006 National Football League Draft, becoming the first UGA player to be drafted by the franchise since 1994. Amstutz currently serves as dean of the Morehead Honors College. She oversees college operations as well as the campus-wide Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities and the Foundation Fellowship. She also served as the interim president at the College of Coastal Georgia during the 2017-18 academic year. |
| Censoring Courses Isn't the Law in Texas. Public Universities Are Doing It Anyway. | |
 | When Texas Senate Bill 37 was approved last year, faculty groups had one reason to feel cautiously relieved. While early versions of the bill had set sharp restrictions on how faculty could teach about race and gender across the general-education curriculum, those rules, after aggressive lobbying, had been removed during the final, closed-door negotiating sessions. But, in recent months, Texas board members and administrators have reinserted strikingly similar requirements. Thousands of courses have been reviewed, hundreds altered, and an unknown number canceled for including race- and gender-related content, including on world religions and ethics in public-policy courses. College leaders say they're complying with state law. But nothing in SB 37 requires them to censor specific content. "We keep hearing the public university systems saying, 'We're following SB 37.' I'm sorry, no, SB 37 does not give you the mandate to violate people's academic freedom and free speech," said Brian L. Evans, president of the Texas conference of the American Association of University Professors. "This kind of micromanaging curricular matters is not in the bill." |
| U. of Missouri Faculty Council discusses software and AI usage policy changes | |
 | A possible new student AI usage scale and updates to an internal faculty software system were discussed by the University of Missouri Faculty Council on Thursday. Associate Provost for Academic Progress Brian Houston and Senior Business Services Consultant Cathleen Wood appeared in front of the council to provide an update on the University of Missouri System software, myVITA. MyVITA is a web-based faculty activity reporting system that allows faculty members at UM System campuses to report on their research, teaching, service, scholarship and creative works, according to the University of Missouri Office of the Provost. The university system has been using myVITA for over a decade and has not seen significant software updates. "I don't think we've seen the improvement and response over time that we would like to see from a product that we're using," Houston said. ... A new scaling system has been proposed by the university's Artificial Intelligence Standing Committee which could introduce a tiered system in order to clarify the level of AI use allowed on student assignments and projects. Ranging from levels zero to three, the scale will designate the acceptable amount of AI usage in classrooms. |
| How Dartmouth College went all-in on AI | |
| Students and professors debating whether they should use artificial intelligence for class assignments. Faculty mobilizing against a partnership with an AI company that allegedly lifted 500,000 books from authors -- including many of them. School officials under fire for paying an undergraduate to promote a mental health chatbot in the student newspaper. Welcome to AI's rollout on a big-time campus. Dartmouth College has moved faster and more aggressively than the rest of the Ivy League and most other elite colleges in embracing AI, as university leaders push to adopt the technology for classes, research, and training. But even as generative AI disrupts higher education nationwide, the swift rollout at Dartmouth is a singular example of the turbulence that the rapidly evolving technology can bring. Dartmouth leaders are not mandating the use of AI, yet critics on campus say they've had little opportunity to adapt to what they see as a massive change to how the college works. At stake, they say, is the tight-knit academic culture Dartmouth has nurtured in rural New Hampshire over nearly three centuries as a school that focuses on the liberal arts, with a small student body and deeply personal style of instruction. It's the only Ivy League institution with "college," rather than "university," in its name. "There is no escaping [AI], and they have to figure out how to use it wisely," said Charles Fadel, the Boston-based founder of the nonprofit Center for Curriculum Redesign. "The hard part is to accept that you are going to lose something." |
| RFK Jr. Secures Pledges From Medical Schools to Beef Up Nutrition Education | |
 | At the Trump administration's urging, 53 medical schools are expanding their nutrition education curriculum. Starting next fall, those medical schools -- including programs at Tufts University, the University of Florida and George Washington University -- will require students to complete at least 40 hours of nutrition education. While all of the nearly 200 medical schools in the United States already require some form of nutrition education, it averages just 1.2 hours per year. "Chronic disease is bankrupting our health system, and poor nutrition sits at the center of that crisis," Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said Thursday at an event in Washington, D.C., announcing the pledges. "Today medical schools are committing to change how America trains its doctors -- by putting nutrition back where it belongs: at the heart of patient care." Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon emphasized at the event that the medical schools' pledges were voluntary. But the administration has shown a willingness to use federal funding that universities and medical schools rely on as leverage to compel policy changes. In the last year, Kennedy has mentioned that he could cut off federal funding to those who don't fall in line with his vision for nutrition education, but that threat doesn't appear to have been formalized. |
