| Tuesday, December 18, 2018 |
| Mississippi State again recognized as one of nation's top research universities | |
 | A new review of U.S. higher education further affirms Mississippi State University's status as one of the nation's leading research institutions. On Monday [Dec. 17], the Carnegie Foundation released an update of the influential Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, and Mississippi State is designated as a "Very High Research Activity" doctoral university. This classification represents the highest level of research activity for doctorate-granting universities in the country. "Carnegie's very high research classification speaks directly to the commitment of our outstanding faculty and staff, as well as our undergraduate and graduate students, who are engaged in transformational research and creative discovery. This recognition is truly a university-wide achievement," MSU President Mark E. Keenum said. MSU is one of only 120 schools to achieve the distinction. Of note, the university also holds the Carnegie community engagement classification. |
| 'Maroon Edition' Habitat for Humanity home dedicated | |
 | Starkville family will have a brand new home for the holidays. On Monday, Mississippi State University dedicated its "Maroon Edition" Habitat for Humanity home to Lou-Quan Lucious and her family. Each year MSU teams up with Habitat to help support a local family. Lucious was presented a handmade MSU quilt, family Bible, and a welcome basket. She's grateful for the help and ready to get settled into her new home. "It's very exciting it's a new start, my children. It's a better environment for my children. It's them getting to know that where we came from is something better than what we came from it just I just want I just want to show them something better and something new, and it's a great Christmas gift," she said. "We are just so proud to partner with Habitat for Humanity's to improve our community and provide what better way to help improve the community center provide a new home to a deserving family," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. |
| MSU-Meridian prepares students for the field through service project | |
 | Carneshia Jenkins could have remained in bed Monday since her school, Mississippi State University-Meridian, is on a break, but instead she decided to give back to her community. Jenkins is one of many social work students from MSU-Meridian who are participating in Operation Reindeer, a service learning project that was created about 20 years ago as a way to give students exposure to the social work environment. The project also gives students a chance to serve their communities during the holidays. Director and assistant professor of the social work program at MSU-Meridian Rhonda Carr said Operation Reindeer also raises the students' awareness about mental health. After students shopped for items, they were wrapped and delivered Monday to East Mississippi State Hospital. |
| Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith sworn in as first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Washington | |
 | U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith was sworn in Monday to complete the Senate term of former U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was administered the oath Monday in Washington by the Senate's president pro tempore, Republican Orin Hatch of Utah. It's the second time Hyde-Smith has been sworn in to the Senate. The first time was in April, when she was appointed to temporarily succeed retired Republican Sen. Thad Cochran. "It is a great honor to serve Mississippi as a United States Senator. I am committed to doing everything I can to represent the priorities of all Mississippians, and will continue to work to advance the needs of our state and the nation," Hyde-Smith said. Since assuming office, Hyde-Smith has served on the Senate appropriations, agriculture, and rules committees. |
| Mississippi GOP senator sworn in after special election win | |
 | A Republican U.S. senator from Mississippi has taken her oath of office nearly three weeks after winning a special election. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was administered the oath Monday in Washington by the Senate's president pro tempore, Republican Orin Hatch of Utah. It's the second time Hyde-Smith has been sworn in to the Senate. The first time was in April, when she was appointed to temporarily succeed retired Republican Sen. Thad Cochran. Hyde-Smith defeated Democratic challenger Mike Espy in a Nov. 27 special election runoff and will finish the final two years of the six-year term Cochran started. |
| How will a recent ruling on the ACA affect Mississippi? | |
| Mississippians, like the rest of the country, will have to stay tuned to see what will become of the Affordable Care Act. "The Texas court ruling declaring the ACA as unconstitutional will not have an immediate effect on Mississippi," said Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. In an opinion issued late Friday night, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the ACA was unconstitutional in a case brought by a group of 22 states, including Mississippi. The law was defended by 16 states and the District of Columbia and will likely be appealed. Although O'Connor said the entire law must fall, he did not grant a request from its opponents to have his ruling take effect immediately. People who have signed up for health insurance through the federal exchange should still pay their premiums and they will have insurance coverage in 2019. |
