OurTupelo

Mississippi Delta socialite Tonia Sims-Bush was escorted by an aunt and friends as she walked up the white marble steps of the Leflore County courthouse. Her burlap-hued dress billowed in the hot wind, carved wooden disc earrings swayed from each lobe, and black mascara lent her stony expression considerable intensity.

She was there Aug. 11 for a hearing that could change the outcome of what she perceived as a great personal tragedy: her daughter’s loss of a homecoming queen election.

“We want the truth,” Sims-Bush wrote on Facebook. “The district is fighting to keep the facts surrounding the results hidden.”

Indianola’s Gentry High School, where Sims-Bush’s daughter is a student, has been holding elections for homecoming queen, or Miss Gentry, since 1954. Recent celebrations included programs printed on metallic foil, two grand thrones moved to the center of a gymnasium festooned with candelabras and chandeliers, rented luxury cars to ride through the annual homecoming parade and a military salute performed by the JROTC befitting a monarch of a lesser but no less grand principality. All this to say, contestants “show out,” in the words of a former school administrator.

But it still came as a surprise to current administrators, when they were sued for $100,000. The accusation against them: stealing a homecoming election for a beloved teacher’s daughter.

Sims-Bush had previously lent her event-planning talent to the school. She decorated a loft space with silver balloons and floats inspired by awards shows for last spring’s prom.

Seven years ago, Sims-Bush transformed the school gymnasium into a medieval courtyard with hedges, gold-colored chairs, sod and a fortress cutout. It was for her elder daughter’s homecoming queen coronation. In 2023, she had changed the gymnasium into an enchanted forest with jungle vines, jewel-toned chairs, fake myrtle trees and a backdrop reminiscent of the forest from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

For 10 years, Sims-Bush has run her event-planning company in the Mississippi Delta. She has hosted galas requiring black tie attire for male attendees and floor-length gowns for female guests. At one of her more recent events at Harlow’s Casino in Greenville, hundreds of guests crowded into a banquet hall for Havana Nights, which featured a cigar bar and performances by fire dancers and contortionists. Guests included local mayors and university administrators. 

Her social media account conveys the impression of a well-connected and highly organized professional.

“She appears to have it all,” said one current teacher on staff, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation at work.

But not quite all.

‘Who will win the throne?’

At Gentry High, the morning announcements in late April heralded the call for nominations for homecoming court. Teachers and administrators gave out handouts with nomination guidelines. Students probably had been mulling a run for homecoming queen much earlier, though. For the confident few, it meant ordering campaign banners and forming a winning strategy with parents and friends since at least February.

“Who will win the throne? What can you do to stand out from the rest! Well … this year we shall see! WELCOME to an unforgettable year of campaigning. Below are the guidelines for this year’s battle,” read Gentry’s handout for 2025 homecoming court elections.

Between hosting Thirsty Thursday, Wine Down Wednesday and more banquets for adults, Sims-Bush found the time to manage her younger daughter’s campaign for the homecoming tiara.

In a professionally produced campaign video released May 12, Sims-Bush’s daughter struts by the campus’ exterior in three separate couture looks.

“A brand isn’t just a logo, a slogan or a catchy name,” she says. “A brand is a promise. I don’t want to just wear the crown, I want to carry the responsibilities that come with it. When you cast your vote, you’re not just choosing a queen, you’re choosing a brand of leadership that’s committed to you.”

Sims-Bush also posted reels from six past homecoming queens entreating followers to cast their votes for her daughter.

“That experience did not only give me the opportunity to wear a crown,” the 2016-2017 queen said in one. “It showed me the importance of character, respect and school spirit.”

Before school started on April 14, a pop-up shop went up in the gym. The bubble gum pink store with glass cases featured free custom hats, tote bags, reusable cups and goodie bags – all stamped with Bush’s homecoming campaign logo: a “V” and “K” in a sleek font reminiscent of luxury branding. 

Sims-Bush arrived on campus each day of the campaign to help set up a new booth. Wednesday it was a Milan-inspired eatery featuring freshly made pizzas and a Kermit-green float. Thursday it was a Chanel-themed mixer with lunch boxes stamped with the designer logo and a shelf of pink-colored mocktails. Friday it was a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”-inspired buffet. Dozens of strawberries and madeleines covered a table offering muffins from stands. 

On the Friday before voting ended, students and faculty departed their classrooms to see homecoming queen candidates show their talent. A majority of contestants danced to popular music, gyrating in leotards and street wear.

Sims-Bush’s daughter hosted a fashion show with the help of at least 16 classmates. The event boasted a runway and two lines of chairs on either side for spectators. The bass thumped as the teen pageant queen hopeful sashayed down white carpeting in what appeared to be a pink ostrich feather skirt. 

Students left school that Friday with goodie bags from her of hot fries and custom tees. Voting would continue through the weekend.

Sims-Bush said she felt Latoya Henry, the teacher monitoring the campaigns, and Lilly Hamilton, a popular Gentry High teacher, were too friendly. Hamilton’s daughter was the other leading contender.

She expressed her concerns in a series of emails she began writing on the second day of campaign week.

“For a parent to walk into a school and feel the hate is absurd. Henry called me ‘one sided brain’ and stormed out of a meeting because I asked her to provide a set timeframe for activities during campaign week,” Sims-Bush wrote.

“The expectation was for other parents to dumb down their displays to match the basic lackluster display of her friends,” she wrote. “We have been treated so ugly all because of thinking outside the box and campaigning.”

‘The national election doesn’t even take a week’

As early as Tuesday of campaign week, Sims-Bush said she began to doubt the integrity of the upcoming election.

“The voting system is as air tight as we can get it,” replied Superintendent Miskia Davis in an email. “No school or district staff member other than Mr. Jones, a 32 year old white guy from New Jersey has access.”