| How Stand Up For Science is trying to 'pull every lever' to win over the public | |
| It was a year ago when a handful of early career researchers made a splash -- organizing "Stand Up For Science" protests in dozens of cities to voice opposition to Trump administration policies disrupting research labs and public health. While it attracted attention, that initial day of action didn't prevent grant terminations and layoffs across federal health and science agencies. But in the year since those largely symbolic protests, Stand Up For Science has become a formal organization and adopted a new strategy, attempting to take on the administration's campaign to remake science, higher education, and public health on multiple fronts, while adopting more confrontational and grassroots tactics. The group's more unabashed and combative approach -- which included handing out rubber ducks to members of Congress as they called Kennedy a "quack" -- has, at times, rankled more established science advocacy groups. The nonprofit says it has not received donations from any scientific societies. But Colette Delawalla, a Ph.D. candidate at Emory University and executive director of the organization, says it's filling a niche that was sorely lacking in the scientific community. STAT spoke to Delawalla in the days leading up to this year's protests, which will occur in 53 different locations on March 7. |
| Pentagon's break with Ivy League leaves colleges bracing for further changes to military programs | |
 | The Trump administration's campaign to end "wokeness" in the military is reshaping its relationship with U.S. higher education, breaking off longstanding ties with prestigious universities that have trained generals and admirals while building new bonds with Christian schools and public universities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forged ahead last week with his realignment, expelling more than a dozen elite colleges from a military fellowship that serves as a pipeline to the upper ranks of leadership. It's a small but symbolic fracture that has left college leaders bracing for additional cuts that could pull service members from their classrooms. Hegseth made sweeping statements about canceling all military attendance at schools he denounces as anti-American, yet his cuts have been more targeted. So far he has homed in on graduate degrees and certificates while preserving a much broader program that helps cover tuition for roughly 200,000 active-duty or reserve service members. That program, known as Tuition Assistance, allows service members to get financial help pursuing studies at nearly any U.S. college. The funding flows to hundreds of campuses, including the highly selective ones Hegseth says have "gorged themselves" on taxpayer money. Yet an Associated Press analysis finds that schools beyond the Ivy League are far more likely to benefit from the Pentagon aid, including big online universities and some for-profit colleges that have been dogged by fraud accusations. |
| Hegseth Is Waging War on University Partnerships. His Targets Are Unclear. | |
| Last month, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made several announcements, stating he was ending partnerships with multiple highly selective colleges and universities that have long educated military service members. But it remains unclear what he's actually canceling, why specific universities have been targeted or favored and what he plans to replace these programs with. Lindsey Tepe, government relations director for the American Council on Education, said the uncertainty stems in part from the fact that the Defense Department is primarily communicating the changes through videos and news releases, rather than talking with institutions themselves. "The drip of news over the past month has not been conducive, I think, to clear implementation or any sort of ability for institutions to communicate to applicants what is happening," Tepe said. "I think it's created a lot of confusion," she said, adding that "disrupting those partnerships and those programs is not going to help meet the needs of the branches of service." This week, a spokesperson for the Defense Department (which now calls itself the Department of War, or DoW) told Inside Higher Ed that, beyond Hegseth's videos, memos and a Feb. 27 statement from chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, "we don't have anything additional to provide on this, at this time." |
| Why Trump's student loan revamp might lead to more college debt | |
| The Republican strategy for reining in the ever-climbing cost of college rests on a simple concept: Tuition keeps increasing because it's too easy for people to take on more and more federal student debt. How the GOP is acting on that view in practice may be creating new obstacles for swaths of working- and middle-income people. Republicans have long argued that government programs that let students borrow as much as they need to complete their degrees, rather than a fixed amount, have given universities an excuse to jack up prices. "There is some suspicion that institutions are raising their tuition precisely because they know borrowing can be so easy. So we're trying to put a little break on that," said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate education committee. Now, guided by last year's sweeping domestic policy law, the Trump administration is limiting how much government support students can get for professional and graduate degrees -- while counting on private lenders to bridge financial gaps. But college presidents fear the lending limits will make many advanced degrees a luxury only available to wealthy students. Low-income students may have to turn down acceptance offers because they cannot borrow enough money and don't have strong enough credit or a co-signer for a private loan. "These aren't privileged students," said Rhett Brown, president of Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina, which offers a significant number of medical programs that would be affected by the change. "They just don't have the family resources to get them there." |