| Governor appoints Bramlett to replace Michael Guest as DA | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant has appointed John K. "Bubba" Bramlett Jr. as district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties, to replace Congressman-elect Michael Guest. Guest officially leaves the office Dec. 31, after his election to the U.S. House in November. Bramlett will take office Jan. 1, and serve out the remainder of Guest's term. "Bubba has faithfully served the people of the 20th Circuit Court District in two different roles over the years, and I am pleased he has accepted this appointment," Bryant said in a press release. "His experience as both a prosecutor and in private practice make him well-qualified." Bramlett has served the district as an assistant district attorney since 2015. He has prosecuted cases including drug possession, drug trafficking, kidnapping, aggravated assault, DUI death and murder cases in Madison County. |
| Mississippi appeal seeks to revive 15-week abortion ban | |
| Mississippi is trying to revive one the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. The state's Democratic attorney general, Jim Hood, filed a notice of appeal Monday in support of a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks. The law was signed in March by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, and the state's only abortion clinic immediately sued the state. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves issued a temporary injunction the next day to prevent the state from enforcing the law. Then he issued a more extensive ruling Nov. 20, finding that the law "unequivocally" violates women's constitutional rights. |
| Investigators question MDOT officials in frontage road probe | |
 | Investigators working for Attorney General Jim Hood have interviewed Mississippi Department of Transportation officials about possible political influence over a state-funded frontage-road project to give a gated Flowood neighborhood better access to a nearby highway. An MDOT spokesman confirmed to Mississippi Today that investigators have interviewed employees of the agency, which has turned over documents and digital correspondence related to the project. MDOT did not say which officials were interviewed or when the interviews took place. "For any further information, you'll need to contact the Attorney General's office," said MDOT spokesman Jason Scott. |
| Should Confederate monuments be removed? The South is split, poll finds | |
 | Residents in the South are split on what to do with controversial monuments to Civil War and segregation-era figures. Most respondents in a new poll by Winthrop University want to do something about the monuments, but they don't agree on what. Meanwhile, a large number of respondents told Winthrop to leave monuments to Confederate soldiers right where they are. Forty-two percent of Southerners said to leave Civil War memorials alone, according to the poll released Wednesday. While 28 percent said to add a plaque for context and historical interpretation, nearly one-fourth want to move the statutes to a museum. Only 5 percent want to remove them completely. "All told, 56 percent want to do something other than simply leave the monuments and statues as they are, but these folks are very divided on what should be done," said Winthrop poll director Scott Huffmon. "A strong plurality advocate leaving them as they are." |
| Mississippi congressman proposes 'border bonds' to pay for wall | |
 | Feel strongly about building that border wall President Trump supports? South Mississippi's congressman thinks he has way where the American people can pitch in their money. U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo said Monday he is introducing the "Border Bonds for America Act of 2018," which would allow Americans to purchase revenue bonds to help finance construction of a wall between the United States and Mexico. "During World War II, 85 million Americans purchased $185 billion in war bonds and financially supported our troops while they were defending our country," Palazzo said in a written statement. "This legislation would allow for the patriots of today's era to help support American security in the same way as previous generations." Palazzo's office said there are no other co-authors of the bill at this time. |
| President Trump announces second round of farm aid to offset trade damage | |
 | President Trump on Monday announced his administration was planning to disburse a second tranche of aid as part of a $12 billion package meant to assist American farmers stung by retaliatory trade measures enacted by China and other foreign governments. "Today I am making good on my promise to defend our Farmers & Ranchers from unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations," Trump tweeted. "I have authorized Secretary Perdue to implement the 2nd round of Market Facilitation Payments. Our economy is stronger than ever--we stand with our Farmers!" After this latest round of payments, farmers will have received about $9.6 billion in aid, according to Department of Agriculture figures. The largest payments will be for soybeans. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement Monday that farmers "are continuing to experience losses due to unjustified trade retaliation." "This assistance will help with short-term cash flow issues as we move into the new year," he added. |
