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PERS Petition Online
By RonniMottWebsite includes a petition and links to more information about the issue.
Mayor Yarber Issues Statement on Best Buy Closing
By R.L. NaveThis is full, verbatim release from the office Mayor Tony Yarber:
“The Administration has been in communication with Best Buy regularly since June 2014 and was advised sales were strong and that the Jackson store would not close. Under Best Buy’s current business model, the company has shifted its focus from “Big Box” stores to smaller locations and online sales. We look forward to working with the Best Buy team to find a smaller location within the city. We’re also actively strategizing to “backfill” that retail space. We’re always disappointed when a business closes in Jackson, but our Economic Development division continues to aggressively recruit companies as evidenced by the more than 1,000 jobs created since May 2014.”
Salon Calls Out Mississippi
By Todd StaufferMost of the GOP's 2012 contenders are signing up to support "Personhood" initiatives that are similar to the one that Mississippi just overturned.
John Oliver Starts Miss. Company; Buys and Forgives $15m in Medical Debt
By Todd StaufferIn a segment highlighting how easy it is to buy up old medical debt and learn about the patients who have it, John Oliver on his show "Last Week Tonight" put together a shell company to do just that.
For Sale: 142,000-square-foot Church, Used
By Tyler ClevelandA recent listing on online classified ads web page Craigslist shows that the old Broadmoor Baptist Church on East Northside Drive is for sale for $2.8 million. The building most recently went under the title of Wesley Biblical Seminary.
I'm not sure who is looking to buy a church and is surfing Craigslist with a budget near $3 million, but the listing is complete with pictures of the property, which is in surprisingly good condition.
The building features seating for 750 in the updated sanctuary, "dozens of offices, tons of rooms (over 100), (a) 250-seat chapel, (a) 120-capacity lecture hall, choir rehearsal room, heated baptistry, commercial kitchen and large fellowship hall... ."
It also contains conference rooms, a board room, an organ, video surveillance capability, an elevator, parking for 500 of your closest friends.
But forget all that. Here's the kicker – the building includes a gym and a four-lane bowling alley and an apartment. With all the talk about charter schools** in the city, this could be primed to be a location for one.
Can anyone else think of a way this building could be used (other than the obvious - a church)?
** Please do not consider this an endorsement of charter schools.
Megyn Kelly, Ashley Madison, 'Compton' and Booty Lead Mississippi Google Traffic
By R.L. NaveA real-estate website called Estately figured out the most Googled words for each state.
Apparently, the No. 1 search term for Mississippi was Ashley Madison, the online secret smash site for married folks that got hacked this year. I won't link to it here because I don't believe in pouring salt on wounds.
Plus, let's be honest, you probably already have it (so does Santa).
Other top hits for the Magnolia State included "Straight Outta Compton," the 2015 biopic about a Starter apparel loving musical group from Los Angeles, presumably due to the enduring popularity of the Jheri curl in some parts of Mississippi.
Also, the U.S. Supreme Court was popular because that's where most of the laws our Republican legislators pass eventually end up.
B.B. King for obvs reason none of which have anything to do with restaurants on Farish Street.
FOX news Megyn Kelly was another hot topic here. So was booty.
Rounding out the list were Bobbi Kristina Brown (daughter of singer Whitney Houston, who passed away in 2015) and Common Core State Standards Initiative.
It's interesting to note that given the fact that 2015 was an election year, none of the top search terms had anything to do with our political races.
In other words, booty was more popular "Phil Bryant," "Tate Reeves" or "School funding."
Marinate on that.
http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2015/dec/15/23842/
Attorney General Warns of Phishing Scam Targeted Mac Users
By Todd StaufferVerbatim from the Attorney General's office:
A classic scam is now targeting Apple users. The very common “phishing” scam is constantly being revised by con artists to target a larger pool of potential victims. Currently, scammers are using emails to target Apple users by falsely claiming that your Apple ID, iCloud or iTunes account has been comprised. You are then asked to provide personal information to rectify the problem.
“Because there is a large percentage of Apple users, these cons are using the Apple name to cast a wide net to phish for potential victims,” said Attorney General Hood. “That’s why it is important to think twice about any action you take online asking you to provide personal information. Legitimate companies like Apple never ask you to provide such information to them through an email.”
