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Editor’s note: On July 30, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame inducts its Class of 2022. What follows is Part III of a series detailing the achievements of the eight inductees.

Former Ryder Cup hero and five-time PGA Tour winner Jim Gallagher Jr. — born in Pennsylvania, raised in Indiana, and a University of Tennessee graduate — will be inducted July 30 into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. 

It will be Gallagher’s seventh Hall of Fame, and probably his most cherished. That’s because, for Gallagher, Mississippi has become home.

Says Gallagher, “It’s like Steve Azar sings in the state song, I’ll bleed Mississippi ’til I’m dead and gone.”

Gallagher, 61, moved to Greenwood in 1989 with his new bride, Greenwood native Cissye Meeks-Gallagher.

“I’ve lived in Mississippi for more than half my life now, and I ain’t moving again,” Gallagher said. “When I drive across that state line or land here, I know I am home. To go into this Hall of Fame, with the Archie Mannings, Walter Paytons, Jerry Rices and Kent Hulls is special.”

Making it all the more special, in this Hall of Fame, he also joins Cissye, his wife, the 12-time Mississippi Women’s State Amateur champion, 2019 MSHOF inductee, and mother of their four children.

“Cissye went in first, as well she should have, but being in there with her is so cool,” Gallagher said. “I know I wouldn’t have had the success I have had without her. She was always there for me, always coaching me whether she knew it or not.”

Gallagher didn’t move to Mississippi until he was 29, but his roots have grown deep here. He won his first professional tournament at Hattiesburg in the old Magnolia Classic in 1985, beating the great Paul Azinger in a playoff. He played his last professional tournament in the Champions Tour tournament on the Gulf Coast in 2018, and he often plugs Mississippi and Mississippi players in his current duties as a TV commentator on The Golf Channel.

All of his big victories came as a Mississippi resident, including the 1993 Tour Championship, during which he shot a course record opening round of 63 and then out-dueled Greg Norman on Sunday to claim what was then the richest prize in golf history.

But surely Gallagher’s biggest claim to golf fame came a few weeks before that when he went head to head with Steve Ballesteros in one of the final matches of the Ryder Cup, trounced him and spurred the Americans to a narrow victory.

“No doubt, it was my most memorable victory of all,” Gallagher said. “That’s the one that people remember all these years (nearly 30) later. I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have won The Tour Championship if not for what happened in the Ryder Cup.”

To understand the magnitude of Gallagher’s conquest of Ballesteros, one must first understand what Ballesteros meant to the Ryder Cup. The Spaniard was the golfer who spearheaded Europe’s recent dominance. Ballesteros, winner of five major championships and 95 tournaments worldwide, was a splendid golfer at any competition but at his best in the Ryder Cup’s pressure-packed match play format. It was as if Seve willed himself — and the Europeans — to victory. His Ryder Cup record 20-12-5 is one of the best of all-time. Gallagher was a Ryder Cup rookie.

“I don’t think anybody except maybe Cissye and me thought I had a chance to win that match,” Gallagher said. “But I was playing well, and I knew I could beat him. And I’ll tell you this: Seve knew it, too.”

Gallagher beat him all right, ending the match on the 16th hole, winning three up with two holes left to play.

It was the crowning achievement of what turned out to be a Hall of Fame career – now a seven Halls of Fame career.

•••

The 2022 Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Induction Class includes Gallagher, football great Eric Moulds, world swimming champion Maggie Bowen-Hanna, basketball coach Kermit Davis, Sr., baseball standouts Barry Lyons and David Dellucci, and football coaches Bob Tyler and Willis Wright.

Part I: Maggie Bowen-Hanna.

Part II: Eric Moulds.

For MSHOF Induction Weekend event and ticket information, click here. 

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Fewer pre-K and kindergarten students met the benchmark for reading readiness this year compared to 2019, a decline education officials attribute to the impact of the pandemic.  

Previous state tests have also demonstrated the impact of the pandemic on student achievement, but some, like the third-grade reading assessment, have stayed consistent with pre-pandemic levels. 

