| Friday, October 10, 2025 |
| Soybean harvest underway in Mississippi | |
 | It's been a season of highs and lows for Mississippi soybean farmers, a strong harvest following a tough start to the year. "Harvest this year has been really good because we've had the weather that's been favorable for harvest conditions. We really needed that with how much of a struggle the year was to start, and some of the struggles we had in the season," said Mississippi State University Extension Service State Agronomist Justin Calhoun. Early rainfall delayed planting, especially across the eastern part of the state, but dry fall weather helped farmers make up time. However, rising input costs and dropping soybean prices are cutting into profits. "Soybean prices are below the average of what we'd want them to be, and combined with high input costs, it's really hard for our growers to have a good return on investment right now," said Calhoun. In Noxubee County, longtime farmer Philip Good said it's one of the toughest years he's seen, between weather, costs, and losing key export buyers. "We're missing some export markets, and with some of the tariffs, we're missing China, which is a big customer of U.S. soybeans," said Good. |
| Free Walking Challenge with Arboretum | |
 | Participants of the Walk Mississippi challenge can log some of their miles at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum free of charge during the challenge. The Arboretum will open one hour early on Saturdays during the challenge -- from Oct. 11 through Nov. 15 -- for individuals and groups who are participating in the new exercise and nutrition initiative of the MSU Extension Service. Walkers can enter with no admission fee between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on the specified Saturdays. Walk Mississippi and Live Healthy...One Step at a Time is a six-week health challenge encouraging people of all ages to be more physically active and to adopt a healthier diet. The challenge runs from Oct. 11 to Nov. 21. The program's objective is to encourage Mississippians to walk 180 miles -- the equivalent of the width of Mississippi -- and adopt lifestyle habits from MSU Extension's Walk-A-Weigh wellness program. The Crosby Arboretum is an award-winning, 104-acre native plant conservatory dedicated to research, education and conservation of the native plants of the Pearl River Drainage Basin of south-central Mississippi and Louisiana. |
| The Riley Foundation celebrates 2025 interns | |
 | Pictured are students who participated in the 2025 Riley Foundation Summer Intern Program, front row Catherine Freeman, Mary Margaret Freeman, Aubrie Denton, Mary Emma Honeycutt, Jamesa Bias; back row, George Paxton, Fletcher Mayerhoff, Parker Henry, Maggie Triplett, Christian Gray, Alysen Hester, Abbie Thornton, Sarah Dudley Reed, Kenaysha Gale and Lauren Boutwell. This program was established in 2004 to provide resources to assist local non-profit organizations in hiring college students to accomplish special projects that further their mission. The program has since granted over $1.3M and paired more than 325 college students with various local nonprofit organizations. Students gain knowledge about the nonprofit sector and the important services they provide. To learn more about The Riley Foundation Summer Intern Program, visit rileyfoundation.org. |
| EPA helping Noxubee with park, downtown upgrades | |
 | Noxubee County residents could see a face lift coming for their parks and downtown areas in the near future after the county was selected for an Environmental Protection Agency program that aims to boost economic growth and outdoor recreation. Katherine Mickens, a member of the Noxubee Economic and Community Development Alliance, said she is excited for what the county's future may look like under the program. Amanda McBride is leading the local efforts. McBride is a community facilitator with Communities Unlimited, a nonprofit that supports economic development in rural areas. She applied for the program on the county's behalf in October 2024. McBride is assembling a local planning committee for the project, which will include residents, representatives from organizations including the Noxubee County Historical Society, Noxubee General Hospital, Mississippi State University Extension, as well as local officials from the municipalities. Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee Wildlife Refuge is a key site McBride hopes to leverage to boost tourism throughout the area. "There's a lot of visitors that come through the refuge and Highway 45 going through Noxubee County, so we want to look at tourism and ways we can get all of those visitors into each one of our towns and drive all that traffic into (the rest of) Noxubee County," McBride said. |
| Donors keep Vicksburg military site open as government shutdown closes most national parks | |
| Most of Mississippi's national parks and monuments are closed to visitors because of the federal government shutdown. An exception is the Vicksburg National Military Park, which initially closed when the shutdown began Oct. 1 but entered an agreement to reopen the next day with donations from the nonprofit Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park. While the visitor center, USS Cairo Gunboat & Museum, tour roads and restrooms are all open to visitors, the park is running on limited staff. Operating the park during the shutdown costs $2,000 a day, said Bess Averett, executive director of Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park. "We are not a massive nonprofit, so we do have limited resources," Averett said. "So far, the public has been very generous." Keeping the park closed would make it vulnerable to vandalism, relic hunting and more problems, she said. It also would mean turning away visitors, hurting the local economy. The military park is the most visited attraction in Mississippi, according to the local tourism office, Visit Vicksburg. |
| Vicksburg mayor sets sights on becoming Mississippi's technology leader | |
| Officials in Vicksburg want to make Mississippi's River City the state's hub for technology and innovation. Willis Thompson, the city's recently elected mayor, told a panel of his peers at an Oct. 6. event at the Mississippi College School of Law, that his administration is fixating on being more tech-focused. "From the moment I took office, my goal has been for Vicksburg to lead when it comes to innovation and technology," Thompson said. "We've already taken concrete steps to make that goal a reality for our people by building on our existing federal assets." He referred to a memorandum of understanding signed in Vicksburg by Gov. Tate Reeves, the federal Engineer Research and Development Center, the Mississippi Development Authority, and the Mississippi Apex Accelerator, aimed at supporting technology transfer, commercialization, and small-business innovation, as a basis for this initiative. Thompson also highlighted a partnership between Cisco Systems, Rust College, and the Thad Cochran Mississippi Center for Innovation and Technology as a driving force that can elevate Vicksburg in the Magnolia State's tech scene. The collaboration will provide networking infrastructure, technical support, and workforce training. The city recently received nearly $300,000 from Accelerate Mississippi to expand the center for innovation and technology. |
| School Choice Top Priority for House Speaker During 2026 Session | |
