| Friday, August 22, 2025 |
| Starkville and Mississippi State bring Banana Ball to Dudy Noble Field | |
 | What is successful tourism? Merriam-Webster defines tourism as the practice of traveling for recreation. However, to Paige Hunt, the Director of Tourism in Starkville, Mississippi, tourism means more than just a definition. This weekend, the Party Animals will face the Texas Tailgaters for an exciting game of the viral "Banana Ball" at Mississippi State University's own Dudy Noble Field. "I think that the Party Animals vs. Texas Tailgaters weekend is a perfect example of how an event that's going to be wonderful for the residents of Starkville and the students of Mississippi State University is also going to attract a large visitor contingent to our town," Hunt said. Some of the motivators for bringing the game to MSU were economic development, student admissions and recruitment, entertainment for families and the student body, building partnerships with Student Affairs and Student Association, along with the betterment of the Starkville community. Hunt said she is excited to welcome everyone, residents and visitors, to the party. Nearby restaurants and shops will have ongoing specials for the weekend. |
| MSU, ECCC sign agreement to expand access to culinology degrees | |
| Mississippi State and East Central Community College in Decatur are partnering to create a seamless transfer pathway for culinary arts students to pursue a bachelor's degree in culinology at the university. MSU President Mark E. Keenum and ECCC President Brent Gregory signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this week, giving transfer students the opportunity to earn this degree in a field with 100% job placement. "Our university is widely recognized for the innovative degree programs we provide and the collaborative culture we have. This agreement is the perfect example of how we're working with our partners to give students access to a high-quality academic experience with our world-class faculty and earn a degree that leads to successful and rewarding career opportunities," Keenum said. "It's an honor to work with Dr. Gregory and his team at East Central to offer this new pathway to their students." Reed Family Endowed Professor Wes Schilling, who also directs the university's new Food Science Innovation Hub, said the agreement allows community college graduates to continue their education at the university level. |
| Columbus on pace to fall $142K short of its sales tax projection | |
 | Columbus' sales tax collections rose 1.37% this month, while Starkville and West Point collections fell 8.19% and 2.82%, respectively, from July. Both Columbus and Starkville are running ahead of their Fiscal Year 2024 pace, but Columbus is still short of its projected budget. The new fiscal year for both cities begins Oct. 1, meaning next month will be the city's last chance to make up lost ground. Starkville collected $801,781 this month, down from July's collections of $873,307. However, it marks an 8.05% increase from August 2024 collections of $741,982. Starkville's collections have continued to slump from huge gains reported in June, but the city is still on pace to exceed its projected sales tax budget of $9.73 million by about $665,894.54, with an average monthly collection of about $866,324.54. Year-to-date, the city has collected $9,529,570 in sales tax diversions, a 13.82% increase from this time last year ($8,371,868). Starkville saw a decrease in month-to-month collections of both its restaurants sales tax diversions, which assist in funding for economic development and tourism, as well as its tourism sales tax, which funds the Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as parks. |
| Downtown Columbus to kick off football season Saturday with drawings, scavenger hunt | |
| With football season around the corner, and sports of all sorts kicking off soon, downtown Columbus is also gearing up for game day with a new event and scavenger hunt. Main Street Columbus Executive Director Barbara Bigelow said downtown merchants are participating in the first Game Day Kick-Off from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, inviting shoppers to shop local for their gameday essentials and to potentially win prizes in the process. "We want people to come downtown and support our small local businesses and shop," Bigelow told The Dispatch on Monday. "... Our merchants do carry gameday paraphernalia. They carry clothing and all kinds of things related to games, whether it be specific to a school or whatever. I think everybody can find something downtown to help them show their ... team spirit." Throughout the event, shoppers exploring downtown can enter two separate drawings, each with a different prize, Bigelow said. In the first game, for every $50 spent at a participating business, shoppers will be entered into a drawing for four tickets for the Arizona State vs. Mississippi State football game on Sept. 6, Bigelow said. Stephanie Studdard, owner of women’s clothing boutique Bella Blu, was one of the downtown merchants on a committee that came up with the idea for the Game Day Kick-Off, Bigelow said. Studdard said her store started stocking gameday merchandise for nearby teams about three years ago, to meet the demand they saw from customers. |
| SDI acquires New Process Steel; IP sells Global Cellulose Fibers for $1.5B | |
| Two industrial acquisitions announced this week will impact the Golden Triangle's manufacturing landscape, with International Paper selling its Global Cellulose Fibers business and Steel Dynamics acquiring full ownership of New Process Steel. In a Thursday press release, International Paper announced GCF will sell to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $1.5 billion. International Paper operates a GCF mill in on Carson Road in Lowndes County. The sale comes after International Paper announced last year it was exploring alternatives for operating the pulp producer as it shifts its focus to sustainable packaging solutions. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025 once regulatory approvals are completed. Steel Dynamics announced in a press release issued Tuesday it will acquire the remaining 55% equity interest in New Process Steel, a metals solutions and distribution supply-chain management company with a plant in Columbus. CEO and Chairman Mark Millett said Steel Dynamics has enjoyed a strong customer relationship with New Process Steel since its founding. New Process Steel CEO Richard Fant said he is optimistic about the sale. |
| 'Another historic day for Vicksburg': Reeves signs MOU with ERDCWERX | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves said he was in town to make history Wednesday at MCITy where a group of leaders ranging from federal to local entities gathered for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the governor and ERDCWERX. "This is another historic day for Vicksburg and another historic day for the state of Mississippi," Reeves said prior to the signing. ERDCWERX is a nonprofit that officials said "provides a streamlined path for collaboration and contracting" with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg. "As ERDC's partnership intermediary, ERDCWERX is charged with the building of technology transfer and transition and partnerships with industry, academia and other government partners," ERDCWERX Director Paul Sumrall said. "We have built a program that, based right here in Vicksburg, gives greater visibility to ERDC and the state of Mississippi by offering easier access to these innovation-based opportunities." Wednesday's signing marked the beginning of an exciting new collaboration, Sumrall said. |
| Rebirth of popular Nissan Xterra could be on horizon for Canton plant | |
 | After confirming to the Clarion Ledger on Aug. 5 that Nissan will be delaying the 2028 production launch of two electric SUV models at its Canton plant, it now appears there is a possible change of plan. Motor Trend reported that while the company has not explicitly acknowledged the name will return, Nissan Chief Planning Officer Ponz Pandikuthira said an Xterra rebirth was being "very actively considered" and discussed what such a vehicle might look like. The story also said Nissan indicated the same platform used for the Xterra would underpin a swoopy coupelike electric SUV for Infiniti. The Motor Trend report said both would be built at the Canton Nissan Assembly Plant. This news comes despite the threat of closures of other plants around the world and the word from Nissan itself that it would be delaying the 2028 production launch of two electric SUV models at its Canton plant. The Xterra was originally slated to be rolled out in 2027, but with changes to EV incentives and tariffs in the United States, a push back to 2028 would align nicely for the original plans for the Canton plant. As for the story that there will be a rebirth of the Xterra and that it will be built in Mississippi, Amanda Plecas of Nissan North Americawould not confirm the news. She also did not shoot the news down. |
| NCF documentary receives big praise | |
