THE
Daily
MISSISSIPPIAN theDMonline.com
Monday, September 30, 2019
Homecoming week returns with new partnerships
Volume 108, No. 15
Bid: Secured
IHL to discuss chancellor search
GRIFFIN NEAL
GRIFFIN NEAL
You might have a chance to rap battle Homecoming King and SAA Director Carl Tart on Wednesday night. As part of Homecoming Week, SAA has continued its partnership with the Black Student Union to hold Wild N’ Out, a rendition of the popular MTV Show that features celebrities cracking jokes and rap-battling each other. Tart will be the emcee for the evening. This year, Homecoming Week will be jointly hosted by the Student Activities Association, the Black Student Union and the Ole Miss Sigmas — the Eta Beta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. Tart said that SAA is partnering with the BSU because, according to a BSU survey data, students of color did not feel that past homecoming week events appealed to black culture. Through the partnership, both the BSU and SAA’s programming for the week will complement each other. Tart said SAA emphasized not overprogramming events for homecoming week, an issue they have had in the past. “We want to make sure people have enough time to attend all events for all organizations as well as get their work done,” Tart said. The mechanical shark is making a return, as well as a lip sync battle in the Grove and the silent disco. During welcome week in August, Tart said SAA’s silent disco “broke records” with 992 students in attendance. The week commences on Sunday night with the Miss University Pageant.
The Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees will meet this week to discuss candidates for the next chancellor of the University of Mississippi. The board will meet Wednesday and Thursday morning at the University of Mississippi Medical School in Jackson. The board selected 39 members for the UM Chancellor Search Advisory Committee, which held listening sessions throughout the state and reviewed all of the applications for chancellor. After the deadline to submit applications passed, each member of the search committee ranked their top eight candidates. Their selections were delivered to Buffkin Baker, a search firm contracted by the university to facilitate the process. According to two sources close to the process, the search committee’s rankings are only suggestions of preference. The Board of Trustees took the names of all who applied and selected 8-10 candidates to conduct preliminary interviews with before narrowing down to three candidates. If the board ultimately does not select one of the candidates who applied, they reserve the right to offer the position to someone who did not apply, such as an individual who currently holds an administrative office at another university. Robert Robbins, the current president at the University of Arizona, did not apply for the position according to a member of the search committee, though his name has been associated with the chancellor vacancy since Jeffrey Vitter stepped down in November of 2018. Robbins is a Laurel native and graduated from UMMC in 1983. A new chancellor is expected to be announced by January 2020.
thedmnews@gmail.com
thedmnews@gmail.com
BILLY SCHUERMAN / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
A member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority searches for her new sister. Potential members spend all week touring the various sorority houses and meeting active members before joining on Bid Day.
SEE BID DAY PHOTOS PAGE 8
Chess master defeats 10 players at once ANNABELLE HARRIS thedmnews@gmail.com
Saturday afternoon, 10 people filed into the Butler Auditorium in the Triplett Alumni Center to attempt the impossible: they each sought to defeat David Ross, an International Master of Chess, in a game of chess. While each player was attempting to defeat Ross, his goal was different. He was there to play all 10 players simultaneously. And, as expected, he defeated them all. At 1 p.m., each of Ross’s
opponents took their seat across from a chess board, all sitting in a row. Ross stood, moving up and down the row of 10 tables. Within 30 minutes, Ross had defeated one player and had three more in check. After two hours, Ross bested all 10 challengers. He said he doesn’t have a photographic memory to aid in his playing. “I wouldn’t say that I have a photographic memory exactly, more like pattern recognition,” Ross said. “You know that the pieces are supposed to go in certain squares, and then if somebody does something that doesn’t fit in to the best pattern,
VOLLEYBALL STUNS TENNESSEE TO EXTEND WIN STREAK TO NINE
then I have to slow down and calculate.” David Ross is undefeated in Mississippi and is considered the best player in the state. In 1998, he gained his status as an International Master after winning a special tournament in Canada. His grandfather taught him to play when he was six years old, but he didn’t enter his first tournament until he was 14. He is a two-time champion in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Ross moved to Jackson from Montreal in 2006. Since then, he has been coaching students
SEE CHESS PAGE 2 OPINION: A SPECIES WORTH SAVING
The Rebels got their first conference win of the season in comeback fashion on Friday, knocking off Tennessee in a five-set thriller.
“We must be honest with ourselves: forgoing plastic straws and believing in human ingenuity are gratifying, but they will not be enough,” writes opinion columnist Ainsley Ash.
SEE PAGE 4
SEE PAGE 7