| Top Republicans struggle to persuade Trump not to shut down the government | |
 | Congressional Republicans struggled Monday to find a way to persuade President Trump to back off a public threat to shut down the government over border wall money, staying largely in the dark over the impasse that could halt pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers by the end of the week. At the White House, Trump has remained disinclined to support even stopgap measures that would keep federal government operations running for a week or two, told by his closest advisers that he would have even less leverage when Democrats take control of the House next month. Trump is also bolstered by support of rank-and-file Border Patrol agents, whose union leader told the president in a recent Oval Office conversation that they would back a wall-induced shutdown if the dispute came to that point. |
| Brett Kavanaugh begins Supreme Court tenure cautiously as fellow conservatives push for change | |
 | Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh is starting what could be decades on the bench with a sense of caution that has put him at odds with his fellow conservatives. Kavanaugh's low-profile entrance has offered a distinct contrast with that of his immediate predecessor, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, who came on like gangbusters 20 months ago as President Donald Trump's first addition to the court. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch have differed on several issues during the new justice's first 10 weeks on the bench. Although the matters were largely procedural, the cases touched on some of the biggest issues the high court faces: abortion, immigration and the environment. In each case, only Gorsuch sided with the court's conservative wing, while Kavanaugh -- now more than two months removed from a contentious Senate confirmation battle that included a decades-old allegation of sexual assault -- stuck by Chief Justice John Roberts. |
| Trump School-Safety Panel Targets Obama Policy on Race and Discipline | |
 | President Trump's commission on school safety has recommended revoking a federal guideline directing schools not to punish minority students at higher rates, a stricture that some Republicans and other activists feared has led schools to avoid punishing potentially violent students. The commission, formed after the school shooting Feb. 14 that killed 17 people in Parkland, Fla., largely sidesteps making any recommendations to tighten access to firearms, falling far short of what Democrats and most education policy officials say is necessary to reduce the frequency of gun-related violence. The 177-page report, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and will be released publicly Tuesday afternoon, does recommend that individual states or districts consider arming school personnel, either teachers or law-enforcement officials present in school buildings, particularly in rural areas where supplemental help would take longer to arrive. |
| Charities Feeling Flush Despite Tax Law Change | |
 | Year-end holiday giving is make-or-break time for America's charitable sector. Donors who give now may feel compelled by the spirit of the season, but many of them also know that they can soon write off their gifts on their taxes and recoup a portion of their money. But that latter incentive affects fewer people this year, thanks to a provision in the 2017 tax law that roughly doubled the standard deduction. As a result, the Congressional Budget Office projects that 31 million fewer households will itemize their taxes next year, eliminating their tax incentive to give to charity. Nonetheless, American generosity appears to be a more powerful force than economic incentive. Charitable giving was up by 2.6 percent during the first nine months this year compared to the same period in 2017, according to the latest quarterly report from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute. |
| U. of Mississippi music professor awarded Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship | |
| A University of Mississippi music professor has been selected as one of 51 scholars to mentor potential professors and research ethnomusicology. George Worlasi Kwasi Dor, a native of Ghana and a holder of UM's McDonnell-Barksdale Chair of Ethnomusicology, was selected as a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship, according to a release. The fellowship, which takes place during the summer of 2019, will send Dor to Nigeria to conduct field research in ethnomusicology, develop curriculum and mentor graduate assistants and assistant lecturers. The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program is in its sixth year and is designed to increase different skills in order to benefit African nations, build capacity at host institutions and develop long-term collaborations between universities in Africa, the United States and Canada. |
| Some USM students want library renamed, citing segregation history | |