| The new Neshoba County Fair documentary, entitled "Last American House Party," received positive reviews following its premiere Fair Week. Produced by 13 South Productions, the film debuted at the Ellis Theater on Sunday, July 27, during the Fair. Neshoba County Fair Board President Scott Bounds praised the project, calling it "very good and very positive." Amanda Britton, who lives in North Carolina and stays in Cabin 30 on Founder's Square, also attended the screening and shared her reaction. "Like most people, I was nervous about how they would portray the Fair," Britton said. "It's such a special place, but in the wrong way, it could come across not so great. I was pleasantly surprised." Britton said the film highlighted the family and friendships at the heart of the Fair. One segment, she said, focused on the "two types of people at the Fair: the chair race people and the cake walk people." "It was funny to hear how every other cabin and family has basically the same situation going into the Fair every year," she said. "Two weeks before, they all get together planning the menu and who's doing everything." She said in one interview a woman admitted, "I don't know why we have this conversation anymore, because it's the same every year." "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's exactly what we do,'" Britton said. "It was fun to see how everybody else's Fair is also kind of the same." |
| Thacker Mountain Radio to highlight Mississippi Poet Laureate, songwriters in Ocean Springs | |
| The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, the Oxford-based, weekly public radio show devoted to literature and music, returns to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs on Saturday, August 23 at 6 p.m. The show will feature Mississippi's new Poet Laureate Ann Fisher-Wirth, New Orleans songwriter A.J. Haynes, and Fairhope, AL songwriter, Molly Thomas and her band. The event is hosted by Jim Dees with Thacker house band, Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers featuring vocalist Mary Frances Massey. This program will not be broadcast live, but will air on Saturday, September 6 at 7 p.m. on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and at 9 p.m. on Alabama Public Radio. Ann Fisher-Wirth is the Mississippi Poet Laureate for the term 2025-2029. Her most recent poetry collection is Paradise is Jagged (Terrapin Books). The poems in the book celebrate the beauty of the natural world as well as the haunting of childhood memories, family loss and grief, and a moving visit with writing students at the Mississippi Penitentiary at Parchman. |
| What's behind Mississippi Gulf Coast tourism's big boom 20 years after Hurricane Katrina? | |
 | The Mississippi coast has long been a destination for many people, and at one time, famous names such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Judy Garland were associated with it. Although those names are no longer in the spotlight, Mississippi's coast still is. It is drawing more tourists than ever due to Southern hospitality and the COVID-19 pandemic. "Many destinations did not open fully until the last half of 2022," said Judy Young, CEO of Coastal Mississippi, an organization that promotes South Mississippi as a tourism and convention destination. "We had the opportunity to capture a larger market share and introduce coastal Mississippi to a whole new generation of visitors. We became a destination of choice at that time." In 2023 Mississippi enjoyed a record 43.7 million visitors with an economic impact of $17.5 billion and roughly a third of that was on the coast. Although statewide tourism numbers for 2024 have not been released yet, Young said it was another banner year on the coast. "Last year we welcomed 15.7 million visitors," Young said. "They spent $2.2 billion. "We regained and bumped up the numbers of people employed in the industry to over 27,000 jobs. It was an increase of 2,200 jobs just for 2024." And, that is indicative of the strides the Mississippi Gulf Coast has made in the past two decades rebuilding and recovering after Hurricane Katrina devasted the area on Aug. 29, 2005. |
| Amtrak's Mardi Gras Train Returns, Joyfully, 20 Years After Katrina | |
 | There it was again, after all these years: an Amtrak passenger train, its red and blue cars gleaming in the moonlight as it idled at a platform in Mobile, Ala. An eager crowd had gathered before dawn on Monday, ready to board the train for its inaugural trip on the restored Gulf Coast line, newly christened the Mardi Gras Service, between Mobile and New Orleans. And many more travelers were waiting at stations along the way. Two decades after Hurricane Katrina decimated entire coastal communities and wiped out passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast, the return of Amtrak this week -- with two trains daily in each direction -- sent a jolt of excitement down the coast. "It's almost like it's one more step toward the healing," said Charlotte Welco, 60, who boarded in New Orleans with her mother in the afternoon, bound for Biloxi, Miss., near her home in Ocean Springs. "This is just something else to get us excited." The trains also stop in the Mississippi cities of Pascagoula, Gulfport and Bay Saint Louis during a journey that takes about four hours in all. At a peak speed of about 79 miles an hour, it is not particularly fast, compared with some of its international counterparts. But that didn't seem to matter as the 6:30 a.m. train out of Mobile prepared to trundle through the shipyards, mossy woods and marshlands that line the coastal route. |
| Vicksburg National Military Park to begin a major restoration of the Illinois Memorial | |
| On Sept. 2, 2025, the National Park Service (NPS) will begin comprehensive restoration work on the Illinois Memorial. The memorial itself will be closed during the restoration starting on Sept. 2. The parking area will be partially closed; however, there will still be parking spaces open to allow access to the Shirley House. The Tour Road will remain open. The contractors have up to one year to complete the project, according to NPS officials. Dedicated in 1906, the Illinois Memorial features 60 bronze tablets listing more than 36,000 names of Illinois soldiers who fought in the Civil War. As an open outdoor structure, it is prone to accelerated weathering and impacts from the natural environment. Modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, it is one of the most iconic memorials in the park and serves as a key stop on the Tour Road. The total cost of the project is $5,262,000, with $2.5 million funded by a private donation by John Nau III, founding member of the Board of Directors, Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign. |
| House select committee begins hearings on PERS as lawmakers consider dedicated revenue stream | |
| For nearly three hours on Thursday afternoon, members of the House Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) Select Committee heard how Alabama turned its once-struggling public retirement programs into a well-funded, diversified system. Over the last 15 years, Alabama has revamped its approach to funding its public retirement system, creating multiple programs to support various sectors, including teachers, local government, state government, police and state troopers, other first responders, and the judicial system. Legislative counsel for the Retirement Systems of Alabama said more than 70 percent of the state's retirement funds come from investments. Nearly half of the funds come from domestic and international equity. About nine percent comes from real estate, with all but two pieces of property being Alabama-based. The property includes mainly brick and mortar structures as well as golf courses. "Real estate is more liquid than fixed income," said State Rep. Henry Zuber (R), House select committee chairman. Neah Mitchell Scott told the committee that in September 2024, Alabama saw double-digit returns on all its investments, around $8 billion. Mississippi lawmakers questioned Scott on how the Retirement Systems of Alabama is structured. She said the majority of the investment decisions are made in-house, with outside agencies used only when state statute requires, such as when utilizing an actuary agency. |
| Mississippi lawmakers review PERS | |
 | Mississippi lawmakers are looking for ways to tackle billions in debt tied to the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS). On Thursday, they heard from the Alabama retirement system about how they handle similar challenges. Both sides agreed that the state needs a dedicated revenue stream. Lawmakers are working with the PERS Board on ways to reduce the debt. State Rep. Lee Yancey (R-District 74) questioned whether the state should continue paying an outside firm about $100 million a year in investment fees or handle investments in house. "That's one of the questions, whether we should be paying $100 million in fees on $36 billion in assets," he said. State Sen. Daniel Sparks (R-District 5) pointed to progress. He said the legislature has paid off $1 billion in bond debt over six years and expects to reach $2 billion by the end of this term. "I really like looking at the bond interest because we've paid those debts off, which is good conservative government, but take that interest amount and put it toward the PERS liability," said Sparks. Yancey said a large upfront payment will be needed. |
| Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann previews the 2026 Legislative session | |