It was Dylan Jones, that 32-year-old white guy from New Jersey, that Tonia Sims-Bush figured was the mastermind of a scheme to defeat her daughter. She was wary of the Google Form used for the election and the tech-savvy data director monitoring the elections.

She wanted paper ballots.

“While we understand the desire for a process that feels traditional, the reality is that digital voting is vastly more secure, more transparent, and more auditable than paper ballots,” Jones, federal programs and data director, wrote in a handout to parents and staff.

Google’s security software would flag adults who tried to vote with a student email address by identifying the login address and device, he reassured parents in the handout.

Before 7 a.m. the Saturday after campaigning drew to a close, Sims-Bush emailed Davis detailing a conspiracy to steal an election for her daughter’s opponent.

“A 5 day voting window is insane,” she said in an email. “No one had given any good reason why a five day voting window over the weekend is necessary for a student campaign except to cheat. 

The voting had been done on Google Form over the course of several days for at least the past two years.

She convinced Sunflower County Circuit Clerk Carolyn P. Hamilton to process votes in place of the Google Form method, which was already underway.

“Prior to the voting, she contacted me and asked if I could do the voting process instead of the students using Google [Forms]. I informed her that the timing would be tight but if I worked through the weekend I could get it done. I also told her that the School Board will have to approve it before I do anything,” she wrote in a statement to Mississippi Today.

“This would be a one-day process not five,” she stressed. 

‘The Cadillac version of Google’

On May 21, an email announced a runoff election just after 5 p.m.

Sims-Bush’s daughter and Hamilton’s daughter tied. Chromebooks would be dispersed the next day in classrooms – and students would have an hour to vote.

The winner was announced one hour after voting ended.

It wasn’t Sims-Bush’s daughter.

The following morning, Sims-Bush alleged fraud in an official complaint to the school district and requested it look into whether anyone but a student had voted in the election.

“After the runoff election voting window closed, the superintendent published the certified results, naming the daughter of the faculty member, who had unrestricted access to student accounts, and the openly acknowledged bestie of the staffer facilitating the election process the winner,” she wrote in her complaint.

Mississippi Today could not verify whether Hamilton had “unrestricted access.”

Four years prior, a Pensacola, Florida, assistant principal and her daughter were charged with rigging a homecoming queen election. The mother and daughter had access to student emails. A teacher responsible for administering the student election saw that 117 votes were flagged as “false” by Election Runner, an app that runs secure student elections for the district. An investigation followed. The daughter was expelled and charged as an adult after coronation.

Sims-Bush said she found it suspicious that a runoff was called without the vote tally posted.

“As a participant’s parent, I reiterate my request for a review of the May 20th election results,” she added.

Within a week, Sims-Bush had retained counsel and submitted a public records request to inspect the voting records.  

She wanted to examine the generated spreadsheet’s time stamps to see if votes were added after the official voting window had closed – and whether each voter was a student in the school by looking at “digital footprint.”

The school district refused. 

In the district office’s conference room, between a plea for cooperation on an oral history project and the honoring of a former superintendent, Sims-Bush made her concerns known during the June 10 school board meeting. A video recording of the meeting was posted online by Mic Magazine, a Facebook page that covers locals news in the Mississippi Delta.

More soft-spoken, Sims-Bush, reading from prepared notes, rattled off complaints and spoke to the injustices her family faced. 

“It has been horrible. What started as a campaign issue has unraveled so many flawed systems. All types of chaos,” she said. “The goal here is to get official documented results from the school leadership campaign. Dylan Jones made it clear that you pay $1,000 a year for the Cadillac version of Google. We have that recorded. So there shouldn’t be any reason why we shouldn’t be able to see the official results as opposed to something that someone just typed up. ”

She then looked up from her notes to address the board directly. The air conditioning churned.

“Thank you,” said Debra Jones, the school board member for District 3.

The rest of the school board offered no comment.

Two days later, Sims-Bush through attorney Dale Dean filed a lawsuit against Davis, the high school’s principal and Jones to compel them to allow inspection of the “digital footprint” of each voter and time stamps on the generated spreadsheet.

She also wanted $100,000 for “mental anguish,” the cost of filing the claim, loss of economic opportunity, past medical expenses and other enumerated damages.

“I have largely ignored you during this process, as I believe my God-given energy should not be wasted on foolishness,” assistant superintendent William Murphy wrote in his “final” email on the subject.

“This is clearly a sign that the election has gotten you completely outside of yourself.”

‘We are talking about high school students’

Eleven weeks after Hamilton’s daughter was declared the winner, Sims-Bush sat in a mostly empty Greenwood courtroom in the company of friends, family and counsel. 

When Circuit Judge Richard A. Smith took his seat, whispers between counsel and client fell to a hush. The school district’s attorney began oral arguments.

“We are talking about high school students,” Mackenzie Price said.

She spoke of the potential for bullying should the metadata or “digital footprint” be made available for Sims-Bush to inspect. 

“It would bleed into the hallways,” Price added.

Sims-Bush would have access to the addresses of students if they voted from home and to student names by even glimpsing at the initials listed on the generated spreadsheet. It would be a violation of the Family Education and Right Privilege Act.

The plaintiff wanted to know who her friends’ kids voted for, she interpreted. She was a “disgruntled parent.” Sims-Bush shook her head and looked to her aunt for support.

“The cloud over this matter” is why we’re here today, Dean responded. “All matters of unethical things” and “shenanigans” have taken place. Counsel has submitted “quite voluminous briefs” to “confuse the court.”

He held up case law that had since been overruled as justification for his client’s right to inspect the election metadata. Price noted that case law in asking for a summary judgment for the school district. The judge agreed.

