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Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Fairmont State and Middle College officials reflect on program's inaugural year of successes and challenges
FAIRMONT — With the first year of Middle College pretty much behind them, Fairmont State University officials hope lessons learned throughout the year provide a firm foundation for future success. "I'll say this overarching [thing] about higher education," Fairmont State President Mike Davis Said. "We're gonna make mistakes. We're gonna think we can do things, we're gonna try stuff out that doesn't work. That's what higher education's supposed to do, right? For hundreds of years in our country, we've been the testing ground." In partnership with KVC West Virginia, Marion County Schools and the West Virginia Department of Education's Schools of Diversion and Transition, Fairmont State launched an ambitious project last August aimed to uplift foster kids. The goal was to give 16-17 year old foster students the opportunity to earn a GED or associate's degree, while laying the pathway for a degree at a four year institution. Foster students would also benefit from having access to the benefits an institution of higher education provides through its learning environment. The program gives kids who might otherwise never have a chance to earn a degree an opportunity to attend college. However, the first year came with its share of challenges. A foster student ran away to Kentucky after getting drunk at a football game, and the school's of-age student population traded rumors on YikYak, a social media app, about how some of the foster students were seen partying with older college students in the dorms. Other rumors proliferated and one of the program's key features — housing the foster students in one of the college dorms — raised concerns among the community. The school denied there was any truth to the rumors. The program began with 18 students last August, and ends the school year with 7. In February, Middle College officials made the decision to cease housing the foster students in Prichard Halls on campus in February. For year two, the program is making two key changes. Rather than house the foster students on campus, KVC West Virginia will house them off campus at a residential property it purchased, according to Christina Santiago, public relations and media relations director for KVC West Virginia. The space, which can hold up to 10 youth at any given time, is licensed as a transitional living space for vulnerable youth through the West Virginia Department of Human Services. KVC West Virginia didn't answer a question asking how much it spent on the property. Under the improved plan, KVC West Virginia would solely focus on providing housing and counseling services for students. Fairmont State would focus on education. "One of the things we learned is, there are experts in housing and living arrangements for foster students," Davis said. "We are not those experts. We are experts in educating students." Santiago said KVC West Virginia would provide transportation to and from campus for those directly under KVC's care. However, the organization will also provide mental health services and case management to youth who are part of the program but reside off campus. Fairmont State University staff will also offer some of those services on campus. The second change is Middle College is now open to any child in foster care within the area. Middle College Dean Emily Swain said the academic component will be open to youth who are in a kinship placement with grandparents or extended family, however, those students will be responsible for their own transportation. There will also be new benefits for traditional students. "We're going to launch a campus based support program for traditionally enrolled college students who have had experience in [foster] care," Swain said. "We know West Virginia has a really high youth lived experience in foster care population, and we're aware that there are traditionally enrolled, bachelor's seeking students here on campus that have experienced out of home placement. "Some of those experiences they've had as teenagers can translate to their ability to adjust to the college atmosphere and becoming a college student." Another change is next year's cohort will be kept small so students can build relationships. Davis believes the program could eventually serve 100 students, but it won't happen in the next two or three years. It's something down the road as the program builds up. For now, the key is baby steps. "That's probably what we should have done from the start," Davis said. "I think everyone was excited because it's a first of its kind program. You saw it at the state and federal level." However, had the program been able to draw a large enrollment in its first year, Davis said, some of the problems it faced might have been side stepped. Davis said the downside to having a small cohort is, students try to find connection with whoever is available, and in this case it happened to be traditional college students. Davis said that wasn't necessarily the environment the program wanted the foster students to have. Had the program begun with two or three cohorts, foster students would have had other kids around them going through the same experience to bond with. Another challenge the program faced was the lack of a youth leadership cohort within Middle College, which couldn't form by virtue of it being a first-year program. One of the goals for the program was having students who had