Latest news with #MurrayStateUniversity
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Campus rally shows support for international students at Murray State University
Students and locals showed their support for international students at Murray State University, April 22, 2025 (Kentucky Lantern photo by Zoe Lewis) MURRAY — Campus groups and local organizations rallied at Murray State University Tuesday to show support for international students almost a week after a Murray student's visa was revoked. More than 50 members of United Campus Workers of Kentucky, West KY NOW, Murray State Alliance and the Murray State University College Democrats participated in the event. Brian Bourke, a professor and program coordinator in the Higher Education and Student Affairs master's program at Murray and a member of United Campus Workers, said he hopes the university community realizes the potential dangers that international students are facing under the Trump administration. 'During the rally, I did hear some people who stopped by the table expressing shock and dismay that a member of our community had their visa revoked,' Bourke said. 'It also demonstrates that Murray State is part of a broader world of higher education in the United States, and that the bad things don't only happen at the bigger name institutions we tend to hear about in the news.' Murray State University College Democrats wrote an open letter last week calling on the university administration 'to make public statements about their commitment to the safety of all members of the MSU community.' Katelyn Gardner, a junior and secretary of the campus Democrats, said, 'International students and workers provide so much good to our university, and they deserve to be advocated for. It's up to us to provide our support and call on university officials to commit publicly to offer their support as well.' She said it's important for organizations to advocate for international students because the political climate can make it risky for the students to advocate for themselves. 'With both the letter and the rally, we hope that university administration will take more responsibility for student and staff safety and wellbeing,' Gardner said. 'We hope for more information and guidelines to be given to students and staff so that they have a better understanding of their rights, and they feel safer and better supported at a school that they worked incredibly hard to be at.' Student Government Association President Ali Khatib, a Palestinian-American, told the rally that international students are being punished for voicing their opinions, including opposition to Israel's war in Gaza. 'I really think we're in for some scary times, and I hope that more and more people can be aware of what's going on.' Inside Higher Ed reports that more than 1,500 students from nearly 250 colleges have had their visas revoked by the Trump administration, but their identities and why they've been targeted are still largely unknown. Earlier this month, the University of Kentucky reported a 'small number' of graduate students had their visas revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. Officials from private Campbellsville University told Inside Higher Ed that some of its international students had their visas revoked but declined to say how many.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration revokes Murray State international student's visa
Murray State University says an international student's visa has been revoked. (Murray State photo) Another international student's visa has been revoked in Kentucky, this time at Murray State University. According to local news reports, Murray State shared information about the student's visa being revoked by the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday. A university spokesperson declined to give further information to protect the student's privacy. The news comes amid Trump administration efforts to ramp up deportations. Inside Higher Ed reported that as of Friday, more than 1,550 international students and recent graduates have had their legal status changed by the U.S. State Department. Murray State College Democrats penned an open letter criticizing the university administration for not alerting students sooner to the visa revocation and asking for clearer information about the university's response. 'To be clear, we are not asking that personal information be released, just notification of when law enforcement is present and/or actively targeting students on campuses,' the letter says. The College Democrats said students and their families choose colleges like Murray because they trust they will be safe there and that Murray 'boasts about having international students from over 50 different countries.' 'Every student that seeks to learn at MSU has the right to do so without fear of persecution,' the letter reads. 'Actions taken by administration are the only way to prove that the university cares about and will protect those rights.' A Murray spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment Friday afternoon. Earlier this month, the University of Kentucky reported a 'small number' of graduate students had their visas revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. Officials from private Campbellsville University told Inside Higher Ed that some of its' international students had their visas revoked but declined to say how many.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More KY universities could award advanced degrees under new law
Murray State University is seeking approval to begin training veterinarians. (Murray State photo) Legislation to create schools of veterinary and osteopathic medicine in Kentucky went nowhere in the recently-adjourned General Assembly, but lawmakers did open a path for more public universities to offer such professional and advanced degree programs. Senate Bill 77, which received bipartisan support in the General Assembly and was signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear, allows the state's comprehensive universities for the first time to seek approval to start professional programs such as medicine or architecture and to offer doctor of philosophy degrees. The new law also creates a framework for the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) to review a university's proposal and make a recommendation to the legislature about whether it is viable and should be funded. Eastern Kentucky University wants to open a school of osteopathic medicine and aims to graduate its first class of physicians in 2034. Murray State University has been working to win approval to open a veterinary medicine school and got a boost last year when the legislature allocated $60 million to construct a new veterinary sciences building now in the design phase. Western Kentucky University wants to start research doctoral programs. All of those proposals were introduced as bills during the recently concluded 2025 regular session. None received a committee hearing; instead, lawmakers created a process for deciding when the state needs such programs and to consider the costs. The framework outlined in the law allows lawmakers to have in-depth information, particularly about the financial stability and viability of a proposal, before voting to fund a new program, said Sen. Matthew Deneen, an Elizabethtown Republican. In an interview, Deneen said the legislation 'was an opportunity to expand the opportunity' for comprehensive universities in the state to offer more doctoral programs. Besides EKU, Murray and Western, the comprehensive universities are Morehead State and Northern Kentucky universities. 