The proceeding was over within an hour. 

“Parents now, and I’m guessing going forward, have to rely on the word of people in a district known for fraud, forgery and misconduct when it comes to student elections and other student issues,” Sims-Bush wrote in a comment on Facebook. “It’s sad.”

‘Money can’t buy everything’

She followed her counsel to the hallway outside the courtroom for a huddle. They were discussing strategy and a possible appeal.

“The district adamantly denies any allegations that it was involved in any politics regarding a student election,” said Carlos Palmer, attorney for Sunflower County Consolidated School District. “This particular suit that was filed completely lacked merit and was a waste of district resources that could’ve been better used educating the school’s students.”

The district’s insurance rate could be raised because of the lawsuit, he said. 

In the 12 years he has represented school districts, he said he has never come across a lawsuit stemming from a homecoming queen election or any other student personality contest.

Asked to describe personal damages incurred from the alleged theft of the homecoming queen crown, Sims-Bush refused comment on three separate occasions.

On Aug. 17, Greenville Mayor Errick D. Simmons honored Sims-Bush for bringing “regional and national attention to Greenville” and for elevating “the Mississippi Delta as a destination for luxury weddings, sophisticated celebrations and world-class event design.”

When Sims-Bush exited the Leflore County courthouse, she had not let her counsel know whether an appeal would be filed. As of Monday, an appeal has not yet been filed.

“We don’t want student info, we want the truth,” Sims-Bush wrote on Facebook. “What started as a campaign issue is now an issue of moral and ethics.”

“August 20 will be three months and we still have no true results,” she recently posted.

But in town, locals had other ideas about what took place in the Miss Gentry contest in May. Mississippi Today was able to poll half a dozen local residents.

“Money can’t buy everything,” said Tawana, a Popeye’s employee in Indianola and a Gentry alum who wished to be identified by her first name because she has family that attend the school. “Loyalty is something, too. They voted correctly. That’s that situation. You can’t sue nobody for that, neither.”

Gentry High School’s homecoming is Oct. 17.

In conversations with three past Miss Gentry winners, Mississippi Today was able to confirm that the perks of the crown are traditionally limited to appearances at schoolwide events, riding on a float during the homecoming parade and free access to home games. The title carries no cash prize, no scholarship money and no keepsake except the crystal encrusted metal crown bestowed upon the winner. In some years, there is a scepter, too.

One Miss Gentry from 20 years ago theorized that the competition became more fierce and pricey when social media became part of homecoming court election strategy.

“It used to just be about fun,” shared a former Miss Gentry who won her tiara nearly two decades ago. “Parents were not involved. I sang badly to a gospel recording and won because I could make people laugh.”

“It’s still one of the happiest days of my life.”

Editor’s note: This Mississippi Today Ideas essay is published as part of our Brain Drain project, which seeks answers to why Mississippians move out of state. To read more about the project, click here.

It’s a familiar and daunting headline: Mississippi is bleeding talent. Our best and brightest—our  kids, our neighbors, our future—are leaving for cities and states that seem more alive, more  prosperous, more like the opportunity they are seeking.

According to data from the Mississippi  Institutions of Higher Learning and Mississippi State University’s National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (NSPARC), just 52% of our public university graduates are working in the state three years after earning their degrees and that number drops to 49% by year five. U.S. Census data shows we have lost more than 60,000 millennials, in a state of about 3 million, since 2010.  

We’ve seen education reform, workforce programs and tax breaks, but we’re overlooking a game-changer right under our noses: tourism. It’s not just about visitors, but the quality of place and community tourism creates when done well. As one of Mississippi’s largest industries, tourism sparks entrepreneurship, creates vibrant communities and fosters pride of place. In short, it is one of our most effective yet underrecognized tools to retain and attract talent. It gives young people a reason to stay and a story worth telling. 

I have seen firsthand how tourism can transform communities. I have watched a blues festival fill the air with music and the sidewalks with locals and visitors from around the world. Restaurants were packed, shops were busy and a once-quiet downtown was bustling. The festival wasn’t just an event. It was proof that a place once written off as “dying” could reinvent itself as a cultural  destination.  

Mississippi is rich with genuine, generous people who are the heart of our great state. Tourism, along with programs like Main Street, has been steadily developing communities worthy of our  people. This work lays the foundation for attracting residents who want professional opportunity, quality of life and a sense of belonging.  

Tourism’s role in reversing brain drain 

Brain drain is not just about jobs. Young professionals want more than a paycheck. They want communities with character, cultural vibrancy and opportunities to connect. Tourism  development builds these qualities. 

When a town invests in assets like music, food, outdoor recreation and historic preservation, it is  also investing in things that enrich life for residents. A hiking trail attracts tourists and gives locals a place to connect with nature. A festival fills hotels and creates experiences for the people who live there. A revitalized downtown becomes a place where residents want to shop, work and open businesses. 

In discussing future plans with my millennial niece who lives out of state, I asked if she would ever consider moving back home. She said the lack of outdoor recreation opportunities was one of the main reasons she planned to stay where she was. As a Gen Xer, this surprised me as we followed jobs and built our lives around them. She is mapping her future around lifestyle amenities that are important to her.

As a tourism leader, her response was a gut punch, and it solidified how crucial it is to invest in quality-of-life assets if we want the next generation to live here. Mississippi has incredible natural resources, but we often lag behind other states in developing outdoor amenities that are accessible to visitors and residents. 

Tourism doesn’t just create jobs and revenue; it creates reasons to stay. 

A powerful economic engine in plain sight 

In 2023, Mississippi welcomed a record 43.7 million visitors, generating $17.5 billion in cash-in hand economic development. Those dollars don’t just fill hotel rooms; they fuel small  businesses. Recent data shows 37% of local spending in Q2 2025 came from visitors, more than one of every three dollars spent. 

