Noah Barbieri, a 2018 graduate of Millsaps College spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at its September 4, 2018, meeting. Mr. Barbieri was named a Rhodes scholar in November 2017. He was previously named a Truman Scholar in April 2017. At Millsaps, he was class Valedictorian and Student Body President with Philosophy and Economics majors and a minor in Mathematics. He intends to pursue a Masters & Ph.D. in Economics at Oxford, UK, to be followed by a J.D. once he returns to the US.

Mr. Barbieri is a native of Belden, Mississippi in Pontotoc County. He intends to return home once he completes his schooling to pursue a career in Public Service. He joins 6 previous Millsaps graduates as a Rhodes Scholar. His desire is to focus on retaining Mississippi college and university graduates to pursue their careers in their home state.

His speech centered on his life experiences, including being homeschooled for the first 7 years of his education because of extreme allergies. He  (right) is shown in the first Photo with club member Matthew Turnage who scheduled his talk to the club and in the second photo during his speech.

The third photo is of Club member John Sewell who introduced Mr. Barbieri.

We thank Mr. Barbieri for his presentation and for his commitment to Mississippi. We wish him success in his studies across the Pond and look forward to hearing him again upon his completion of those studies.

Ross Bjork, Athletic Director for the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s August 28, 2018, meeting. He described the enthusiasm at the university about the coming sports seasons and the impact new coaches in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball is having on the university and on the student-athletes. He reported that in spite of the NCAA sanctions on the football program, the athletes are skilled and enthusiastic about the upcoming season. He reminded us that Ole Miss has appealed the sanctions handed down by the NCAA, that the appeal was heard July 18, 2018, and that the results of that appeal are expected 6 to 8 weeks after the appeal or about mid-September or within the next month.

Mr. Bjork discussed several issues facing college athletics, especially the legalization of sports betting. He said that the Athletic Department has two sports psychologists on staff and that student-athletes have been made aware of the problems associated with sports betting. Per Mr. Bjork, there have always been problems of sports betting people inducing student-athletes to affect the outcome of contests, but now the problem is expected to become more severe.

Mr. Bjork distributed a card containing the 2018-2019 Athletic Department budget and the Vision, Purpose and Core Values of the Department. Those are as follow:

VISION STATEMENT

The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at The University of Mississippi will strive to be the number
one academic and athletics program through the strong emphasis of core values and the opportunity to
experience athletic pursuits at the highest level.

PURPOSE

The ultimate purpose of the Ole Miss Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is to develop students to their
fullest potential through athletics.

CORE VALUES

Academic Excellence
Integrity
Social Responsibility
Student-Athlete Welfare
University Integration
Community Engagement
Competitive Excellence

The budget for the Athletic Department is $117 million, with the largest sources of revenues being what is called SEC Revenue at about $33.6 million, Annual Fund revenue of $20.6 million, Football Ticket sales of $19.3 million

We thank Mr. Bjork for his presentation, for his commitment and service to the University of Mississippi, and we wish him success in the athletic activities of the University. He is pictured below prior to his speech with Club member Matt Monsour who introduced him, while speaking, and following his talk with club president Anna Powers ( center), Club members Larry Anderson (left) and Jon Turner (second from left), and Ole Miss Deputy AD Keith Carter (right).

Mr. Gilbert emphasized that USM is nationally competitive in several of the sports in which it competes, specifically, football, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women's track & field in spite of an athletic budget that is less than 25% of the budget of the larger competitors. He also stressed that 216 of USM’s 350 student-athletes achieved a 3.0-grade point average (B) or higher in the 2017-2018 school year.

USM participates athletically in Conference USA. USM Baseball player, Nick Sandlin, was named as Conference USA’s Male Athlete of the year in addition to achieving a 3.91 GPA as a Construction Engineering Technology major.

Mr. Gilbert also discussed three issues facing the NCAA, including the number and type of scholarships universities can give to student-athletes in various sports, betting on collegiate athletic contests, and Grant-in-Aid Antitrust Litigation that could change the way that college athletes are compensated.

Prior to joining USM in 2017, Mr. Gilbert was Executive Sr. Associate Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee and prior to that Associate Athletic Director the University of Alabama. He is a graduate of Lenoir Rhyne College in North Carolina and received an MS in Sports Administration from Eastern Kentucky University. He (second from right) is shown in the following photo with Club President Anna Powers (right), club Immediate Past President Witt Ruffin (second from the left) and Charles Lindsay (left). We welcome Mr. Gilbert to MS and thank him for what he is doing for USM, particularly the student-athletes.