already gone through the program mentor the younger students. "Being a first of its kind program, you go into it thinking certain things will work, and then they don't," Davis said. "When we started going down this road, I said we're going to start with the premise these students deserve an education. Everything we figure out from there will be a learning process for us." Davis forcefully pushed back against the atmosphere of rumors that developed around Middle College from the greater Fairmont community. As to the criticism there wasn't enough oversight over the program, he said Middle College has more oversight than anything else the school does on campus. He said systems are in place to protect foster students and the university follows those systems. He said it's not the responsibility of the University to tell everyone what's going on with the 16-18 year-olds who are in a program on campus. Part of protecting those students is making sure oversight is done at the state level, he said. "At some point, the public has to trust the Department of Human Services is doing their job," Davis said. "DOHS has investigated anything that's happened on our campus and found the University was not responsible for anything that was actionable. In my mind, that's oversight." Davis said his biggest frustration this first year was how people ran with rumors with no basis in reality. Part of the problem is that people don't trust the process that's put into place to protect students, he said. While he's all for transparency, his number one job is to protect students, he said. "I'm never going to have us disclose information that puts those students reputation or lives at risk," Davis said. "So I think when you say there's a lack of transparency, I think part of it is the type of information people want isn't in the best interest of our students to disclose." Davis still thinks the program can be a model for the rest of the country. He's excited for Middle College's future and with a more iterative approach, he thinks the program can get there. One of the biggest failings the nation has is it doesn't take care of people who are most vulnerable, exemplified by how children in the foster care system are treated over the course of their lives. State Sen. Joey Garcia, who has supported the program from the start, supports the changes. He said it was probably a smart idea to separate, to some degree, the programmatic efforts and the support and residential systems provided by KVC and the educational component provided by Fairmont State. He said it was a good safeguard when you have children under the age of 18 and students over 18 sharing the same educational space. Foster care is an ongoing issue for West Virginia. The state faces a severe shortage of Child Protective Service workers. The state legislature didn't touch the issue this year, despite early talk of studying the problem in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Garcia was especially disheartened that Gov. Patrick Morrisey cut 75% of the funding the legislature gave to Court Appointed Child Advocates to expand their services. CASA workers help kids who face abuse or neglect find placements in foster care. While Garcia is supportive of the program, he's also cautious. "I think it has yet to be seen," Garcia said. "I'm not going to say this is success yet, because I really don't know what the percentage of success was. I don't know where people are now, and we may not know for a couple years. But, I do think we have to continue to try new things and try to figure out what are alternatives that can help a child be successful when they're in the child welfare system in West Virginia."
Buzz Feed
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
31 Trends That Were Extremely Popular 15 Years Ago, But Now They'll Make Us All Say "Uhh, What Was That All About?!"
The 2010s were a pretty WEIRD time. It was essentially the first first full decade where social media was everywhere, and trends would spread like wildfire because of that. Looking back, we were all kinda cringy — we just didn't know it back then. So recently, the people of Reddit have been naming some things that were "popular in the 2010s," but "didn't maintain popularity in the 2020s." And TBH, I forgot about a LOT of these trends. Let's dive in, shall we? 1. "Girls wearing bowler hats with a mustache tattooed on the side of their finger." — MF-Geuze 2. "I could probably name like 20 different things, but one of the biggest ones: Katy Perry." "You just had to be there for her absolute cultural titan status, and now she's been reduced to a has-been — or a Vegas resident act at best. In 2013, it would be hard to imagine the day." — Napoleon333 4. "Statement necklaces with peplum tops." — RavenUberAlles 5. "Vine." — redliner88 "TikToks are just bad Vines." — obvious_freud 6. "Yik Yak." — Fog-Champ "Even if you didn't personally experience something that happened, you knew about it from Yik Yak, and because it was hyper-local, it was normally relevant to you in some way, unlike most social media." — FWR978 7. "Dressing like a lumberjack." — BrilliantNothing2151 "As someone who was trying to date men and also someone who hates beards, this was a really rough time for me." — sylvnal 9. "The duck face selfie." — ogreloverboof "I remember a sub-trend of the duck face. They called it 'duck hunting' and you'd go around commenting 'BANG' on duck-face photos." — ljb2x 10. "Apparently, going to the movie theater." "Never really recovered post-COVID." — BeekyGardener 11. "Kanye." — i__hate__stairs 12. "Not sure about the