Tourism shapes Mississippi’s story 

If we want to keep and bring back our best and brightest, we must leverage tourism to own and amplify our story.  

For too long, much of the national narrative about Mississippi has been written by people who have never lived here. In 2019, state leaders created a dedicated funding model for tourism marketing, allowing Mississippi tourism to finally compete regionally and nationally. That investment has driven growth in GDP, tax revenue and economic development, but I believe our  best is yet to come.  

Longwoods International conducted a study on the “Halo Effect” of tourism marketing. The study found that when people saw tourism ads and then visited a destination, their perception of that place improved dramatically across key economic indicators. Tourism leaders have long understood this connection, but the data confirmed that tourism directly influences how places are viewed as desirable locations to live, work and invest. 

For Mississippi, this means our festivals, coastal trails and warm hospitality can rewrite outdated perceptions. Tourism doesn’t just bring revenue; it builds pride and possibility. 

The front door to economic growth and development 

In economic development, talent attraction is a constant priority. States invest heavily in courting companies and industries, but these efforts work best when paired with a thriving tourism sector. 

No one moves or invests without first visiting.

It all starts with a visit, and the visit starts with us. Tourism is often the first impression Mississippi makes with future residents, business owners and investors. A positive visitor experience can plant the seed for relocation, business expansion, or a decision to return home. 

A call to action 

If we are serious about tackling brain drain, we must stop seeing tourism as “just” a leisure industry, but rather a strategic tool for workforce retention, talent attraction and community revitalization. 

That means closer collaboration between tourism leaders, economic developers and  policymakers. It means aligning strategies, sharing data and recognizing that investments in tourism infrastructure like improved public spaces and preservation of historic sites are also investments in our future workforce. 

I think of my niece every time I pass a quiet river or empty downtown. She is not just one person; she is a generation we risk losing. But I have seen what tourism can do. It can turn a  quiet downtown into a bustling main street, give a young person a reason to build their life here and change how the world sees Mississippi. This transformation is real and the result of intentional efforts by community champions. 

Mississippi’s story is ours to write. At a time when we are competing globally for visitors and people, tourism may be one of our most powerful and untapped tools to write our story in a way that keeps our homegrown talent and welcomes new Mississippians.

Danielle Morgan is a lifelong Mississippian and has led the Mississippi Tourism Association’s advocacy, education and promotion efforts since 2021. She is a Yazoo City native and currently resides in  Carrollton with her husband Brent and precocious rescue dog, Howard Street Howard. Morgan is a  graduate of Delta State University and recently received her Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) designation, the tourism industry’s highest individual educational achievement. 

House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, on the heels of a first select committee hearing on school choice and other education policy, tells Mississippi Today that lawmakers should be open to discussions on school choice, consolidation or any other measures that might move the state’s education system forward. “The only people who don’t have school choice now are poor kids,” Roberson said. He said such issues need to be detached from partisan politics and viewed with open minds.

A historic community center in coastal Bay St. Louis will hold a free event this fall to help people reach across cultural and political divides by simply having fun together.

Organizers say the One Mississippi gathering at 100 Men Hall aims to “show the world what real community looks like.”

The Sept. 28 event will have food, live music and indoor and outdoor activities, including  karaoke, storytelling, limbo contests, sack races and tug-o-war. 

“We’re calling it ‘where neighbors meet and compete,’ but really it’s where they play together,” said Rachel Dangermond, owner and director of 100 Men Hall.

Bay St. Louis was among the communities hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Organizers of One Mississippi say they want to promote unity and “not wait for a natural disaster to show our neighbors we’re with them.” 

Dangermond said she was inspired by current political and social unrest to unite people across all differences. Though the hall strives to celebrate cultural diversity and inclusivity, One Missississippi is meant to bring in those who don’t normally attend the hall’s concerts or other events.

“We want everyone to feel welcome — we believe that everyone should feel welcome,” she said. “But I think that there is more and more, this division that’s happening in our society, and so a lot of people don’t feel comfortable here. And so we want to have an event that invites everyone in, to do things that everyone can do, that is for everyone.”

100 Men Hall has cultural and historical significance to Bay St. Louis.

Bought in 1922 by the One Hundred Members’ Debating Benevolent Association, the hall became a multipurpose space and a popular stop on the Chitlin Circuit, an informal network of entertainment venues for Black performers. Famous blues, jazz and soul entertainers including Etta James, Big Joe Turner and Ray Charles performed there.

The original One Hundred Members’ Debating Benevolent Association disbanded in 1984, and the hall changed ownership multiple times. Dangermond bought it in 2018, and now runs it as a multipurpose space and cultural center. She also established 100 Women DBA, a nonprofit that supports the 100 Men Hall and provides scholarships and mentorships to local women of color.

“I thought, what we needed to do, most importantly, was to remind everybody in this community about who we are,” Dangermond said.

Dangermond describes Bay St. Louis as a small, artsy town. It  is home to a variety of events, many of which are hosted at 100 Men Hall. 

Honey Parker does marketing and advertising for One Mississippi and will host a story slam, where people can share five-minute anecdotes that fit the theme “Only in Mississippi.”

Parker hopes not only to celebrate those in Bay St. Louis, but also to be an example for other places.

“Hopefully, people who come to the event will see what we have here. We have such a fantastic community that is across the spectrum,” Parker said. “It’s to celebrate that, it’s to remind each other that, ‘Yeah, we have a heck of a community.’”

READ MORE: While Trump overhauls FEMA, Mississippi tornado survivors await assistance

‘Tis the season — Labor Day weekend — when state politicians will trip over each other to praise Mississippi workers.

