| Thursday, October 2, 2025 |
| Historic cornerstone finds permanent home at The Mill | |
 | Mississippi State University's first chapter in its history is once again visible to the public. The cornerstone of the university's original Academic Building, laid on Sept. 22, 1879, has been relocated to a permanent exhibit at The Mill at MSU after more than a century of being lost, rediscovered and stored away. The Academic Building opened in 1880 as the campus hub. It contained classrooms, a chapel and a bell that rang to call students to their first day of classes on Oct. 6, 1880. The building stood until 1912, when it was demolished. The cornerstone survived, marking the beginning of a long journey of disappearance and rediscovery. For decades, the location of the stone was uncertain. The cornerstone resurfaced in 1969, when MSU student Mickey Anderson discovered a large stone behind Herbert Hall. Realizing it might be important, he contacted a friend at the Reflector. Then-university-president William Giles and university historian John K. Bettersworth confirmed the discovery. Although its significance was recognized, the stone faded again into storage. Sam Baker, digital media manager of the Alumni Association, said the initial rediscovery came near MSU's 90th anniversary, and officials discussed plans for a display, but no long-term display was created. That changed in 2022. |
| Officials working to move Starkville High School to Mississippi State University campus | |
| Mississippi State University and the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District are working in lockstep to put a high school on the college's campus. The proposed school will be located in proximity to Partnership Middle School, the nation's only public educational facility housed on a university campus serving every middle school pupil in the district. Partnership Middle School opened its doors in 2020. Mississippi State President Mark Keenum and Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Superintendent Tony McGee signed a memorandum of understanding on Sept. 25, highlighting both parties' plan to expand their work to replace the existing Starkville High School with a state-of-the-art facility. "Today marks the beginning of the latest chapter in the highly successful partnership between Mississippi State University and the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District," Keenum said. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the formal beginning of the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District on July 1, 2015. The effort to bring the city and county schools together was led by the Commission on Starkville Consolidated School District Structure. |
| Ramsey helps shape student experience through campus development | |
| On the walls of Saunders Ramsey's office at Mississippi State University hang two quotes. "The Man in the Glass," a poem by Peter Dale Wimbrow, emphasizes that satisfaction with oneself matters more at the end of the day than public recognition and approval. "The Man in the Arena," an excerpt from a speech by Theodore Roosevelt, is about the courage to act despite the possibility of defeat. As the Executive Director of Campus Services, Ramsey uses these ideas in his leadership over campus facilities and landscape to make MSU a better place to be. He grew up in Starkville, playing disc golf, having lunches at Perry Cafeteria and eventually leading in athletics as the captain of the MSU baseball team while majoring in Civil Engineering. Fast forward to now, Ramsey uses this connection with MSU to drive his passion for improving the campus experience. "I think good design can change people's lives without them even knowing that it's changing... Our job is to create a campus that people love their experience without them knowing that it's done on their behalf, like they should feel like this is home," Ramsey said. |
| Questionnaire: Jesse Goliath '07 | |
| Jesse Goliath '07 has cultivated a career at the intersection of science and public service. As a consulting forensic anthropologist for the state of Mississippi and an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Mississippi State University, he splits his time between the classroom and the crime lab. A former U.S. Department of Defense forensics researcher, Goliath once worked to identify and recover missing U.S. service members from wars including Vietnam and World War II. Now he has launched the Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons -- the state's first centralized database of its kind -- to inform investigators and residents about cases in the state. |
| MSU English professor's book explores TVA's 'monumental' legacy | |
 | According to an MSU Press Release, a new book by Mississippi State English Professor Ted Atkinson explores the Tennessee Valley Authority, a New Deal agency that reshaped parts of seven southern states through flood control, rural electrification, and social programs. The work highlights TVA's enduring relevance at a time when the U.S. continues to debate climate change, fossil fuel dependence, and sustainable development. "Monumental Designs: Infrastructure and the Culture of the Tennessee Valley Authority," a University Press of Mississippi publication released in September, examines how cultural productions -- from photography and documentary film to theater, fiction, and novels -- have promoted, defined, and interrogated the TVA's infrastructure initiatives. Atkinson argues that while these works supported TVA's agenda in the New Deal era, they also left a lasting artistic legacy. |
| MSU's Grant Presidential Library to screen new Burns documentary on the American Revolutionary War before debut | |
 | America's struggle for independence that began 250 years ago will take center stage next month as Mississippi State's Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library hosts the screening of a new Ken Burns documentary on the Revolutionary War and a discussion featuring prominent Bulldog historians. Lee Hall's historic Bettersworth Auditorium will feature a 45-minute preview of "The American Revolution" on Oct. 21, 6 p.m., before the six-part, 12-hour documentary debuts on PBS in November. Following the screening, Grant Library Executive Director and Associate Professor of History Anne Marshall will moderate a short discussion featuring MSU Department of History Associate Professor Peter Messer and Professor Judith Ridner. The new film follows in the footsteps of more than 40 Burns has made for PBS, many of which are Emmy winners and Oscar nominees. The event is free and open to the public. |
| Mississippi 4-H holds first slingshot competition | |
| Sources from an MSU Press Release say that when Union County 4-H'er Aubri Hutcheson signed up for slingshot in Mississippi 4-H's Shooting Sports program over the summer, she just wanted to try something new. Hutcheson is a fixture at livestock shows and quiz bowls, but she wanted to add another activity. When she learned Mississippi 4-H Shooting Sports would be the first in the country to offer a slingshot discipline, she was intrigued at the prospect of a shooting activity with a primitive weapon. Of the 10 shooting sports disciplines offered by the state's youth development organization, archery is the only other non-firearm option. So far, she has enjoyed it enough to consider sticking around and even adding the .22 pistol discipline next year. Hutcheson was one of 49 competitors in the first-ever Mississippi 4-H Slingshot State Championship, which was held at the Jimmy Bryan 4-H Youth Complex in West Point Sept. 27. Reid Nevins, 4-H education specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and coordinator of the state's 4-H Shooting Sports program, developed the program with Jim McAdory, MSU Extension agent in Winston County. McAdory floated the idea after watching a slingshot competition. |
| MSU Entomologist Shares Steps to Deter Kissing Bugs Around Homes | |