| 'Is This Insider Information?' The Prediction Market Bets Driving a Campus Frenzy | |
| At the University of Miami, inside the columned fraternity house of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, one brother had some valuable information. The fraternity attracts the children of the very wealthy, including Evan Whitesell, the stepson of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. In February, the online prediction market Kalshi was offering wagers on which celebrities would show up at the Super Bowl. The odds of Bezos attending were high -- a potential jackpot for anyone who actually knew his weekend plans, which didn't involve a trip to Levi's Stadium. Some fraternity brothers soon began placing bets that Bezos would not attend. Two people who bet said the original source of the information was Whitesell, though neither heard it directly from him. The information spread fast through the house and the alumni network. Within days, it had spread by text message to at least one other college campus. On Kalshi, the odds of Bezos appearing plummeted from around 70% to less than 30%. "We know this shouldn't be allowed," said one brother involved. "People are like, is this insider information? Is this regulated? You feel like you're doing something you're not supposed to. It feels like someone should stop you." No one did. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: No. 4 State Takes Opening Game Against Lipscomb | |
| No. 4 Mississippi State broke open a scoreless game with a five-run sixth inning and rode a pair of home runs from Drew Wyers to an 8–3 victory over Lipscomb on Thursday night at Dudy Noble Field. The Diamond Dawgs (12-2) pounded out 12 hits and used strong pitching from Ryan McPherson and the bullpen to secure the midweek win in front of 10,057 fans. For five innings, MSU and Lipscomb traded zeros as McPherson and Bisons starter Alexander Llinas matched each other on the mound. Mississippi State scattered a few early hits but left runners on base, while McPherson kept Lipscomb in check with eight strikeouts through six innings. McPherson (3-0) earned the win for the Bulldogs, allowing one run on five hits while striking out eight over six innings. Maddox Webb and Ben Davis handled the late innings, with Davis recording the final five outs to secure his second save of the season. Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. Lipscomb is slated to start graduate right-hander Collin Bosley-Smith (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 6 K, 3 BB) on the mound while the Bulldogs are still finalizing their pitching plans. |
| Softball: No. 12 State Wraps Up Longest Road Stretch At Jaguar Classic | |
| No. 12 Mississippi State wraps up its longest road stretch of the season at the Jaguar Classic in Mobile, Alabama, this weekend. Play begins at 10 a.m. CT on Friday with MSU playing twice on Friday and Saturday before closing the event against host South Alabama at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Bulldogs have three rematches on tap in their five-game slate. State will play New Mexico twice after defeating the Lobos, 8-1, on Opening Weekend at the Getterman Classic in Waco, Texas. On Saturday, MSU meets Samford again after a 6-2 victory at Nusz Park two weeks ago at the Bulldog Invitational. Only the two games against South Alabama on Friday and Sunday afternoons will be broadcast, and those games will air on ESPN+. The Bulldogs are looking to enter SEC play with their best pre-conference record in program history. State enters the weekend at 19-2 (.905), which would currently tie the best record entering SEC play set by the 2014 team. Including this weekend, MSU has seven games remaining prior to welcoming No. 1 Tennessee to Nusz Park to open conference play on March 13. |
| Men's Basketball: State's Hubbard Earns SEC Community Service Team Honors For 2nd Straight Year | |
| Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard was recognized once again for his outstanding accomplishments beyond the court as one of 16 players on the SEC's Community Service Team announced Thursday by the league office. Hubbard, a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient, carries a 3.03 GPA with a major in human development and family science. He was presented with the 2026 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup award last week leading into the Missouri game for his exceptional leadership, his character and his commitment to community service in addition to being named to the 2025-26 All State NACDA Good Works Winter Team. Hubbard has used his platform and his resources through Name Image Likeness in numerous community efforts. He founded The Josh Hubbard Showcase, a basketball camp which has hosted around 200 aspiring athletes in his hometown of Madison, Mississippi and awarded approximately $40,000 in scholarship money over the last two Aprils. Hubbard has partnered with Make-A-Wish Mississippi in 2025-26 where he has launched the "Buckets for Wishes" campaign where every three-point shot he makes results in donations from sponsors and donors, directly funding wishes for children in Mississippi. His campaign has already granted 11 wishes for children, most recently a trip to Disney World for one young boy in early March and has raised over $75,000. |
| Men's Tennis: No. 5 Mississippi State Hosts No. 61 Tennessee in a Ranked SEC Showdown | |
| No. 5 Mississippi State returns to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to host No. 61 Tennessee in SEC action, as the Bulldogs look to continue their strong start to the 2026 campaign. State enters the matchup with momentum after securing a ranked victory on the road against No.18 Auburn. The Bulldogs have also claimed a ranked conference win over No. 37 Vanderbilt at home. Senior Petar Jovanovic enters the match with 188 combined career singles and doubles victories. Jovanovic sits just one win shy of tying program great Nuno Borges' all-time record of 189 career wins. Ranked No. 8 nationally in singles, Jovanovic leads a Mississippi State lineup that features five players in the ITA singles rankings and three ranked doubles teams, including the No. 5 duo of Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez. Under head coach Matt Roberts, the program's all-time wins leader with 223 victories, Mississippi State has established consistency across the lineup. The Bulldogs are .500 or better at every singles position this season and have demonstrated their balance by earning ranked wins both at home and on the road. Mississippi State won the last meeting between the sides in Knoxville, 4-3. |