| Some students at the University of Southern Mississippi want to consider renaming the school's main library, citing the namesake's history of supporting segregation. Student Government Association Senator Jarrod Colley told a November meeting that he was concerned that the library was named for longtime President William McCain, who led the school when Clyde Kennard was denied admission. The Student Government Association has formed a committee to study how buildings were named. "This committee will be looking at specific spaces like McCain Library and other historic spaces that may have some controversy surrounding them," said student government President McKenna Stone. Any decision to rename the library would ultimately be made by College Board trustees who oversee Mississippi's eight public universities, The Hattiesburg American reported. |
| U. of South Carolina's Harris Pastides to chair public health institute | |
| University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides has been named the chair of the board of directors to a South Carolina medical think tank, according to a news release. South Carolina Institute of Medicine & Public Health is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that produces reports and collects data for lawmakers and other officials. Pastides, who announced his plans to retire as USC's president in July 2019, served as president of the university since 2008. Before becoming USC president, Pastides was an epidemiologist, a type of medical researcher who studies causes and patterns of diseases. |
| U. of Florida research satellite launches into orbit | |
 | The Gator Nation is everywhere, including space. On Sunday, NASA launched a University of Florida satellite that could help improve the accuracy of timing-sensitive satellites, such as GPS. The satellite is more than 500 kilometers (315 miles) above Earth, orbiting at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour. "We've spent five and a half years to get to this point, and the launch is always the riskiest part," said UF mechanical and aerospace engineering Associate Professor John Conklin. "Having passed that hurdle, it feels great." The UF satellite was one of 13 research cube satellites launched by Rocket Lab Electron from New Zealand as part of NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program. The goal of UF's research from space is to improve time-transfer synchronizing systems through laser technology. |
| U. of Tennessee System interim president announces task force to evaluate admin effectiveness | |
 | University of Tennessee System Interim President Randy Boyd has announced the creation of a task force that will be used to evaluate administrative effectiveness. The Task Force on University Administrative Effectiveness will work to "clarify the roles and responsibilities between the University of Tennessee System administration and the campuses and institutes it serves," according to a news release from the System. "The faculty and staff that make up the University of Tennessee are our greatest asset to helping ensure students can fulfill their dream of graduating college," Boyd said in the release. "My main goal is to determine if there are opportunities to share best practices, streamline processes, identify practical ways to do our jobs better, and ultimately reduce costs." The task force will initially look at five departments within institutional support, according to the release: capital projects, communications and marketing, human resources, information technology and procurement and contracting. |
| Lamar Alexander's decision to retire could add urgency to pass higher ed law | |
 | Senator Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, said Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2020. His decision could have big consequences for a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act as well as congressional approaches more broadly on issues like student loans and college accountability. Alexander, 78, said earlier this year that he hoped to make quick progress on a new higher ed law. But even after a series of detailed hearings, talks with Democrats in the Senate never got serious. He was already facing a term limit as committee chairman in two years. Now Alexander's retirement plans may add more urgency to reach a deal on the renewal of the key law governing financial aid and many other higher education programs and add another signature accomplishment he's long targeted as chairman. |
| Out with the old, in with the new on many fronts | |
| Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: Enough with the guesswork. Here's something definite. The first weekly opinion column I wrote was on Labor Day 1986. In the 32 years since, much has changed in journalism and in readers' habits. Routine was prime back in the day. If it was Sunday, the crossword puzzle was bigger. Saturday was for the religion writer. Routine is rare now, so after years of adhering to a fixed schedule my plan is to aggravate fish more often than people, and to submit columns now and then. If editors want to use them, they may. If not, that's OK, too. In more than three decades, I've given them about 3 million words to pore over and, well, there are younger, brighter minds out there. |
| 11 things I've learned about economic development | |