| Triatomine insects are not new to the United States, but they've recently gotten a lot of attention because of their ability to transmit a rare, but serious disease. Commonly called kissing bugs because they sometimes bite humans on their faces while they sleep, these blood-sucking insects can carry a parasite that infects wildlife, domestic pets and humans with Chagas' disease, said Jerome Goddard, a medical entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Goddard said the bugs have been found throughout the southern United States for many years, but are most common throughout Mexico, Central America and South America. They feed on various mammals, including opossums, racoons, dogs, cats and sometimes humans. "The reason these bugs are important, and especially lately, is because there has been an increase in cases of Chagas' disease in the U.S.," Goddard said. "It's not an epidemic by any means. There have been 29 cases diagnosed in the U.S. since 2000. That's not a lot, but it is something to be concerned about and pay attention to because you could get really sick if you become infected." |
| What the shutdown means for Mississippians | |
| The United States Government shutdown on Wednesday. This comes after Congress could not come to an agreement on a spending bill. Dr. Brian Shoup is a Political Science and Public Administration Professor at Mississippi State University. He said federal workers are the most affected by the shutdown. "The immediate would be with those who will be furloughed, or in certain cases, like with the military, they'll be obligated to report for duty, but they won't receive their paychecks yet," said Shoup. Shoup said there are about 17,000 federal workers in Mississippi. Dr. Brian Blank is an associate professor of Finance at MSU. "Typically, in the past, those federal employees have received back pay even though have not been working and the mandatory workers that are required to keep us safe, they also are paid in retrospect as well," said Blank. Existing benefit payments should already be going out, but there could be delays in approval for new applications for things like Social Security, VA, and Medicare benefits if no one is in an office to process requests. "Things like Social Security will be there, Medicare and Medicaid should be there, the problem is whether or not, they will get to people in a timely manner," said Shoup. However, Blank believes the economy is still growing in spite of the present circumstances. |
| Report shows Mississippi GDP decline, agricultural challenges | |
 | Mississippi's Gross Domestic Product showed a decline from April to June. Agriculture and its related industries offset growth here, even as it boosted growth in other states. The total value of Mississippi's goods and services, or GDP, declined 0.9% in the second quarter of 2025. Mississippi and Arkansas were the only two states that showed a decline in that quarter. At the same time, the national GDP grew by 3.8%, according to a report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The report shows a slowdown for Mississippi, but economics professor Josh Hendrickson of the University of Mississippi says it's important to keep it in context. "At the state level you're just getting a lot more volatility than you get at the national level," he told MPB. It's not just state context to keep in mind, either. Brian Blank, a finance professor at Mississippi State University, said to look at the overall trends. "The growth rate for both the Mississippi, the Southeastern, and the national economy was relatively rapid if we go back a few years," said Blank. "It's been slowly declining since then." The most notable finding for Mississippi was agricultural performance, which declined by 2.65%. This year, spring rains were heavy, causing issues with planting and ultimately affecting harvesting. Reports from MSU Extension detail how those rains have led to a lower yield of state rice crops and caused problems with corn planting earlier in the year. |
| County nets $30.5M in proceeds from OCH sale | |
 | The sale of OCH Regional Medical Center to Baptist Memorial Health Care has officially closed, with Oktibbeha County poised to pocket about $30.5 million in net proceeds. Baptist paid about $49.1 million to purchase the newly named Baptist Memorial Hospital-Oktibbeha County, a roughly $5.9 million decrease from the original $55 million purchase price announced in August. County Administrator Wayne Carpenter said the drop reflects pre-closing expenses the county was required to cover in the sale, like accounts payable and splitting some lease obligations with Baptist for things like specialty equipment. Additionally, paying off the hospital's outstanding debt and costs like attorney's fees cut into the net proceeds. "We've got to pay off all of our expensive advisers that helped us through this, pay off the bonds, all that kind of stuff," Carpenter told The Dispatch. "Kind of like when you close on a house, you've got to pay your real estate agent. So after ... we paid those fees, it was $30,513,969. That's the net proceeds received from the sale." Moving forward, Carpenter said supervisors will have to determine whether to spend the proceeds or how to save them, with proposed plans so far ranging from dividing some or all the money among the five supervisor districts for discretionary projects to investing the money in an endowment. |
| Munson and Brothers Oktoberfest returns for sixth year of food, fun and local flavor | |
| When Ryan Munson, owner of Munson and Brothers Trading Post, opened his store in October 2020 he launched with an Oktoberfest celebration. While he was initially unsure anyone would show up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Munson said he was blown away by how many came out to support the festival that first year. "We were opening Oct. 1 so ... nobody was doing anything," Munson told The Dispatch. We were like, 'Well, let's put on an October Festival,' and we've got all this craft beer. And we were just blessed because everybody from day one showed up." Munson and Brothers will host the sixth annual Oktoberfest this weekend, kicking off the three-day celebration starting at 5 p.m. Friday. Munson said each night will close with a song for the crowd to sing together, inspired by his travels in Germany two years ago. The festivities on Saturday start at 10 a.m. with a one-mile beer run and beer 5K, in support of the Columbus Arts Council. Friendly City Books will host its inaugural adult spelling bee during the festival Saturday. Registration for the bee will begin at 5 p.m., with up to 20 spellers taking the stage at 6 p.m., Emily Liner, owner of Friendly City Books said. The event will feature festival-specific food and drinks for sale, including at least 15 types of Oktoberfest beers mostly made by local breweries, pretzels, bratwurst, kraut and spicy pickles, Munson said. |
| Mississippi records historic job count but economic uncertainty still clouds labor market | |
| Preliminary data shows Mississippi's job count at a historic high, with 1,205,500 jobs recorded in August. According to the State Department of Employment Security, that's an increase of about 2,700 jobs from the previous month. However, economic uncertainty is still having an effect on the labor market. Corey Miller is Mississippi's state economist. "Like most of the country, I think Mississippi's labor market is probably slowed," he said. "We've seen over the past few months just not as much activity." Mississippi currently ranks 49th in the country for its labor force participation rate, but Miller believes Mississippi's labor force rates have historically been low. He says the state's economic activity indicates that there is both growth and challenges. "We aren't seeing as many jobs added, but we're also not seeing people being laid off," he said. "Our unemployment claims in Mississippi are still below the average monthly numbers we had in 2019." Miller believes tariffs may have contributed to slowed growth in Mississippi's manufacturing sector and natural factors may have played a role in the agriculture sector. Conversely, the state's construction and health care industries were large contributors to added jobs in August. |
| Hosemann names Senate study committees on Jackson, housing | |
| Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann Wednesday announced two new Senate study committees to address issues facing Mississippi's capital city and the state's housing market. Known as the Senate Study Committee on Jackson, Hosemann's committee will focus on strategies for strengthening and boosting economic activity in the metro area. The other group, the Senate Study Committee on Housing, will take a statewide look at addressing the shortage of attainable housing and increasing accessibility for first-time homebuyers, Hosemann said. "For several years, we have discussed the need for a focused effort to unlock Jackson's economic and tourism potential," Hosemann said. "With the city entering a new chapter, the time is now to pursue opportunities that will increase tourism, attract investment, enhance downtown, and promote future growth." The new capital city Senate committee follows the House Capital and Metro Revitalization Select Committee appointed by Speaker Jason White earlier this year. The House committee has already held hearings and members are considering policy recommendations ahead of the 2026 legislative session. Jackson's new Mayor, former state Senator John Horhn, praised the creation of the committees, saying it is a "meaningful step forward" for the embattled city. |
| Lt. Gov. Hosemann sets sights on Jackson economic development and housing | |
| Exactly three months after Jackson Mayor John Horhn took office, his former colleagues in the state Senate are announcing a new emphasis on boosting the capital city's economy. Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann's announcement did not detail any proposed policy changes -- such as new criminal laws Horhn has floated to hold absent landlords accountable or quick-take blighted property -- but the formation and membership of a new study committee on Jackson. "With the city entering a new chapter, the time is now to pursue opportunities that will increase tourism, attract investment, enhance downtown, and promote future growth," Hosemann, a northeast Jackson resident, said in the Wednesday press release. A second new Senate study committee announced Wednesday will look at the shortage of attainable housing and increasing accessibility for first-time homebuyers statewide. A Republican from Ridgeland and operator of a commercial real estate firm in Jackson, Sen. Walter Michel, will chair the Jackson study committee. Michel did not return a request for comment by press time. Sen. David Blount, a Democrat who represents a district covering downtown and central Jackson, will serve as vice chair. Blount hopes leaders on each committee will get on the same page about legislation to benefit Jackson before the 2026 session begins. |
| New Senate committees launched to address Jackson revitalization, statewide housing | |
| Building up Mississippi's capital city of Jackson and helping first-time home buyers will be the focal points of two new Senate study committees. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann announced Wednesday that the Senate Study Committee on Jackson will focus on strategies for strengthening and boosting economic activity in the metro area, while the Senate Study Committee on Housing will take a statewide look at addressing the shortage of attainable housing and increasing accessibility for those looking to purchase a home for the first time. The Senate Study Committee on Housing will be chaired by Sen. Chris Johnson, R-Hattiesburg, and Sen. Rod Hickman, D-Macon, will serve as vice chair. Members are Sens. Gary Brumfield, D-Brookhaven, Scott DeLano, R-Biloxi, Michael McLendon, R-Hernando, Chad McMahan, R-Guntown, and Angela Turner-Ford, D-West Point. According to Zillow, the average Mississippi home value is $187,882, while the median sale price is $252,167, and the typical interest rate on a 30-year mortgage sits at around 6.5%. With the average household income in Mississippi being $55,060, potential first-time buyers are struggling to afford a mortgage. "Mississippi faces a growing need for attainable housing," Hosemann said. "This committee will examine statewide solutions to ensure first-time homebuyers have access to homes where they can live, work, and raise a family in Mississippi." |
| Attorneys ask lawmakers to consider ways to move cases along in the Mississippi court system | |
| Attorneys practicing in Mississippi testified before the state Senate Judiciary Committee last week on how to improve the criminal justice system. Lawmakers and the attorneys agreed the court system is overloaded with cases and understaffed. They also agreed that the state crime lab and the Medical Examiners Office's forensic pathology reports are backlogged. However, neither should cause people to linger in jail for years. Michael Carr, a defense attorney in Cleveland, testified that he has clients who sit in jail for years while they wait for the case to be presented to a grand jury. "In Mississippi, there's no limitations from arrest to indictment," Carr told the committee. "There needs to be a statutory window of time from the time someone is arrested, even if they bond or don't bond, until the case gets to the grand jury or the arrest needs to go away on its own." Carr, who practices in nine counties, said in most instances the court system is swamped with cases and lack the personnel to keep up. |
| What Mississippi's infant mortality crisis says about the risks of Medicaid cuts | |
 | For months, Dr. Daniel Edney had watched his state's infant mortality rate rise. "It just kept climbing," he remembers. "We'd get another death coming in, another death coming in." As the public health officer in Mississippi, it's Edney's job to monitor the number of infant deaths in the state. When he saw the final figures for 2024, they were as bad as he feared. Nearly 10 babies died for every 1,000 live births. For Black babies, it was even higher at 15.2. The numbers -- the highest in more than a decade -- led the state of Mississippi under Edney's leadership to declare a public health emergency on Aug. 21. "If having babies dying at the rate that our babies are dying is not a public health emergency, I don't know what is," says Edney. Mississippi's infant mortality rate is among the highest in the country, but advocates warn that the rate across the U.S. is also too high. Nationally, 5.6 babies die per 1,000 born. "What that translates to is 20,000 deaths every year," says Dr. Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer for March of Dimes -- a group that advocates for improvements in maternal health care. Warren and other experts who study this issue worry that as people lose access to Medicaid over the next few years due to spending cuts by the Trump administration, infant mortality will get even worse -- not just in Mississippi -- but across the country. |
| Trump signals bailout for soybean farmers hit by tariff war | |
 | President Trump on Wednesday said he planned to use money brought in from tariffs on imports to provide aid to soybean farmers who have been hurt by a trade dispute with China. "The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for 'negotiating' reasons only, not buying," Trump posted on Truth Social. "We've made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers." Farmers of crops like soybeans and corn have had difficulty selling their harvest and have grappled with rising prices for supplies like fertilizer. The U.S. has in the past been the No. 1 supplier of soybeans to China, but China recently purchased a massive soybean crop from Argentina. Administration officials have for weeks acknowledged American farmers in particular have been hurt by the president's trade relationship with China, which includes a 55 percent tariff on most goods from China and a retaliatory tariff from Beijing on American goods. The president had previously indicated a bailout could be in the works using money from tariffs, though he has not offered details on how much money will be redirected or how it will be distributed. |
| How John Thune sees the shutdown ending | |