 | On Thursday, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann stopped by WTOK in downtown Meridian to discuss the upcoming legislative session. In July, he spoke at the Neshoba County Fair, discussing his top priorities when political leaders return to Jackson in January. He hopes to improve the state's handling of education, military support, and boost labor force participation, while investing in Mississippi families. He also spoke highly on Mississippi's successful leadership and plans to continue to run state government-like business. "Mississippi is in the best shape it's ever been in. Our education system is working with our transportation system. They were redoing the road on 20 over here today. Our economics, our gross domestic product are all one of the nation's living our GDP growth. We have huge new businesses coming out only here in Columbus, Jackson, and Madison, all over. We've never been in the shape we've been," Lt. Gov. Hosemann says. |
| Mississippi public service commissioner praises USDA decision to end farmland solar project programs | |
| The federal government will no longer offer taxpayer subsidies for solar panels being placed on farmland, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced this week. Department heads under the Trump administration argue that subsidized solar farms have made it more difficult for farmers to access farmland by making it more expensive and less available. Since 2012, the presence of solar panels on farmland nationwide has increased by nearly 50%, per USDA statistics. The federal agency is also barring solar panels manufactured by foreign adversaries from being used in government-subsidized projects. In Mississippi, Northern District Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown is praising the decision to end the federal solar panel subsidy and prohibit products made by nations deemed hostile to the U.S. from being used in federal solar projects. "Secretary Rollins is right to ensure that the heartland is not sacrificed in the name of poorly planned subsidies or foreign supply chains. Energy leadership means producing more American energy, on American soil, using American labor and materials," Brown said. According to a release from the USDA, the elimination of these solar subsidies is expected to eliminate market distortions and costs imposed on taxpayers. |
| Powell Highlights Job Market Worries, Opening Path to Rate Cut | |
 | Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the door for the central bank to cut rates as soon as its meeting next month, when he said the prospect of a sharper slowdown in the job market might reduce concerns that cost increases due to tariffs will fuel inflation. Throughout the year, Powell and his colleagues have held rates steady, pointing to a solid labor market and uncertainty over the inflation outlook given large tariff hikes. But Powell suggested the outlook was changing in a direction that could justify a resumption of rate cuts in a widely watched address at a conference in Wyoming on Friday. "The balance of risks appears to be shifting," Powell said. While labor markets appear to be stable, "it is a curious kind of balance that results from a marked slowing in both the supply of and demand for workers." That has led to an "unusual situation" in which the risks of worse-than-expected labor-market outcomes are rising, he said. "And if those risks materialize, they can do so quickly in the form of sharply higher layoffs and rising unemployment," Powell said. Powell, whose term as chair ends next May, received a standing ovation from current and former colleagues, international peers and academic economists who had gathered for the annual symposium hosted by the Kansas City Fed in Grand Teton National Park. His comments follow a period of unusually intense pressure on the central bank by President Trump and his senior advisers, who have called on the Fed to aggressively cut interest rates. |
| Trump visits police, troops in DC after suggesting he would patrol streets | |
 | Donald Trump is not quite the patrolman in chief, but he did meet Thursday with personnel implementing his law enforcement crackdown inside Washington, D.C. In his showman's fashion, he had suggested earlier in the day that he would walk the beat with police officers and National Guard members who have been patrolling the city's streets since early last week. Instead, Trump addressed a group of uniformed personnel outside a U.S. Park Police operations center in Washington's Anacostia neighborhood for about 10 minutes. Snipers were seen on the roof, and some of the personnel took pictures and filmed videos on their phones. Waiting for him when he arrived in the armored presidential limousine were personnel from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, National Guard, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, according to pool reporters traveling with the president. Trump brought the personnel cheeseburgers prepared by the White House chef's staff and around 100 pizzas from Wiseguy Pizza. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House deputy chief of staff for domestic policy Stephen Miller joined Trump in the massive sedan known as "The Beast." Bondi has been in charge of the District's police department for 10 days, and Miller is the linchpin behind Trump's hardline immigration and policing policies. |
| FBI searches home and office of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton | |
 | FBI agents on Friday searched the Maryland home and Washington office of former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton as part of an investigation into whether he illegally possessed or shared classified information, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation, said agents were executing a search warrant at Bolton's residence in Montgomery County and later at his downtown D.C. office. Bolton was not at home at the time and has not been charged with a crime, they said. The investigation makes Bolton the latest of Trump's political enemies to find themselves targeted by a Justice Department probe. In recent months, federal investigators have launched criminal investigations into Trump critics including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), former FBI director James B. Comey and ex-CIA director John Brennan. News footage from the scene outside Bolton's home early Friday showed police cars with flashing lights blocking off the street leading to the home. Agents were on scene for more than an hour. Later in the morning, agents with FBI insignia were seen entering an M Street office building in downtown Washington, where Bolton rents space. Bolton, a veteran diplomat and security expert who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, worked in Trump's first term as his third national security adviser. He has emerged as a outspoken critic of the president in the years since he departed. |
| The 'woke' words Democrats should cut from their vocabulary | |
 | Democrats seem to think they can talk their way out of the political wilderness. Listen closely and you can hear it through the din of their all-caps Trumpian X feeds, their hourslong "manosphere" podcast interviews and their more frequent swearing. Nearly 10 months after the 2024 elections, and the party is still embroiled in self-recriminations over where they're talking, what they're talking about and, now, the actual words they're using. Or, more precisely: which words they shouldn't utter. In a new memo, shared exclusively with POLITICO, the center-left think tank Third Way is circulating a list of 45 words and phrases they want Democrats to avoid using, alleging the terms put "a wall between us and everyday people of all races, religions, and ethnicities." It's a set of words that Third Way suggests "people simply do not say, yet they hear them from Democrats." They span six categories -- from "therapy speak" to "explaining away crime" -- and put in sharp relief a party that authors say makes Democrats "sound like the extreme, divisive, elitist, and obfuscatory, enforcers of wokeness." In the document, titled "Was It Something I Said?" Third Way argues that to "please the few, we have alienated the many -- especially on culture issues, where our language sounds superior, haughty and arrogant," according to the memo. "We are doing our best to get Democrats to talk like normal people and stop talking like they're leading a seminar at Antioch," says Matt Bennett, Third Way's executive vice president of public affairs. |
| TVA rates won't increase as board gutted by Trump can't make changes | |
 | Ratepayers in the Tennessee Valley Authority's seven-state service region can look forward to some time without an electricity rate hike, though the utility didn't have much of a choice in the matter. The board -- on paper, a nine-member panel tasked with setting strategies for the utility -- is down to three members, two short of the quorum required to conduct regular business after President Donald Trump fired three directors earlier this year. During an Aug. 21 board meeting, board members and TVA staff celebrated new partnerships with nuclear firms, recent financial progress and the utility's ability to meet rising power demand amid months of gridlock brought on by firings of half its board. "TVA is strong. It is stable. It's innovative. And we have a very capable team in place that is meeting of the needs of a growing region," TVA Board Chair Bill Renick said during the meeting. "This is a TVA team that is ready to lead a changing energy landscape." Without a quorum, the TVA board can't make changes to rate increases unless they're critical to TVA's needs, CEO Don Moul told Knox News. The utility has been hit with some high demands lately, experiencing record peak energy use in June. July 2025 was also one for the books, with TVA experiencing the highest energy use for any July on record. |