The Kindergarten Readiness Assessment tests public pre-K and kindergarten students to measure early literacy skills. It is used as an instructional baseline for teachers, and students who meet their benchmark score have been shown to become proficient in reading by the end of third grade. 

Early learning collaboratives (ELC) are one form of public pre-K, made up of partnerships among school districts, Head Start agencies, childcare centers, and nonprofit groups. This spring, 65% of the 2,700 ELC students tested met the benchmark score, down from 77% in the spring of 2019. 

Other public pre-K programs also saw a decline since 2019, from 69% of students meeting the benchmark score to 61.5% this year.

Education department officials explained that pre-K students were less likely to have been in daycare, and therefore less likely to have had formal classroom experiences for the last two years. 

“(Pre-K students) had less exposure to other children, teachers, and adults due to isolation during these two years prior to entering that pre-K setting,” said Melissa Beck, K-3 assessment coordinator for the department. “Many of the adults they encountered wore masks, which hindered the ability to hear language clearly and see the mouth, which we know is a barrier to reading instruction. Less exposure to others speaking and listening causes delays in language development.” 

Students at the end of kindergarten also take the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment to track their progress over the year and to help teachers identify areas for additional instruction. Of the 34,000 public kindergarten students who were tested, 58% met their benchmark score. This number also dropped from 2019, when 66% of students met the benchmark. 

To address this drop, the state education department recommends that districts train all K-3 teachers in the science of reading, host parent workshops, and work to expand pre-K programs through state funds. Department officials said they would be expanding their monitoring of early learning collaboratives, providing additional professional development opportunities for teachers, and increasing the use of screener assessments to monitor student progress. 

“Despite the learning disruptions caused by COVID-19, Mississippi kindergarteners still showed significant growth during the 2021-22 school year thanks to the hard work and dedication of their teachers to accelerate learning,” said Dr. Kim Benton, interim state superintendent of education. “Teachers will be able to use these results to inform instruction in the early grades.”

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Officials at the Mississippi Department of Education “responded to misinformation” late Thursday night to clear up confusion about what the State Board of Education voted through in its meeting earlier in the day.

The State Board of Education did not, as was reported by several news outlets on Thursday, vote to allow guns to be carried on K-12 campuses. The board did, however, vote to update its outdated internal policy to conform to a 10-year-old state law.

The State Board of Education passed a policy in 1990 that prohibited weapons on campus (except in the possession of law enforcement officials) and required local school districts to have a policy regarding weapons on campus. But in 2012, when state lawmakers passed an enhanced carry law that allowed enhanced permit holders to carry weapons on school campuses, the education department never updated its policy.

The board’s vote on Thursday simply squared the department’s internal policy with state law for the first time.

“State board policies can’t prohibit something that is authorized in law — even though we do have this policy on the books, the statute would supersede our policy,” Erin Meyer, the education department’s general counsel, said at the Thursday meeting. 

In its Thursday vote, the board maintained the requirement for local school districts to have a policy on weapons. The department also recommended, during the Thursday meeting and in the clarifying press release, that school districts consult with their local board attorneys. 

Before being finalized, the policy will move through the department’s public comment process. As of Thursday night, the page to submit comments had not opened yet. Public comments that are received will be presented at the September board meeting. 

During the meeting, Meyer referenced an attorney general’s opinion from 2013, which clarifies that possessing a gun on school property is a felony according to Mississippi law unless one possesses an enhanced concealed carry permit. 

To possess an enhanced concealed carry license, a person must complete a weapons training course approved by the Board of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training and undergo a background check, according to the statute. 

The opinion elaborates that people with enhanced concealed carry permits are allowed in the “public areas of a school,” but specifies that “school districts may bar persons, including persons with enhanced carry permits, from areas of the school to which the general public is not allowed.” 

Micah Hill, the board’s senior student representative, asked if this would allow teachers with enhanced carry permits to have weapons on campus. Meyer responded that school districts would be able to make their own rules regarding weapons on campus. 

It is clarified in the attorney general’s opinion that school districts are permitted to make employment policies prohibiting carrying weapons on campus, regardless of enhanced carry status. 