 | Senate Majority Leader John Thune laid out a path to end the government shutdown in an exclusive interview Wednesday, saying he is willing to discuss the shape of future health care negotiations if a "critical mass" of Democrats say they are willing to support a House-passed funding bill in return. The comments, made in his Capitol office less than 18 hours into the first shutdown since 2019, are in keeping with the South Dakota Republican's current strategy -- which is to let pressure build on Democrats to back the GOP-led House stopgap as the only solution. But Thune acknowledged that he has had back-channel conversations with Democrats and said he's willing to discuss how to structure a negotiation on Obamacare insurance subsidies that are set to lapse at the end of the year. "I keep telling them: When they have eight or 10 -- preferably 10, or more -- when they have a critical mass, let me know if there's a conversation they want to have," Thune said. He insisted he would not negotiate on the substance of an extension while the government is closed. But pressed on whether he was open to discussions with Democrats about how the health care negotiations might work post-shutdown or how to advance full-year appropriations bills, Thune said, "We are." |
| Trump uses government shutdown to dole out firings and political punishment | |
 | President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, by threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting "irreversible" cuts to programs important to Democrats. Rather than simply furlough employees, as is usually done during any lapse of funds, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said layoffs were "imminent." The Office of Management and Budget announced it was putting on hold roughly $18 billion of infrastructure funds for New York's subway extension and Hudson Tunnel projects -- in the hometown of the Democratic leaders of the U.S. House and Senate. Trump has marveled over the handiwork of his budget director. "He can trim the budget to a level that you couldn't do any other way," the Republican president said at the start of the week of OMB Director Russ Vought, who was also a chief architect of the Project 2025 conservative policy book. "So they're taking a risk by having a shutdown," Trump said during an event at the White House. Thursday is Day 2 of the shutdown, and already the dial is turned high. The aggressive approach coming from the Trump administration is what certain lawmakers and budget observers feared if Congress, which has the responsibility to pass legislation to fund government, failed to do its work and relinquished control to the White House. |
| What kind of effects will the government shutdown have on Mississippi? | |
| We are in Day One of another federal shutdown. This comes as lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. could not reach an agreement regarding a federal funding bill. At the center of the dispute is healthcare. Democrats want to restore funds to Medicaid and Medicare as well as extend subsidies to Obamacare, which expires at the end of the year. However, Republicans did not agree to those demands, leading to the shutdown. "Democrats are asking for an additional $350 billion for enhances to Obamacare subsides before they will consider funding the government," said Congressman Michael Guest, who represents Mississippi's 3rd District. "We are not going to be held hostage by the Democrats' demands. That is a discussion we can have at a later day." "If they (Republicans) want democratic support, then the one issue we laid on the table is healthcare," said Congressman Bennie Thompson, who represents Mississippi's 2nd District. "If Democrats are only asking to make sure that healthcare is available to the people who are currently getting it, then that's not a complicated offer." Hours into the shutdown, many Mississippians are asking what kind of impact the shutdown will have on them and the state as a whole. "I think, for the first several days, the impact would not be felt," Guest explained. "Until the shutdown goes for some period of time where you have federal employees who are not getting paid, I think that's when you'll start to really see the impact. The number of programs that'll be impacted or potentially impacted is small. I think most workers will be deemed essential workers and will be able to work." |
| Supreme Court starts term full of elections, LGBT rights and Trump | |
 | The Supreme Court begins a new term Monday that could shape the power of the presidency, determine the role of race and federal control of elections and curtail LGBT rights nationwide -- with more cases on the horizon on contentious policy and political issues. The 6-3 conservative-controlled court has agreed to decide cases on more than half a dozen major issues, including President Donald Trump's tariffs affecting trillions of dollars in international trade, the use of race in redistricting and whether a ban on so-called "conversion therapy" violates free speech rights. Aziz Huq, a law professor at the University of Chicago who focuses on constitutional law, is among experts who said the justices have set up for themselves a blockbuster term. "What's really striking is how aggressively the justices have inserted themselves into not just hot-button issues of the culture wars, but into questions about basic terms, and even the health of American democracy, and particularly through its emergency docket," Huq said. By the time the term concludes at the end of June, the Supreme Court also could add to its docket of cases set for oral arguments. Across the nation, states, interest groups and companies have challenged Trump administration moves to reshape the federal government, any of which could end up at the court by the end of this term. |
| Judges Show Strains From Trump's Emergency Appeals | |
 | The Trump administration's extraordinary pace of emergency appeals to the Supreme Court is straining the judiciary. Eight months into President Trump's second term, the administration has sought emergency intervention 28 times with the Supreme Court after losing preliminary decisions in the lower courts. That is more than the administrations of Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W. Bush combined, said Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown Law professor who tracks the issue. The pace also puts the White House well on the way to eclipsing the 41 emergency appeals the Trump administration filed in its first term. Under its normal procedures, the court considers about 70 cases a year, with each taking months of deliberation. And only a handful of those cases are typically of blockbuster quality. The flood of emergency appeals has turned that process upside down. "It is unprecedented as a matter of the nationwide significance of the questions that are being rushed to the court," Vladeck said. "And it is provoking an unprecedented degree of discord between the justices and their colleagues on the lower federal courts." Justices across the ideological spectrum have lamented the skyrocketing growth of their emergency docket, which is sometimes referred to as the shadow docket because the court considers emergency appeals with minimal briefing and often without oral arguments. And because of that truncated process, the court typically issues its emergency orders with little or no explanation behind them. |
| Turning Point Hosts Conservative Activist Brilyn Hollyhand | |
 | Nineteen-year-old activist, author and political speaker Brilyn Hollyhand took to the stage at the University of Mississippi on Tuesday, Sept. 30, as part of his contribution to the "One Conversation at a Time" tour. This event followed the murder of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk and was sponsored by the Kirk-founded organization Turning Point USA. Hollyhand gave a speech after which he answered questions from the audience. According to The Brilyn Hollyhand Show, Hollyhand's primary goals with this tour are to carry on Kirk's legacy and to engage young people in conservative politics. "We're here for a conversation," Hollyhand said at the event. "'One Conversation at a Time' is intentional. We named this tour because we want to have a conversation. We want to champion civil discourse." Hollyhand then mentioned Kirk, who shared the mission of encouraging young Americans to become involved in politics. "That's what my friend Charlie did best -- he championed civil discourse," Hollyhand said. "He went into the lion's den, some of the darkest places in this country, set up a table and said, 'Come challenge me. I want to have a conversation with you.'" UM is Hollyhand's third stop on his tour spanning 10 prominent universities across the Southeast, including the University of Alabama, Mississippi State University and Florida State University. |