rest of the world but certainly in the UK, until around 2015-ish, walking around school with your trousers awfully low, exposing your neon boxers." "Thought we were the absolute bollocks then." — x99kjg 13. "Parkour." — Jdnlk13 "Still see some kids jumping around occasionally and think about joining in. My knees hurt too much now, though." — aviodallalliteration 14. "MP3 Players and iPods. Spotify basically took over." — mikel145 16. "The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)." — bflaminio "The problem with the MCU is that it felt as if everything was building towards Endgame and once it was over with, everything after felt unnecessary. For me, that felt like the best place to stop, and nothing since has made me say 'I want to check this out.' Bringing back Robert Downey Jr. isn't making me say 'Yes, I am interested.' It is making me say 'So, they are completely out of ideas.'" — Worth_Box_8932 17. "Fidget spinners." — Mementoes121655 Kristal O'Neal / Getty Images 19. "Going out to clubs and bars dressed like you just got out of the office, with a poof on top of your head." — k_qu33n 20. "CUPCAKES." "Fucking cupcakes everywhere." — yeuzinips Chameleonseye / Getty Images 21. "Bacon obsession." — No-Manufacturer4916 "I always hated that because 9/10 times it ended up tasting like dog food." — Mrchristopherrr 22. "Kik Messenger." — Thtguy1289_NY "I remember getting my first nudes from a bot on Kik. My mum let my brother and me use it 'because it was safer,' but that changed pretty quickly." — GyataMoko 23. "Galaxy leggings!" — kate_rini21 Lisa5201 / Getty Images 24. "My Little Pony." "Thankfully." — Unicorn_Puppy 25. "Trivia Crack." – ScorpionX-123 "Trivia Crack was something else. The questions were either insanely simple or super hard. Like either 'Which of these words is the word 'the'?' or 'George Washington's cousin's sister had a boyfriend. What was his middle name?'" – afoz345 26. "Silly Bandz." — SeaworthinessEmpty93 Dedraw Studio / Getty Images 27. "Dubstep." "I haven't heard Skrill drop it hard in years." — napleonblwnaprt 29. "Planking." — Bento_Fox 30. "The Harlem Shake." — Kamoebas "That trend annoyed me so badly, because there already is a Harlem Shake! It's a legitimate dance that's been around for way longer than a weird video trend." — RamblinWreckGT 31. And finally: "Indie rock/alternative rock became a dominant style of pop music for a little bit." "Artists like Mumford & Sons, fun., Florence + the Machine, and even Fall Out Boy came back from their hiatus. It was a nice break from over-produced electronic pop." – SaintSean128 "Yes, the brief moment in time my favorite style of music was mainstream." – Ferreteria
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pat McAfee promises to make 'some sort of silver lining' after sharing viral sexual rumor about college student
ESPN host Pat McAfee has promised to make "some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation" after he amplified a sexual internet rumor about a University of Mississippi student that she says is false and "ruined" her life. McAfee, on his eponymous show, discussed a rumor trending online in a Feb. 26 episode about "Ole Miss frat bro" and his "K-D (Kappa Delta) girlfriend." Citing the internet, he told his listeners that a "dad had sex with son's girlfriend … then it was made public … that's the absolute worst-case situation." Internet users had previously tied the rumor to 19-year-old University of Mississippi freshman Mary Kate Cornett, who told NBC News earlier this month that the rumor is untrue. Its virality has triggered a landslide of harassment and insults that have "practically ruined my life," she said. McAfee appeared to touch on the issue during his live "Big Night Aht" show on Wednesday night at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. He addressed being previously sued by former football star Brett Favre before transitioning into addressing the controversy. "I'm cool with Brett. Just like the current situation that is happening where I have a lot of people saying that I should be sued. I want to say this, I never ever want to be a part of anything negative in anybody's life," McAfee said. "I didn't want to add any more negativity as it was taking place … we will try to figure that out and make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation," he continued. "So, you can have that promise from me. It won't be as impossible to be a fan of mine going forward." McAfee also shared a clip of those comments on X Wednesday evening. He did not explicitly name Cornett nor the nature of the "terrible situation." Several X users, however, responded to the clip of the speech calling on McAfee to apologize to her. Cornett told NBC News that the scandal first started as an anonymous rumor spread on YikYak, an anonymous messaging-based app used by some college students. It then started trending on X with "hundreds and hundreds" of posts falsely identifying her as the person at the center of the rumor. The scandal only burgeoned when it was picked up by McAfee. She told NBC News McAfee "never once reached out to ask me if this was true or for me to give any sort of statement to him." "I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sports broadcaster would be talking about a 19-year-old girl's 'sex scandal' that was completely false," she continued. Cornett's attorney, Monica Uddin, said she believes her client was the victim of cyberbullying and there are grounds for a defamation case. Cornett previously said she intended to take legal action against McAfee and ESPN. "Having your life ruined by people who have no idea who you are is the worst feeling in the world," Cornett said. "It makes you feel so alone. It's a horrible experience." NBC News has reached out to McAfee and her attorney for comment in response to McAfee's Wednesday comments. Cornett's family declined to comment Thursday. This article was originally published on
