| Thursday, November 12, 2026 |
| Mississippi State wins national award for campus grounds |
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| Mississippi State University won a national Grand Award for its campus grounds from the Professional Grounds Management Society at its annual conference in Tampa, Florida. The society recognized MSU in the large educational institutions division of the University and College Grounds category at its 2026 Green Star Awards ceremony. "Our campus shapes the Mississippi State experience, from the first visit to the everyday moments that make this place feel like home," said Saunders Ramsey, associate vice president for administration. "That's intentional, and it reflects the care and attention our Campus Landscape team brings to its work every day." The university's 52-member Campus Landscape team maintains about 1,000 acres. Its recent work includes new or improved landscaping at McCarthy Quad, Hardy Plaza, the Chapel of Memories garden and courtyards at Azalea Hall and the Randy Cleveland Engineering Student Center. MSU said the team manages 29.2 million square feet of turf and 2.74 million square feet of planting beds. "We're here to create and care for spaces where people want to spend their time, and our team takes great pride in the work that goes into making that possible," said Jim Bo Hearnsberger, associate director of Campus Landscape. | |
| Ole Miss students speak out after alleged racial harassment in viral video: |
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| The Black college students who were harassed by two White students at the University of Mississippi making monkey gestures and sounds outside their apartment are speaking out after the incident went viral. The women said they were familiar with the stories of racism some faced at Ole Miss over the years -- the school didn't allow its first Black student, James Meredith, until 1962, for instance -- but they were not prepared for what they experienced last Friday. Jakirya Metcalf, a freshman at Ole Miss, said she was in her apartment last Friday night when she saw the video on her Ring camera. "We actually went outside and tried to, like, approach them and get them to explain why they did that," Metcalf told "CBS Mornings." University officials said in a statement they are investigating the incident and have reached out to those targeted. Metcalf, Caldwell and Johnson said they plan to stay at Ole Miss and said they won't let the incident ruin their time at the school. | |
| Ole Miss Investigates White Students Who Made Racist Gestures in Video |
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| A pair of white University of Mississippi students caught on video making racist gestures outside the apartment of Black students on Friday night have provoked a wave of outrage and demands for discipline. The university has denounced the racist taunts and launched an investigation. The few seconds of doorbell video has been viewed millions of times online since it was posted several days ago. It showed three women walking past the apartment door, and two of them making monkey sounds and gestures before walking on. Lamarcus Lenoir, a University of Mississippi junior, who is Black, said Tuesday morning that the Black community on campus is "obviously frustrated" by the video, particularly given the school's history of racism and segregation. In 2012, campus protesters yelled racist slurs after the re-election of President Barack Obama. Two years later, the university was shaken when a noose was placed around the neck of a statue of James Meredith, the school's first Black student, who arrived in 1962 amid a race riot that required federal troops to suppress. In 2024, the White House denounced counterprotesters at the university who were caught on video taunting a Black student, including one white student who appeared to make monkey gestures. | |
| Student from Wisconsin in viral Ole Miss video withdraws from university |
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| Alaina Kunes, one of three Ole Miss students seen in a viral video making monkey gestures toward the apartment of Black students, has withdrawn from the university, her attorney confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Nov. 10. Kunes, 18, of Elkhorn, was a freshman at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. Jakirya Metcalf, who lives in the apartment, published the video on TikTok on Nov. 7, a day after the incident. It depicts Ring camera footage of Kunes and another woman thumping their chests and howling like monkeys as they pass the door. A third woman walking with them does not make any gestures or noises. Kunes' attorney, Thomas G. Gardiner with Gardiner Koch Weisberg & Wrona, confirmed with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Alaina Kunes is the daughter of Scott Kunes. He added Alaina Kunes is not involved or employed with the Kunes Auto car dealership business founded by her grandfather, Gregg Kunes, and her father is not currently involved in the business, either. In August, a West Allis woman filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Kunes Buick GMC, alleging that a technician at the dealership in 2025 wrote a racial slur on her oil change sticker. In April, another Black woman said a salesman at the Kunes dealership in Elkhorn sent her a text message of an image of a dancing ape wearing a bathing suit. The dealerships fired both employees. | |
| Inauguration ceremony set for JSU's 14th president |
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| Next month, Jackson State University will inaugurate its first female president who is also an alum, Dr. Denise Jones Gregory. Gregory, the institution's 14th president, was officially named to the role by the Board of Trustees for the Institutions of Higher Learning in May after an extensive candidate search that included the consideration of nearly 80 people. She previously served as interim president of the 149-year-old university starting in May of 2025. The university will reach 150 years of operation in Mississippi on October 23. After taking over the duties in the spring, Gregory started work to modernize infrastructure across the campus through a $65 million construction and renovation project. The project includes construction of residence facilities that will add 400 more student beds and provide upgrades to buildings and utilities. She graduated magna cum laude from JSU in 1994 with a bachelor of science in chemistry and later went on to earn a doctorate in Chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology. | |
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