The danger for most people using iCloud is that they often back their cellular devices up to it. In the event this account is compromised, the attacker could gain access to very sensitive and personal information stored on those backups. These phishing websites can look similar to the legitimate ones. Very often, the scam comes in the form of a fake email (see example below) which will prompt you to click on a link and visit one of these phishing websites to “update your account information.”
To avoid this scam make sure you are in the iTunes application directly, not through a web browser. If you are asked to update your account information, make sure that you do so only in iTunes or on a legitimate page on Apple.com, such as the online Apple Store.
If you suspect your Apple ID, iCloud or iTunes account has been compromised, change the password immediately and/or contact Apple and advise them your account’s security has been compromised. If you have received a suspicious email, please notify iTunes Customer Support by visiting www.apple.com/support/itunes/store. ‘
Sample of phishing email:
> iCloud ID – xxxx This is the final message to inform you as of 22 – February – 2015 that you have not yet updated your Apple ID details. Under “Know your Customer” legislation Apple Inc is required to carry out a verification of your information, failure to complete this validation will result in deletion of your iCloud within the next three days. Please click below to » Login to your Apple/iCloud ID To cancel the deletion of your Apple & iCloud ID please proceed to your Apple ID information before the deadline. Resolution Validation Request: #L8FHI20121711925 Sincerely, iGenius Helpteam
http://www.ago.state.ms.us/phishing-scam-targets-apple-users/
Roy McMillan, Anti-Abortion Gadfly, Dead
By R.L. NaveRoy McMillan has died after a long illness, the Clarion-Ledger reported.
Frequent visitors to Fondren know McMillan as the brash, fedora-wearing, fetus-sign waving anti-abortion protester near the Jackson Women's Health Organization.
A bit of history on McMillan:
In 1995, a federal court ordered McMillan to stay 50 feet away from the clinic for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, enacted in 1994 after Dr. (David) Gunn's murder in Pensacola. According to court records, on May 3, 1995, McMillan made his hand into the shape of a gun and told clinic employees: "Y'all look like a bunch of birds on a telephone wire waiting to be shot off by a man with a shotgun...Pow, pow, pow, pow."
McMillan pickets the clinic each day they see patients by displaying signs that carry pictures of fetuses and messages equating abortion to genocide. He and his wife, Beverly, an OB/GYN and former abortion doctor, also oppose all hormonal birth control including the pill and the morning-after pill.
He told the Jackson Free Press that meeting Beverly in 1982 is how he became involved in the pro-life movement.
JFP reporter Casey Parks wrote of McMillan: "He was reluctant to even join the mission. He thought Beverly was cute and smart when he saw her speak, though, so he asked her on a date. She thought he was charming, and they quickly married.
The pro-life movement inundated the husband's life as the wife spent most of her weekends speaking around the state. He joined the pro-life movement rather halfheartedly—he agreed to oversee one of the pro-life publications. His master's in journalism from Columbia University would come in handy, he thought, and besides, he wanted nothing to do with sidewalk counseling or protesting. When a colleague suggested that Roy go out to the clinic to take some action photos, Roy got a little nervous."
http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/jan/21/24204/
Abortion protester Roy McMillan: 'Shoes Are Optional'
By Donna LaddSo, this morning we had a team of a reporter, an intern and photographer out at Mississippi's only abortion clinic. It's the morning after federal Judge Dan Jordan issued an injunction keeping the clinic open until at least July 11 because, in part, the folks who pushed it made it clear that their goal was to eliminate abortion in Mississippi -- which they focused on far more than on women's health and safety.
What was funny this morning, to us, is how Roy McMillan (the man who sits in front of the clinic every morning with big fetus posters and other signs) yelled at my folks to tell me that "shoes are optional!" along with various other criticisms of the JFP's coverage. He was clearly referring to this recent JFP editorial, which I wrote a few weeks ago criticizing McMillan and his wife, Dr. Beverly McMillan, for trying to make any form of hormonal birth control, including the pill and the morning-after pill, illegal.
I ended the editorial: "Dr. McMillan is as welcome to those views as her husband is to sit in front of a clinic when he could be out helping children that are already born, hungry and unwanted. But it is not her place to tell hard-working American women that their health insurance should not pay for their health-care needs because she'd prefer that they get pregnant. Whether Dr. McMillan also prefers them barefoot is still an open question."
It's good to know where they stand on that question.