'It's important to have a framework like this and guidelines in place so that we can make better decisions for the people of the commonwealth, for our students, because ultimately the things that we're doing here are going to impact the offerings at these comprehensive universities,' Deneen said. 'And it's going to allow them to meet the goals of not only their students but of the overall commonwealth.' The new law directs CPE to review how the proposed program would align with the goals and mission of the university, the statewide or regional need for the program and demand by students and employers for the program. Universities must also show CPE how the program compliments existing programs, provide a five-year budgetary analysis, possible curriculum and more. Before submitting a new proposal, the law says that a comprehensive university must meet some student success measures such as having a first-to-second year retention rate and a six-year graduation rate that is in the 75th percentile of all comprehensive universities nationwide and the 80th percentile of all comprehensive universities within the Southern Regional Education Board. Now, CPE is creating policies to determine the eligibility for the new professional programs. Travis Powell, vice president and general counsel of CPE, said the process will likely be similar to how CPE has approved other academic programs in the past. 'Right now we are in the process of determining initial eligibility … to see who is even eligible to offer programs based on the student success measures that have to be in place and the reserve funding they have to keep,' Powell said. Under the new law, CPE can recommend if proposals that will include a funding request to the General Assembly should be funded, Powell said. CPE already makes biennial budget requests to the legislature. The next state budget will be considered in 2026. EKU's plan to open an osteopathic medicine school would include asking the legislature for nearly $50 million to meet accreditation requirements for reserve funds. EKU President David McFaddin told the Lantern the university's work starts this spring to verify data needed for CPE's review of the proposal as well as gaining a pre-accrediation status with the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA). While McFaddin acknowledged it is an 'aggressive timeline,' EKU plans to have the first class of students graduating in 2034. The law does 'open the door' for all of the state's comprehensive universities to offer degrees that 'may connect back with the overall needs of Kentucky,' McFaddin said. 'I think at the end of the day for our public institutions, making sure that we're mapping those degree programs to our community needs to our workforce needs to our economic needs are critically important,' he added. Murray State recently praised the passage of Senate Bill 77 as the university works toward opening a veterinary medical school. In a statement to the Kentucky Lantern, Murray State said a task force will review the development of a course of study for the professional degree program and that the university is 'very grateful' to lawmakers and the governor for supporting the bill. WKU also praised the passage of the new law, 'which moves WKU one step closer to offering PhD programs as we pursue Carnegie R2 status,' said Jace Lux, a university spokesperson in an email. The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education in 1970 created a classification system for institutions. R2 designates mid-level research universities. R1 is the highest level and includes the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. 'The CPE is currently developing a process to review and approve new PhD programs,' Lux said. 'Once that process is finalized and shared with us, we will begin seeking approval for our first PhD in the field of Data Science.'
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill professors fear might erode tenure at Kentucky universities passes House
Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, speaks on the House floor about a bill that would give universities and colleges the ability to remove faculty members and presidents for not meeting 'performance and productivity requirements." (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley) FRANKFORT — A bill that some Kentucky academics argue could erode faculty tenure in the state's public universities passed the House Tuesday. House Bill 424 from Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, would give universities and colleges the ability to remove faculty members and presidents for not meeting 'performance and productivity requirements' set by the institutions' boards. The bill would require faculty and presidents to be evaluated at least once every four years. House members voted 78-17 on the bill mostly on party lines. Rep. Scott Lewis, of Hartford, was the only Republican to join most of the chambers' Democrats in voting against the measure. The House also passed in a voice vote a floor amendment to the bill from Tipton that removed the limit on universities' employment contracts. 'This is so we have a more efficient, more effective system of public education for students across the commonwealth,' Tipton said. Tipton repeated past comments he's made about the bill on the floor, again saying the bill was 'not about tenure.' While presenting the bill in the House Committee on Postsecondary Education last week, Tipton said the bill was 'about employment contracts' and not tenure in higher education. Tipton is the chair of that committee and had introduced similar legislation last session. During the committee, a few professors expressed opposition to the bill. Julie Cyzewski, an associate professor at Murray State University, told the committee Tipton's bill 'would deeply complicate and confuse the process of teaching and running the university' and the process laid out in the bill was 'very arbitrary,' which could jeopardize student learning. Michael Frazier, the executive director of the Kentucky Student Rights Coalition, was the only public citizen to support the bill in the committee. He said the coalition supports the bill because it 'does closely protect academic freedom' while ensuring that the 'status quo of higher education does not remain' in the state. On the House floor, Rep. Rachel Roarx, D-Louisville, said she was voting against the bill because it would add 'extra burden to our universities and professors.' She had previously passed her vote in the committee last week. The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration this session.