| The establishment of a school choice program is expected to be heavily debated during the 2026 legislative session. School choice allows public education funds to follow students in kindergarten through 12th grade to the schools or services that best fit their needs -- whether that's to a public school, private school, charter school, home school or any other learning environment families choose. In Mississippi, Jason White, speaker of the state House of Representatives, has said passing a comprehensive school choice bill is a top priority for the upcoming session. Barrett Donahoe, executive director of the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), said it's tough to determine on the front end how broad an impact school choice legislation would have on independent schools in the state. The Mid-South Association of Independent Schools has 114 member schools in Mississippi, which represents 40,000 students in the state and about 6,000 faculty and staff members. It's also tough before any legislation is passed to determine how many additional students in Mississippi would opt for independent schools, Donahoe said. |
| Mississippi lawmakers discuss progress in public education | |
 | Mississippi has made vast improvements in education that started more than a decade ago. On Thursday, the Senate Education Committee heard from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). "In 2013, I like to say that we became very honest with ourself because there was... we were rated an F. We were rated an F, at the bottom or near the bottom and pretty much every category," said State Superintendent Dr. Lance Evans.MDE officials said the state reached its highest education ranking ever at No. 16, according to the 2025 Kids Count Data Book. Just over a decade ago, officials said the state ranked at No. 48. State Senator David Blount (D-District 29) said the state needs to stay locked in on public education. "We don't need to divert public money into nonpublic schools. We need to pay our teachers more and support our public schools, and we'll continue to make progress," he said. According to Blount, MDE has increased the rigor of instructional materials used by students. |
| Mississippi's Mike Hurst confirmed as general counsel of Republican National Committee | |
| On Thursday, the Republican National Committee announced Mississippian Mike Hurst as its new general counsel. Hurst currently serves as the Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party and as one of three committee members from Mississippi at the RNC, together with Lesley Davis and former party chairman Arnie Hederman. Hurst previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, after appointment by President Donald Trump during his first term in office. The general counsel of the two major political parties serves as the top legal officer. In the role, Hurst will advise RNC Chairman Joe Gruters and other party officials on a wide range of topics from election law compliance to the management of outside litigation strategy and execution. Hurst will continue his duties as chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. |
| 'It's just disappointment': Shutdown adds to farmers' anxieties | |
 | The government shutdown is creating financial heartburn for farmers across the country, stalling the delivery of farm loans, the release of critical market reports and the Trump administration's plans for cash bailouts. Producers of row crops like corn, wheat and soybeans have for months been weathering tariff uncertainty and high input costs for things like fertilizer and machinery, while hoping that President Donald Trump will open new markets for their products or send them financial assistance, as he did during his first-term trade war with China. The absence of those things -- in combination with the shutdown -- has heightened concern at a time when farmers need to start making decisions about how to pay for next year's planting season. "Every day that the government isn't open, there's slightly more anxiety in farm country, especially as growers are harvesting and having to pay bills and having to pay off their bank," Russell Williams, a Texas-based corn and wheat farmer, said in an interview. "There's serious risks of farm bankruptcies this year." Any hope for quick farmer bailouts to alleviate their economic stress has also been waylaid. Trump administration officials, from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have prepared money from an internal USDA fund to send to producers and suggested tapping tariff revenue. But the shutdown has delayed the announcement and rollout of those funds, which Rollins confirmed in a Cabinet meeting Thursday. |
| Senate Passes Bipartisan $925 Billion Defense Policy Bill | |
 | The Senate approved legislation on Thursday that would authorize $925 billion for national defense, giving overwhelming bipartisan support to the annual defense policy bill. The vote set up a potentially contentious series of negotiations with the House, which has loaded its version of the measure with a range of conservative social policy dictates that the Senate mostly avoided. The 77-to-20 vote took place late on Day 9 of a federal government shutdown, advancing legislation that would authorize everything from new submarines and fighter jets to the annual pay increase for troops. The bipartisan bill also overhauls how the military buys weapons and supports the large network of private and public organizations that provides the U.S. government with materials, products and services for defense and military operations. "Today, the Senate passed one of the most important legislative priorities to enable the modernization of our military and strengthen our national security," Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement late Thursday. The legislation helps the U.S. military contend with a threat environment "that we have not faced since World War II," he added. |
| Senate passes mammoth annual defense policy bill | |
 | The Senate late Thursday approved its massive annual defense policy bill as the U.S. government remains shut down. The GOP-led chamber approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 70-20, which funds the U.S. military at $924.7 billion in fiscal year 2026. The NDAA had come to the Senate floor in early September but saw little movement until Thursday morning. Action on the bill was stalled as all 100 senators must agree to hold votes on amendments, with several sticking points causing a handful of lawmakers to halt the process. But Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) secured an agreement to vote on 17 stand-alone amendments and a package of nearly 50 less controversial amendments. "We simply cannot delay this process any longer," Wicker said on the Senate floor. "Let me make it clear, if we do not bring this to the floor today, this matter will not have time for deliberation on the Senate floor, and we'll have to basically pretend that we're having a conference between House and Senate members, and a very small group of senators will have to write this bill and bring it to the floor for final passage. That's not the way this ought to be done." |
| Senate passes NDAA after securing amendments deal | |