What was funny is that I drove by not long afterward, not knowing about McMillan's messages for me, and snapped some photos from my iPhone. An anti-abortion couple sitting next to the gate told me that they appreciate the JFP's coverage of the controversy because we report all sides and include comments from everyone. So, I suppose, the anti-abortion movement isn't filled with people who all think alike, just like the pro-abortion rights movement isn't. And I rather suspect there are a good number of folks out there against abortion who know that easy access to birth control will actually lower the number of abortions in our state and America. Unlike the McMillins, who don't seem to care about that point.
Meantime, I encourage everyone to read former JFP assistant editor Casey Parks' indepth feature on the Pro-life movement in Mississippi. It includes very interesting reading about the McMillans (they liked this story then, they told us) and other people inside the movement, including lobbyist Terri Herring.
http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/jul/02/3378/
IHL and MDA Partner to "Showcase" State to Businesses
By Tim Summers Jr.The Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning released the following verbatim:
More than 95 percent of jobs created during the recovery have gone to workers with at least some college education, while those with a high school diploma or less are being left behind, according to America’s Divided Recovery: College Haves and Have-Nots, a recent report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
Understanding the crucial link between higher education and economic development, the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the Mississippi Development Authority have worked together for decades to leverage higher education assets to attract business and industry to Mississippi. The two entities formalized this partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Glenn McCullough Jr., Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority, Dr. Douglas W. Rouse, President of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and Dr. Glenn Boyce, Commissioner of Higher Education, at a Board of Trustees meeting held today in Jackson.
In collaboration with Mississippi’s eight public universities, the Board of Trustees and MDA will showcase Mississippi to companies that will create jobs and invest capital.
“Mississippi's public universities are a strategic advantage in community and economic development so MDA is pleased to formally recognize our partnership with the Institutions of Higher Learning to provide new career opportunities for Mississippians,” said MDA Executive Director Glenn McCullough, Jr. "Working together, MDA and the IHL will aggressively leverage the assets we share to accelerate economic opportunity for Mississippians throughout the state.”
As outlined in the MOU, the expected outcomes include: Increased pipeline of companies to consider Mississippi for expansion and growth Increased number of corporate contacts and project leads for MDA Increased opportunities for corporate entities and Mississippi’s public universities to support one another Defined and mapped catalog of the respective economic development strengths of Mississippi’s public universities Increased business growth across the state Stabilization and growth of jobs in defined sectors
“Working together, our university system and the state’s economic development engine can build on our collective strengths for the benefit of the state,” said Dr. Glenn Boyce, Commissioner of Higher Education. “This Memorandum of Understanding better defines our roles and efforts, enabling the partnership to become a force multiplier for the state’s economy.”
Some of the planned efforts include shared marketing messages, joint outreach to strategic clients and business leaders and identifying and supporting shared legislative priorities. Each organization will designate a representative to serve as a point of contact and liaison for the effort who will support the goals of the MOU.
In addition to the MOU signing, another initiative was announced at the ceremony. This initiative is an online tool designed to help recent and soon-to-be graduates find jobs in the state, www.msgradjobs.com. Set to complete the pilot phase and begin statewide implementation soon, the site allows students to receive email alerts when jobs in their desired career tracks become available. The online tool was conceived by Mark Henry, …
Shop and Do Good
By RonniMottJackson area residents can now support one of the city's important nonprofits without a second thought .
Watch Game One of the 2016 World Series at MSHOF
By bryanflynnThis has been one of the best MLB postseasons in a long time. That should mean things are setting up for one of the best World Series in a long time.
Game one of the World Series will be on Tuesday, Oct. 25, and fans have something special to do instead of just sitting on the couch and watching: The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is holding a game one viewing party. But at the event, you can do more than just watch the Fall Classic on the big screen and mingle with other fans.
Former and current MLB players will be on hand before the game starts. Fans will be able to ask questions and get autographs with a great lineup.
Players scheduled to appear are 2017 Hall of Fame inductee pitcher Jay Powell, who won game seven of the 1997 World Series; 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Brantley, who pitched in the 1989 World Series that saw an earthquake hit before the start of game three; current St. Louis Cardinals third base coach Chris Maloney, who played at Mississippi State University; former University of Mississippi and New York Yankees player Jake Gibbs, who is in the College football Hall of Fame; former UM great Joe Gibbon, who won the 1960 World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates; former University of Southern Mississippi great, who currently is managing in the minor leagues; former USM pitcher Chad Bradford, who was a major focus of the book and later film “Moneyball”; and former Delta State University star Barry Lyons, who played for the New York Mets.