USA Today
14-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
USMI Founder Torrel Harris' Journey to Becoming a Sports Agent is One of Perseverance and Resilience
Chris Gallagher Contributor Hear this story Before Torrel Harris became a pioneering force in sports management, securing one of the largest NBA contracts in history, he was a young man defying expectation. In 1981, he became one of the first African American basketball players in 14 years to graduate from Murray State University in Business Administration. The road wasn't easy. Torrel recalls, 'They told me to switch my major to PE. My coach even had a meeting with me, telling me they didn't think I could do it.' Rather than backing down, Torrel doubled his efforts, sitting at the front of every class, knocking on professors' doors for extra help, and treating his education like a full-time job. His professors, initially skeptical, soon became his mentors—coaches in the game of business. That perseverance would define his career and ultimately earn him induction into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Torrel's life took many turns before he became an industry pioneer in athlete representation. After college, he entered the corporate world, working as a buyer in New York's high-end retail industry. But long hours and low pay soon pushed him toward a more lucrative path. A friend introduced him to financial planning. Within a month of working part-time in the industry, he made nearly as much as his year's full-time salary. That was all the confirmation he needed. He left his corporate job and immersed himself in financial and estate planning, advising high-net-worth individuals on how to protect and grow their wealth. One of his major clients was George 'Iceman' Gervin. Representing this NBA Hall of Famer, he asked himself a bigger life-changing question: 'How do I give back?' That moment set Torrel on a new path. Determined to master the craft of athlete representation, he trained under a top sports agency for four years, working with some of the biggest names in basketball, football, and baseball. By 1988, he was ready to launch his own firm—Unique Sports Management, now Unique Sports Management International (USMI). Torrel's influence extends far beyond traditional athlete representation. From 1994 to 2005, he secured exclusive licensing rights with both NBA and NFL Properties Divisions, making his firm the only privately held, minority-owned company for overseeing management, manufacturing processes, designs, and major corporate decisions. His entrepreneurial spirit also led him to invent the reversible nylon warm-up suit, which evolved into a successful sportswear manufacturing company. Today, as the Chairman of USMI, he continues to redefine sports management, overseeing contract negotiations, financial planning, investment strategies, brand endorsements, charity initiatives, and marketing strategies—all with a focus on holistic athlete development. Torrel has represented a host of elite athletes, but one of his most defining career moments came when he secured one of the largest contracts in NBA history for one of his sons - Tobias. At the time, it was the highest contract in the history of the Philadelphia 76ers and the 5th highest contract in the history of the NBA. In 2019, it was the highest contract that a father has secured in the history of professional sports. His success as a negotiator stems from a simple philosophy: securing wealth is just the beginning—protecting it is the real challenge. Torrel himself saw firsthand how many athletes made millions during their careers only to end up struggling financially after retirement. 'The worst advice any person can give an athlete is: You just play, and I'll handle your money,' he says. 'Young men need to be their own businessmen.' That philosophy became USMI's core mission: developing sportsmen who are also savvy businessmen. Torrel calls himself a Lifestyle Manager, not just an agent, because his work extends far beyond contracts. He educates players on wealth preservation, investment strategies, real estate, and estate planning. His goal? To ensure that when their playing days are over, they're financially set for life. He states, 'If I negotiate a big contract for you but you don't know how to save or invest that money, I've failed you.' At the heart of everything Torrel does is ensuring his players use their talent wisely—not just for themselves, but for their families and communities. He instills in them the importance of giving back, building businesses, and creating generational wealth that will benefit their children and grandchildren. 'We come into this world with nothing, and we leave with nothing,' Torrel Harris reflects. Unlike many agents who aggressively recruit clients, Torrel takes a different approach. He once represented a long list of athletes but ultimately scaled back to focus on quality over quantity. 'I realized I could be more effective if I worked closely with just a few players at a time,' he explains. 'It's not about how many contracts I sign—it's about the impact I make on the lives of the athletes I work with.' That impact is undeniable. From negotiating one of the biggest NBA contracts of all time for his son to mentoring young players on financial literacy, Torrel Harris has redefined what it means to be a sports agent. He isn't just helping athletes make millions—he's helping them build legacies. And that, he believes, is the true measure of success.