| USM launches Graduate Training and Education Center | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) was awarded a $14.5 million contract to establish the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) Graduate Training and Education Center (GTEC). The Southern Miss GTEC will train 10 graduate students annually in cutting-edge cardiovascular and public health research. Officials said the initiative builds on the university's partnerships with the JHS Community Engagement Core, My Brother's Keeper Inc. and Hattiesburg Clinic, ensuring training is rooted in community priorities and informed by real-world healthcare challenges. The GTEC directly supports the mission of the JHS, the largest community-based investigation of cardiovascular disease among African Americans in the United States. |
| Seven students arrested during LSU meeting on presidential search candidates | |
 | LSU Police arrested seven students at a meeting to discuss the search for a new LSU System president after one refused to stop speaking when the allotted public comment time was up and others blocked the police car that held her. The students -- Gabriela Juárez, Ryan Spalt, Margo Wilson, Carson Wall, Ziad Eissa, Enola Guyer and Scott Sonnier -- are members of the Students for a Democratic Society club at LSU. Juárez was booked at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on counts of interfering with an educational process, simple obstruction of a highway of commerce and resisting an officer, according to Wilson. The other six students were released after being driven to the LSU Police Department headquarters and issued summonses. According to the students, police arrested Guyer on the same counts as Juárez, while the remaining five were arrested on counts of simple obstruction of a highway of commerce and resisting an officer. Todd Woodward, the vice president of LSU Marketing & Communications, said in a statement that the university "fully supports lawful free expression." "During today's Presidential Search Committee meeting, everyone had the opportunity to register, speak, and be heard during the public-comment period, which was limited to remarks related to the posted agenda," he wrote. "Despite multiple warnings to adhere to the posted rules -- specifically yielding the floor when the time expired -- one individual exceeded the time limit, refused lawful directives, and was subsequently arrested for violating La. R.S. 14:329.5." |
| Vanderbilt University's Chancellor Sees the Problem -- Can He Find a Solution? | |
| Universities have let progressive dogma degrade their academic missions, eviscerating public faith in higher education. College leaders willing to admit this truth are rare. Vanderbilt University chancellor Daniel Diermeier is one. He has long been a champion of political neutrality and has called out the politicization of scholarly associations -- approaches other university leaders are only now catching up on. Further, Diermeier has stood firm when students, faculty, or staff violate academic norms. After the October 7 Hamas attacks, campuses across the United States saw illegal encampments, vandalism, and unrest. Vanderbilt, by contrast, maintained order by swiftly disciplining students who violated university codes. Adopting these policies and principles can be challenging for university leaders, partly because they fear how their own faculty or academic departments might respond. Yet Diermeier's love of universities emboldens him. In a recent interview, transcribed below, he told me that education and research are "noble work," but only if they are grounded in core principles. And he emphasized how politicization in some departments overshadows the good work conducted in others. With American higher education in crisis, Diermeier's is a voice to listen to. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. |
| Navigating AI: Professors, students discuss its role inside the classroom at UT-Knoxville | |
| Artificial intelligence has quickly made its way into nearly every corner of higher education, sparking debate over whether it is a valuable tool or a harmful shortcut. At the University of Tennessee, professors are wrestling with the role of AI in the classroom, with some embracing it as an innovative teaching partner and others rejecting it as a barrier to authentic learning. UT leaves AI policy decisions up to individual faculty members, resulting in a patchwork of approaches that reflect both optimism and skepticism about its role in academia. For some professors, AI platforms such as ChatGPT open new opportunities for creativity and accessibility in education. Jonathan Ring, lecturer and director of undergraduate studies at the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, has embraced AI in his classroom as both a teaching tool and a skill for students to develop. He personally utilizes AI to help find quality information for his students to engage with. Ring believes that while the internet has greatly changed in the past ten years, making information harder to find, AI can make it easier for students to navigate. For Ring, AI additionally represents a shift in the way higher education itself will function. He predicts that as these tools become more deeply integrated into academia, classes will become less about producing polished outcomes and more about honing the process of learning. |
| U. of Kentucky violated Civil Rights Act with conference participation, investigation says | |
 | The University of Kentucky violated the federal Civil Rights Act by participating in a conference designed for students of color, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education earlier this year. UK was one of more than 50 universities investigated by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for allegations of providing "racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities." Several universities were investigated for attending the conference. Others were investigated for awarding race-based scholarships. The investigation concluded and found UK in violation, because it had partnered with a program that "endorsed, promoted and benefited from a program that limited participation based on race," according to a letter from the Office for Civil Rights. UK was under investigation for their participation in The PhD Project, a networking organization that helps doctoral students complete their degrees. "We will, as always, seek to comply with the law and policy direction we are given by federal policymakers. That is our responsibility. I believe it also is how we can best protect our people, their work and our mission to advance this state," UK President Capilouto said in an email sent Wednesday evening. |
| Russell Brand, Savannah Chrisley, Gov. Kevin Stitt to speak at U. of Oklahoma as part of Turning Point USA tour | |
| English comedian Russell Brand, reality TV star Savannah Chrisley and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will visit OU's campus as part of Turning Point USA's "The Turning Point Tour." Brand, Chrisley and Stitt will speak at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 16 in the McCasland Field House, according to a Wednesday Instagram post. Brand, an English actor and comedian known for "Despicable Me" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," in recent years has gained millions of followers on YouTube, posting videos about conspiracy theories. Brand is facing one allegation of rape, one of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two further counts of sexual assault in Engand, according to the BBC. The alleged incidents involved four women and are said to have taken place in central London and Bournemouth between 1999 and 2005. Brand pleaded not guilty to the charges in May and is set to stand trial in June 2026. "The Turning Point Tour" was announced on Sept. 23 to commemorate Kirk and continue his "The American Comeback Tour," during which, at an appearance at Utah Valley University, he was fatally shot. |