Other players will be added as their schedule makes them available.
The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with a barbecue dinner, and players will come out at 6:30 before the game starts. Players will discuss their playing days in the majors, answer questions and discuss game one of the World Series.
All proceeds from this event will benefit the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Tickets for the viewing party begin at $50 and must be purchased in advance.
To buy them, go by the museum office or at this link. For more information about this event, call 601-982-8264.
Obamacare Proving an Early Success in... Kentucky?
By Todd StaufferThe deeply "red" state of Kentucky -- the folks who put both Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul as in Senate (and, excruciatingly, on our TVs) -- is also the only Southern state that has expanded Medicaid in accordance with the Affordable Care Act.
They also implemented their own ACA online exchange, instead of relying on the Feds.
The result?
Kentucky’s experience has been exemplary: In its first day, 10,766 applications for health coverage were initiated, 6,909 completed and 2,989 families were enrolled. Obama himself bragged that Kentucky led the nation with its glitch-minimized performance.
Kentucky's opt-in attitude is the result of their Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, who has done end-arounds on his GOP-lead state Senate and poked his finger in the eye of the Tea Party. Focusing on the moral implications of improving healthcare access for the citizens in his state, Beshear is perfectly willing to tell the national media why he's willing to make ACA compliance a signature accomplishment of his tenure.
“[T]o those more worried about political power than Kentucky’s families, I say, ‘Get over it’…and get out of the way so I can help my people. Here in Kentucky, we cannot afford to waste another day or another life.”
And why is ACA popular in-of-all-places Kentucky? Is it because it gives people an opportunity to buy into their own health security and that of their families? Is it because it's an actual market-based solution -- a Republican idea from a few decades back, polished up and implemented first by Mitt Romney in Connecticut -- that might help lessen the burden on families, small businesses and, ultimately, on state coffers?
Time will tell, but it should be a cautionary tale for "red" state politicians -- such as, oh, Governor Phil Bryant -- who have taken the path of least resistance within their own party and buckled to their Tea Party and Talk Radio constituencies.
If Obamacare works -- especially since it now looks like the GOP is pretty much out of tricks to block it from getting started -- then folks like Phil are going to be on the losing end not just of a moment in political history, but of actually doing the right thing for the citizens of their state.
Mississippi Division I Basketball Teams Opening Game
By bryanflynnCollege basketball begins this Friday, Nov. 11, and fans will have plenty of hoops to feast on throughout the day and weekend. Between games on cable TV and ones available for streaming, you might need to add a few more TV, laptops and tablets to your viewing area.
Games begin at 9 a.m. central time when Robert Morris University hosts Point Park University in women’s basketball. Two hours later, the men’s season begins with Milligan College at Middle Tennessee State University. Neither game is on TV or ESPN3, but I would bet my bottom dollar that they can be some how.
Here is a list of the men’s and women’s teams from the six Division I universities in Mississippi and their first game of the season.
The first team that tips off this season is the men of Jackson State University at 12:15 p.m., when the Tigers go against Xavier University of Louisiana. The Jackson State women’s team plays Blue Mountain College at 6 p.m.
Neither JSU game is on TV, but the Tigers are at home. Fans should be excited about this season after the team finished strong last season.
The University of Mississippi women’s team takes its home floor for the first game of the 2016-2017 season at 2:30 p.m. against Southeastern Louisiana University. Fans can watch it on SECN+. At 6 p.m., the Rebels men’s team takes on Tennessee Martin University, which will also be on SECN+.
If you don’t know, games on that network are not on TV but are streamed online, which is annoying since my cable has two alternative SECN channels that are scheduled to show diddley squat on Friday.
Mississippi State University women’s season begins at 6 p.m. in the Maine Tipoff Tournament against Villanova University. For some reason, this game is not on TV, but the MSU website has a link for listening to it.
The MSU men are showing on the SECN+ at home against Norfolk State University at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, Mississippi Valley State University men’s team starts the season at 7 p.m. on the road against Northwestern University. The game will not be broadcasted on TV.
The University of Southern Mississippi men’s team hosts Tougaloo at 7 p.m. for the season opener, but this game is not on TV. Alcorn State University men’s team hits the road to face Loyola University Chicago on ESPN3.