 | The Senate approved its version of the annual defense policy bill after ending an impasse on amendments, paving the way for the chamber to formally negotiate with the House on a compromise version of the bill. The 77-20 vote late Thursday to pass the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act came after a marathon voting session on amendments. Earlier, senators reached an agreement to vote on 17 stand-alone amendments, as well as a manager's package of 48 less controversial amendments that was approved by voice vote. The Senate's NDAA had been stalled since initial procedural votes in early September as senators, jockeying for votes on their amendments, objected to moving forward. But on Thursday morning, Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., announced that Republicans and Democrats had agreed on an amendments package. Still, even after the amendments deal was announced, the bill faced one last hiccup. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said Thursday afternoon that she would oppose expediting passage of the bill until Wicker agreed to hold a public hearing on the Trump administration's National Guard deployments to Democratic-led cities over the objections of local leaders. An hour later, though, Duckworth said she secured a commitment for that hearing, allowing Thursday's votes to proceed as Wicker hoped. "While we never should have had to wait this long for a hearing into some of Trump's most egregious abuses of our nation's military -- and I wish Republicans had been more proactive in taking action to protect Americans' civil rights -- I appreciate Chairman Wicker finally committing to hold a hearing on these deployments in the coming weeks," Duckworth said in a statement. |
| Trump's quest for the Nobel Peace Prize falls short again despite high-profile nominations | |
 | President Donald Trump was passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday despite jockeying from his fellow Republicans, various world leaders and -- most vocally -- himself. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honoring her "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." The White House responded bitterly, with communications director Steven Cheung saying members of "the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace" because they didn't recognize Trump. "He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will," Cheung wrote on social media. The White House did not comment on Machado's recognition. Her opposition to President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela aligns with the Trump administration's own stance on Venezuela, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has praised her as "the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism." Trump, who has long coveted the prestigious prize, has been outspoken about his desire for the honor during both of his presidential terms, particularly lately as he takes credit for ending conflicts around the world. |
| Israel Says Cease-Fire Has Begun, Troops Withdraw From Parts of Gaza | |
 | The Israeli military said Friday a cease-fire in Gaza went into effect at noon local time, setting the stage for the release of the remaining hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid into the territory. Israeli troops on Friday morning withdrew from parts of the Gaza Strip as part of the cease-fire deal, Israeli and Arab officials said. Israel's government approved the agreement overnight local time, which calls on Israeli forces to pull back to a line marked in yellow on a map. The army reached that yellow line by noon, completing the initial withdrawal phase, Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, said in a social-media post. Hamas said it would begin deploying internal security forces in the areas after Israeli forces had withdrawn. The Israeli troop withdrawal sets up the cease-fire and starts a 72-hour window for the release of the hostages, mediators say. Trump has indicated he would be visiting Israel in the coming days. Israel said it was deploying thousands of police officers to prepare for a visit on Monday. |
| Oklahoma's Republican Governor Criticizes National Guard Deployment in Chicago | |
| Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican and the chairman of the National Governors Association, on Thursday criticized the deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Illinois as a violation of his beliefs in federalism and "states' rights." His comments, in an interview with The New York Times, marked the first time a Republican governor has questioned the interstate deployment of National Guard troops over a governor's objections. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and other Democratic elected officials have been strongly critical of the move and have implored Republican governors to join the opposition. Mr. Stitt on Thursday said, "We believe in the federalist system -- that's states' rights," adding, "Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration." Mr. Stitt stressed that he supported President Trump's efforts to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and ensure "law and order" in cities like Chicago and Portland, Ore. But he worried about the precedent that was being set by the guard deployment and how it could be used by a president from another party. Instead, Mr. Stitt said, Mr. Trump should have moved to federalize the troops in Illinois first. |
| Skeptical judges increasingly question administration's veracity | |
 | In recent days, a Trump-appointed judge in Oregon declared the president's decision to send the National Guard to Portland was "simply untethered to the facts." In Tennessee, an Obama-appointed judge ruled that Kilmar Abrego García had presented enough evidence to pursue a rare claim of "vindictive prosecution." On Thursday, Judge April M. Perry in Chicago, appointed by President Joe Biden, said she had seen a "lack of credibility" from the Department of Homeland Security. Affidavits from the agency's officials, "point to the arrest of people who did not actually commit a crime. That undercuts the persuasive value of your argument," she told attorneys for the administration. As those admonishments have rained down from federal judges, White House officials have responded with increasingly fervid rhetoric. In response to the Portland ruling, which blocked President Donald Trump from deploying the National Guard in the city, the president's top domestic policy aide, Stephen Miller, went on social media to accuse Judge Karin J. Immergut of engaging in a "legal insurrection." The intensity of the recent exchanges speak to the growing exasperation felt by many judges. And the provocative language has evoked concerns that the White House might decide to defy courts that block his decisions. Attorney General Pam Bondi told the Senate earlier this week that the Justice Department has not defied court orders. Miller's heated rhetoric, however, suggests the White House may see the situation differently. |
| King Mohammed VI set to speak as Gen Z protesters demand reforms in Morocco | |