 | Consultant and columnist Phil Hardwick writes in the Mississippi Business Journal: During my still active career in economic and community development, I've learned quite a few things. Some, but not all, are listed below. These are just the first ones that came to mind. Economic development is all about jobs. Even though the textbook definition of the term is, "...the process of increasing the economic wealth of a community," almost all economic developers see their role as doing that by creating, increasing and retaining jobs. The press releases and the websites tout number of jobs created more than just about anything else. That's because jobs, especially good paying jobs drive most economies. A job not only brings money to a community, but it also provides self-worth and security to individuals. |
SPORTS
| Another top 10 tussle for No. 4 Mississippi State | |
| Mississippi State moved up one spot to No. 4 in the latest Associated Press poll on Monday and has a chance to climb even higher in the rankings if it can stay undefeated tonight at seventh-ranked Oregon. The top 10 matchup tips off at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN2. It is the third straight season that the Bulldogs (10-0) and Ducks (8-1) have met on the hardwood. MSU claimed a 75-63 victory in Hawaii in 2016 and won 90-79 in Starkville last season behind 35 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks from Teaira McCowan. McCowan leads the Bulldogs averaging 18.6 points and 12.8 rebounds and tops the nation with 76 blocks. State is 3-0 all-time against Oregon and tonight is the first ever meeting in Eugene. |
| Mississippi State women's basketball faces Oregon's scoring top-ranked offense | |
| Mississippi State is undefeated and a top-five team in the country. Head coach Vic Schaefer still isn't fully satisfied. The Bulldogs beat their opponents by an average of 42.0 points per game. That's better than the next best team in that category, No. 1 ranked Connecticut, who beats opponents by 34.9 points per game. The only team that averages more points per game than Mississippi State is its next opponent: Oregon. The No. 7 Ducks average 92.4 points per game. Mississippi State averages 92.3. A date with the Ducks at 9 p.m. Tuesday will put one deficiency Schaefer believes his team still has to the test: defense. State's scoring defense is the third-best in the country, but Schaefer's players know he always demands more from them. |
| Offensive fireworks could happen when Mississippi State women play at Oregon | |
 | Fireworks are lit and ready to explode in Eugene, Ore., Tuesday night as No. 4 Mississippi State and No. 7 Oregon are not waiting on New Year's Day. The Bulldogs (10-0) meet up with the Ducks (8-1) for a monster non-conference clash between the two top offenses in the country at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN2. Oregon leads the country with a 92.4 scoring clip per game but that's just a tick higher than State's 92.3. The Ducks hit 52.4 percent of its shots and 41.4 percent from 3-point range while the Bulldogs make 51.2 percent and 37.7 from 3. Still, MSU head coach Vic Schaefer sees a team that's a work in progress on that side of the basketball, and he wasn't particularly thrilled with how his defense played against No. 19 Marquette two weeks ago which concerns him against an Oregon team that is even better at the guard position. |
| Vic Schaefer: Undefeated State 'can get a whole lot better' | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Vic Schaefer answered his phone at 6:45 a.m. (Oregon time), Monday. I wouldn't have called that early, but didn't know the Mississippi State women's basketball coach already was on the left coast. "Oh, no problem, I've already been up for two hours," Schaefer said when offered an apology. It had been a blur of a weekend for Schaefer. First, on Friday night, his Bulldogs reeled off their 10th straight victory, trouncing Southern Miss 86-42 at Reed Green Coliseum, which State fans turned into a south Mississippi version of The Hump. Green Coliseum? It was more like maroon. The crowd was listed at 4,448. Four thousand must have been State fans. On Saturday, Schaefer was in Michigan recruiting -- naturally one of the nation's top four or five players. On Sunday, early, it was back to Starkville for a morning practice before boarding a plane for Eugene, Oregon, where the Bulldogs will play Tuesday night. |
| No. 4 Mississippi State will learn a lot at No. 7 Oregon | |
 | The Dispatch's Adam Minichino writes: Set the alarm clock for a nap Tuesday afternoon. Get a bowl for microwave or white cheddar cheese popcorn and your favorite beverage ready. Don't get too comfortable, though, because you want to be able to stay awake for all of the No. 4 Mississippi State women's basketball team's game against No. 7 Oregon. The game tips off at 9 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN2) in Eugene, Oregon. The matchup features the nation's top two scoring teams (Oregon averages 92.4 points per game; MSU 92.3). Oregon also leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.93) -- a category that is near and dear to MSU coach Vic Schaefer's heart -- and is second in turnovers per game (10.8). MSU will try to combat those areas of strength with the nation's fourth-best scoring defense (50.3 ppg.) and the No. 1 scoring margin (42 ppg.). Let's not forget Oregon (8-1) is second nationally in field goal percentage (52.4) and MSU is fifth (51.5). So will this one be one of those old last-team-with-the-ball-wins games? |
