THE Daily
Thursday, April 2, 2026
MISSISSIPPIAN theDMonline.com
Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience
Volume 114, No. 22
Athletics seeks Vaught upgrades, closes in on developer WILSON ENGERISER Sports Staff Writer
AIDAN PONIATOWSKI / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
Screenshot of the Experience home page
AIDAN PONIATOWSKI News Editor
For the first time since its launch in 2008, myOleMiss will not be used by University of Mississippi students to register for fall classes starting April 13. Replacing the student portal is Experience, a student information service (SIS) of Banner by Ellucian. The transition is part of a years-long initiative of the university, called Project Encompass, to modernize its infor-
mation systems. The initiative began in fall 2022, with the platforms of Banner by Ellucian selected for student information services, and Workday selected for administrative and employee services during spring 2025. The university launched Experience on March 16 this year, though the platform will not take the place of myOleMiss as the primary academic portal until the fall semester. Starting April 13, students will complete their course registration using the new Experience platform.
Tony Ammeter, associate provost, co-chair of the Project Encompass initiative and the project director for the Banner student information system solution, said the change was to help provide a more user-friendly, streamlined experience for UM students. “Experience, and the Banner system behind it, provides a more flexible and user-friendly platform that can better support students now and in the future,” Ammeter said. “For example,
SEE EXPERIENCE PAGE 4
Selection of a developer to make upgrades to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on campus – including premium suite seating, improvements to the student section, additional athletic office space and upgrades to restrooms – will be made in late April, according to Sports Business Journal. The university requested bids from interested developers in December. The window for proposals closed in February. Additional seating is a critical need for the stadium, especially in the student section. While the stadium’s capacity is listed at approximately 64,000, attendance at football games during the 2025 season averaged 104% of capacity, among the top 10 in the country. Non-seated attendees, such as media members and spectators in luxury suites, were taken into account. During the 2024 season, Ole Miss was among the top five nationally with 105%
of seating capacity filled. Since university enrollment has reached an alltime high in recent years, student tickets are in increasingly high demand. Students who miss out on university-distributed tickets are forced to purchase single-game tickets from resale marketplaces — none of whom are endorsed by the university, creating ripe opportunity for scams. Also included in the district development program is a “full-service luxury condotel” (a condominium which functions as a hotel) “with roughly 100 hotel keys and 30 condominium units,” as well as “35,000 square feet of retail and dining, a new plaza and public realm enhancements — most notably, the preservation and elevation of the iconic Walk of Champions — and modernized athletics offices relocated within the development footprint,” per Brailsford & Dunlavey, a planning and development advising firm. The Vaught was built
SEE VAUGHT PAGE 6
Brett Young up to bat as UM Commencement speaker TATUM STEWART News Staff Writer
ASPHALT Lafayette County residents’ latest attempt to thwart the construction of a new asphalt plant at the industrial park failed. What’s next? SEE PAGES 2-3
PITCHING Pitching is art, but how much science is involved? SEE PAGE 7
Country music star and former University of Mississippi athlete Brett Young will return to Oxford this spring as the 2026 Commencement speaker. The university announced Tuesday that Young, an award-winning singer and songwriter, will address graduates during the 173rd Convocation ceremony in the Grove on May 9. Before rising to country music fame, Young attended the university and spent one season as a pitcher for the Ole Miss Baseball team in 2000. “My experience with true Southern hospitality at Ole Miss was more than something that made me feel welcome there,” Young said in a UM release. “It was a lesson in how to treat people in life and something that has stuck with me and will be taught and passed down to my family.”
Although Young did not graduate from UM, he has maintained ties to the campus. His 2019 music video for “Catch” was filmed in Oxford and featured scenes at Swayze Field, highlighting his connection to the university and his time as a Rebel athlete. Though Young is mostknown for his Diamond-certified single “In Case You Didn’t Know,” he holds six Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hits and a win for New Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2018 Academy of Country Music Awards, marking a transition from student-athlete to nationally recognized artist. Students reacted with excitement following the announcement. “I think it’s really cool that they chose someone who actually has ties to Ole Miss,” senior integrated marketing communications major Shelby Wicker said. “It makes it feel more personal for students graduating.”
Brett Young Chancellor Glenn Boyce is looking forward to Young’s return to Ole Miss for Commencement. “We look forward to welcoming Brett Young back to campus to address the Class of 2026 for this meaningful, celebratory milestone in their lives,” Boyce said in the release. “His journey of perseverance from collegiate
PHOTO COURTESY: UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
pitcher to renowned country music vocalist with a devoted following will resonate with our students as they head into the world to chart their own paths of success.”
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