| U. of Texas named in Trump's new higher education funding compact | |
| The Trump administration has selected the University of Texas at Austin as one of nine schools eligible for federal funding advantages if it agrees to cap international student enrollment, recognize only two genders, freeze tuition for five years, and protect conservative speech under a new "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." In exchange for complying, UT would get priority access to research funding and looser rules on overhead costs, according to a letter and memo first reported Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said in a statement shared first with the American-Statesman on Thursday that the system is "honored" to be selected and is "enthusiastically" working with UT to review the demands. The University of Texas, which spends more than $1 billion on research annually, lost more than $47 million in research funds earlier this year after the Trump administration enacted sweeping federal cuts, according to records obtained by the Statesman. The university also enrolled 1,504 fewer international students -- a 1.7% drop -- after the administration cut thousands of student visas, announced stricter vetting procedures and heightened concerns among applicants. |
| Texas A&M AgriLife, NNSA join forces to target screwworm with eBeam technology | |
 | Texas A&M AgriLife and the Office of Radiological Security (ORS), part of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is teaming up on a national effort to combat New World screwworm, including producing sterile flies in the U.S. via electron beam, or eBeam, technology to halt fly reproduction. Texas A&M AgriLife and NNSA are exploring safer alternatives to high-radioactivity technologies to address New World screwworm and other invasive arthropods. The eBeam is a potential safer alternative to high-radioactivity cobalt-60 gamma sterilization. The effort will expand collaboration with other academic institutions to advance the best radiological security practices nationwide. "This collaboration demonstrates how research and innovation can drive solutions to protect human and animal health," said Phillip Kaufman, head of the Texas A&M Department of Entomology. "We must continue advancing critical science so we are prepared not only for the New World screwworm but for other invasive arthropods that will challenge us in the future." The U.S. Department of Agriculture has determined that the U.S.-Mexico border is a crucial area for the fight against the devastating pest, which recently appeared within 70 miles of the border. |
| Can You Say 'Transgender' in a Texas Tech Classroom? The Answer Is Complicated. | |
 | The problem began with a vaguely worded memo. Last Thursday, Tedd L. Mitchell, chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, instructed the presidents of the five system campuses to ensure that their universities comply with current state and federal laws that "recognize only two human sexes: male and female." He asked them to review "course materials, curricula, syllabi, and other instructional documents," then "make timely adjustments where needed." That set off a panic. Professors began texting and calling each other, wondering: What does this mean for my teaching and research? Then the Office of the Provost at Texas Tech University, the largest of the five campuses in the system, posted guidance on its web page -- only to take it down yesterday. The chancellor's memo didn't come out of nowhere. Texas has been embroiled in controversies over what professors can say, or teach, about gender identity in the classroom. Some Texas Tech faculty members were relieved this week by the guidance from the provost's office, which answered specific questions about what the chancellor's memo means for their courses. But the nature and variety of the questions submitted to the provost confirmed -- even before the office removed the guidance -- that confusion over what can be taught or discussed in class is far from over. |
| Police and local leadership outline a plan to improve public safety downtown | |
 | State and county law enforcement officers will provide support to the Columbia Police Department on upcoming weekends after city leadership met to address public safety in Columbia. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, Boone County Sheriff's Department and University of Missouri Police Department will all be assigning uniformed officers to patrol downtown during peak hours on Fridays and Saturdays, according to the statements released Wednesday. Columbia police will temporarily reassign a full-time patrol sergeant to coordinate patrol units, partner agencies and other officers during overnight operations. The Police Department does not currently have enough resources for a full-time downtown unit. Additional public safety programs and reviews of city operations were outlined in a joint letter released by UM System President Mun Choi and Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe. The statements come in the wake of a shooting Saturday in downtown that killed a Stephens College student and injured two other bystanders. On Sunday, Choi called on the mayor and other city officials to take immediate action regarding downtown safety. The Police Department noted that it has nearly doubled downtown staffing past 10 p.m. during Mizzou home football weekends compared to previous years. There were roughly 11 officers in the downtown area last weekend, according to the department. |
| Trump admin cancels $35 million Purdue college prep program in DEI crackdown | |
| Purdue University will abruptly end a statewide initiative to help more than 13,000 low-income Indiana students go to college after it was targeted in the Trump administration's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion. The Trump administration canceled a $34.9 million federal grant to Purdue University for GEAR UP, a federally funded program to boost college readiness and access. It provides after-school, mentoring and college-prep programs in 10 districts across the state. It will shut down Tuesday. The grant was awarded last year and expected to continue through 2031, according to a 2024 press release from Purdue's College of Education. It was the sixth-largest federal grant in university history, the release said. In a Sept. 12 termination letter, the U.S. Education Department said Purdue's grant application conflicted with federal civil rights law and the department's policy of "prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education." Federal officials cited sections of Purdue's application that promised DEI training for hiring managers, professional development in "culturally responsive teaching" and the integration of social and emotional learning in STEM instruction. GEAR UP is a federal initiative Congress created in 1998. The program awards competitive, multi-year grants to states and universities to prepare low-income students for college. It focuses on teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics. |
| Scientific Publishing Industry Faces Federal Scrutiny | |