| Morocco's elusive King Mohammed VI inaugurates parliament Friday in a speech with far higher stakes than in recent years, as anti-government protests sweep the nation's cities, questioning the government's spending priorities. He's the country's highest authority, but Mohammed VI rarely addresses the public and often leaves it to ministers or members of the royal family to represent Morocco internationally. Decades ago dubbed Morocco's "King of the Poor," he now faces a public expressing disillusionment with slow progress and widening economic divides. Since Sept. 27, protesters have filled the streets of more than a dozen Moroccan cities, denouncing the billions being poured into preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Angered by underfunded schools and hospitals, the "Gen Z 212" movement has drawn a direct line between new stadiums and neglected public services, mobilizing a nationwide movement unlike any seen since the Arab Spring in 2011. Named for Morocco's +212 dialing code, the group has organized on platforms like TikTok and Discord, mirroring similar youth-led protests in Nepal. |
| McCarty Foundation Contribution Boosts UMMC Cancer Center Project | |
| The H.F. McCarty Foundation's recent gift to the University of Mississippi Medical Center will help give the state's cancer patients closer access to treatment supported by leading-edge research, which could result in more time with their loved ones. The Jackson-based foundation continued its legacy of giving to a myriad of charities by supporting the construction of a new world-class home for the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute. "My grandparents designed the foundation to be focused on science, medicine, education and the arts," said Northsider Leslie Baskin, the foundation's secretary. "We felt that this gift would touch all those points." Baskin is the youngest granddaughter of Mary Ann and H.F. "Mac" McCarty, who started the foundation in 1995. The McCarty Foundation's gift adds to support other donors have given the medical center's largest capital campaign to date, which will fund construction of the five-story, 250,000-plus square-foot building. The new facility will provide "a welcoming, artful, interdisciplinary space that enhances patient and family care, improves access and offers a seamless health care experience." |
| Security measures in place ahead of JSU homecoming weekend | |
| Many are preparing for all the festivities of Jackson State University's homecoming this weekend. As attendees are readying to celebrate, Interim Police Chief Tyree Jones has come up with a plan for the Jackson Police Department to effectively keep everyone safe. "We are prepared to have more visibility and more patrol around the areas where we believe that there may be venues or people hosting events," Jones said. On Thursday, Jones shared with 3 On Your Side that public safety is the top priority when policing massive events such as homecoming at JSU. He said citizens can expect to see a footprint from all law enforcement departments here in the capital city for visibility and patrol. These departments include JPD, Capitol Police, and the Hinds County Sheriff's Office. "We will not tolerate any illegal or criminal behavior and those that need to be addressed will be addressed accordingly," Jones continued. "That's why we said we want people to be responsible. They should drink responsibly." Jones emphasized how there will be a heavy presence of police officers on every corner and throughout the JSU parade. That level of police activity will also apply on game day at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. |
| Direct Admissions Initiative earns 9K Alabama seniors $2.2B in scholarship offers | |
| Alabama's new Direct Admissions Initiative is already paying off for more than 9,000 high school seniors who received a combined $2.2 billion in scholarship offers from participating colleges and universities -- without applying. The colleges found them. That's the kind of result Chandra Scott, executive director of Alabama Possible, is hoping for. "I am in awe of how this is changing how students experience postsecondary access," Scott said. This is the first year of the initiative, which is designed to help students – especially those who might not think college is an option -- see what's possible. It's part of Alabama Possible's "Alabama Goes to College" campaign and was built in partnership with EAB, a national education company that manages the Match platform used to connect students and schools. Alabama Possible is a nonprofit organization that works to expand college access and increase economic opportunity across the state. Gov. Kay Ivey, who attended the program's launch in July, said giving more students a path to college is essential for Alabama's future workforce. "That's not just a win for education, that's a win for our workforce," Ivey said at the launch. |
| Roberts meets with AAUP to discuss recent terminations | |
| On Sept. 17 at 1:00 p.m. Auburn University released a statement via social media stating that employees had made social media posts that were at odds with the university's beliefs. These employees were terminated. On Sept. 26, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) at Auburn met with President Christopher Roberts and Provost Vini Nathan to discuss the terminations. Upon the completion of this meeting and a receival of the minutes, an anonymous source reached out to The Plainsman with those minutes. The first and only item in the agenda reads as follows: "Agenda Item #1: Speech and Policy: Faculty and staff have reached out from across campus with their concerns about the implications of Dr. Roberts' statement regarding the recent AU employee firings." Under this item, there are three bullet points, two of which point attention to articles that deal with Auburn and other universities around the country firing employees due to their statements regarding the death of Charlie Kirk. The third item, was the code of conduct document. These issues were immediately addressed by President Roberts. He stated that there is no person or group assigned with monitoring social media posts, the "community" monitors speech. He also stated that he regretted some elements of his statement, which caused confusion over "offensive speech vs threatening speech." He also stated that actions taken went through a process related to "safety/threats/promotion of violence" instead of just "offensive statements" which were also confused in his statement. |
| Grand Theft Auto: Scruffy City? Video games teach US history at U. of Tennessee | |
 | Associate professor Tore Olsson is bringing the fictious streets of Liberty City, Vice City and Los Santos from the popular Grand Theft Auto video game franchise into the classroom at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. When the HIST 150 course begins in January for the spring 2026 semester, students won't be learning how to hijack cars or rob banks. Olsson makes it clear the class isn't a celebration of violence, but an examination of the past 40 years of United States history and culture as displayed through the games. It's in the class's name: "Grand Theft America: U.S. History since 1980 Through the GTA Video Games." "It's an opportunity to use one of the most influential pieces of pop culture ever made -- a franchise that is paradoxically both crude and thoughtful, sensational yet sophisticated -- to foster interest in recent American history and to explain how we arrived at our particular moment," Olsson told Knox News via email. Olsson, the director of graduate studies in UT's history department, made headlines in recent years for a class focused on Red Dead Redemption 2, another title from GTA publisher Rockstar Games, that is set in the American Old West. |
| Texas A&M chancellor on culture wars and a new era of state-driven reforms in academia | |