Brian McGairty, director of the office of safe and orderly schools, also discussed the newly-formed Mississippi School Safety Alliance during this portion of the meeting. The group, consisting of parent groups, law enforcement, youth court judges, mental health advocates, and educators, will be offering recommendations regarding these changes to the State Board of Education as a part of the public comment process. 

One potential recommendation that was brought up during the meeting was an additional course for individuals’ enhanced concealed carry permits to be recognized by the school district. They also discussed requiring school districts to report their weapons policies to the Department of Education. 

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Continuing the conversation from last week, the Clevelands welcome old friend Tim Floyd to the pod to talk about all the issues facing college sports. Turns out, there are so many issues the one podcast turned into two. Floyd is outspoken on where college sports is headed with NIL and transfer issues. To be succinct, he doesn’t like where it’s headed and is glad he is retired.

Stream all episodes here.

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Even though a record number of Americans are watching U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson lead the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, his Mississippi congressional colleagues do not appear to be interested in his efforts.

None of Mississippi’s other five members of Congress — Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, and Reps. Trent Kelly, Michael Guest and Steven Palazzo — responded to questions from Mississippi Today asking for their thoughts on the often bombshell testimony that has come out of the Jan. 6 committee hearings.

The bipartisan committee was formed to investigate the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol by President Trump’s supporters to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Thompson, Mississippi’s sole Democrat in Washington, was tapped by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to chair the special committee.

The testimony is slated to continue tonight in primetime. One of the focuses of tonight’s hearing will be the 187 minutes that expired between when Trump urged his supporters during a Jan. 6 speech in Washington to march to the Capitol “to fight like hell” and when he finally asked his supporters who were ransacking the Capitol to go home. The hearings also come as it was announced that there will be a criminal investigation into missing U.S. Secret Service texts related to Jan. 6.

READ MORE: Rep. Bennie Thompson tells the world what happened on Jan. 6, 2021

While the congressional delegation did not respond to questions from Mississippi Today, Rep. Trent Kelly of the 1st Congressional District recently said of the hearings on the SuperTalk radio network: “Very little. I try not to. It infuriates me to watch. It is a joke. It is a stage show. It is almost like a TV trial show. They are showing one side of the evidence…

“This is just a witch hunt,” Kelly continued. “They are just trying to make sure President Trump doesn’t run again in 2024. This whole Jan. 6 thing is a sham as far as I am concerned. We have already had the investigation. It was bad that day.”

Though their staffs wouldn’t acknowledge Mississippi Today’s questions, both Sens. Wicker and Hyde-Smith brushed off questions about the Jan. 6 committee when asked by congressional reporter Matt Laslo in Washington in recent weeks.

Wicker, when asked if he was watching the hearings, told Laslo: “I’m headed to this classified briefing. I have seven minutes, so let’s have a conversation later on about this.”

When Laslo caught up with Wicker less than an hour later, Wicker responded: “I’m actually not doing interviews today.”

When Laslo asked Hyde-Smith if she was watching the committee hearings, she repeated a typical refrain of hers at the Capitol: “I don’t do the hallway interviews.” Since she was elected in 2018 and again in 2020, Hyde-Smith has rarely participated in interviews of any nature.

READ MORE: Rep. Bennie Thompson, leading the public Jan. 6 hearings, has long worked to protect democracy

All five members of Mississippi’s U.S. congressional delegation other than Thompson are Republicans. Wicker was the only member of the state’s Republican congressional delegation not to cast votes on Jan. 6 challenging the election outcome. And all other than Guest opposed a plan to establish a bipartisan commission led by non-politicians to investigate the events of Jan. 6 and of efforts by Trump and his supporters to throw out votes and overturn the election.

When Senate Republicans, including Mississippi’s Wicker and Hyde-Smith, blocked efforts to establish a Jan. 6 commission, House Democrats formed the special committee comprised of House members. Thompson, the state’s only African American member of the Mississippi delegation, heads the special committee as chair. The vice chair of the committee is Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming.

Thompson is expected to miss tonight’s hearing because he recently was diagnosed with COVID-19.