| USM is One of USA's Most Transfer-Friendly Universities for 8th Consecutive Year | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi has once again been recognized as one of the most transfer-friendly universities in the nation, earning a spot on Phi Theta Kappa's 2025 Transfer Honor Roll. This marks the eighth consecutive year Southern Miss has received the prestigious distinction, reinforcing its reputation as a top destination for community college transfer students. Southern Miss is one of only 251 colleges and universities nationwide selected for the designation, which recognizes institutions that demonstrate excellence in developing and supporting dynamic, innovative pathways for transfer student success. "I'm proud of the transfer outcomes we're seeing at these Honor Roll colleges," said Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, president and CEO of Phi Theta Kappa. "These colleges are doing more than just opening doors -- they're walking students through them. Their commitment to creating clear, supportive pathways demonstrates what's possible when student success is truly the priority." |
| The search for Jackson State University's next president has begun | |
 | Who's going to be the next president of Jackson State University? That question was top of mind at the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. JSU staff members and alumni filled the seats, some with pom-poms in tow. Gee Ogletree is the president of the IHL Board of Trustees. He says the board has begun searching for a new JSU president. "As has been said on several occasions, the work of selecting the university president is not easy," he said. "Just as I ask our pastor to pray for us, I ask all y'all to do the same thing." Ogletree says the board is dedicated to transparency and a collaborative process. Still, the fact that Mississippi's largest historically black university is in need of a new president has been met with controversy over the past several months. Mark Dawson is chairman of the 1877 project, an activist group of alumni calling for transparency in the presidential search. "We want accountability for the past three failed presidential searches," he said. "Accountability is not just sort of saying, I'm sorry, or we messed it up, but it's really about doing quantitative and qualitative understanding of what was the cost of those failures." |
| IHL officials announce Jackson State University president search | |
| Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning's board announced Thursday it will begin its official search process for selecting a new president at Jackson State University, three months after the position became vacant. The former university president, Marcus Thompson, resigned in May, the third departure in seven years. The state's college governing board did not explain why he or his two predecessors left the post nor has it shared with the public details about its next steps for picking a permanent leader for the school. Alumni and supporters of the historically Black university have raised questions to the board about its opaque process, calling for a fair, transparent national leadership search for the university. Members of Thee 1877 Project, a group of alums not affiliated with the national alumni association, submitted its collected survey results from 350 alums to the board on Thursday on leadership traits respondents' sought in the university's next chief. Those top qualities listed include values like integrity and ethics, relationship building with politicians and community leaders, financial accountability and strong appreciation for HBCU culture and students. The group also submitted a petition and formal public comment with the board. While the board acknowledged submission of these items, Mark Dawson, who chairs the group, said he was disappointed they weren't allowed to speak or read their statement at the meeting. "Like Fannie Lou Hamer said, 'We didn't come here for no two seats'," Dawson said. |
| Local businesses get more foot traffic thanks to college students | |
 | School started Monday for Jones College and while students are flooding the classrooms, they also are exploring local businesses in their free time. One Ellisville business owner says foot traffic has picked back up now that students are back. "We definitely feel the increase when the college is back in session, and the students are back in town," said Ashli Blackwell, The Coffeehouse at Brookside owner. Another business owner agrees with Blackwell. "We watched them move in last week," said Rocky Purvis, KaRock's owner. "Of course, the athletes were (here) even sooner than that. I think about probably a week or so. I know because (when) the cafeteria is not open, they come to see me." "Of course, with that went tenders," Purvis told WDAM 7. "You just about have to have chicken tenders and shrimp po'boys and stuff." Blackwell, a Jones College graduate, said she wanted to create a space for students to call their own, off-campus. "College students can come here and get off of campus and have a place to just relax, or like I said, study or do what they want to do," Blackwell said. "I feel like us being able to provide that environment for them is important." |
| Schools, parents face teen mental health crisis with fear of students turning to AI therapists | |
 | Schools grappling with teen mental health problems face new challenges keeping their students safe in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Studies show AI has been giving dangerous advice to people in crisis, with some teenagers reportedly pushed to suicide by the new technology. But many students lack access to mental health professionals, leaving them with few options as schools and parents try to push back on the use of AI counseling. A study from Stanford University in June found AI chatbots had increased stigma regarding conditions such as alcohol dependence and schizophrenia compared to other mental health issues such as depression. The study also found chatbots would sometimes encourage dangerous behavior to individuals with suicidal ideation. Teenagers' embrace of AI comes as the group has seen a rise in mental health problems since the pandemic. Experts emphasize that any diagnoses or recommendations that come from AI need to be checked by a professional. |
| University System of Georgia releases AI guide for UGA students and faculty | |
| The University System of Georgia's Office of Teaching and Learning Excellence has developed a guide to help students and professors navigate how to use artificial intelligence in an ethical and responsible way that adheres to the university's policies. It highlights how students may use AI to deepen their understanding of topics and coursework while maintaining academic integrity. The guide was sent out as a downloadable PDF document to USG educators over email. The guide is 24 pages with various sections over how to write good prompts, ask follow up questions and contains sample activities to use as practice for the best ways to get AI to generate original and in-depth responses. USG educators can also self-enroll in an online course on an online learning platform called MomentumU@USG, where USG faculty may asynchronously discuss AI usage in higher education. Platforms such as ChatGPT, Grammarly and Claude AI are included in the guide along with ways they may be used. The guide recommends treating AI tools more like a mentor than a search engine to better support a student's understanding of a subject. |
| U. of Kentucky Police roll out new technology for campus safety, including drones and an app | |
 | The University of Kentucky announced new safety initiatives for the upcoming school year, including using drones for responding to calls and an app for students. A mobile police unit will be stationed on North Campus, near the Good Samaritan Hospital, where UKPD has seen an increase in calls in recent years, said UK Police Chief Joe Monroe. UK will also utilize a new first responder drone program, which will deploy drones to security concerns across campus within 90 seconds of a report. Additionally, security at residence halls will be increased with cameras and access controls. "We are really building a layered approach to safety for our campus," Monroe said at a press conference Thursday. Drones, along with 4,000 cameras across campus, will allow police to see and address safety concerns quickly, in some cases faster than an officer can get to the scene, Monroe said. Once deployed, the drones will send video footage to the UKPD security operations center and officers. Drones may be used for incidents like disorderly conduct, domestic disagreements or missing people on campus, Monroe said. "With this, it'll help us put eyes in the sky very quickly, even at night with thermal imaging," Monroe said. UK's fall semester begins on Monday, Aug. 25. |