Alcorn State University women’s team begins the season at 8 p.m. on the road against Grand Canyon University, and the game is also not on TV. That is it for Mississippi team’s Friday games, but fans can watch plenty of other games on if none of those catch their eye.
The USM women’s team doesn’t take the floor until Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. when the Golden Eagles host New Orleans University. This is the only game with a Mississippi team on Sunday, but it is not on TV.
The MVSU women’s team …
The Back Story on the Anti-Gay Alliance Attacking Mississippi's "If You're Buying" Campaign
By Donna LaddThis falls in the can't-make-it-up column.
Most of you know that Mitchell Moore of Campbell's Bakery, who is straight, and Eddie Outlaw of William Wallace Salon, who is gay, and others started the amazing "If You're Buying, We're Selling" campaign. They want Mississippi business owners to put stickers in their windows to indicate that they don't discriminate, in response to SB 2681, Mississippi's version of the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act." (See lots of business owners with the icon in their ads in this week's JFP, too.)
So, the religious right is apparently not happy with the international media coverage the campaign is getting -- and from Mississippi, which is supposed to be their wheelhouse, you know. They really didn't like it when Emily Pettus of the AP (the JFP's next-door neighbors) did a story about this that was picked up by many outlets.
In response, they went on a PR tear to take back the messaging. Greg Scott, who tweets at @adfmedia, led the way, tweeting this week in response to the AP story: "Sticker folks protest imaginary law .@AP bows false narrative, RFRA not "vaguely written," no threat to "=treatment" http://bit.ly/QEU2El
Curious, I did some research. Turns out, Scott is the VP for media communications for Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly Alliance Defense Fund), a nonprofit group founded in 1994 by extreme-right and vocally anti-gay leaders including James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association. (Interestingly, Mississippi's Judge Charles Pickering is also on the board.)
Not to be outdone, the American Family Association, an alliance co-founder, also blasted the sticker campaign on a Christian "news" site, which is part of the American Family News Network, which is part of the ... American Family Association. "It's not really a buying campaign, but it's a bully campaign," said Buddy Smith, executive vice president of Tupelo-based American Family Association, "and it's being carried out by radical homosexual activists who intend to trample the freedom of Christians to live according to the dictates of scripture."
The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the alliance (and AFA) on its list of a dozen groups that drive the "religious right's anti-gay crusade." On its website, it brags that its "attorneys have successfully defended marriage as the union between one man and one woman in over 40 cases nationwide."
SPLC indicates that the alliance was established in the early 1990s in response to gay-rights battles in the courts—which it clearly believes is the "principal" threat to religious freedom. ADF President Alan Sears and Vice President Craig Osten wrote " The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom," which ties homosexuality to pedophilia and other "disordered sexual behavior."
SPLC states: "The ADF has also mounted legal challenges to gay military service, marriage, adoption and foster-parenting, as well as to domestic partner benefits around the nation. It trains other attorneys 'to battle the radical homosexual …
JFP Wins Awards for Feature Writing, Public Service, Commentary
By Donna LaddThe JFP got more great news Friday night when we learned that we are winning two first-place and one second-place award from the Society of Professional Journalists' southeastern division. Valerie Wells takes first place for feature writing, the Personhood team (this time, including R.L. Nave and Adam Lynch) takes second place for public service, and I won first place for serious commentary. Here is the full press release. Cheers to the team, congratulations to all the winners. We're honored to be in your company:
Personhood is Back
By AnnaWolfeA previously failed proposal that aims to abolish abortion has resurfaced this legislative session.
State Rep. Randy Boyd, R-Mantachie, introduced a so-called Personhood bill in the form House Bill 1309, which would amend the state constitution to define a person as beginning at the moment of conception.
Boyd's bill number is reminiscent of a bill passed in 2012, House Bill 1390, which required physicians at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges to nearby hospitals.
Critics of Boyd's bill point to the failure to achieve a Personhood law through a statewide ballot initiative in 2011. During that drive, a proposed Personhood amendment to the state constitution failed to garner enough votes to become law. Later, in 2013, a group attempted to get the measure back on the ballot but missed a key deadline. Subsequent Personhood bills in the Legislature have also failed to gain traction.
Personhood has gained national attention not only because it would outlaw abortion in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, but because of the law's unintended consequences. Because such a law would also define a fertilized egg as a person, it could bring to question the legality of birth control pills, Plan B, and some methods of in-vitro fertilization, reproductive-justice advocates say.
