Mississippi State University Libraries recently began collecting submissions for a new COVID-19 digital archive to document the pandemic’s impact on MSU students, faculty, staff and community members.

Students of MSU assistant professor Dhanashree Thorat, who teaches Introduction to Digital Humanities, created an original collection that the university will feature in the digital archive, a release from MSU says. Karina Zelaya, an assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, is leading outreach efforts to promote the project among the Latinx and international communities.

MSU Libraries is currently not collecting physical material for the archive, but is instead asking community members to digitally submit original photographs, videos, audio files, scanned handwritten or printed materials, screenshots of personal social media posts and images of public signage, the release says. Community members can also record their stories about the pandemic using video or audio or submit written accounts in a Word document or PDF format.

For more information or to submit a digital item, visit https://guides.library.msstate.edu/COVID19ARCHIVE. Email questions to [email protected].

JSU Army Cadets Part of National Virtual Commissioning Ceremony

Thirteen U.S. Army cadets from Jackson State University’s Tiger Battalion will earn the rank of second lieutenants together with 1,000 other cadets from around the United States as part of a national commissioning ceremony that is taking place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The commissioning will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, June 12.

U.S. Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy will lead the cadets as they recite their oaths. Maj. Gen. John R. Evans Jr., the commanding general of the U.S. Army Cadet Command, has invited family, friends and supporters to join the celebration.

This year’s 13 JSU Tiger Battalion cadets represent four colleges and universities in Mississippi. The cadets are Laquana Brumfield from Jackson State University; Crimson Driver from Mississippi Valley State University; Elijah Greenfield from Jackson State University; Jahniah Grimsley from Jackson State University; Heather Hill from Mississippi College; Brandon McCall from Mississippi Valley State University; David Pitchford from Mississippi Valley State University; Paris Randle from Mississippi College; Christian Reynolds from Millsaps College; Gabriel Ryce from Millsaps College; Stephen Saucier from Mississippi College; Cynthia Tidwell from Jackson State University; and Dominique Thomas from Jackson State University

View Friday’s national commissioning ceremony live on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHkFQRYy520 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ArmyROTC/live/.

All Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Campuses Reopening

The Mississippi Association of Community Colleges President's Association recently announced that all 15 colleges in the MACC system plan to resume traditional operations and classes on their campuses this fall.

MACC moved to all online operations in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, each community college in the state has organized committees and established protocols to safely restart traditional activities at their campuses, a release from MACC says. Individual colleges will announce updated operational hours and procedures in the coming weeks.

The MACC system includes Coahoma Community College, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, East Central Community College, East Mississippi Community College, Holmes Community College, Hinds Community College, Itawamba Community College, Jones College, Meridian Community College, Mississippi Delta Community College, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Northeast Mississippi Community College, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Pearl River Community College and Southwest Mississippi Community College.