| Aggies discuss housing as they prepare for new school year | |
 | Sofia Mireles has lived off campus all four years she's been a student at Texas A&M University. Mireles, originally from the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas, has lived all over College Station in apartments and houses. Mireles, a senior psychology major, has had a wide variety of roommates including this year where two of her three roommates are sisters. The previous two years Mireles was in a three-person residence, and in a four-person her freshman year. This year thanks to a new state law, Mireles could have had as many as five other roommates even if they weren't related. The state Legislature passed a law that allows more than four non-family members to live in a house in cities of populations between 20,000 and 250,000 that have a major college or university located there. Mireles told The Eagle during the annual Ice Cream Carnival at Howdy Week on Thursday that her experience living off campus has been positive and that she has enjoyed having other roommates. "I've really loved it just because I've been able to always have my own space, my own room and bathroom," Mireles said. "It's been nice to even be able to host friends, but I can see where there might be some pros to living on campus like having easy access to all the events." That ease of access is one reason freshman chemical engineering major Christian Garcia-Sanchez of Bryan chose to live his first year on campus. Garcia-Sanchez has friends who live off campus but for him the ability to be close to events on campus was the biggest decider in him choosing to live in a dorm. |
| UT System nixes faculty senates, approves restrictions on campus protests | |
| The University of Texas System Board of Regents authorized campus presidents on Thursday to replace faculty senates with less independent versions of the bodies. The decision is a turning point for the state's largest university system that shifts academic and hiring decisions once left to faculty and university leaders into the hands of lawmakers and governor-appointed regents. The move comes in response to a new state law requiring Texas universities to overhaul the faculty groups. But while other schools in the state have opted to reform existing bodies in collaboration with faculty, UT regents' vote represents a hard reset in the relationship between faculty and their schools. Regents also authorized major policy changes that will significantly limit free speech on campuses in response to pro-Palestinian protests last year. UT regents on Thursday authorized university presidents in the system to establish new advisory faculty groups to replace existing faculty senates. In a memo published in advance of the meeting, regents said they will "thoughtfully consider" whether to re-establish faculty senates under the new state law, but in the meantime, the new advisory faculty groups will perform their functions. Texas A&M's Board of Regents are scheduled to meet between Aug. 27-29, but its agenda has not been published yet. In an interview with The Texas Tribune last month, new chancellor Glenn Hegar suggested faculty senates will stay in schools across the system. |
| As U.S. college enrollment 'cliff' looms, Oklahoma should be OK, state chancellor says | |
| Colleges and universities across the country have been enrolling fewer students in recent years, and an enrollment "cliff" is looming, a result of fewer babies being born since around the time of the Great Recession. But the outlook seems OK for Oklahoma. While the state's public community colleges, regional universities and two research institutions witnessed overall declines in new student enrollments and total headcounts beginning more than a decade ago, the numbers have rebounded somewhat, and a precipitous decline in the total student headcount isn't anticipated in the Sooner State, according to projections of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. While the state higher education system has been encouraged to embrace "flat" budgets in recent years, efforts have been made to improve efficiencies. Trends in demographics have been more favorable to Oklahoma than they have been to other states. According to Sean Burrage, the chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, birth rates haven't dipped as dramatically here, so the numbers of high school graduates in the state have remained more consistent. Additionally, Oklahoma has welcomed more students coming in from out of state. "So the cliff here is not going to be as dramatic, if it's even a cliff at all," Burrage said. |
| OU Health Sciences Center, Norman campus to merge Institutional Research and Reporting offices | |
| OU Health Sciences Center and Norman campus' senior vice president and provosts announced the merger of their Institutional Research and Reporting offices in a mass email Thursday. The office collects university data, such as student enrollment, retention, employee salaries and research proposals, to be used for decision making and policy development. According to the email, the merger aligns with the university's goal to better serve all OU campuses, as outlined in its "Lead On, University" strategic plan. The email states Susannah Livingood will serve as director of the Institutional Research and Reporting across the two campuses and report to both provost offices. Livingood has worked at the Norman Institutional Research and Reporting office for 15 years and has served as associate provost and director of the office since 2013. She oversees institutional data and reporting, data governance, and accreditation and compliance. |
| Mizzou cancels event for Black student group over the word 'Black' | |
 | The University of Missouri's Black student government organization met with university leaders Thursday after Mizzou canceled the organization's Black 2 Class Block Party over the word "Black" in the name. The meeting consisted of around half of the Legion of Black Collegians' 13-member executive board and Mizzou administrators including Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Angela King Taylor, UM System President Mun Choi and his chief of staff, John Middleton, and Dean of Students Michelle Froese, said LBC President Amaya Morgan. The meeting came the day after LBC publicized Mizzou's decision to cancel its back-to-school block party over the word "Black" in the name. The Legion said Wednesday that Mizzou told the organization Monday it could no longer host its Black 2 Class Block Party. The event was set to happen Friday. Mizzou said the name of the event suggested it excluded people based on race. Morgan said LBC offered to change the name to the "Back 2 Class Block Party" but that the university maintained the event's cancellation. |
| Hoaxes and panic: 'Swatting' incident at Villanova is a national problem | |
 | The alert to students at Villanova University was terrifying: "ACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location. Lock/barricade doors. More info to follow." Video and photos posted to social media show the mass panic that ensued Thursday, Aug. 21, as students were preparing for the start of fall classes. Waves of students were running for their lives, some posted about how they had barricaded themselves wherever they were when the text came in, and others simply posted about how scared they were. It was all a "cruel hoax," the university announced about 90 minutes after the alert went out. At many levels across America, such hoaxes have been plaguing the nation for years, including at schools, grocery stores, office buildings and airports -- anywhere large groups of people gather. Also known as swatting, they're defined as false reports of serious crimes intended to spark a heavy law enforcement response. "It's an enormous problem," said Elizabeth Jaffe, associate professor at Atlanta's John Marshall Law School whose focus is cyberbullying and social media. "One incident is a major problem, so if we've got hundreds and thousands, it's an evolving epidemic." Experts agree that stronger laws, harsher penalties and better technology to track swatters are needed. "It's often like this with technology: We need to catch up," Hill said, adding there are stronger protections in some states. "We need to get some laws on the books." |
| Privacy and civil rights groups urge US colleges to end campus surveillance to protect protesters | |
 | A coalition of more than 30 privacy and civil rights groups called on U.S. universities Thursday to dismantle campus surveillance and data collection, to protect student protesters and others from government retaliation. The demands, issued in a letter sent to leaders of 60 major universities and colleges, come as President Donald Trump has pressed schools to crack down on alleged antisemitism and take a harder line on demonstrations. But the groups said it is essential that universities resist that pressure, including threats to millions of dollars in federal research grants, to preserve the academic freedom and rights to expression of their students, faculty and others. "We are open-eyed to the financial pressure that all campuses are under," said Golnaz Fakhimi, legal director for Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group that has counseled students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests and which joined in signing the letter. "But we think this is the moment for all campuses to hunker down" and hold the line against government interference. In their letter, the groups called on university leaders to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement agencies seeking to surveil, detain or deport students, and demanded they do more to secure and delete sensitive data. The letter also asked that schools reject restrictions on masks worn by some student protesters to conceal their identities, work to prevent doxxing and dismantle campus surveillance systems. |