 | Glenn Hegar leaned forward in his seat on a bumpy plane ride from College Station to Victoria, a picture of confidence after years of flying in small aircrafts on state business. A gold Aggie ring glinted as he gestured with his right hand. The new chancellor of the Texas A&M University System was traveling to a Sept. 4 community event at a recently acquired university, where he agreed to an interview that, at one point, shifted to the changing tides in higher education. The pendulum swings, the 54-year-old said, but the constant is that people want an education and need to be skilled for the workforce. Universities have to "right size" their offerings to ensure they're providing that service, however, and the "vast majority" of people don't want their teachers to insert personal opinions in the classroom, he said. Still, Hegar said he didn't see a larger problem at the Texas A&M System's 12 universities, despite the occasional "buzzword" on a syllabus or school website. "The reality is the Texas A&M University System is right there doing its job, which is providing quality education to their students," the politician-turned-college administrator said. "And do you have one person here or there, maybe somewhere in 165,000 students, 28,000 employees? ... There's going to be somebody somewhere." |
| U. of Oklahoma to tighten security for 'The Turning Point Tour' amid national concern for event safety | |
| OU Turning Point USA confirmed there will be increased security measures taken ahead of Turning Point USA's visit to the University of Oklahoma as part of its "The Turning Point Tour." Kalib Magana, OU Turning Point USA president, told OU Daily that security for the event is being modeled closely to university football games. Magana also confirmed OU's Turning Point chapter paid for an increased OU Police Department presence at the event. "This has already been a two-month-long process of making sure that ... we have a very secure event," Magana said. Magana said the event will implement a clear bag policy and require metal detectors upon entry. However, Magana said he did not ask the university to provide any additional security measures. "I actually asked the university if they would do anything different," Magana said. "They said they've already had a pretty strong record and strong system in place to accommodate such a large group of people and for political matters -- so we're good." |
| Bachelor finalist Daisy Kent inspires Mizzou audience to follow their passion | |
 | Students, alumni and community members crowded into Jesse Auditorium on Wednesday to hear "Bachelor" Season 28 finalist, Daisy Kent, speak in a moderated interview about her resilience and how she has navigated life after losing her hearing. The most important lesson she learned in college was "to just be me and not try to be anyone else," Kent said. She was the speaker for this year's Delta Gamma Lectureship, an annual program that brings guest speakers to the University of Missouri to speak about ethical conduct and excellence through leadership. The event was hosted in collaboration with the Campus Activities Programming Board. "Everybody has something (going on in their lives)," is an idea Kent kept coming back to. "I think it's how you take things and can make it into something positive." Kent was born and raised in small-town Becker, Minnesota and moved west to San Diego State University to study communications and digital media. When she was about 15, she started to lose her hearing and was later diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a disorder of the inner ear. She was also diagnosed with Lyme disease when she was 20. Kent said that throughout her health struggles, she spent a lot of time alone and reflecting on what she was going through, before trying to use her unique experience to connect to others with health struggles. |
| Under pressure from right-wing groups, NC public universities disagree on whether a syllabus is a public record | |
| As public records requests pour in from right-wing groups seeking syllabi and other course materials, UNC System schools are coming to different conclusions about what is, and is not, a public record. UNC-Chapel Hill administrators have made it clear that they believe all course materials -- from syllabi, to presentation slides, to lecture notes -- are faculty's intellectual property and thus protected by copyright. The university refused to fulfill a public records request from The Oversight Project, a spin-off of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, a couple of months ago on these grounds. Last month, UNC Greensboro attorneys and administrators reached the exact opposite conclusion. According to multiple professors at UNCG, administrators instructed faculty to hand over their syllabi from the spring 2025 semester to fulfill a recent records request. Charles Bolton is UNCG's faculty senate chair. He said the decision came from UNC Greensboro's university counsel. "The fact that Chapel Hill took a different position was one of the things that raised questions among faculty here -- about why are we doing this?" Bolton said. "I don't know that we have any definitive answer about that." |
| Democratic Lawmakers Pressure UVA | |
 | Months after Jim Ryan stepped down as University of Virginia president, state Sen. Creigh Deeds is still waiting for answers on whether political interference and external pressure played a role. Ryan resigned in late June, citing pressure from the federal government amid Department of Justice investigations into diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the public university. Although the Board of Visitors voted to shutter its DEI office in March, conservative critics accused UVA of failing to dismantle such efforts. The DOJ subsequently launched seven investigations, two of which have been closed. The status of the other five remains unclear. Deeds, a Democrat who represents Charlottesville and the surrounding area, has been seeking answers since Aug. 1 through a series of letters sent to the Board of Visitors and a far-reaching Freedom of Information Act request. But so far, university lawyers have largely refused to answer the state lawmaker's questions, citing ongoing investigations. Faculty members have also said they can't get straight answers from the university or face time with the board. And complaints over an alleged lack of transparency at UVA are piling up as state lawmakers are applying additional pressure over how the university will respond to an invitation to sign on to the proposed "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" that the Trump administration sent to UVA and eight other universities last week. |
| The Therapist Next Door: College students are meeting with 'embedded' counselors in dorms and academic buildings, with promising results. | |