 | Long-standing criticisms of academic publishing are helping to fuel the Trump administration's attacks on the nation's scientific enterprise. For years, some members of the scientific community have raised alarm about research fraud, paper mills, a paucity of qualified peer reviewers and the high cost of academic journal subscriptions and open-access fees. Research also suggests those problems are rooted in academic incentive structures that reward scientists for publishing a high volume of papers in widely cited journals. In recent months, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Jayanta Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, have taken aim at the scientific publishing industry, changing policies and using their platforms to lodge their own criticisms. They've pledged to address concerns about bias, misinformation and access. In August, Bhattacharya wrote in a memo that part of his strategy to rebuild public trust in science will include focusing on "replicable, reproducible, and generalizable research" as "the basis for truth in biomedical science." The "publish or perish" culture, he added, "favors the promotion of only favorable results, and replication work is little valued or rewarded." |
| A Judge Ruled Trump Silenced Scholars. Will It Matter? | |
| The American Association of University Professors and other academic groups won a resounding victory on Tuesday when a judge ruled that the Trump administration had "chilled" their members' rights to express their views. First Amendment lawyers praised the decision as a win for free speech. The AAUP had alleged that the arrests and detention of noncitizen students and scholars who had expressed pro-Palestinian views made their foreign-born members fear similar consequences. As a result, AAUP members testified that they abandoned research projects, canceled travel plans, and stopped signing letters or attending protests related to Palestine. Judge William G. Young, a senior judge for the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, ruled that even though the plaintiffs were not the ones arrested, their fears were reasonable given what members of the administration had said about the arrests. The judge, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, quoted government official's statements about the arrests at length, calling them "threats" that "objectively chilled the Plaintiffs' speech." The case, in Young's view, boiled down to whether noncitizens have the same First Amendment rights as everyone else. "Unequivocally 'yes, they do,'" he wrote in his 161-page decision. "We are not, and we must not become, a nation that imprisons and deports people because we are afraid of what they have to tell us," he wrote. |
| White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage | |
| The Trump administration is laying out a set of operating principles that it wants universities to agree to in exchange for preferential access to federal funds. The expansive 10-point memo, dubbed the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," puts forth a wide-ranging set of terms the administration says are intended to elevate university standards and performance. Universities that sign on will get "multiple positive benefits," including "substantial and meaningful federal grants," according to a letter addressed to university leaders. "Our hope is that a lot of schools see that this is highly reasonable," said May Mailman, senior adviser for special projects at the White House. The memo demands that schools ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions; freeze tuition for five years; cap international undergrad enrollment at 15%; require that applicants take the SAT or a similar test; and quell grade inflation. Much of the document focuses on the campus political climate. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,500 presidents of colleges and universities, said he found the idea of a compact troubling, particularly its points regarding political expression and views. "Who decides if the intellectual environment is vigorous and open-ended? This is not something the federal government should be involved in and adjudicating," he said. "The implications for free speech are horrifying." |
SPORTS
| Soccer: Magnolia Cup Returns To Starkville Thursday | |
| The Magnolia Cup is in play once more as No. 13 Mississippi State hosts Ole Miss at the MSU Soccer Field on Thursday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, and the match will air on SEC Network+. The Bulldogs have won five straight meetings, the longest winning streak by either school in the rivalry's history. Along with the winning streak in the series, State will once again test its regular-season home unbeaten streak that has extended to 18 matches and its 14-match conference play unbeaten streak, both of which date back to 2023. While MSU has won every meeting since 2020, the games have been tightly contested. The first four matches of the current streak were all decided by one goal until State won, 2-0, last year. The Rebels have not scored a goal against MSU since 2021. State has won three consecutive SEC weekly honors with Kennedy Husbands the latest recipient of an award. She was tabbed the league's Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts in the shutout win at Missouri last week. Thursday night is State's annual Pups at the Pitch night with fans encouraged to bring their dogs to the game. The first 250 dogs through the gates can pick up a free MSU soccer bandana. Fans can also take photos with the Magnolia Cup during the first half of Thursday night's game. |
| Mississippi State prepares for first SEC road trip | |
| After four straight home games, the Bulldogs are hitting the road for the first time in conference play. Mississippi State is off to College Station to face No. 6 Texas A&M in front of a loud, hostile crowd on Saturday. "It's always difficult to emulate what a crowd noise is going to be like, especially them being over 100,000," Mississippi State defensive lineman Kedrick Bingley-Jones said. "It's going to be really loud in there, and I know it's going to be a great challenge for us. But I feel like we're going to be able to prepare and be able to just -- I know the crowd's a big part of every game. But just trying to focus on executing our job and being able to communicate with each other, I think that's the biggest thing." The Aggies are coming off a 16-10 win over Auburn last week. Texas A&M had scored over 40 points in each of its first three games before running into some problems against the Tigers. "I think we understand their roster, the talent level, things like that," Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby said. "But offensively, (they've) been really explosive in the throw game. Two great receivers, they've got two really, really good running backs and they've got a veteran O-line that's played a lot of ball." |
| Jeff Lebby's fiery message with Mississippi State so close to ending SEC losing streak | |
 | Jeff Lebby almost never uses profanity when speaking at news conferences, but did this week. The Mississippi State football second-year coach was asked about how he balances being critical with giving himself credit when he reviews game film. It was two days after the Bulldogs (4-1, 0-1 SEC) lost a gut-wrenching 41-34 game in overtime to No. 15 Tennessee at Davis Wade Stadium. "No, I'm not able to give myself any credit," Lebby said on Sept. 29. "We got our (expletive) beat, and it's very frustrating. I got to do better, I got to coach better and I got to get done what we need to get done so at the end of the game we are plus-one. That's the bottom line." But there are signs that Mississippi State is close to snapping that SEC losing streak. The previous 12 SEC loses were all by double digits. MSU's remaining seven games are all against SEC opponents, starting with No. 5 Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0) at Kyle Field on Oct. 4 (6:30 p.m., SEC Network). "The fact that we were still playing with a top-15 team in the country and the fact that we messed so many plays up or details of each play shows how good we can even be if we are all on the same page," MSU quarterback Blake Shapen said. |
| MSU Reveals 2026 Baseball Schedule | |