| A Critic of Universities Is Rallying to Defend Them in the Trump Era | |
| The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, an increasingly prominent free-speech organization, has long been known as a fierce opponent of campus political correctness. Since its founding in 1999, it has been celebrated for defending conservatives and other dissidents from the prevailing liberal culture at America's universities. So when the group announced a lawsuit this month challenging the Trump administration's efforts to deport noncitizen students who expressed pro-Palestinian views, some admirers were dismayed. "In my lifetime," one X user, Robert McLaws, wrote, "you went from supporting Republicans who were persecuted in colleges to supporting terrorist sympathizers who are guests of this country and whose presence is not constitutionally protected. Shameful." The group, long a scourge of university administrators, also finds itself working to help protect schools it has criticized in the past from new threats. When FIRE filed a brief in support of Harvard's lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's cuts in research funds, the group noted its own record as "a leading critic of Harvard's inconsistent and insufficient protection of free speech and academic freedom." These are topsy-turvy times for the cause of free speech. Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's president and chief executive, said that its recent advocacy had cost it support from some former donors. But the organization, he said, is simply sticking to its mission: a staunch, nonpartisan defense of free speech for all, let the political chips fall where they may. |
| Tracking Trump's Higher-Ed Agenda: Some NIH grant cuts can proceed | |
 | President Trump's administration has swiftly sought to advance major changes across higher education, such as eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on campuses; punishing individuals and institutions over allegations of antisemitism; and laying off 1,300 employees in the Education Department. The Chronicle is tracking executive orders, statements from Trump, and agency actions that affect higher education, plus legal challenges directed at those measures. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said that the Trump administration can go forward with plans to terminate about 900 National Institutes of Health grants concerning racial diversity, transgender people, and other topics that the agency has said are not aligned with its priorities. The high court's 5-4 decision came after a Massachusetts-based federal district judge in June ordered the grants to be restored, saying the government's justification for terminating the projects was likely discriminatory. The justices allowed one aspect of the district judge's ruling to stand: the part that threw out the guidance document articulating the reasoning for the grant terminations. The news means affected researchers will stop getting funding, said Scott Schneider, a Texas-based lawyer who works with colleges. "There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It's a bad day for the folks whose grants were initially terminated," Schneider said. |
| Education Department plans return of laid-off OCR employees | |
| The U.S. Department of Education said it plans to bring back more than 260 Office for Civil Rights staff that it cut as part of its March reduction in force, returning groups of employees to the civil rights enforcement arm in waves every two weeks Sept. 8 through Nov. 3. The department's Aug. 19 update was filed as required by a federal judge's order in Victim Rights Law Center v. U.S. Department of Education directing that the Education Department be restored to "the status quo" so it can "carry out its statutory functions." Since March, the Education Department has been paying the OCR employees about $1 million per week to sit idle on administrative leave, according to the update. The update, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, comes as a U.S. Supreme Court emergency order in a separate but similar case allowed the agency to move forward with mass layoffs across the entire department, rather than just OCR. That case -- New York v. McMahon -- was overseen by the same judge who ordered on June 18 that OCR be restored to its former capacity. Last week, Judge Myong Joun said he stood by his OCR order regardless of the Supreme Court's decision in New York v. McMahon because the students who brought the Victim Rights Law Center case have "unique harms that they have suffered due to the closure of the OCR." |
| These programs help poor students with college. Trump wants to pull the funding | |
 | The summer after ninth grade, Zoey Griffith found herself in an unfamiliar setting: a dorm on the Morehead State University campus. There, she'd spend the months before her sophomore year taking classes in core subjects like math and biology, as well as electives like oil painting. For Griffith, it was an opportunity, but a scary one. "It was a big deal for me to live on campus at the age of 14," she said. Morehead State is about an hour from her hometown of Maysville. "I was nervous, and I remember that I cried the first time that my dad left me on move-in day." Her mother became a parent as a teenager and urged her daughter to avoid the same experience. Griffith's father works as a mechanic, and he frowns upon the idea of higher education, she said. And so college back then seemed a distant and unlikely dream. But Griffith's stepsister had introduced her to a federal program called Upward Bound. It places high school students in college dorms during the summer, where they can take classes and participate in workshops on preparing for the SAT and financial literacy. During the school year, students get tutoring and work on what are called "individual success plans." It's part of a group of federal programs, known as TRIO, aimed at helping low-income and first-generation students earn a college degree, often becoming the first in their families to do so. |
SPORTS
| Soccer: Defenders Generate Offense In State's Season-Opening Victory | |
| The first match of the Nick Zimmerman era ended with his first career victory as a head coach. Mississippi State claimed a 3-0 win in its season opener against Jacksonville State on Thursday night. It was the defenders that generated most of the scoring. Naila Schoefberger had a hand in all three goals, scoring one and recording assists on the others. The four points were a career high, and the assists were the first of her career. Goalkeeper Sarah Wommack even notched an assist. "Nai's been really intentional with her whole approach of how she goes into training and also games," Zimmerman said. "It's been great to see. We're still continuing to learn and develop as a group, the chemistry there. I'm really, really happy for her, super excited. She's earned that, and hopefully she can continue to take confidence from that." Hannah Jibril opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a knee-sliding header in the 53rd minute that proved to be the game-winner. After a corner was served in and glanced off Schoefberger's head, Adia Symmonds re-served the ball into the box. It took a slight deflection off a defender and redirected directly to Jibril who was all alone in front of the net. In the final 10 minutes, the Bulldogs struck twice. Schoefberger scored on a corner kick with service from Ally Perry in the 83rd minute. Just two and a half minutes later, Wommack played a ball out of the back to Schoefberger who played a long ball through for Zoe Main to run onto. Main beat every defender to the ball and calmly placed it in the bottom corner of the net. Mississippi State remains at home on Sunday for a nationally-televised match. The Bulldogs will welcome national runner-up No. 10/17 Wake Forest to Starkville for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on SEC Network. |
| Football: This Saturday: Dawgs In The District Fan Event | |
| Mississippi State football fans will have a chance to meet members of the 2025 team at "Dawgs in the District" on Saturday, Aug. 23, in Starkville's Historic Cotton District. The free event, open to fans of all ages, will take place at The Landing from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Approximately 60 members of the team are scheduled to attend, offering autographs and photos. To help ensure everyone has an opportunity to meet the student-athletes, each student-athlete will sign one item per person. Free posters for autographs will be available while supplies last. Mississippi State opens the 2025 season on the road at Southern Miss on Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. CT. The Bulldogs' home opener is set for Sept. 6 against No. 11 Arizona State in the annual "First Saturday in StarkVegas" game. Tickets start at less than $25 when you click here. Special First Saturday 4 Packs -- which include four tickets and a parking pass to the Arizona State matchup -- are also available starting at $49. |