| As a child, Xiomara Garcia, 21, assumed that attending a four-year college was out of reach. Her parents had never finished middle school, and money was tight. But there she was -- a bioengineering major at Santa Clara University with a generous scholarship. In some of her classes, she was the only person of color. "It was like the biggest culture shock of my life," Ms. Garcia said. She began to worry that she was an impostor who didn't belong. Then a family member died. All of this, plus a stressful course load and unresolved childhood trauma, made it difficult to control her emotions. She tried online therapy, but finding a place to log in to her sessions privately, away from her roommate, proved difficult. Once, she talked to her therapist over video from underneath a stairwell on campus, steps away from a cafe. Eventually, she decided to see someone in person. Her new therapist had an office in the dorm where she had lived during her freshman year. The space included shells and rocks that her therapist had found, as well as soft lighting, cozy chairs and a basket of snacks -- a welcome change from hiding in a busy building or braving the clinical environment of the main counseling center, she said. A growing number of campus mental health professionals, often referred to as "embedded counselors," are now working out of dorms and other academic buildings. |
| Higher Ed Will Likely Be a Key Topic for SCOTUS. Which Cases Will Make the Cut? | |
| As the Supreme Court begins its new term this week, legal experts predict that higher education will be a frequent subject for the justices. Yet only two college-related cases -- both of which center on transgender rights -- are currently listed on the main docket. That's in large part because of a less formal but increasingly popular second list of cases known as the shadow docket. Historically, the shadow docket, also called the emergency docket, was used on rare occasions for just that -- emergencies. In situations when the lack of a ruling from the highest court could lead to immediate, irreversible consequences, this alternate route allowed the justices to move quickly and issue an interim decision without going through traditional processes such as briefings, oral arguments or written opinions. But over the course of the past three administrations, use of this secondary docket has skyrocketed, creating a lack of predictability and an immense sense of uncertainty for the public. Normally, it can take months for a case's petition to be processed, and then once a case is on the docket it can take even longer for it to be heard and ruled upon. This leaves the parties directly involved -- and all who may be affected by the decision---time to prepare and create contingency plans for the potential outcomes. But when the shadow docket is used, cases can be introduced and receive a ruling in a matter of weeks, if not days, often without any explanation. |
| How a Trump-Supporting Congressman Turned College President Disarmed His Critics | |
 | Bill Johnson knew he was an unconventional choice to become Youngstown State University's next president. He'd had a 26-year career in the Air Force, rising to lieutenant colonel; led three tech companies; and spent more than a decade in Congress. On its face, that experience is unconventional but not unheard of. What is more unusual is that, while in Congress, Johnson, a staunch conservative, swapped endorsements with President Trump, and was perhaps best known for voting not to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election and supporting a travel ban on majority-Muslim nations during Trump's first administration. Johnson, 70, wasn't seeking a fourth act. So when representatives from the search firm WittKieffer came calling about the Youngstown State job, he had a question of his own: "Why would I consider something like this?" Now in the second year of his three-year contract, Johnson has weathered that rocky start and placated -- if not won over -- a substantial share of his campus. His unusual trajectory, from election-denying congressman to college president, offers a window into what might be a new crop of higher-ed leaders. His ability to change perceptions during his early tenure has derived from his political skills: listening, being a quick study, and avoiding ideological hot buttons. |
SPORTS
| Brian O'Connor still discovering power of Bulldog Baseball | |
| Mississippi State head coach Brian O'Connor's first task when he arrived in Starkville in June was to meet with the returning players from a disappointed and frustrated baseball team. In the span of just three months, the Bulldogs had gone through a roller coaster SEC campaign, gone through a midseason head coaching change and played through a heartbreaking Tallahassee Regional while O'Connor's signing was being finalized and tracked on social media. It was an understandably difficult situation for the team, but it was important for O'Connor to meet with each player who had eligibility remaining. In the end, 15 stayed, but from all of them, the new head coach learned as much as he could about what exactly playing for the Bulldogs means to players. "One of the things that the first team meeting we had, I had all the players get up individually and introduce themselves to their teammates," he said. "Where they were from, the position they play. The returning MSU players, I had each of them speak to what the M over S means to them. I can tell you, being in this room and hearing those 15 young men talk about what it means to them was incredibly powerful." Through early workouts, positional work, and now intrasquad scrimmages, the team has come together in a way that O'Connor hoped it would be: by having fun. The Bulldogs will play two exhibition games and 15 fall scrimmages, separated into three-game series formats. Every three games, the teams switch up again, and a point system will chart the players throughout the fall to reward the top 50% with steaks and the bottom 50% with hot dogs at an end-of-semester dinner. |
| What we've learned from Brian O'Connor's first Mississippi State baseball fall scrimmages | |
 | Stay until the end of a Mississippi State baseball fall scrimmage and you'll see all of the players circle around home plate. They drop to the ground, and commence a synchronized ab workout that's about five minutes long. Details like that are among the many changes for the Bulldogs under new coach Brian O'Connor. Not every single scrimmage is open to the public like they were under previous coach Chris Lemonis. The scrimmages have some wrinkles too, like some innings beginning with a runner on first base. Twice a scrimmage, each team is allowed to load the bases with two outs to practice batting under pressure. MSU has held five scrimmages so far, and here are some of our standout observations. |
| Soccer: Bulldogs Travel To Florida On Friday Night | |
| A top-10 squad in one poll, the No. 12/10 Mississippi State soccer program is bound for Gainesville, Florida, on Friday night to meet a Florida Gators team that is unbeaten in its last four matches. Two years ago, State claimed its first win in Gainesville in program history, and now the Bulldogs return, looking to win back-to-back matches with the Gators for the first time. Friday night will mark Florida's fifth SEC match against a ranked team. The Bulldogs still have two more ranked opponents on their schedule, and they are tied with the Gators for the most ranked opponents on their conference schedule in the SEC. With a win, MSU will secure its fourth consecutive 10-win season. The Bulldogs had just three in the prior 27 years. It would assure State a winning record in conference play for just the fourth time in school history. A win would also see head coach Nick Zimmerman break the program record for wins by a first-year head coach. The Bulldogs return home on Thursday, Oct. 16 to host Vanderbilt. Kickoff against the No. 21 Commodores is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. |