And they rightfully should sing the praises of the state’s workforce — the entire workforce, those at the top of the pay scale and those at the bottom. Mississippi has a lot of dedicated workers.

But it also tis the season when various organizations evaluate the working conditions of each state.

According to Oxfam, a nonprofit that promotes equality, Mississippi is 51st (including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico) in its most recent ranking of best states to work. The ranking that was released last week is determined based on 27 factors related to wages, worker protection and the right to organize.

Mississippi’s low ranking can be attributed to a number of factors, such as being among the 20 states that have not increased the minimum wage, the lack of paid family leave, low unemployment benefits and a weak equal pay law.

Another factor that is harmful to thousands of Mississippi workers is the refusal of state leaders to take steps to ensure they have adequate health care. Mississippi is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid, as is allowed under federal law, to provide health insurance coverage for the working poor.

Mississippi politicians often have said that instead of expanding Medicaid, they wanted to ensure good jobs that offer health insurance as a benefit.

How is that plan working out for Mississippi workers?

Medicaid expansion has been available for states to opt into for more than a decade. When Medicaid expansion started, Mississippi had one of the nation’s lowest percentage of workers receiving health insurance coverage through their employer.

Guess what?

Mississippi is still near the bottom in terms of the percentage of its workforce with employer-provided health insurance. According to 2023 data compiled by KFF, which conducts health research, just 42.7% of Mississippi workers have employer-based health insurance compared to the national average of 48.6%.

KFF research also reveals that 10.5% of Mississippians have no health insurance at all, compared to the national average of 7.9%.

If political leaders continue to refuse to expand Medicaid and anticipated federal changes play out, the number of Mississippians with no health insurance is expected to rise in the coming years.

Enhanced federal subsidies provided during the Joe Biden administration for health insurance purchased on the federal marketplace exchange are scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Congress opted not to continue the enhanced subsidies as part of President Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Without the enhanced subsidies, KFF estimates the average cost of a policy for the 338,000 Mississippians who have insurance through the marketplace exchange will increase $480 per year, which could be cost prohibitive for someone working in a convenience store or waiting tables or cutting grass.

Experts predict fewer people — fewer Mississippi workers — will have health insurance in the coming years because of the federal action to allow the enhanced subsidies to expire and the state’s inaction of not expanding Medicaid.

Roy Mitchell, executive director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, said federal studies estimate 170,000 Mississippians will not be able to continue their marketplace plan once the enhanced federal subsidies expire at the end of 2025.

That could result in more sick Mississippians, meaning fewer people in the workforce for state politicians to praise.

Yes, ’tis the season to celebrate Mississippi workers.

But when is the season to provide real health care relief for Mississippi’s low wage workers?

.

Higher education — central to the public profiles of billionaire businessman Tommy Duff and State Auditor Shad White, two Republicans eyeing Mississippi’s governorship in 2027 — has already become a point of division between them.

Duff, in a recent interview, appeared to take a shot at White, saying politicians should focus on the jobs they currently hold, not future ambitions for higher office. White, in response, said Duff, while on the college board, helped implement diversity, equity and inclusion programs anathema to conservative Republican policy.

In Mississippi, issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion and other culture war battles roiling higher education have become a wedge issue in intraparty political spats, a legal fight unfolding in federal court and an ongoing effort to keep college students from leaving the state in droves.

Duff is considering a run for governor and has made higher education a top focus of his recent public appearances. He cites his budget stewardship during his stint on the state Institutions of Higher Learning Board from May 2015 to May 2024. 

White, both through reports issued by his office and his own bully pulpit, has led a high-profile campaign for conservative reform of Mississippi’s higher education system.

Duff has hinted at the broad outlines of what could become a gubernatorial campaign agenda, but he has largely done so without offering specific policy proposals, citing the nearly 27 months remaining until Election Day in 2027. The gubernatorial race, Duff added in an interview with Mississippi Today, should not distract current state leaders interested in running from attending to the demands of their offices.

 “I kind of wish all these people that want to be running that maybe have government jobs and responsibilities ought to tend to the ones they have,” Duff said. He didn’t name White, but the comment appeared to be a shot at him. 

In response to Duff’s statement, White criticized Duff’s track record on the IHL Board.   

“When Tommy Duff was on the board running our universities, he supported the creation of the DEI office at Ole Miss, on his watch the University Medical Center started an ‘LGBTQ Clinic’ which gave puberty blockers to transgender minors, and he voted to require the COVID shot for university employees before they were allowed to come back to work, so I sort of wish he would have done a better job when he was in his government position,” White said. “I’d have less to clean up.”

In a statement, Jordan Russell, a spokesperson for Duff, called White’s statement “blatantly false” but declined to comment further. 

John Sewell, director of communications for the IHL, said the University of Mississippi’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement was requested by the university and approved by the Board in April 2017

The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s now dissolved “LGBTQ clinic” was created in 2019, and an IHL Board vote was not required for its creation, Sewell said. 

On the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Sewell said the board voted against a systemwide mandate in August of 2021, but was then prompted to change course in response to federal regulations. 

“The next month, President Biden issued an order demanding that federal contractors and subcontractors be vaccinated. To avoid losing federal research dollars, the Board voted in October 2021 that individuals considered federal contractors and subcontractors should comply with the executive order,” Sewell said.  

Neither Duff nor White has formally entered the race for governor, but they have both said they are considering a run. Their experience, along with Mississippi’s specific economic challenges, suggests higher education could play a major role in shaping state politics for years to come.  

Duff focuses on fiscal policies

In what Duff’s advisers characterized as the first political speech of his life earlier this month, he reminded the crowd of his tenure on the IHL Board. 

Duff anchored his comments about his experience on the IHL Board in cost savings – a message that aligns with the Trump administration’s elevation of “government efficiency” as a leading political priority. 