NBC News
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Pat McAfee promises to make 'some sort of silver lining' after sharing viral sexual rumor about college student
ESPN host Pat McAfee has promised to make "some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation" after he amplified a sexual internet rumor about a University of Mississippi student that she says is false and "ruined" her life. McAfee, on his eponymous show, discussed a rumor trending online in a Feb. 26 episode about "Ole Miss frat bro" and his "K-D (Kappa Delta) girlfriend." Citing the internet, he told his listeners that a "dad had sex with son's girlfriend … then it was made public … that's the absolute worst-case situation." Internet users had previously tied the rumor to 19-year-old University of Mississippi freshman Mary Kate Cornett, who told NBC News earlier this month that the rumor is untrue. Its virality has triggered a landslide of harassment and insults that have "practically ruined my life," she said. McAfee appeared to touch on the issue during his live "Big Night Aht" show on Wednesday night at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. He addressed being previously sued by former football star Brett Favre before transitioning into addressing the controversy. "I'm cool with Brett. Just like the current situation that is happening where I have a lot of people saying that I should be sued. I want to say this, I never ever want to be a part of anything negative in anybody's life," McAfee said. "I didn't want to add any more negativity as it was taking place … we will try to figure that out and make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation," he continued. "So, you can have that promise from me. It won't be as impossible to be a fan of mine going forward." He did not explicitly name Cornett nor the nature of the "terrible situation." Several X users, however, responded to the clip of the speech calling on McAfee to apologize to her. Cornett told NBC News that the scandal first started as an anonymous rumor spread on YikYak, an anonymous messaging-based app used by some college students. It then started trending on X with "hundreds and hundreds" of posts falsely identifying her as the person at the center of the rumor. The scandal only burgeoned when it was picked up by McAfee. She told NBC News McAfee "never once reached out to ask me if this was true or for me to give any sort of statement to him." "I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sports broadcaster would be talking about a 19-year-old girl's 'sex scandal' that was completely false," she continued. Cornett's attorney, Monica Uddin, said she believes her client was the victim of cyberbullying and there are grounds for a defamation case. Cornett previously said she intended to take legal action against McAfee and ESPN. "Having your life ruined by people who have no idea who you are is the worst feeling in the world," Cornett said. "It makes you feel so alone. It's a horrible experience."
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
College student who became subject of viral rumor says incident has 'ruined' her life
A University of Mississippi student who was the subject of an internet rumor is navigating the fallout after she says the lie, which was amplified by people including popular ESPN host and analyst Pat McAfee, 'ruined' her life. Mary Kate Cornett, 19, told NBC News on Wednesday that she and her family have faced a barrage of harassment and insults in the weeks since a false rumor about her and her boyfriend's father went viral online. 'Having your life ruined by people who have no idea who you are is the worst feeling in the world,' Cornett said, while tearing up. 'It makes you feel so alone. It's a horrible experience.' The rumor involving Cornett, whose experience was detailed in a profile published by The Athletic earlier this week, was referenced on 'The Pat McAfee Show' by the host, a former NFL player, and his guests as they discussed an alleged 'ménage à trois' at Ole Miss. Cornett and her boyfriend were not mentioned by name in the ESPN show. In the episode, which aired on Feb. 26, McAfee says an 'Ole Miss frat bro' allegedly 'had a K-D (Kappa Delta) girlfriend.' 'At this exact moment, this is what is being reported by … everybody on the internet: Dad had sex with son's girlfriend,' he says, later adding, 'And then it was made public … that's the absolute worst-case situation.' The conversation steered back toward college football after almost two and a half minutes. McAfee shared a clip about the discussion online to his 3.2 million X followers. The post, which is captioned 'What's going on at Ole Miss' with two laughing crying face emojis, was still on the social media platform as of Wednesday and had been viewed 1.8 million times. The circulation of the rumor was enough, Cornett said, to further derail her life. ESPN and McAfee declined to comment. While the internet has propelled unknown people into stardom overnight, Cornett's experience has underscored the more toxic nature of virality. Cornett said her friends first told her about a rumor that was spreading on YikYak, an anonymous messaging-based app used by some college students, about a college student at her university and in her sorority who was sleeping with her boyfriend's father. Within an hour and a half of the rumor spreading, Cornett said she already started noticing people staring at her on campus. Eventually, she saw that her name was a top trending topic on X, with 'hundreds and hundreds' of posts falsely identifying her as the person at the center of the rumor. She said that she, her boyfriend and his father were shocked. 