None of Mississippi’s five Republican members responded to questions about recent bipartisan efforts to put safeguards in place to make it more difficult for those attempting to throw out election results.

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OXFORD — Kara Gallagher, a social work student at University of Mississippi, learned her classmate Jimmie “Jay” Lee was missing in the afternoon on Sunday, July 10, from a Facebook post. Campus police had posted a short description of Lee and the last time he was seen along with a picture of the 20-year-old Black student in a graduation cap, his arms flung wide as glitter floats in front of his smiling face. 

It was baffling. But as social workers, Gallagher and her classmates knew they couldn’t sit by without supporting Lee or his family. In Zoom class and in group chats, they organized a GoFundMe for Lee’s family, but they wanted to do more. So they decided to host a rally to create a space for people to gather in Oxford.  

“Jay would do the same for any of us,” Gallagher said. 

The university initially said no but relented after Gallagher and her classmates got professors involved. On Wednesday night, the rally drew about 150 people to the Circle, a historic district at the heart of UM’s campus, to blow bubbles and hold colorful signs as a way “to illuminate Jay’s way home.”

One sign, a reference to Lee’s dog, read: “Come home Jay, Lexi needs to be fed. <3″

Lee was last seen on Friday, July 8, at 5:58 a.m., sitting in his car at Campus Walk Apartments, his home. He was wearing a silver robe, a gold bonnet, and gray slippers.

From there, police think Lee may have driven to Molly Barr Trails, a student housing complex in northeast Oxford, to visit someone. His car was found three days later in the impound lot of a local towing company that had taken it from Molly Barr Trails on Friday afternoon. 

READ MORE: FBI, Attorney General now assisting in search for missing Ole Miss student Jay Lee

Lee’s friends and classmates say it’s unsettling for someone so involved on campus and in Oxford to go missing – and for there to be so little information about where he could’ve gone. Police have not released any major updates in the 13 days since Lee disappeared except to brief the public on the investigation. 

“When Jay walked in a room, you knew it,” Gallagher said. “For me personally, it’s difficult to wrestle with someone so big going missing. It’s like, how does that happen?” 

Lee is also well-known in Oxford’s LGBTQ community – his disappearance has rattled them, too. Many queer people in Mississippi, in response to routine violence or harassment, conceal their identities, but Lee was known for his openness. Last fall, he ran for homecoming king and posed in a dress for his campaign photos. Earlier this year, he had spoken at a conference about his experience as a gay man who wears long hair, nails and eyelashes, and how his gender identity is often misunderstood.

“He was wildly free,” said Blake Summers, a co-founder of Code Pink, a local drag night that Lee had performed in for years.

An hour before the rally was set to start, TV news crews were already at the Circle setting up cameras, pointing them at a wooden podium that had been set in front of the flagpole. The university, expecting a large crowd, had cordoned off the street. 

Gallagher and other students and faculty in the social work department got there early to set up a table and place electronic candles in a ring around the flagpole. They fielded questions on behalf of Lee’s family members, who did not want to talk to reporters. 

One of the students designated to talk to the media was Precious Thompson. Like Lee, she was finishing her bachelor’s degree this summer. The oldest student in the social work program, Thompson didn’t hang out with Lee outside of class, but she described him as a charitable person. She said Lee would purchase textbooks for students who couldn’t afford it. He would give away clothes.

“He just loved people,” she said. 

Four police officers stood by an oak tree as students passed out hand-lettered stickers that said “Hope for Jay.” One person came up to Jay’s dad to give him a framed portrait, drawn in graphite, of Lee in his graduation cap. 

Shortly after 7 p.m., Gallagher took the microphone at the podium. She asked the crowd to come in a little closer as camera shutters started to click. 

“Get buddy-buddy with the reporters,” she said. “We want to pull everybody in so they can see and hear.” 

One of Lee’s classmates gave a prayer. The next speaker, Jennifer Buford, a social work instructor who helped students plan the event, talked about the importance of hope to the community. She referred to Romans 12:12, which says, “be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” 

“Hope can sometimes be confused with wishful thinking,” Buford said. “However, the hope that we intend to inspire today is based on the belief and the confident expectations that Jay will soon be home. Because these are our expectations, we will not accept gloom, doom, hopelessness and despair.”  