| Nick Fitzgerald: I underestimated offensive adjustments | |
| Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald is among the many who underestimated the acclimation period Mississippi State's offense would have to undergo this season while adjusting to Joe Moorhead's new system. On the surface, it seemed the Bulldogs were simply switching from one spread-style offensive system to another. But as it turned out, there was not much carryover to Moorhead's scheme from the one Dan Mullen ran so successfully at MSU for nine seasons. "Even people on the team didn't exactly expect how different the offense was going to be, me included," Fitzgerald said. "I thought there were lots of similarities but in the end there just wasn't. It's just a totally different philosophy about the game, which is great. It's great to change. But it definitely was harder than I think people expected it to be and it showed early on." |
| C.J. Morgan gives lift to Mississippi State defense | |
| Bob Shoop had options when Jaquarius Landrews was the second starting Star, the nickel defensive back, to go down with injury, his coming against Louisiana Tech. Mississippi State's defensive coordinator could have easily chosen a baptism by fire for freshman Marcus Murphy at the same position. If MSU elected to shuffle at safety rather than Star, it put Stephen Adegoke on scholarship for this exact reason -- depth -- and his time could have been called. Instead, it called on C.J. Morgan. The sophomore from Bossier City, Louisiana, was the answer when the No. 18 Bulldogs were down two defensive backs going into the final three weeks of the season. He did not disappoint. "He earned it. He said thank you for giving him the opportunity, but I told him I didn't give him anything, he earned it," Shoop told The Dispatch. Morgan ended the regular season with 16 tackles -- 12 of them came in the final three games as a starter. He also tallied his second interception of the season in the Arkansas game, the particulars of that play showing his development in the new role. He gives MSU (8-4) yet another option in the secondary going into the 11 a.m. Dec. 1 (ESPN2) Outback Bowl against Iowa (8-4). |
| Mississippi State's Jake Mangum earns All-American honors | |
| The first preseason college baseball awards are out and Mississippi State center fielder Jake Mangum is in rarefied air. Collegiate Baseball released its preseason All-American team and Mangum is the lone Southeastern Conference player on the first team. Mangum was one of MSU's best offensive weapons on the way to the College World Series, hitting .351 with a career-high 22 doubles and nine home runs. His 83 RBI last year are the most of any player on Collegiate Baseball's preseason All-American First Team. Mangum's senior year begins Feb. 15 with a three-game home series against Youngstown State. |
| Mississippi State's Jake Mangum listed as All-American by Collegiate Baseball | |
| Plenty of accolades are likely to come Jake Mangum's way this upcoming baseball season. He started compiling his honors on Monday as Mississippi State's senior centerfielder was chosen as a Preseason first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Mangum was the only Southeastern Conference player to be picked as a first-teamer. His selection shouldn't come as much of a shock. Mangum will begin the 2019 baseball season as the active leader in career hits among all NCAA Division I baseball players. Mangum has 275 career hits to go along with 154 career runs scored. Only three other Division I athletes have scored more career runs than Mangum. Mangum has hit .356 for his career. The Pearl native is on a pace to end his time as a Bulldog among MSU's top 10 in multiple statistical categories. Mangum sits just 61 hits shy of becoming Mississippi State's all-time hits leader. He could also become the SEC's all-time hits king if he can add 77 to his ledger in 2019. With 56 games played in 2019, Mangum would also become MSU's all-time leader in games played. |
| MUW mourns loss of former athletic director Jo Edna Spearman | |
| Glenn Schmidt had a lot of influences in nearly 40 years as a teacher and as a coach. It's hard to dispute Jo Edna Spearman left an indelible impression on Schmidt in the time they worked together at the Mississippi University for Women. "She had a wisdom about her that you needed to listen to everything she said," Schmidt said. "She was a big, positive influence in my life and she loved The W. She gave her life to it." Spearman, who began her career at Mississippi State College for Women as an instructor in August 1974 and retired as Emeritus Professor and Head, Division of Health and Kinesiology; Athletic Director in 2005, died Monday. Spearman had recently relocated to Texas to be closer to family. She was 77. "Today is a very sad day for the MUW athletics family," The W Director of Athletics Jason Trufant said. "Dr. Spearman guided this athletics department for many years and was a one of the first individuals I met on this campus. Welcoming, genuine, thoughtful, and leader are just a few words that come to mind when I think of her. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family. She will be forever missed." |
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