| Mississippi's 2026 turkey season will be 3 days longer than usual | |
| Good news for turkey hunters: the upcoming spring season will be longer than usual. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks announced Thursday that because of where the season's traditional start and end dates fall on the calendar, there will be an extra three days to hunt for gobblers. Turkey season usually starts on March 15, and since the date falls on a Sunday this year, the opener slides up to Saturday, March 14. Then, on the tail end of the season, the traditional May 1 finale falls on a Friday. Under a new law, the season will be extended by an additional two days to Sunday, May 3. This will give hunters a full weekend at the end of the season. The season extension will not change any rules on annual bag limits, MDWFP noted. MDWFP also used the extension announcement to remind hunters of the state's new wild turkey stamp program. Any person 16 years or older is required to purchase a stamp before hunting, with the rule applying to both resident and non-resident hunters hunting on private and public lands. However, there are some exceptions in place for disabled hunters or those who have a lifetime sportsmen's license. |
| NCAA asks Mississippi Supreme Court to quickly block judge's ruling on eligibility of Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss | |
| The NCAA is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to quickly throw out a trial court judge's ruling that granted Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss one more year of college sports eligibility. "If courts can intervene in NCAA eligibility decisions to provide special treatment to favored athletes, then the NCAA's ability to ensure fair athletic competition in which all participants play by the same rules will depend upon the whims of trial courts throughout the country," attorneys for the college sports' governing organization wrote in papers filed Thursday. "Orders that substitute a trial court's judgment regarding NCAA eligibility for that of the NCAA pose an existential threat to the NCAA's administration of collegiate sports," they wrote. The NCAA attorneys also argued that speed is necessary. "If this case proceeds in the ordinary course, it is unlikely that it will be resolved before UM's first contest of the season during the first week of September," they wrote. "Expedited review is essential to prevent irreparable harm to the NCAA and its members, to UM, and to Respondent (Chambliss)." After a daylong hearing Feb. 12 in Pittsboro, Chancery Judge Robert Whitwell granted a temporary restraining order that Chambliss requested against the NCAA. Whitwell ruled that the NCAA "acted in bad faith" in denying Chambliss' appeal for another season of eligibility. |
| Elimination of April transfer portal window could cause return of traditional spring football games | |
| The disappearance of the spring transfer portal window creates the opportunity for a reappearance of spring football games in campuses across the country. Playing a game in front of fans to end spring practice had become a fading tradition in the age of conference networks and the transfer portal. Coaches feared the possibility that rival staffs could watch televised spring games and turn them into scouting opportunities. "It just didn't incentivize us to be out there playing when people could watch that tape on national TV and call a kid," said Nebraska coach Matt Rhule, who did away with the spring game last year. That's not as much of a concern now that college football no longer has a second transfer portal window in April. Nebraska responded to the change by bringing back its spring game. "We missed it," Rhule said. "We wanted to do it. ... It's a great thing for the fans. It's a great thing for people who want to come watch us play. Once they kind of changed the calendar, we went back to a more traditional setting." Nebraska is holding spring practice earlier than most schools, as it held its first workout Feb. 21 and will conduct its spring game March 28. Most schools won't finish spring practice until April. At least a handful of Football Bowl Subdivision programs that responded to a survey from The Associated Press have decided to hold traditional spring games this year after not having them in 2025. That list also includes Auburn, UConn, North Texas and San Diego State, among others. |
| 'We Are in a Crisis': Why Louisville's Leaders Are Proposing a Cap on Sports Spending | |
| Some simple math leads to one inescapable answer: Intercollegiate athletics is broken, getting worse by the minute, and, absent some drastic changes, will disappear, at least on some campuses. That's the view from the University of Louisville, where a troika of the university's president, board chairman, and athletic director recently published a lengthy letter arguing for college-sports reform, calling for Congressional action, a hard cap on spending, and even a new governing agency. If that doesn't happen, "sports will go away," President Gerry Bradley told The Chronicle in a joint interview with Laurence N. Benz, chairman of the board of trustees. The letter landed as various college-sports leaders are headed to the White House for a planned roundtable on the subject Friday. Many, including Louisville's leaders, are skeptical real change will come from that. Bradley said he expected "maybe a general discussion, a photo opportunity, but then a smaller group of folks get together and start the work that needs to be done." No one from Louisville was invited to attend, Benz said. "Louisville's situation is not the exception -- it is the rule," the leaders wrote. "Across the country, from the wealthiest programs in the nation to those fighting simply to stay afloat, the financial picture is remarkably and alarmingly similar." |