| 'We lost to Baylor. We got beat by Arkansas:' Bulldogs, Zimmerman hope to learn from Arkansas loss ahead of Florida clash | |
| In most cases, Mississippi State soccer hasn't had to contend with harsh road environments comparable to the one fostered in Starkville over the last two seasons, but there were more than 2,000 Razorbacks fans out in Fayetteville on Sunday, and they wanted revenge. Arkansas was undefeated and ranked No. 1 when they were upset in Starkville last season, but there would be no upset this time around. A second-half brace by Kyndal Ewertz saw to that as MSU was dealt its second loss of the season. This one bore significant weight for the Bulldogs, and head coach Nick Zimmerman summed it up with a straightforward answer in his media availability on Wednesday. "We lost to Baylor," Zimmerman said. "We got beat by Arkansas." The Bulldogs (9-2-1, 4-1-1 SEC) lost in the SEC regular season for the first time since 2023, and they did so playing their game. They had lengthy spells of possession, and they outshot the Razorbacks 22-14. They even scored two great goals to take an early lead, but the Razorbacks still proved to be too much to handle. "You're looking at, how do you respond?" Zimmerman said of the focus since the loss. "Obviously, last week was an emotional week for a lot of different reasons. You have the Magnolia Cup on Thursday night, against an old team that's coming in, looking to win it, and then you go on the road to a place that they haven't lost in the SEC in five years." |
| Volleyball Preview: Ole Miss and No. 9 Texas | |
| Mississippi State volleyball will continue conference play at home, taking on Ole Miss and No. 9 Texas A&M this weekend. State will play in-state rival Ole Miss on Friday evening. The match will air on the SEC Network and will be a pink out in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Sunday's match against Texas A&M is celebrating Student-Athlete Mental Health Awareness week and will air on SEC Network+. The Bulldogs are currently 12-2 over the season and 2-2 in conference play. Lindsey Mangelson is the top freshman nationally in kills per set and points per set. Cayley Hanson is fourth in the NCAA in assists per set and second in the conference. Three Bulldogs rank within the top six in the conference in 10 different statistical categories. The team is ranked in the top 20 nationally in hitting percentage, as well as in the top five in six different statistical categories in the conference. Julie Darty Dennis is currently at 99 wins at MSU. Ole Miss is 9-6 over the season, and 1-3 in conference play on a two-game losing streak. Texas A&M is currently ranked No. 9 on the AVCA poll and is 12-3 over the season. |
| Kedrick Bingley-Jones, Bulldog defense continuing to improve in 2025 | |
| A career full of disappointments and injuries has Kedrick Bingley-Jones pushing to make his senior season one to remember. After facing setbacks during his time at North Carolina, Bingley-Jones got a new start with Mississippi State last season but played in just four games due to injuries. This year, Bingley-Jones has played in all six games without any issues, and his 13 tackles are nearly more than what he accumulated in his entire career prior to this season. This week is the Bulldogs' bye week and it's been back to the drawing board after two tough SEC losses to top 15 teams. He spoke about the progress through the first half of the schedule earlier this week. Question: You guys held your own for over half of the game against Texas A&M. How did you feel like you executed? KBJ: "I thought we did pretty good. We held them to seven points, got to three and outs the first few drives with an interception. I thought we executed well, but you saw the fourth quarter. We didn't really execute well and they were able to run the ball and get everything going. The biggest thing is going back to practice and being able to finish in practice and we'll be able to finish in those moments. That was the message to my guys -- if the score had to be 3-0, it had to be 3-0. We have to execute on our side. We can't really be worried about what the other side was doing." |
| Mississippi State women's basketball 2025-26 schedule tipoff times, TV for SEC games | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball's SEC tipoff times and TV channels were announced on Oct. 8. The Bulldogs will play six conference games on TV against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas and LSU. The remaining SEC games will stream on SEC Network+. The Ole Miss game at SJB Pavilion tips off at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11. MSU's SEC opener against Auburn starts at 6:30 p.m. on New Year's Day (SEC Network+). The LSU game in the regular season finale begins at 3 p.m. on March 1 (SEC Network) at Humphrey Coliseum. Coach Sam Purcell enters his fourth season and has brought Mississippi State to two NCAA tournaments. The only three players who return from last season are Destiney McPhaul, Chandler Prater and Rocío Jiménez. |
| Shuckers, Coastal Mississippi, Visit Mississippi to bring Banana Ball to Keesler Federal Park | |
 | Fans of The Savannah Banana's "Banana Ball" will get a chance to see Banana Ball games on the Mississippi Gulf Coast next September. The Biloxi Shuckers, in partnership with Coastal Mississippi, Visit Mississippi, and the Savannah Bananas announced Thursday that Keesler Federal Park will host The Firefighters and The Loco Beach Coconuts for two games on Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26, 2026, as part of the 2026 Banana Ball Championship League. With its fast-paced rules and emphasis on continuous play, Banana Ball strips away lulls and lengthy pauses typical of traditional baseball, delivering a more intense and entertainment-packed game that keeps both players and fans on their toes. Coastal Mississippi Tourism CEO Judy Young said the games are the perfect way to Play Coastal Mississippi. "We're absolutely thrilled to welcome Banana Ball to Coastal Mississippi," Young said. "Jesse Cole and the Savannah Bananas organization have redefined what it means to have fun at the ballpark, and we can't wait to see The Firefighters take on Loco Beach Coconuts right here on the Gulf Coast for two incredible nights." |
| How Oklahoma Football Became the SEC's NFL Team | |
| Last season, as Oklahoma football was staggering to only its second losing season in 25 years, school leaders understood that they needed more than a rebuilding year. They needed to completely rethink their approach. College football was changing around them and in Norman, Okla., there had only ever been one way of doing things. But the program the Sooners were going to model themselves on wasn't Ohio State, or Michigan, or Alabama. In the college game's era of increased professionalization, they realized that the true blueprint would come from teams that played on Sundays, not Saturdays. Oklahoma was going to run its football team like an NFL franchise. "We need to make sure that we keep football viable, healthy and competitive at the very highest levels," said former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, an OU alum who signed on as an adviser. "And to do that, we needed to really rethink how we operated and organized our football operation." Stephenson's arrival last December had been one of the first steps in Oklahoma's transformation. Though his official title was Executive Advisor to the university president and athletic director, Stephenson's role was closer to that of an NFL team owner, for which he took no salary. Alongside him, serving as de facto general manager, was Jake Rosenberg, a consultant who had been a key member of the Philadelphia Eagles front office that built two Super Bowl champions. "To me, what better place than a higher-education institution to say, 'Let's be honest. Let's look at the facts and then let's meet what's in front of us,'" Oklahoma president Joe Harroz said. It was Harroz who oversaw Oklahoma's leap from the Big 12 to the richer Southeastern Conference in 2024, and Harroz who spurred OU's rebuild. He sought Stephenson's advice as an outsider with high-level business experience. |