Buford continued. She said she wanted Lee’s family to know that he is a “huge presence” in every community he was a part of – the social work department, the university, Oxford – and that he is missed. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Lee, we are inspired by the level of faith and the hope that you have demonstrated,” she said. “Today, we want you to know, you are not alone.” 

Lee’s classmates had planned to distribute candles, but they decided that might make the rally seem like a vigil. Instead, they asked the gatherers to blow on bubble wands. His classmates played Lee’s favorite songs, “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande and “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé, blanketing the sound of cicadas. Bubbles filled the air. 

Lee’s parents placed the graphite drawing at the table in front of the crowd. 

When the music finished, Charlotte Fant Pegues, the vice chancellor for student affairs, read a speech on behalf of Jay’s parents. The speech thanked local police, the mayor of Oxford, and everyone in the community who has shown the family support, and included an anecdote about Lee. 

“Just yesterday my husband and I had to go through some Amazon packages that Jay had previously ordered,” Pegues read. “We were overwhelmed in seeing how he was ordering baby items out of his own pocket to give out to children in need. That’s the kind of guy he is.” 

Lee was interning at the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services in Lafayette County. He was supposed to organize a donation drive for baby formula the night of Friday, July 8. His parents realized Lee was missing when he didn’t show up. 

At the end of the rally, Gallagher gave a closing statement. She told everyone how much their presence meant to all of Lee’s family, friends and classmates. Then she leaned forward on the podium, her voice firm with intent. 

“I want to emphasize, we will find Jay,” Gallagher said. 

“Say it with me,” she said, and the crowd replied: “We will find Jay.”

“That’s right, we’re gonna find him,” she repeated. “He will be safe and return to his parents.”

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LAUREL — What Truitt Bush wanted more than anything in the world was to play on the indoor playground at Chick-fil-A again.

The 4-year-old had spent the majority of his time since March of 2020 inside his Laurel home with his mother. Truitt hadn’t known much of the pre-pandemic world, but he knew he wanted to go back to it. He missed his friends and his gymnastics lessons. 

Truitt’s parents, Anna and Matt, wanted that for him too, but were concerned about his health and safety. Though the two had been vaccinated against COVID-19 soon after they became eligible, children in Truitt’s age group were still ineligible.

Then they heard that Moderna’s pediatric vaccine trial would be coming to Hattiesburg Clinic.

The clinic, which was eligible to participate because of its previous work in clinical trials, was the only health care provider in Mississippi to participate in the pediatric Moderna trials, which involved around 6,700 children across the U.S. and Canada.

Anna said the decision to enroll Truitt in the trial was an easy one after talking it through with friends who are doctors and their children’s pediatrician, Dr. Anita Henderson. Henderson is also the president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“If she (Henderson) says it’s okay, I’m going to follow what she says,” Anna said. “I know that she has his best interest and the best interest of the children of Mississippi at heart.”

Henderson said she saw a lot of interest from parents in the community whose children were clinic patients or had heard about the trial via word of mouth.

“A lot of families wanted to have that chance of getting their child vaccinated and protected and also just wanted to participate in getting COVID vaccine research out there for the general public to help get the pandemic behind us,” Henderson said. 

Anna and her husband, Matt, didn’t make the decision unilaterally, though. They let Truitt be a part of that process, and he had few reservations about getting what his parents called a “super shot” that would give him the protection he needed for their family to return to some sense of normalcy.

With everyone in agreement, Anna and Matt enrolled Truitt in the Moderna vaccine trial. Truitt was selected to participate. This phase of the trial was open label so they knew Truitt would be getting the actual vaccine and not a placebo.

He received his first dose in early June of 2021. 

The trial, which was slated to last for 14 months, involved a combination of in-office visits, phone calls and e-check-ups using an app. 

The worst part of the experience for Truitt was having blood drawn at each of the five in-person visits, his parents said. He would distract himself by explaining to the nurses and techs what the virus looks like and how the mRNA vaccines work, all things he’d learned by watching educational videos on YouTube. 