'It was so insane. It all happened so fast,' she said. 'I was just in shambles. I just felt so helpless and so alone because so many people were hating on me for something that I had no idea anything about.' After McAfee's show, others, including two personalities affiliated with Barstool Sports, referenced the rumor online. KFC Barstool posted a video about the incident to his personal account that was later deleted, according to The Athletic. Jack Mac's post, which was still on X as of Wednesday, promotes a meme coin that contains Cornett's name. A representative for Barstool Sports did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dave Portnoy, the owner of Barstool Sports, denied his website's involvement in spreading the rumor in a statement to other media outlets. 'Barstool Sports did not mention or spread this rumor on any of our Barstool owned channels,' he said in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'Our editors instinctively made the decision to avoid this story as it seemed there was a high likelihood it could have been fabricated.' In his statement to the publication, he said he's aware that one of the company's 'employees posted something on their personal socials but we don't control those.' Monica Uddin, Cornett's attorney, said she believes what happened to her client is cyberbullying and grounds for a defamation case. 'Defamation has existed for a long time. You can't lie about someone with impunity — and that's what has happened to Mary Kate,' she said. 'You can't lie for money.' 'Not using her name is not a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card, saying 'allegedly' is not a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card,' the attorney said. 'These people are responsible for what they have done to her.' Cornett said she intends to take legal action against McAfee and ESPN, and potentially others who, she said, helped spread the rumor. Uddin said Cornett is prepared to be deposed to prove her case. Since the rumor began circulating, Cornett said nothing about her life has been the same. 'This has affected me in such an awful way and has practically ruined my life,' Cornett said, adding that McAfee 'never once reached out to ask me if this was true or for me to give any sort of statement to him.' 'I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sports broadcaster would be talking about a 19-year-old girl's 'sex scandal' that was completely false,' Cornett said. Police showed up to Cornett's mother's home in Houston, she said, with guns drawn in what she described as an apparent 'swatting' incident, which is the act of making a false report of extreme violence in order to elicit an overwhelming law enforcement response to someone's home. NBC News has reviewed screenshots of security camera footage of the incident, provided by Cornett's attorney, appearing to confirm the 'swatting' occurred. NBC News has reached out to the Houston Police Department for comment. Cornett said her number was shared online and that she was overwhelmed with 'thousands' of calls and texts, with some telling her she 'deserved to die.' She said she could barely leave her dorm room and had to switch to online classes. Cornett denounced people who talked about her online, suggesting they did so for clout. 'I want these famous people to know that I was not famous before this,' she said. ' ... I am a normal 19-year-old college freshman. That's it. I was happy. I had a great friend group.' 'I'm not a public figure that you can go talk about on your show to get more views,' she added. Justin Cornett, Cornett's dad, said that as a parent he was 'worried' that his daughter 'wouldn't recover.' 'You just want to protect them,' he said. 'She's a beautiful person. She has a tender heart and a kind soul.' Now, he said he 'wants justice.' 'The people that did this to her and her boyfriend and his dad deserve what they have coming to them,' he said. When asked what he would say to McAfee, Justin Cornett said, 'When you have a microphone and you have a platform, you have a responsibility to take on that role with the respect of the people you report on being paramount. If this were to happen to him, his daughter, his wife, someone he loves, he sure wouldn't like it. When you have a microphone, you have a responsibility and it needs to be taken seriously.' For days after the rumor first flooded the internet, Cornett said she couldn't sleep and would throw up after experiencing anxiety. She defended herself online, sharing an Instagram post the day after McAfee's show aired. 'First of all, this rumor is 100% completely false and it is quite frankly, inexcusable that such disturbing accusations went viral,' she wrote at the time, adding that 'Cyber attacks based on nothing but lies and misinformation happen all too often.' She issued a similar warning about the dangers of how false information can spread on social media during her interview with NBC News on Wednesday. 'If this happened to me, this could happen to anyone,' she said. 'And there's nothing I could have done to prevent what happened to me.' This article was originally published on