| A university too insulated, or losing sight of what makes Auburn unique: Here's what local business owners had to say about Auburn's decision to move the Baylor game | |
 | Following Auburn University's decision to move a home game to Atlanta next year, local businesses have expressed their disappointment. In 2026, the Auburn football team's non-conference game with Baylor will be in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, meaning Auburn will play six home games instead of seven. The move will cost several local businesses several thousand dollars each at least, in a safe estimate, with Opelika-Auburn Tourism data suggesting that one home game in 2024 brought some $8.7 million in economic impact to the area. Alex Tunnell, owner of The Atelier, shared a letter he wrote to the university's Athletics Director, John Cohen. In the letter, Tunnell said that he is writing to Cohen not just as a business owner in Auburn, but as someone who's spent the last six years building a company rooted in the community's passion for Auburn University and its people. Tunnell said that when he heard about next year's decision to move the Baylor game to Atlanta, he understood that the logic was "national exposure, NIL revenue, and corporate partnership opportunities." But Tunnell also said that the Baylor game decision is a "missed local opportunity." "Auburn isn't just another program chasing national attention," the letter stated. "Our power has always come from our loyal, locally driven fan base -- the students, alumni, and families who pour into this city every weekend." |
| U. of South Carolina official says publicity contracts for athletes exist, but won't be released | |
 | The University of South Carolina has continued to deny that it holds any contracts governing how the university will divide millions between its student-athletes. But while a recent court filing by a university official admitted that the school is in possession of publicity contracts for student-athletes, it doubled down on its assertion that they do not need to be disclosed to the public. This admission came as part of an affidavit submitted by Hilary Cox, USC's executive associate athletics director for strategic initiatives. The affidavit was filed in a Richland County circuit court in advance of a hearing on a freedom of information request submitted by an open records advocate seeking the university's revenue sharing contracts with its football players. The contracts dictate how the state's flagship university will divide up an estimated $20.5 million settlement pool among its players. Frank Heindel, a former grain merchant and Freedom of Information Act advocate, filed the lawsuit on Sept. 30 after the university denied his request for the contracts. A hearing on Heindel's FOIA request is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 10. |
| In college squabble, booster rips commishes, but they say he doesn't know what he's talking about | |
| One of the most vocal and potentially powerful boosters in college sports lashed out at conference commissioners for stymieing changes he thinks could save the rapidly changing industry, and then the commissioners barked back, with one of them saying the booster's views "reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the realities of college athletics." The spat sprang from Texas Tech billionaire head of regents Cody Campbell's argument Thursday about how the proposed pooling of college TV rights could feed additional billions into school coffers, but that progress is being held back because "the conferences are all represented by commissioners who are very, very self-interested." "The commissioners don't really care what happens at the institutional level," Campbell said at a panel discussion held by the Knight Commission, an oversight group that released a survey in which a majority of college executives who responded said Division I sports was headed in the wrong direction. "All they care about is what happens to them. And I think that is fundamentally the problem." Campbell told attendees the move could be worth $7 billion, and said commissioners had said to him "privately" that they know a modification of that law would generate more revenue "but I don't want to give up control of my own media-rights negotiation." Greg Sankey, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, told The Associated Press those conversations with Campbell never happened. "I have never stated -- publicly or privately -- that pooling media rights would increase revenue, nor do I believe that it would," Sankey said. "His misrepresentation of my position raises serious concerns about the accuracy of his other claims. ... His comments reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the realities of college athletics." |
| Washington State's 2,000-mile trip is par for course in college sports today | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: The Washington State Cougars are flying more than 2,000 miles across the continent to play Ole Miss Saturday for what will be the Rebels' homecoming game. That's a long, long way to travel for what appears to be a gross mismatch. Ole Miss is a 32.5-point favorite, and that's far and away the largest point spread in college football this week. Still, it would not surprise this writer if the Rebels were to cover that spread by halftime. This is a Washington State team that lost 59-10 to North Texas State. This is an explosive Ole Miss team, ranked No. 4 in the land, that can score points quickly. But that's not the point of this column. If Washington State-Ole Miss seems like a weird matchup, well, that's because it is. It is also a sign of the times in what has become an increasingly strange world of college athletics, which is my point. ... Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who once coached in the Pac-12 at Southern Cal, laments the demise of that league. "I think the whole thing's sad, the whole conference alignments and especially that one," Kiffin said at a press conference this week. "There's so much history with UCLA and USC and that conference in the Pac-8 and then 10 and then 12, and now they're flying all over the country and teams flying out there and these weird kickoff times, and I understand it. All these decisions made by conferences and schools are always about money. I get it. It is what it is. It's just, I don't think it's good outside of the money. I think it's bad for the kids and their travel and their school and rivalries and fans, especially that conference where everybody's way over there and it's just the whole thing's sad." |
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