| The president 'wants to help': White House to tackle likeness rights concerns with athletes, executives | |
| Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is working the ultimate referee. The former Auburn University football coach turned Alabama senator is quietly pressing President Donald Trump to wade into the increasingly chaotic world of name, image and likeness rights, a multi-billion dollar industry that critics, including the president, say threatens college athletics. And now it appears he's getting his wish. On Friday, Trump is scheduled to gather sports executives, former professional athletes and coaches at the White House for a roundtable on the future of college athletics. NIL -- the patchwork of state rules governing how schools can use student athletes' names, images and likeness -- is expected to be among the topics discussed, according to two White House officials granted anonymity to share the details. The president has repeatedly labeled the current NIL landscape a “disaster,” saying it threatens the financial and competitive health of college sports and even America’s Olympic pipeline. Trump argues that runaway bidding wars for top recruits are forcing universities to pour scarce resources into football and basketball at the expense of “lesser” sports -- programs that have historically been talent factories for non-revenue Olympic disciplines. |
| Finebaum issues warning to Trump about sports round table: 'This thing could blow up' | |
 | Paul Finebaum made it clear this week that he wants one thing to come from Donald Trump's "Saving College Sports Roundtable," which includes former Alabama coach Nick Saban, this Friday. "Let's go make something happen," Finebaum told "The McElroy and Cubelic Show" on WJOX 94.5-FM in Birmingham earlier this week. The SEC Network and ESPN analyst doesn't care if it Saban, former Florida coach Urban Meyer former Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow who convinces Trump, action has to be taken to save college football from itself. Finebaum did lay down a warning. "The bottom line is this: If something doesnt' happen very quickly, I mean in the short period of time, we're talking weeks, then this thing could blow up." Finebaum, like many, have questions. Can anything get done? Will it be a circus? The panel is expected to examine solutions to challenges including NCAA authority, name, image and likeness (NIL) issues, collective bargaining, and governance concerns. |
| White House seeks to put a Trump-style stamp on college sports | |
| On Friday afternoon, an eclectic mix of athletes, conference commissioners, television executives and former football coaches are scheduled to file into the White House, summoned to help President Donald Trump tackle what he views as a pressing national problem. Not the conflict flaring in Iran, the turmoil inside the Department of Homeland Security or the looming midterm elections. Trump is expected to convene golf star Tiger Woods, leaders from the Power Four conferences, media executives from ESPN and Fox and high-profile former coaches to probe what ails college sports -- and how to fix it. Despite years of congressional hearings, lawmakers have yet to establish a national framework to stabilize the system. And while some fans revel in their teams' sudden rise -- Indiana University's college football championship provides a prime example -- many fret about the end of traditional conferences, growing professionalization and problems facing smaller sports. Not everyone with a stake in the future of college sports will be in the room. Given the participants, the discussion is likely to focus primarily on major football programs, with Olympic sports and women's athletics unlikely to command much attention, said Robert Kelchen, a professor of higher education policy at the University of Tennessee. But the White House placing its fingerprints on the future of college sports carries weight in itself. "It's always different when it involves the White House," Kelchen said. |
| Experts see a wide data gap in women's sports science. This WNBA team owner wants to fix it | |
| New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai has a vested interest in getting the most out of female athletes. What she found when she took over the team in 2019 was a major gap in data and training compared to what's available for men. She jump-started efforts to change that by funding the Human Performance Alliance five years ago, and halfway through the 10-year project, she sees a bright future. "Most of the sport science research has been on male subjects and findings applied to women," Wu Tsai said in a phone interview. "More girls are playing sports and those female athletes do deserve the same scientific understanding that has been available to men." Her goals for the remainder of the 10-year project are to be able to predict injuries before they happen, individualize training and recovery, and close the data gap in women's physiology. Women's sports participation has surged over the past five decades. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, girls' high school sports participation has grown from 294,000 in 1972 to 3.4 million today -- an increase of more than 1,000%. Women made up 48% of athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the highest share in Olympic history. At the collegiate level, women now represent 44% of all NCAA athletes, up from 15% before Title IX took effect. With all the increased participation of women in sports, only 6% of sports science studies focus exclusively on female athletes, according to the Alliance. |
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