| MSU updates tailgating zones for 2025 football season | |
| Ahead of the 2025 football season, Mississippi State University (MSU) is reminding fans about safety precautions and other updates. The Bulldogs will open their season on September 6, 2025, against Arizona State University. With a 6:30 p.m. kickoff in Davis Wade Stadium, gates open two hours before the game. There are changes in the tailgating zones on the MSU campus. According to officials, the desire for fan and family safety in The Junction has been a consistent point of feedback in MSU's post-game and post-season surveys of fans and visitors alike. "For the last two years, the university has examined ways to make the tailgating experience more enjoyable, safer and more in keeping with what the university community -- our students, faculty, staff and alumni -- have told us they desire on Saturdays in The Junction," said MSU Vice President for Strategic Communications Sid Salter. "We met with the MSU Student Association in listening sessions. At the top of the list for our students was their desire to have a designated area for them on gamedays." After an examination, the decision was made to move MSU students into the Amphitheater and then to move Southern Tradition Tailgating into The Junction. Officials said moving Southern Tradition Tailgating into The Junction will create uniformity as well as a safe and vibrant environment. Southern Tradition customers will have more sidewalk access and an easier path to and from the stadium. |
| New tailgating rules move students out of The Junction | |
| Mississippi State University announced Thursday afternoon that tailgating will be relocated from The Junction to the university amphitheater beginning this football season, marking one of the most significant changes to the gameday experience in recent years. The policy takes effect Sept. 6, when the Bulldogs will host Arizona State in the home season opener. University officials said the move is designed to address safety concerns in The Junction, long considered to be the centerpiece of the MSU tailgating experience. "The safety and security of our university community and visitors is always our primary concern," said MSU vice president for Strategic Communications Sid Salter, in a press release. "We believe these changes will significantly enhance the gameday experience and prioritize gameday safety for many years to come." After a review involving MSU Athletics, the Student Association, Student Affairs, the Special Events and Gameday Committee, MSUPD and others, MSU decided to designate the amphitheater as the "exclusive student area." Tents and supplies must be placed on the south side of the sidewalk in the amphitheater bowl, with no use of the stage. |
| Position Preview: Looking at Mississippi State's safeties for 2025 | |
| The Dispatch continues its overview of Mississippi State's roster by shifting focus to the unit that bore much of the blame for last season's shortcomings: the defense. The Bulldogs were statistically one of the worst defenses in all of Division I in 2024, allowing 30 or more points in nine games and allowing 216.9 rushing yards per game. Head Coach Jeff Lebby approached the issue by targeting more depth and experience at every position, including one of the few relative strengths: safety. The unquestioned leader of the defense is Issac Smith, who shined as an expert run-stopper from safety last year. While he'll still move around the back end, Smith is expected to play closer to the box, and the offseason additions appear to support that with several options to play behind Smith in the defensive backfield. |
| Baseball: State Set To Host Louisiana Tech In Fall Exhibition | |
| Mississippi State baseball fans will have the opportunity to catch an early glimpse of Brian O'Connor's Diamond Dawgs as they host a fall exhibition game against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 1. The 1 p.m. matchup is open to the public and admission is free. The home plate and right field gates will open at noon. Concession stands will not be open during the scrimmage, but fans are permitted to bring their own food and beverages. Approved ice chests or coolers are allowed after gates open. For more information on prohibited items and Stadium Policy please visit https://hailstate.com/documents/2019/1/22/DNF_Stadium_Policy.pdf. The scrimmage against Louisiana Tech will mark the second exhibition game that MSU will participate in this fall. The Bulldogs will also battle Florida State in Pensacola in Blue Wahoos Stadium on Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. Grandstand tickets have already sold out but some standing room only tickets remain available. In addition to the exhibition game on Nov. 1, fans are invited to attend 11 intrasquad scrimmages at Dudy Noble Field. State's first fall scrimmage on Sept. 19 is open to the public starting at 6 p.m. Subsequent scrimmages on Sept. 26 (6 p.m.), Oct. 3 (6 p.m.), Oct. 5 or 6 (6 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.), Oct. 7 or 8 (3:30 p.m.), Oct. 10 (6 p.m.), Oct. 13 (3:30 p.m.), Oct. 15 (3:30 p.m.), Oct. 21 (4 p.m.), Oct. 24 (7 p.m.) and Oct. 28 (3:30 p.m.) are also open to the general public. |
| 'In a good place': Darty Dennis is excited for 2025 volleyball season | |
| There's a lot to look forward to this season for Mississippi State's volleyball program. Looking to improve from last year's 11-14 finish, MSU brought in four freshmen as a part of its 2025 recruiting class and reached into the transfer portal for a haul of five new Bulldogs to pair with its seven returning players. This season, State is playing in a new volleyball challenge with the ACC, and the SEC Tournament is also making a return. Head coach Julie Darty Dennis, who is entering her seventh year of leading MSU, spoke about the upcoming season at a Starkville Rotary Club meeting on Aug. 11. She said there's a lot to be excited about, and it all starts with having a good roster to take them through the upcoming campaign. It's a roster that Darty Dennis thinks can do some damage in the highly competitive SEC, which has five teams ranked in the NCAA's preseason top 25 list. Texas and Kentucky are the only two SEC teams to capture a national championship in the sport; the Longhorns won back-to-back titles from 2022-23 and the Wildcats claimed the crown in the 2020 season. State is looking to snap a skid of back-to-back losing seasons. The new crew of Bulldogs can be seen in action at 1 p.m Saturday at the Newell-Grissom Building in an exhibition game against Memphis. |
| SEC approves 9-game conference schedule beginning in 2026, joining Big Ten and Big 12 | |
| The Southeastern Conference is moving to a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026, ending a yearslong debate and potentially easing a path toward another expansion of the College Football Playoff. The change was approved by conference presidents and chancellors Thursday. It previously had been recommended by league athletic directors. "Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities' commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. "This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance, and paired with our requirement to play an additional Power opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff." The SEC has played eight conference games each season since 1992 when the conference expanded to 12 teams with the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina. The Atlantic Coast Conference still plays eight league games. The Big 12 and the Big Ten already play nine. |
| SEC to go with 9-game conference schedule starting in 2026 | |
| The SEC will play a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2026, the league said Thursday, a historic move it's been considering for years. The decision was approved by the SEC's presidents and chancellors after a recommendation by the athletic directors in the conference. Under the new format, the SEC will continue to play without divisions. Each school will play three annual opponents focused on maintaining traditional rivalries, and the remaining six games will rotate among the rest of the league opponents. Each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away over four years. Several ACC athletic directors told ESPN they see no reason traditional ACC-SEC rivalries will be impacted, but future scheduled games with the SEC could be canceled. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said his league is not planning to move from its 8-game conference schedule at this time. "I like where we're at with eight games," Phillips said. |
| SEC adopts 9-game conference schedule after years of debate | |
| The SEC will move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, it said Thursday, ending years of debate about whether it should add another conference game. The decision came after the conference's athletic directors met this week in Birmingham, Ala. Each school will play three annual opponents "focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries," the conference said, and six rotating games among the conference schools. For now, the SEC will maintain its mandate that each school also play one other power-conference opponent in a non-conference game. The conference said Thursday in a statement it "will continue to evaluate its policies to ensure the continued scheduling of high-quality non-conference opponents." The eight-or-nine debate came amid the backdrop of another debate about the future format of the College Football Playoff. The SEC and Big Ten differed on preferred 16-game formats this summer, with the Big Ten pushing for a format that would include more automatic bids. Part of the reason for that was the inconsistent number of league games each conference plays. The news also comes a day after the CFP announced it would be tweaking a schedule strength formula it gives members of the selection committee. |
| What does SEC's move to 9-game conference schedule mean for CFP's future? | |
| We can all breathe a giant sigh of relief: Finally, the SEC is moving to a nine-game conference football schedule. Stop the presses! It took them only four years of debating, arguing and posturing. But what does this move mean for the greater landscape of college football? For one, it means fewer SEC games against non-power conference opponents in FBS and FCS, as the league will retain its requirement for schools to play at least one non-conference game against a fellow power league team or Notre Dame (yes, that means 10 power league games). But the move's most notable impact may lie with the future of the College Football Playoff format. Let's first start off with a fact: This may not mean anything immediately for the CFP format, and there is unlikely to be any agreement on a future format very soon. Yes, the SEC's decision may ease and make more productive conversations with Big Ten officials over a future format, but it doesn't mean Big Ten leaders will jump to agree with the proposed "5+11" format that the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have openly supported. In fact, on Thursday, one Big Ten official told Yahoo Sports that while the SEC's move is a positive step, the league has more concerns, most notably related to the CFP selection committee's criteria of choosing what would be 11 at-large playoff teams. |
| Brian Kelly reveals how much money LSU football spent to build its 2025 roster | |
 | Brian Kelly revealed that LSU football spent around $18 million on its 2025 roster, which is more than triple the amount the Tigers spent last season. The number is a combination of revenue that the athletic department is now allowed to share with its players and donor-backed name, image and likeness (NIL) deals sourced largely from Bayou Traditions, LSU's official booster collective. "We're going to be just about $18 million," Kelly said Thursday on his weekly radio show. LSU spent $5.5 million on the roster last season and $11 million over the previous three years combined, the general counsel of Bayou Traditions previously told The Advocate. The Tigers went 9-4 last year during Kelly's third season. As a result of the landmark House settlement, teams now have more money to spend. Schools across the country can share up to $20.5 million with their players during the 2025-26 academic year, a de facto salary cap that will rise annually over the next 10 years. LSU, like many in the SEC, allocated $13.5 million of the revenue sharing budget for its football program. Kelly and LSU general manager Austin Thomas previously said that money will be used on both the 2025 and 2026 teams because revenue sharing operates on the academic calendar. Kelly made the comment while talking about how the salary cap compares to the NFL. |
| It's official: South Carolina is becoming a Nike school | |
 | The switch to the Swoosh is official. On Friday, South Carolina's Board of Trustees approved the Gamecocks changing its apparel partners from Under Armour to Nike. It's a 10-year deal worth $70 million in product, $5 million in cash and more. USC will also receive 15% of net sales of USC-licensed Nike products. The change will go into effect until July 1, 2026 -- that's immediately after the Under Armour deal, signed in 2016, expires -- meaning the Gamecocks' nearly-20-year partnership with Under Armour will continue for the rest of this school year. "We are thrilled to announce the future partnership with Nike, a brand that is built on inspiring athletes to reach for excellence with the latest and most innovative equipment and attire while championing the values of athletic participation, beginning in July 2026," USC Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati said through a statement. South Carolina's agreement with Nike comes just over a week after Tennessee ditched the Swoosh for Adidas in an unprecedented deal where Adidas will begin striking above-the-cap NIL deals (meaning, it doesn't count against the $20.5 million salary cap each school is now allowed to pay its student-athletes) with Tennessee players. |
| Tennessee athletics announces school record of $169.5M raised by Tennessee Fund | |
| Tennessee athletics raised a record amount of funding for the 2025 fiscal year, the school announced Aug. 22. The Tennessee Fund accounted for $169.5 million, which is the highest year of athletics fundraising in school history. The previous record was $139.8 million set in the 2024 fiscal year. "In the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics, growing self-generated revenue has become even more crucial. It plays a vital role in our mission to create the best athletics department in the country," athletic director Danny White said in a school release. "We are experiencing extraordinary success across all 20 sports, and this incredible fundraising achievement reflects the generosity of our phenomenal donors." The new fundraising record marks the fourth consecutive year that the Tennessee Fund has achieved new fundraising records across multiple metrics, according to the release. Since White arrived at Tennessee in 2021, the Tennessee Fund has grown by more than $133 million. The Tennessee Fund accounted for $35.6 million in the 2021 fiscal year. UT's annual staff giving initiative has also seen contributions from every full-time member of the athletic department for the fourth straight year. |
| 'We are what we drive': How car dealers became college football's power brokers | |
| Christopher Late comes from a long line of Texas car dealers. His grandfather owned Broncho Chevy in Odessa. His grandfather's brother, Frank Late, who owned Late Chevrolet in Dallas, became one of the southwest's largest auto magnates. Christopher's dad, Steve Late, was a BMW dealer in Austin. Christopher, whose Vanguard Auto Group consists of five dealerships, also comes from a long line of Longhorns and has built on another family tradition. His dad was an instrumental figure in starting the Big Wheels program at UT, where car dealers provided vehicles for coaches to drive so they could hit the recruiting trail in style. But Christopher, part of the new generation of Texas car dealers, doesn't need coaches to recruit for the Longhorns anymore. Because of NIL, he's now the biggest of the Big Wheels. There has always been a mystique around cars in college football. Before NIL, there were whispers, message-board postings and social media photos soft-pedaling accusations of underhanded dealings by boosters. Paparazzi-style photos appeared in the newspaper, like in 1979, when future SMU Pony Express (and Excess) star Eric Dickerson's gold Trans Am made national news and became the most famous car in college football history, right up there with the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech. But now, there are thousands of Eric Dickersons. Players legally pose with their new sports car on a dealer's Facebook page. While it takes some of the cool factor out of the old days, it's a natural evolution for the combination of sports and commerce. |
| Members of Congress Seek to Expand Sports Diplomacy | |
| Republicans and Democrats in Congress are pressing the Trump administration to come up with a strategy to use a series of marquee international sporting events in the United States to expand American diplomatic influence. With the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2034 and the FIFA World Cup next year, the lawmakers argue that the United States must seize a unique chance to strengthen its relationships with other countries. "It is an opportunity to show off your host city and to show off your Olympians," Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Democrat of California, said in an interview. "But it's also an opportunity to lean into diplomacy -- business-to-business relationships, nonprofit-to-business, government relationships." Ms. Kamlager-Dove is a leading sponsor of the American Decade of Sports Act, legislation introduced on Friday, which seeks to expand the State Department's role in sports diplomacy. Ms. Kamlager-Dove said the bill, which is cosponsored by several members of her own party as well as a number of Republicans, including Representative Young Kim of California, would ensure that "we implement all of the things that need to be done to get the United States ready for this mega decade." |
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