Duff said that he oversaw the hiring of a firm to coordinate health insurance policies across the nine institutions in the IHL system, and that resulted in millions in savings. He also said he helped revamp the interest payments universities were paying on bond projects, resulting in about $100 million in savings.

He appeared at a Mississippi Today event with business leaders about “brain drain” and highlighted the need to keep more Mississippi-educated college students in the state by attracting more private-sector jobs. And in an earlier interview with Mississippi Today, he noted that he and his brother are also major supporters of higher education, having donated about $50 million to Mississippi universities. 

Duff also said he supports adding “civic responsibilities” to curricula at Mississippi universities. That reflects ideological currents sweeping the country, with several Republican-led states enacting laws requiring students to take civics-focused courses — often with an emphasis on Western civilization — while scaling back identity-focused content such as race or gender studies.

“I don’t think that’s taught as much anymore. What it means to be an American, a Mississippian. What does it mean to be a future member of society, a citizen? The importance of voting,” Duff said. “Those type of things need to be added into college curricula. Learning our constitution, that type of stuff that makes you more well-rounded and makes you a better student and adult.” 

White has called for Mississippi to change how it funds higher education by stripping public money from degree programs that don’t align with the state’s labor force needs. White pitched that policy as his own solution to brain drain. The idea is that outmigration could be blunted by increasing funding for degree programs with higher earning potential right after graduating, such as in engineering or business management, according to a 2023 report issued by White’s office. 

White was the earliest and most vocal state leader to come out in favor of banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools. 

In a statement, Jacob Walters, a spokesperson for White, said the auditor wants to ensure DEI departments are not recreated again under a different name. White also wants to use the money that previously went to DEI offices to increase campus security. 

Walters also provided other higher education proposals White supports, many of which align with the Trump administration’s push to shape teaching around cultural issues and eliminate  “useless woke programs.”  

“Taxpayer money should not be used to fund Gender Studies programs that feature ‘queer studies’ coursework,” Walters wrote. “This can be found right now at our universities. Instead, taxpayer money should fund degree programs that prepare students for real jobs and don’t saddle them with debt they cannot repay.” 

White wants to require that all universities teach “the scientific reality that there are only two sexes,” Walters wrote. 

He also supports putting a surcharge on out-of-state students who attend Mississippi universities. The revenue would be used to fund a scholarship for any graduate with good grades in a high-need field who agrees to work in Mississippi for the first four years after graduation.

Duff and White are seen as likely candidates for governor in 2027, but Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson is the only notable candidate who has officially announced he’s running. 

Gipson also supports eliminating the ability of Mississippi universities to set goals around “diversity outcomes,” a push that became easier after Trump’s reelection, he told Mississippi Today.  

“Like most Mississippians, I’ve always supported hiring and recruitment based on individual merit and qualifications, so I was glad to see IHL move this direction beginning in November 2024,” Gipson said.

Going forward, Gipson said Mississippi universities must adapt to a declining student population, which some call an “enrollment cliff.” Mississippi can do that by highlighting its “quality of life and college experience and culture that other parts of the country can’t offer,” he added.

Preparing students with skills in data and artificial intelligence – industries already disrupting the American economy – would also be at the top of the two-term agriculture commissioner’s higher education agenda as governor, he said.  

There are just under 80,000 students enrolled at Mississippi’s eight public universities and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, many of whom returned to classes this month. They did so as a legal battle heats up that could fundamentally reshape the composition of student bodies and the dictate which subjects they are taught.

Legal questions loom over DEI

After President Trump made banning DEI programs de rigueur for Republican state legislatures, Mississippi lawmakers introduced legislation for two consecutive legislative sessions. They questioned university officials on their implementation of diversity initiatives and finally succeeded in passing a statewide ban in 2025. 

Last week, a federal judge blocked a Mississippi law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Mississippi public schools from going into effect. 

As Mississippi geared up to shutter DEI from its schools, the Trump administration unleashed a torrent of executive actions aimed at universities. The federal government launched civil rights investigations into elite universities and froze billions in federal research money

The Mississippi ruling prevents officials from enforcing the law. Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the state defendants will now move to discovery, where they collect evidence before a bench trial. 

The litigation could drag on past the 2026 legislative session, forcing Republican lawmakers to keep pushing to enact a policy they had already spent over a year drafting and debating.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Long before his banishment from gymnastics and arrest after accusations that he abused girls he coached, warning signs about Sean Gardner were coming from several directions — his former boss, his gymnasts and their parents.

The former boss in Mississippi says she brought her concerns about Gardner’s “grooming” behavior to USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body. The parents and girls in Iowa described telling coaches of inappropriate behavior at Gardner’s new job at an academy there that produced Olympians and is owned by renowned coach Liang “Chow” Qiao.

Yet Qiao not only kept Gardner on the job — he promoted him.

Associated Press interviews with four parents whose daughters trained under Gardner and a letter obtained by the AP from Gardner’s former employer to clients at her gym revealed that concerns about the coach were reported to gymnastics authorities as far back as 2018 — four years before he was kicked out of the sport.

One girl told Qiao during a meeting in 2020 that she had been touched inappropriately by Gardner during training, but Qiao said any such contact was inadvertent and intended to save athletes from injury, a parent told AP.

“She felt totally invalidated,” the parent said of the response from Qiao, who built his reputation coaching Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas and China’s women’s national team.

The watchdog responsible for investigating wrongdoing in Olympic sports confirmed to AP that Qiao and several other coaches were privately sanctioned for failing to report sexual misconduct allegations against Gardner after learning about them.

Qiao did not return AP emails and phone messages seeking comment. Gardner, 38, has been jailed since his Aug. 14 arrest pending federal court proceedings in Mississippi. He hasn’t entered a plea, and court records don’t indicate if he has a lawyer. He did not return AP messages seeking comment before his arrest.