| The Brian O'Connor era at Mississippi State officially gets underway in February. The Diamond Dawgs open the 2026 season with a nine-game homestand beginning with a weekend series against Hofstra on Feb. 13-15. MSU continues by hosting midweek contests against Troy (Feb. 17) and Alcorn State (Feb. 18) as part of five games in six days at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs carry on in the friendly confines of home with a three-game series against Delaware from Feb. 20-22 and host Austin Peay on Feb. 24 before leaving Starkville for the first time. As previously announced, Mississippi State is scheduled to participate alongside fellow SEC teams Texas A&M and Tennessee in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington Texas. The Diamond Dawgs are set to take on Arizona State on Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. before a matchup with Virginia Tech the following day at 3 p.m. MSU will wrap up its stay at the home of the Texas Rangers against UCLA on March 1 at 2:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will have another home-and-home midweek matchup against Southern Miss in 2026. The Golden Eagles welcome Mississippi State to Hattiesburg on March 3 before making a return visit to Starkville on March 24. The Diamond Dawgs meet Tulane at Keesler Federal Park in Biloxi on March 10 and will play their annual Governor's Cup game against Ole Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl on April 28. |
| Women's Golf: Weed Earns Third Career Victory At Blessings Collegiate Invitational | |
| Avery Weed rewrote the Blessings Collegiate Invitational record books this week as she earned her third career individual victory at 14-under par. Weed collected her third consecutive round in the 60s in the final day at 3-under. Weed becomes the second Bulldog to win the individual title at the Blessings, joining Julia Lopez Ramirez. The two are the only golfers in the history of the women's event to win the tournament and not be apart of the host team, Arkansas. This week, Weed was only one of two golfers in the 55 player field to shoot under par. Weed's score of 14-under marks the lowest 54-hole score in the history of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, besting the previous score of 11-under. In Mississippi State program history, it ties the third-best 54-hole score in program history. As a team, the Bulldogs finished third at the Blessings. It marked State's second top-three finish in as many tournaments after ending the Mason Rudolph Championship runners up. The Bulldogs will return home for their final tournament of the fall season, The Ally, at historic Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi. The tournament is set to kick of on Monday, October 20. |
| Men's Golf: Bulldogs Rally To Finish Top Five At The Blessings | |
| Mississippi State saved its best golf for last at The Blessings Collegiate Invitational, firing a team score of 297 (+9) to improve four spots and finish fifth overall. "Very challenging test of golf this week," Head Coach Dusty Smith said. "I learned a lot about our team and the kind of fight we have. We have a lot to clean up heading into Kentucky, but the resolve we showed this week was elite." Garrett Endicott and Ugo Malcor led the Bulldogs this week with ninth-place finishes. Endicott got off to a blazing start in round three, birdieing three of his first five holes before settling for a 1-over 73. This is his second top 10 of the season in as many starts. Malcor carded a 2-over 74 with two birdies. "I can't say enough about the steady play from Ugo and Garrett," Smith said. "They really played some big-time golf for us." The Bulldogs' best final round came from freshman Jackson Skinner, who fired a 3-under 69. He played bogey-free golf for his first 12 holes and finished the day with four birdies. "Jackson Skinner did a such a great job rebounding from a couple rough rounds," Smith added. "He really showed what he is made of." State will return to action October 6-7 at the Cullan Brown Collegiate in Lexington, Kentucky. |
| Dynasties 'over' for bigger SEC with 9 league games, Kiffin says | |
| Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said "dynasties are over" in the SEC after the league added Oklahoma and Texas and recently announced it will play a ninth conference game starting in 2026. Kiffin, whose Rebels (5-0) are ranked No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll after last week's 24-19 victory against LSU, said name, image and likeness rules and the transfer portal have also leveled the playing field in the 16-team SEC, making it harder for programs to stay on top. He said SEC programs will no longer be able to stockpile talent as former Alabama coach Nick Saban did while winning six national championships from 2007 to 2023 and Georgia coach Kirby Smart did when capturing back-to-back CFP national titles at his alma mater in 2021 and 2022. "In my opinion, the dynasties are over," Kiffin told ESPN on Wednesday. "Alabama with Coach Saban and then Kirby at Georgia, where they had those rosters year in, year out and there would be a bunch of wins by 30 points in the conference, those days are done." "If a team in the bottom half is down for a couple of years, they won't stay down for long anymore because they can go buy and fix their problems," Kiffin said. "There are so many kids that want to play and go to the portal. They want to play in the SEC, so they'll go to what you would maybe call the bottom-tier programs. They'll fix their problems and won't stay bad." |
| Diego Pavia Court Win Upheld Before Vanderbilt-Alabama Football Game | |
| A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday dismissed as moot the NCAA's appeal of Chief U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell Jr.'s ruling last December to grant Vanderbilt quarterback and former JUCO transfer Diego Pavia a preliminary injunction to play this fall. Circuit Judges Amul Thapar, Chad Readler and Whitney Hermandorfer reasoned that the NCAA's appeal of an injunction is no longer necessary. Pavia is already playing this fall, and the NCAA granted a waiver to Pavia and similarly situated athletes for the 2025-26 academic year. Writing for the panel, Thapar explained why the NCAA's appeal is, at this point, merely about concepts and policy rather than real-world issues pertaining to Campbell's order. Under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, federal courts can only decide cases and controversies where they can grant relief to the parties. That can't happen here, since the relief has already been granted. Pavia has made the most of the relief by leading No. 16 Vanderbilt to a 5-0 record entering a weekend showdown with No. 10 Alabama, a program Pavia and the Commodores defeated in memorable fashion last season. "No matter the outcome of this appeal," Thapar wrote, "Pavia has already obtained the full relief he initially sought by requesting a preliminary injunction." The outcome of the appeal would have no impact on whether Pavia can play this fall. |
| Sources: Big Ten discussing $2 billion private capital deal | |
| The Big Ten is in discussions about a private capital deal that would infuse at least $2 billion into the league and its schools, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. The discussions include a 10-year extension of the league's grant of rights until 2046, sources told ESPN, which would ensure long-term stability in the Big Ten. According to sources, the private capital deal and grant of rights extension have been discussed for months and presented in multiple forms. A deal and the grant of rights extension would also be a distinct blow to the outside entities attempting to form super leagues around college sports. While there is support from nearly the entire league, according to sources, a few of the league's biggest brands -- including Ohio State and Michigan -- are still in discussions with the league. The aim is to have unanimous support before a vote, sources told ESPN. A decision on the private capital deal is expected in the upcoming weeks from the schools in the Big Ten, sources said, and nothing is considered imminent or certain. There are three different private capital entities being considered by the Big Ten, sources told ESPN, and the league has not taken a vote on any plan. The setup being discussed, sources said, is that this will essentially be the formation of a new commercial entity within the Big Ten that would house all revenue generation such as media rights, sponsorships and league revenue streams. |
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