“I don’t think you’re going to find a 4-year-old that’s going to tell you getting nasal swabs and blood drawn and a shot is their favorite thing to do on a Tuesday,” Anna said. 

Truitt didn’t experience many symptoms following either of the two shots, only a slight headache and sore leg. Matt jokes that he took it better than either of his parents did, who both had to take a sick day from work after receiving their second dose. 

Now, Truitt has one in-person visit left for the trial, which may be extended to include occasional remote check-ins. 

Truitt’s two-year-old baby brother, Gilliam, is set to receive his vaccine next month. Truitt, now 5 years old, is proud that he played a part in his brother and friends becoming eligible for vaccination. He’s also enjoying a much less restrictive childhood and has even returned to the Chick-fil-A playground. He described it as “the best day ever.”

Henderson, who had multiple patients participate in the vaccine trial, said those who participated played a key role in helping prevent further COVID-19 infections and transmission in Mississippi. 

 “I think we as a community owe them a debt of gratitude,” Henderson said. 

Anna and Matt say they’ve heard some people say, ‘What kind of parents would put their child in a clinical trial?’”

“Nobody says that about clinical trials for other illnesses we’re searching for cures for,” Anna said. “We’re just regular folks in Laurel, and we just want the best for our family and our community. I just hope this helps ease the fears people might have.” 

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A committee Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann created to study the needs of women, children and families in the wake of Roe v. Wade abortion rights being overturned has scheduled four hearings and wants written input from the public.

Hosemann said on Thursday the bipartisan, nine-member Senate Study Group on Women, Children and Families will hold hearings at the Capitol on September 27 and 28, and on October 25 and 26. The hearings will be webcast, archived and open to the public.

The public is invited to email written testimony to WCFStudyGroup@senate.ms.gov. The comments will be presented to the full committee.

House Speaker Philip Gunn last month also announced he was creating a similar committee — the Speaker’s Commission on the Sanctity of Life — to address post-Roe needs for services in Mississippi. On Thursday a spokeswoman in a statement said Gunn and his staff “have been diligently working” on creating the commission and “curating a list of candidates” that will include “Mississippi’s top experts and professionals in all areas of concern.”

Republicans Hosemann, Gunn and Gov. Tate Reeves have praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on a Mississippi case that overturned the decades-old Roe v. Wade decision providing women abortion rights. But the three said the decision also requires Mississippi leaders to provide more resources to help mothers, children and families.

Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation, suffers from lack of prenatal, postnatal and all other forms of health care. It also has the highest infant mortality rate in the nation and one of the highest maternal death rates. It has for years faced federal court decrees to address its substandard foster care and children’s services system.

The Senate committee will be chaired by Sen. Nicole Boyd, a Republican from Oxford.

“Many people have personal stories about these topics and written testimony provides an opportunity to share them with study group members and the Senate,” Boyd said in a statement. “We are also encouraging legislators to reach out to their constituents and hold public hearings in their districts before the study group hearing dates in the fall.”

Hosemann said: “Testimony primarily from state agency heads and experts, and research following these hearings, will aid Sen. Boyd and the study group members in forming policy proposals going into the 2023 legislative session.”

Gunn has steadfastly opposed Medicaid expansion to cover the working poor, and earlier this year he torpedoed a Senate proposal backed by Hosemann to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for Mississippi mothers.

Hosemann is the only one of the state’s top three leaders who’s said he’s open to discussion about expanding Medicaid, which would provide the state about $1 billion a year in federal funds to provide health coverage for the working poor. But Gunn said recently when asked about Medicaid and postpartum expansion said, “All of those things you’re mentioning are things that will be on the table” with his new commission.

Topics set for the Senate hearings are:

Sept. 27: Statistical overview and maternal/child healthcare

Sept. 28: Adoption, foster care and child support

Oct. 25: Childcare availability

Oct. 26: Early intervention

Hosemann said additional hearing dates or topics may be added as necessary.

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Needy families need to be put first. Not last like they are now.

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