Concerns at Chow’s Gymnastics were first raised in 2019

One parent recalled attending a 2019 meeting with the parents of two other girls with Qiao to discuss their daughters’ concerns, including that Gardner was making them uncomfortable in the way he touched them while spotting and by talking about inappropriate subjects.

The parent, like the others, spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to protect their daughters. The AP generally does not identify alleged sexual abuse victims.

The meeting came more than a year after Gardner’s former employer at a gym in Purvis, Mississippi, Candi Workman, said she discussed concerns with a USA Gymnastics attorney about “troubling behavior” involving Gardner’s “coaching and grooming behavior.”

Gardner was removed from the sport in July 2022 after the U.S. Center for SafeSport received a sexual abuse complaint and issued a temporary ban — a move it called “the only reason Gardner was barred from coaching young athletes” until his arrest.

The center forwarded that information to Iowa police, and it was another three years before the FBI arrested Gardner on charges of child sexual exploitation. Among the most damning evidence were allegations that he installed a hidden camera in the bathroom of the Mississippi gym to record girls as young as 6 undressing.

Gardner’s rise and the sport’s inability to root him out came even as news of Larry Nassar’s decades-long sexual abuse of gymnasts was in the headlines and gyms were implementing safeguards to better protect athletes. It was the inability of USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee to police predators, along with inaction by the FBI after learning of the abuse, that led to SafeSport’s founding in 2017.

“This is the same type of behavior where girls aren’t believed. They are cast aside. They are tamped down,” said Megan Bonanni, a lawyer who helped secure a $138.7 million settlement for Nassar’s victims over the FBI’s failures.

“What we’re seeing with Gardner, it’s multiple institutions failing to act with the urgency that child safety demands. … Local police, SafeSport, USA Gymnastics and this gym. All of them.”

Gardner’s former boss says she reported ‘troubling behavior’ in 2018

In her first comments on the case, Workman, the Mississippi gym owner, told gymnasts and their parents in a recent letter that she reported “troubling behavior” by Gardner to then-USA Gymnastics lawyer Mark Busby in January 2018.

Workman wrote that her concerns were related to “grooming,” which USA Gymnastics defines as a process where a person builds trust and emotional connections with a child for the purpose of sexually abusing them.

Workman did not elaborate on what she reported and hasn’t returned messages from AP seeking comment. Busby, whose job at the time related to athlete safety and is now in private practice, declined to comment when reached by AP.

The SafeSport center said it was notified by USA Gymnastics in January 2018 that one of its affiliated gyms had resolved a report involving Gardner. But the center said it didn’t investigate further because the report was not related to sexual misconduct and it did not receive detailed information.

Despite that, Gardner was able to leave Mississippi for a better job in another USA Gymnastics-affiliated facility — Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute, the West Des Moines, Iowa, gym that had become a mecca for top gymnasts.

Despite concerns at Chow’s, Gardner was promoted

Chow’s Gymnastics said Gardner passed a standard USA Gymnastics background check when he was hired in 2018.

Concerns about his behavior in the gym began soon after, yet Gardner was consistently given more responsibility. Girls in one training group pushed for other adults to intervene, which resulted in the 2019 meeting between parents and Qiao.

But not long after that meeting, Chow’s Gymnastics promoted Gardner in January 2020 to head coach of a key girls’ team, telling parents in an email obtained by AP: “He has demonstrated the leadership and put good effort to do his job well.” Gardner was also director of the Chow’s Winter Classic, a meet that draws hundreds of gymnasts to Iowa every year.

Chow’s Gymnastics kept Gardner on the payroll after he was arrested in August 2021 for second-offense drunken driving, a crash in which he ran another car off the road and his blood alcohol content recorded more than three times the legal limit for driving. Gardner was sentenced to a week in jail and two years of probation.

In a statement, Chow’s Gymnastics said it acted “promptly, responsibly and in full compliance” after it received notice in April 2022 that Gardner was to be barred from one-on-one or unsupervised contact with athletes while SafeSport investigated unspecified misconduct.

Chow’s Gymnastics said that it enforced those measures and removed Gardner as head coach. The gym said it fired Gardner in July 2022 after SafeSport strengthened Gardner’s restrictions to a temporary suspension from coaching and all contact with athletes.

“Although there had been no finding of misconduct at that time, Chow’s Gymnastics chose to err on the side of protecting its athletes,” the statement said.

SafeSport said the sanctions in 2022 against Qiao and the other coaches who failed to report sexual misconduct allegations included warnings, required education, probation, and suspension in one case.

The center does not normally comment about specific cases but said in a statement to AP that it has “the ability to correct the record in light of the recent public letter issued by Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute.”

Gym’s claim of prompt response infuriated parents

The gym’s statement infuriated some parents and former Chow’s pupils who said concerns about Gardner had been widely known. Several of Gardner’s students left the gym beginning in 2019 in what parents called a mass exodus.

The parents of one gymnast recalled witnessing Gardner touch another girl’s buttocks while standing behind her during practice. Gardner told the parents that his hand slipped by accident, and the father recalled warning Gardner that there “would be no accidents with my daughter.”

When that girl eventually quit the gym due in part to Gardner’s conduct, the father recalled restraining himself when Gardner came out to the parking lot to say he was sorry.

Bonanni, the attorney for survivors of Nassar’s abuse, said she is troubled by the slow response in the Gardner case and expects more victims to come forward.

“The damage caused by this kind of abuse is permanent, and it’s really long-lasting,” she said. “It changes the trajectory of a young person’s life.”

The Associated Press’ Ryan J. Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa, and Eddie Pells reported from Denver.