The 2012 Mississippi admitting privileges law would have closed the last abortion clinic in the state, Jackson Women's Health Organization, because nearby hospitals refused to grant privileges to them. But the clinic fought the law, which resulted in a U.S. District Court striking it down. A federal appeals court upheld the decision and Mississippi's attorneys have not announced whether the state would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Are Republicans really trying to redefine rape? Seriously?
By Donna LaddThe news exploded today that a Republican senatorial candidate in Missouri, Rep. Todd Akin, has declared that women can't get pregnant from "legitimate rapes." This idiot was defending his anti-abortion stance (including rape and incest, of course):
“It seems to me, first of all, what I understand from doctors is that’s really where—if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
and:
“Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something,” Akin said. “I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”
Clearly, every woman who has ever gotten pregnant from a rape is lying about it being rape, according to this fool's logic.
Much has been made so far this year about the "war on women"—from Rush Limbaugh's horrendous attacks on Sandra Fluke to many Republicans supporting all sorts of anti-women regulation including outlawing in vitro and birth-control pills.
This latest affront to women—1 in 6 are sexually assaulted before age 18 as I was—is where we must say "ENOUGH"! We must demand that all of our elected officials disavow Akin's remarks. More importantly, we must demand pro-women and actual pro-family legislation from our elected officials, including right here in Mississippi. Women have the power to stop these attacks on us and our rights, if we only will.
This is too much, and it's time we decide what kind of nation we're going to be in the future. Speak up, women and men. An attack on one woman's rights and self-respect is an attack on us all.
NFL: Quick Thoughts on Week One & Week Two Picks
By bryanflynnIt was an exciting start to the NFL season last week. The first week of the season started with Dallas upsetting the New York Giants and ended the Raiders special teams handing a win to San Diego.
You Can't Make It Up: Gov. Phil Bryant to Deliver Ole Miss Commencement
By Donna LaddSeriously, Mississippi, you can't quit you.
Ole Miss today confirmed rumors we've been hearing—that Gov. Phil Bryant, who is under fire in the state and nationally for signing SB 2681, is going to be the commencement speaker at the University of Mississippi, which is still trying to recover from the latest bigoted incident on campus.
I'm, frankly, astounded at the timing. I know many people at Ole Miss are working to move the university past its past, but how in the world does this choice help? Who makes these decisions?
Here's the verbatim release:
OXFORD, Miss. – Gov. Phil Bryant is set to visit the University of Mississippi on May 10 to deliver the main address at the university's 161st Commencement.
Mississippi's 64th governor, Bryant was sworn in on Jan. 10, 2012. Before becoming the state's chief executive, he was lieutenant governor from 2008 to 2011. He also served as state auditor and represented his legislative district in the Mississippi House of Representatives for five years.
The Moorhead native speaks to graduating students, their families and other guests at 9 a.m. in the Grove. This year's graduating class includes about 2,650 spring candidates for undergraduate and graduate degrees, plus some 1,000 August 2013 graduates.
"Over the years, we have had leaders from many fields come to campus for our commencement addresses, and Gov. Bryant has provided valuable leadership to our state in both the legislative and executive branches for nearly 25 years," Chancellor Dan Jones said. "By championing education and business reforms, he has helped drive economic development and provide a brighter future for all Mississippians. We look forward to the insights and challenges he will offer our graduates."
Recipients of doctor of philosophy degrees are to be hooded by their major professors in a 7:30 p.m. ceremony May 9 in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College ceremony begins at 4 p.m. at the same location.
A shuttle service for handicapped and elderly visitors is available Saturday before the main ceremony. Shuttles will pick up people needing assistance from various locations and take them to the seating area. (Wheelchairs, if needed, must be provided by families.) The headquarters for the shuttle service will be at the Department of Parking and Transportation tent, at the intersection of University Avenue and All American Drive. To request assistance, call 662-915-7235.
In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved to Tad Smith Coliseum. If the weather is threatening, a decision on moving the ceremony indoors will be made by 8 a.m. and announced through media outlets, text messaging and the Ole Miss website.
Following the main ceremony, individual schools and the College of Liberal Arts hold ceremonies at various times and locations to present baccalaureate, master's, doctor of pharmacy and juris doctor degrees and awards. The schedule is as follows:
College of Liberal Arts master's degrees – 11 a.m., Fulton Chapel
Patterson School of Accountancy – 11 a.m., …
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