GULFPORT — A Hurricane Hunter flyby Friday opened the 20th anniversary ceremony of Hurricane Katrina at the Barksdale Pavilion in Gulfport, filled with hundreds of people who each has a story of where they were on Aug. 29, 2005, and how Katrina changed their lives.

It ended about 90 minutes later with the young choir from St. James Catholic Church in Gulfport joining songwriter Steve Azar in an energetic rendition of “One Mississippi,” the state song.

It was as if the ceremony and the many photographs and memories brought out and examined this week ripped off the bandage to the pain of Katrina and the loss of 238 people.

Here are the five most memorable quotes of the day from Gulfport:

“We’re so blessed. We’re so fortunate,” said Gulfport Mayor Hugh Keating, whose home was flooded with 8 feet of water during Katrina. “We survived, and we thrived,” he said of south Mississippi.

He and all the speakers saluted the volunteers who came from across the country and even the world to help with the recovery — “960,000. I had no idea there was that many,” Keating said.

The speaker’s platform, set up where the storm surge rushed in to devastate Gulfport, is close to the Mississippi Aquarium and Island View Casino, which opened since the storm. The State Port of Gulfport was rebuilt and the downtown is revitalized, with a lively restaurant scene and offices.

“We coined a new word after Katrina — ‘slabbed,’” said Haley Barbour, who was governor at the time Katrina struck. From Waveland, where after the devastating storm surge “every structure was destroyed,” he said, to Pascagoula, 80 miles away from the center and still with so many homes lost, “It looked like the hand of God had wiped away the Coast — utter destruction,” he said.

The audience gave Barbour and his wife, Marsha, standing ovations. She was at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg the day before Katrina and “came down with the troops,” her husband said. She was on the Coast, making sure needs were met, for months.

“We are always better together,” said Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. director of national intelligence, who greeted the crowd with an “Aloha.” Listening to the stories from Katrina on the 20th anniversary reminded her of the fires that destroyed Lahaina on Maui in her native state of Hawaii, she said, when 102 people died and the area was left with total devastation.

We will always remember those lost, she said, “But my hope is that we remain inspired, as we stand here 20 years later, by what came after, and remember the unity that we felt, remember the strength that came from all of us coming together as neighbors, as friends, as colleagues, as Americans, that allowed us to get through these historic disasters.”

“Together, we proved you should never bet against Mississippi,” said Gov. Tate Reeves. At the time, Katrina was five times the size of any natural disaster to hit the United States, he said.

People returned home to find nothing but “steps to nowhere,” every other trace of their home gone. Their churches, schools and offices also were damaged and destroyed.

Sen. Trent Lott and Sen. Thad Cochran fought for federal funds, working with state officials and Gov. Barbour to bring south Mississippi back, he said. “Everyone knew who was in charge, and that was Gov. Barbour,” he said. “He never once wavered. He never once quit.”

If Mississippi only built the Coast back to what it was, the state would have failed, was Barbour’s mantra after Katrina and the vision for south Mississippi today. The priorities initially were homes, jobs and schools, and in the 20 years since, south Mississippi has seen great business growth.

“Hurricane roulette,” is how Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann terms it. “Sooner or later it will be our time,” he said, but Mississippi is better prepared than it was for Katrina. Homes and offices were built back stronger and, “We have money set aside in the state,” he said. Mississippi has $1 billion in the windpool between cash and reinsurance for another major storm that one day will come.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is again arguing that state agencies in Mississippi are unfairly withholding money from Jackson’s long under-funded water and sewer infrastructure.

SPLC, an Alabama-based legal nonprofit that specializes in racial justice cases, argues in the Aug. 21 lawsuit that the state discriminated against the majority-Black city in violation of the 14th Amendment.

In 2022, the state awarded the capital city $35.6 million in matching funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. A little over $23 million was for Jackson’s drinking water, with the remainder for wastewater needs. Both of the city’s systems are now under a federal receivership, headed by JXN Water, after struggling for years.

But since the state awarded those funds, SPLC argues, the Office of the State Treasurer has withheld Jackson’s allotted amount without explanation. A bill that year — written by Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent in Jackson, and signed by Gov. Tate Reeves — stipulated that matching dollars for the capital city would go into a “special fund” with the state treasurer. For Jackson to access the funds, the law says, the city must submit a plan to the state Department of Finance and Administration.

Despite Mississippi making hundreds of millions of dollars worth of water and sewer funds available to cities and counties across the state, lawmakers only added the extra obstacle for Jackson. Moreover, a SPLC lawyer contends, Jackson had a plan for its ARPA money even before the funds were awarded.

“The city of Jackson had a plan, it had it for decades,” said Crystal McElrath, a senior attorney with the nonprofit. “(The state hasn’t) given them the so-called matching funds, and we don’t know that they have a good reason at this point.”

So far, the suit alleges, JXN Water has only received $3.8 million of the awarded ARPA funds. The 2022 bill also says that any of the $35.6 million unspent by 2027 will go into the state’s general fund.

The defendants in the suit are the state treasurer, DFA, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. The state treasurer did not respond to Mississippi Today for this story, while DFA and MDEQ declined to comment on a pending legal matter.

SPLC first raised the issue in 2023 in a complaint to the U.S. Department of Treasury, alleging the state racially discriminated against Jackson in its distribution of ARPA funds. The department decided to not investigate the complaint because it doesn’t have jurisdiction over the state’s funding decisions, McElrath said.

Mississippi Today also reached out to Jackson and JXN Water, and neither responded by publication. JXN Water is in the middle of a months-long effort to raise water bill rates because it lacks funding for daily operations and management.

The plaintiffs in the case are Jackson residents Doris Glasper and Nsombi Lambright, as well as the Jackson branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples.