Knott (left) with Danridge (right): Knott says Maliek was crucial to the community and a person of value. Knott said creating the documentary was “deeply personal” because it was more so a fulfilled request by Maliek himself and a call to action for people dealing with depression. Knott and Danridge also collaborated on one of Knott’s film projects BluVonte: The Final Chapters. Photo submitted
We often hear the saying, “Check on your loved ones, especially the strong ones who carry a heavy weight in silence.”
One early spring morning at 7:38 a.m., last April, Atlanta-based filmmaker, writer, director, and producer Corey Knott received a call that changed his life forever. This call was devastating news; he lost one of his closest friends, Maliek Danridge, to suicide.
One in three rural Black men reported they experienced suicidal ideation or thoughts of death in the past two weeks, reports a new study from the University of Georgia. Childhood adversity and racism may hold much of the blame.
“I just remember feeling sad and hurt, and there were so many questions circulating in my mind,” he said. “I didn’t cry at once; I was still in shock, and I had a little time to prepare before the public found out.”
However, all the emotions started racing to Knott as he received even more calls from other friends and castmates. This feeling of grief was all too close to home for Knott, as he had also once lost a cast member who was killed in Atlanta in a car accident. As far as Maliek, his dear friend, says, he didn’t want him to hurt anymore.
“I’ve seen him break down; no one saw that behind closed doors. Maliek was tall and big, but to see what he was suffering through was catastrophic and emotional,” he said. “It was not a burden to take on the task of documenting his journey; it was an extreme pleasure to do that for him.”
Knott also said Maliek would tell people he wanted to document his life, but never in a million years did Knott think that’s what this was about.
“I thought maybe it was cancer or something like that, but I never knew what it truly was until it was too late,” he said.
After Maliek’s death, Knott began creating a short documentary called “The Weight He Carried”. The documentary is not rooted in fiction, but in loss, and serves as an emotional tribute as viewers explore the life, legacy, and lasting impact of a man who transformed beauty into empowerment.
The short documentary also examines high-functioning depression, the pressure to be the “strong one,” and the gutting reality that those who heal others are often hurting the most themselves.
Knott’s storytelling consistently centers Black and LGBTQ lives with honesty and emotional depth. As the founder of HD Productions Network, Knott has built a powerful outlet for independent scripted series, films, and documentaries that explore love, grief, chosen family, and survival.
Knott sat with The Atlanta Voice reporter Isaiah Singleton to discuss the short documentary, the process of creating it, healing, advice, and more. ‘The Weight He Carried’ also examines high-functioning depression, the pressure to be the “strong one,” and the gutting reality that those who heal others are often hurting the most themselves. Photo by Noah Washington/The Atlanta Voice
Maliek Danridge: ‘The Weight He Carried’
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Black Americans between the ages of 15 and 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide is particularly prevalent among Black men, who die by suicide at a rate more than four times that of Black women.
From transforming lives in his salon to building a powerful legacy as a Black entrepreneur, Maliek’s untimely passing has left countless hearts broken. Known lovingly as “King Maliek,” he was more than a master stylist; he was a source of inspiration, a mentor, and a beloved soul in both Philadelphia and Atlanta.
With a friendship that has only grown tighter since 2018, Knott says Maliek had a bubbly personality and was highly creative.
“If your plane ever went down and you got stuck on an island, we are going to eat, drink, and have a fun time,” Knott said. “He will also mask his pain, but at the end of the day, I am a professional masker, so I would let him know he could talk to me.”
Maliek, he says, could see into your soul, and was a person who was very vibrant, outgoing, and always there for his friends and community.
“His mouth held none, and that’s what I was so enamored by because for years I’ve had to go the professional route because of what I do, so I have to watch my words,” he said. “Maliek on the other hand, was the opposite of that. He was professional but didn’t hold his tongue, and when we went out, I felt safe; he was a person you could feel safe around.”
Knott says Maliek was crucial to the community and a person of value. Also, Knott said creating the documentary was “deeply personal.” For Knott, it was more so a fulfilled request by Maliek himself and a call to action for people dealing with depression. Knott and Danridge also collaborated on one of Knott’s film projects, BluVonte: The Final Chapters.
“This is Maliek’s personal story of survival and story. There was something we had discussed that he talked to me personally about, and for a while, he kept saying he wanted me to tell his story, and I never knew what that meant until he revealed to me what it meant,” he said.
While creating the documentary, Knott said he struggled with it at first, contemplating if it was even right to share Maliek’s story. Subsequently, Knott says he feels Maliek was with him throughout the entire process of creating ‘The Weight He Carried.’
He said he was not documenting grief solely but holding someone else’s truth in his hands; in this case, it was his dear friend, whom he wanted to tell his truth while allowing Maliek to still have his dignity.
“I wasn’t intentionally going to even do the documentary because a lot of the personal things he did share, I was not putting it in simply because he was not here in the present form,” he said. “The things I felt he would like for me to share with the world had a lot to do with the weight he was carrying, dealing with, and the uphill battle he was constantly going through.”
Life gets tricky, especially as an entrepreneur, because as a self-employer, you make it work regardless, Knott said. He also says it’s extremely hard when you’re the first to do it in your circle/family, all while battling things mentally.
“I felt like Maliek was sitting right there with me when I was editing. and there were moments that were really funny that I felt like he was talking to me, telling me to put this here and there,” he said. “This was his baby from the beginning, this is what he wanted, I just executed it without him being here in the present.”
Advice, healing, & more
When people watch the documentary, Knott said he wants people to take away the lesson of paying attention to red flags and watching out for your friends, especially the strong ones.
“The strong ones normally tend to be the ones carrying all the weight, and by weight, I mean your emotions,” he said. “Whenever you call your strong friends and expect them to sit and listen to your problems, 10 out of 10 times, they’re battling something themselves, so they take on the weight of family members, close friends, best friends, and sometimes associates you’re not even close with and they feel all of that, but never take the time to heal themselves.”
The healing part of all of this, Knott said, is realizing by honoring Maliek’s truth, he’s opened doors for others to recognize it in themselves.
As for advice to men and black men specifically, Knott said it’s best to let trauma go in ways such as therapy. For him, Knott said going to see a therapist has helped him along the way
“It’s always best to let that go, and what I mean by that is to find someone. For me, this was finding a therapist who helped me tremendously, because I didn’t even know what I was dealing with before Maliek’s death,” he said. “We often bottle our emotions and trauma up and don’t ever know what we’re going through, and so many people are going through the same things.”
He also said when you confide in someone you trust, you learn you’re not the only one going through these things, and in turn, it opens many doors because people want to be seen and heard.
“No matter what you do, you can be the most creative person, the most successful person, but sometimes people feel things differently than others, where you’re always there for other people 100%, but when it’s time for you to need someone to confide in, no one’s there,” he said. “Maliek felt the rut of that, and it’s not fair to those who give 110% and we get the butt of it all; it makes a person feel lower than low.”
Knott says he dislikes Maliek having to feel that way and endure those feelings because he wishes he could’ve seen the love so many people had for him.
This call to action is to reach another soul, communicate with people to let them know they’re not the only ones who are dealing with depression and anxiety.
“I deal with anxiety all the time, sweat and sweaty palms, but when you start talking about things you’re dealing with, you’ll find other people are experiencing the same thing you are,” he said. “There is a community of people that can band together and help you with whatever it is that you’re going through.”
For advice to anyone who has friends battling depression or anxiety, Knott tells readers to be kind, present, visible, and ask questions.
He also says when you’re dealing with someone who has depression or is in their head and deep in thought all the time, people knowingly say and do things to trigger a reaction because they know how you may feel about a certain thing.
“Check in on your circle. Show up for birthdays because you may think it doesn’t bother people, but it does,” he said. “Also, watch your words. As a creative and entrepreneur, we have built our momentum and heightened our elevated anxiety alerts for events we curate, so for someone to come through and belittle it with words, it hurts more deeply than anyone can imagine.”
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Educators of any grade have a heavy load to bear when teaching children. One group whose load we tend not to consider heavy is early childhood teachers, teaching children three through five. A new study from the University of Georgia reveals that only 10 percent of early childhood teachers have enough time to finish their work. The study shares how early childhood teachers tend to do tasks like lesson planning and documenting children’s progress during the evenings and weekends. This trend has led to teacher burnout and people leaving the field. Professor Erin Hamel co-authored the study and discusses why teacher planning time is essential. Her research illuminates the larger consequences of no planning time and why we must take this matter seriously.
“To take care of children, we must take care of teachers. When teachers reported not having enough time to do their work tasks, they did their work during their personal time. Over half of them were using their personal breaks and lunch to do their work. 41% were coming in early and staying late. All of these methods they’re trying to use to meet their job expectations encroach on their personal time, and they can eventually lead to burnout and stress,” said Erin Hamel, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia.
The University of Georgia released areport about the study in July, which was conducted in 2021. Hamel co-authored the study with Rachel Schachter, a University of Illinois Chicago professor. Together, they surveyed 106 teachers and 104 directors of early childhood centers about how much planning time teachers are scheduled and how much they get. According to the results, teachers have reported receiving 37 minutes less than what they are scheduled for. The amount of work they have to do takes away from their time. Early childhood teachers have to teach multiple subjects to a batch of students in a sensitive period of brain development. Prof Hamel explains what could be on the plate of an early childhood teacher that would make anyone reach their limit.
“Early childhood teachers are responsible for all aspects of the curriculum, they’re also working with children who developmentally need more assistance with daily living. The younger the child, the more involved the teacher needs to be. That includes diapering, feeding, and comforting a child when separating from a parent,” said Hamel.
Early childhood center directors are aware that teachers take the work home. Unfortunately, there is no wiggle room in the system to change that. The report explains that every state requires a specific child-to-teacher ratio. The safety of the children is impacted if there are not enough teachers present, which leaves early childhood centers vulnerable to legal issues. The pandemic played a factor in recent years. Many early childhood centers had to close due to COVID, leaving several early childhood professionals out of work. When the restrictions were lifted and centers reopened, most professionals did not return to the field.
“We saw an Exodus, especially after the pandemic, of teachers who left because centers were closed or didn’t have enough children to support the number of teachers that were in the classroom. Centers had to downsize their staff,” said Maisa Williams-Foote, President of the Georgia Association for the Education of Young Children.
“The teacher shortage is real, and centers do not have enough qualified teachers. Some states have lessened the requirements for teachers. Previously, a teacher may have been required to get a Child Development Associate credential or even an associate’s degree. Now, some states are reducing that to a high school diploma,” said Williams-Foote.
Professor Hamel recommends retention programs for early childhood teachers to address this growing problem. The UGA professor mentioned that the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) offered a tuition assistance program that paid a portion of child care costs for Early childhood teachers. She also recommends that parents who are available to volunteer. A few hours a week can make a huge difference.
Early childhood teachers need the proper support to do their job. Their planning period is critical to their performance and children’s outcomes. Morehouse College Sociology Professor Dr. Keon Berry expressed how the shortcomings in preparation affect everyone.
“We need to take it so seriously because our children’s future depends on it, but most importantly, the world depends on it. Planning time is connected to preparation, and preparation is connected to performance. With less planning time, imagine the impact on performance. I am happy Prof. Hamel shed light on what’s happening in the classroom,” said Dr Berry.
This article is part of a series of articles supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for Word In Black, a collaboration of 10 Black-owned media outlets nationwide.
Brian Harman (above, rear, in purple) is one of four Georgia residents at the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Russell Henley proudly represented his hometown of Columbus, Georgia, as he walked to the first tee at East Lake Golf Club. Henley was well within arm’s reach of the two men at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday, Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood.
Russell Henley, a native of Columbus, Georgia, started the day in third place. He got off to a strong start on Sunday. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Henley and his pairing for the day, Keegan Bradley, a native of Woodstock, Vermont, were 14 and 13 under, respectively, when things got started. Fleetwood and Cantlay were 16 under.
Russell, with the crowd at the first tee firmly behind him, got off to a strong start on Sunday. He would birdie the second hole, while Bradley was having issues with his ball rolling down the hill on the second hole.
Fellow Georgians Brian Harman and Andrew Novak were paired up and teed off earlier in the day. Harman nailed a putt on the third hole that brought the crowd to its feet, while Novak’s drive to start the third hole nearly hit the pin.
Spectators watched as Brian Novak and Brian Harmon worked their way through the course at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday, August 24, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Georgia golfers were playing well on their home turf at East Lake Golf Club. You could hear faint Georgia Bulldog barks in the background whenever Harman or fellow former University of Georgia golfer Harris English hit well throughout the tournament.
Henley, also a Georgia Dawg golfer back in the early 2000’s, remained in the hunt during the first part of the day. By 3 p.m. Both Henley (second) and English(tied for 14th) were in the top 15 with 13 holes to play.
THIS STORY WILL CONTINUE TO BE UPDATED DURING THE TOURNAMENT
ATHENS, Ga. — The man accused of killing a nursing student whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus appeared in court Friday for a motions hearing ahead of his scheduled trial next month.
Jose Ibarra is charged with murder and other crimes in the February killing of Laken Hope Riley. A 10-count indictment accuses Ibarra of hitting the 22-year-old Augusta University College of Nursing student in the head, asphyxiating her and pulling up her clothing with the intent to sexually assault her. Ibarra pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard said during a hearing in August that he plans to begin jury selection on Nov. 13 and proceed with the trial the following week.
Riley’s killing became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration because Ibarra, who is from Venezuela, entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, blamed Riley’s death on President Joe Biden and his border policies.
Riley’s body was found on Feb. 22 near running trails after a friend told police she had not returned from a morning run. Police have said her killing appeared to be a random attack. Ibarra was arrested the next day and continues to be held in the Athens-Clarke County Jail without bond.
The indictment charges Ibarra with one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and peeping Tom.
The indictment says that on the day of Riley’s killing, Ibarra peered into the window of an apartment in a university housing building, which is the basis for the peeping Tom charge.
The judge began hearing arguments on four motions Friday. Those include a motion by Ibarra’s attorneys to move the trial from Athens because of pretrial publicity and an attempt to have the peeping Tom charge tried separately because it involves a different alleged victim. His attorneys also are seeking to exclude some evidence and expert testimony.
The nation’s broken immigration system has emerged as a major campaign issue after an unprecedented migration surge strained budgets in cities including New York, Chicago and Denver. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has dialed up his anti-immigrant rhetoric by suggesting migrants are committing crimes more often than U.S. citizens even though the evidence does not back up those claims.
In late September, Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris walked a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border and called for further tightening of asylum restrictions as she sought to project a tougher stance on illegal migration and address one of her biggest vulnerabilities in the November election. She balanced tough talk on policing the border with calls for a better way to welcome immigrants legally.
Racism is a generational obstacle that is still affecting Black Americans today. Black people have persevered through this obstacle, but the encounters of discrimination and harm have taken a toll on people. One group under this umbrella who isn’t considered enough regarding racism’s toll is young Black boys. Young men are often told to man up and get over it when it comes to pain and discomfort. In regards to racism, studies have shown that they have either acted out or internalized it when they have been exposed to it.
Dr. Assaf Oshri is a College of Family and Consumer Sciences professor at the University of Georgia. He is the lead author of the report about racism’s toll on young Black boys. He shares how racism has led to increased rates of depression in Black youth and illustrates why now is the time to step in for their mental health.
“I’m very interested in the emotional well-being of our youth. I think stressors that come from the environment, including cultural stress, discrimination, and socioeconomic stress, accumulate. It becomes chronic and has implications on how we develop,” said Dr. Assaf Oshri, a developmental psychologist and director of the Georgia Center for Developmental Science at the University of Georgia.
“The youth is our future, and this is when you can target, intervene, and help. You don’t do it when somebody already has mental health issues or finds himself in jail and then put the blame on them,” said Dr. Oshri.
The University of Georgia released the report in June 2024. Dr. Oshri co-authored the study with Dr. Sierra Carter of Georgia State University. Researchers collected data from 1500 young men over three years. The young men’s responses to feeling mistreated or unaccepted because of their race were measured by Dr. Oshri and company.
The results uncovered the youth have been internalizing and externalizing their emotions. Dr. Oshir explains that internalizing involves withholding their feelings, which leads to depression and anxiety. Externalizing deals with expressing their emotions, which can resemble aggression, acting out, and other forms of delinquency.
“I’m aware that cultural stress has dire consequences. We have hard evidence that we have something that we need to pay attention to. I want to study and document the mechanism of this stress so I can help prevent it,” said Dr. Oshri.
The UGA professor depicts the psychological effects happening inside the youth’s mind. A part of the brain called the amygdala detects threats and regulates emotions. According to Dr. Oshir, the data from the study reveals the amygdala of young Black boys shuts down when they are faced with these negative images of racism.
This shutdown causes the youth to internalize these emotions. The research shows that the suppression of brain activation in that area was correlated to less problematic behavior in the boys. On the other hand, High activity of the amygdala during exposure to negative racial experiences saw problematic behaviors. Both sides take an emotional toll on the youth.
Dr. Oshir suggested talking to children is a way to combat the problem. He elaborates that asking how they feel emotionally can make a difference. For the young boys who internalize the pain, some signs parents can be aware of are withdrawal, quietness, anxiety, feeling sad, and depression. A follow-up step is to prepare them for potential racial bias they may encounter. Dr. Oshir shares that parents who teach their children to be proud of being black can guard against some of the harmful effects of racism.
Young Black boys do not have to bear the emotional toll of racism alone. If people step in and support them and provide a space for them to express their feelings when they experience it. We can have a lot more emotionally healthy child around us. Dr. Oshir encourages everyone to take this matter seriously, or it can grow into a more significant problem for everyone.
“We are all paying for the cultural assault our kids are experiencing. We’re paying it emotionally in terms of the family and the community. We will pay for it financially because people who experience mental health stress will eventually have to treat it. That will have financial consequences for society,” said Dr. Oshir.
Georgia Bulldogs Quarterback Carson Beck (15) looks on prior to the college football game between the Missouri Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs on November 04, 2023, at Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA.
Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs play the No. 16 Tennessee Volunteers today in an epic SEC showdown. The Bulldogs are all but a lock for the SEC championship game, but they’re laser focused on keeping their undefeated record. The Volunteers hope to make a Week 12 splash by handing Carson Beck and the Bulldogs their first loss the 2023 NCAA college football season.
Keep reading for how to watch one of the biggest college football games of Week 12.
Note: CBS Essentials and Paramount+ are both subsidiaries of Paramount.
How and when to watch the Georgia Bulldogs vs. Tennessee Volunteers game
The Week 12 game between Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers will be played Saturday, November 18 at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT). The game will air on CBS and stream live on Paramount+.
How to watch the Georgia Bulldogs vs. Tennessee Volunteers game without cable
While most cable packages include CBS, it’s easy to watch the game if CBS isn’t included in your cable subscription, or if you don’t have cable at all. Your best options for watching are below. (Streaming options will require an internet provider.)
If you don’t have a cable TV package that includes CBS, one of the easiest ways to catch all live NFL games broadcast on CBS is through a subscription to Paramount+. The streamer offers access to all NFL games locally and nationally televised on CBS on all its subscription tiers. In addition, you can watch top-tier soccer like the Champions League live and SEC college football games as well, plus popular shows such as “Survivor” and “NCIS.” Paramount+ is also the exclusive streaming home to Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.
Paramount+ costs $5.99 for the Essential tier (or $60 annually), and $11.99 per month (or $120 annually) for the ad-free Showtime tier that includes your local CBS station. Paramount+ currently offers a one-week free trial.
The Walmart+ shopping subscription service includes access to the Paramount+ Essentials tier (with live NFL games such as this one), a $60 per year value. Walmart+ subscribers also get discounts on gasoline at Mobil and Exxon stations, access to special members-only deals, same-day home delivery from your local store and more.
You can also catch the game on FuboTV. FuboTV is a sports-centric streaming service that offers access to almost every NFL game of the season. Packages include CBS, Fox Sunday NFC games via “NFL on Fox”, NBC (Sunday Night Football), ESPN (Monday Night Football), NFL Network and more, so you’ll be able to watch more than just today’s games, all without a cable subscription.
To watch the NFL without cable, start a seven-day free trial of Fubo. You can begin watching immediately on your TV, phone, tablet or computer. In addition to NFL football, FuboTV offers MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer games.
FuboTV is running a (rare!) deal. For a limited time, new subscribers can save $40 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite, and Premier plans. (You’ll save $20 off your first and second months.) That brings the price of FuboTV’s Pro tier down to $55 per month for your first two months, reduced from $75.
Top features of FuboTV Pro Tier:
There are no contracts with FuboTV — you can cancel at any time.
The Pro tier includes 169 channels, including NFL Network. (You’ll need to upgrade to Ultimate for NFL RedZone.)
FuboTV includes all the channels you’ll need to watch college and pro football, including CBS (not available through Sling TV).
All tiers come with 1,000 hours of cloud-based DVR recording.
You can watch college football with Hulu + Live TV. The bundle features access to 90 channels, including both Fox and FS1. Unlimited DVR storage is also included. Watch every game on every network with Hulu + Live TV, plus catch live NFL preseason games, exclusive live regular season games, popular studio shows (including NFL Total Access and the Emmy-nominated show Good Morning Football) and lots more.
Hulu + Live TV comes bundled with ESPN+ and Disney+. It’s priced at $77 per month for the college football season.
Watch NCAA football live with a digital HDTV antenna
Amazon
If you’re cutting the cord to your cable company, you’re not alone; in fact, you are in luck. You can still watch the NFL on TV with an affordable indoor antenna, which pulls in local over-the-air HDYC channels such as CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, PBS, Univision and more. Here’s the kicker: There’s no monthly charge.
Anyone living in partially blocked-off area (those near mountains or first-floor apartments), a digital TV antenna may not pick up a good signal — or any signal at all. But for many homes, a digital TV antenna provides a seriously inexpensive way to watch college football without paying a cable company. Indoor TV antennas can also provide some much-needed TV backup if a storm knocks out your cable (or your cable company gets in a squabble with a network).
This amplified indoor HDTV antenna claims to have a 250-mile range and comes with a 16.5-foot coaxial cable. It’s rated 4.0 stars by Amazon reviewers. Regularly $33, it’s currently on sale for $23 ahead of Black Friday.
If you’re waiting for today’s game to begin, now is a great time to check out Amazon’s new Campus Colors Fan Shop. The Amazon college football online shop is stocked with officially licensed fan gear: You’ll find jerseys, team flags, T-shirts, hoodies and more, including tons of great Christmas gifts for the college football fan in your life. There are plenty of great early Black Friday deals awaiting you at Amazon, too, including some must-see Black Friday deals on TVs for watching football.
Tap the button below to head directly to the Campus Colors Fan Shop page on Amazon and select your favorite team.
More teams to follow during the 2023 college football season
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders
Getty Images
Important dates for the 2023 college football season:
The 13-week 2023 college football season runs from Aug. 27 through Dec. 9.
Two semifinal games, the Rose Bowl Game and the Allstate Sugar Bowl, are scheduled for New Year’s Day (Monday, January 1, 2024).
The College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2024 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The Georgia Bulldogs want to make history: The Bulldogs struck gold last season winning back-to-back championships after beating the Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18 in 2022. Since 1936, no college team has won three-in-a-row. Coming into Week 12, the Bulldogs are one of eight teams that remain undefeated and have reclaimed the top spot in just about every college football ranking. Head coach Kirby Smart started the season aiming for the elusive three-peat, which is looking less elusive with each game of the season.
Football fans can’t get enough of the Colorado Buffaloes: If it seems like the biggest story of the 2023 NCAA college football season isn’t on the field, you’re not wrong. Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, has dominated sports headlines since he announced in December of 2022 he’d leave the 11-1 Jackson State football program he’d built over the past three years in favor of the 1-11 Colorado Buffaloes. Coach Prime in prime time has proven a success despite the team’s 4-6 record. Winning or losing, the Buffaloes have seen skyrocketing TV ratings, the one bright spot in an ugly year for Pac-12 football.
How will all the college football shake ups shake out? In July 2022, UCLA and USC finally agreed on something. The frenemy rivals would both leave the Pac-12 in favor of the Big Ten in 2024. This summer, Colorado announced it would return to the Big 12. Since then, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah have announced an exodus from the Pac-12 to the Big-12 at the end of the 2023 season. Washington and Oregon State are also ditching the Pac-12 for the Big 10 at the same time.
The school shuffling won’t affect the 2023 season much, but expect journalists to talk about it to no end. With the Pac-12 currently down to just four teams for the 2024 season, the demise of the Pac-12 is sure to be one of the biggest stories of the season.
The Alabama Crimson Tide came into the 2023 season ranked No. 4. Saban and company aren’t comfortable with the demotion. Still not the dominant Bama team fans have come to rely on, the Tide are hoping to be a major threat to the Bulldogs scoring that three-peat. Ohio State has arguably one of the best receiver rooms in college football led by the dazzling Marvin Harrison Jr. The Buckeyes come into Week 12 undefeated, just one win over the 9-1 Crimson Tide.
A respected professor dies in a hot tub. Two friends are at the scene. Only one survives to tell the tale. “48 Hours” contributor Jonathan Vigliotti reports.
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Former University of Georgia football player Jalen Carter pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge in connection with a fatal January crash that killed a teammate and staff member. He was sentenced to probation.
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Jalen Carter, the former University of Georgia football star and a top NFL prospect, turned himself in late Wednesday night on charges linked to his alleged involvement in a January car crash that resulted in the deaths of a teammate and team staff member. Police had issued arrest warrants for him.
Carter, 21, faces charges of reckless driving and racing, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department announced earlier on Wednesday.
Records from the Athens-Clarke County Jail show that Carter surrendered at 11:33 p.m. and was released just before midnight on $1,500 bond on the reckless driving count and $2,500 bond on the racing count.
He is accused in connection with an accident initially characterized as a single-vehicle crash near the school’s campus on Jan. 15 that killed fellow Georgia football player Devin Willock and team staff member Chandler LeCroy.
LeCroy, a 24-year-old recruiting analyst for the Bulldogs football team and University of Georgia graduate, was driving when the vehicle “left the roadway, striking two power poles and several trees” at around 2:45 a.m., police said in a statement issued directly after the wreck.
Willock, an 20-year-old offensive lineman for the Bulldogs, was in the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. LeCroy was transferred to a nearby hospital where she later died from her injuries, according to police.
A subsequent investigation found that LeCroy, driving a 2021 Ford Expedition, and Carter, driving a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk, “were operating their vehicles in a manner consistent with racing” leading up to the deadly crash, police said Wednesday. Both vehicles had left the downtown Athens area at around 2:30 that morning and proceeded to switch between lanes, drive in the center turn lane and drive “in opposite lanes of travel” while overtaking other motorists while driving at high speeds, “in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other.”
Carter acknowledged the warrants in a statement shared on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
“There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing,” Carter wrote. The statement also claimed that some reports about the January crash and charges against him are inaccurate.
“Numerous media reports also have circulated this morning containing inaccurate information concerning the tragic events of January 15, 2023,” he said in the statement. “It is my intention to return to Athens to answer the misdemeanor charges against me and to make certain that the complete and accurate truth is presented.”
In their announcement Wednesday, Athens-Clarke County police said evidence suggested LeCroy’s vehicle was traveling at about 104 mph before the crash and noted that her blood alcohol concentration was 0.197 when the accident occurred.
“Investigators determined that alcohol impairment, racing, reckless driving, and speed were significant contributing factors to the crash,” police said.
Carter left the scene of the crash before returning, about an hour later, to provide statements to police, CBS Sports reported. Additional interviews reviewed by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reportedly showed Carter misleading prosecutors as to his whereabouts at the time of the accident, first saying he was a mile away when it happened and later acknowledging that he was there, according to the newspaper.
Kirby Smart, the head football coach at the University of Georgia, responded to the arrest warrants in a statement released on Wednesday morning.
“The charges announced today are deeply concerning, especially as we are still struggling to cope with the devastating loss of two beloved members of our community,” Smart said. “We will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities while supporting these families and assessing what we can learn from this horrible tragedy.”
Carter is widely considered one of the top prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft, with many experts projecting that he will be a top-five pick, according to CBS Sports.
He earned unanimous All-America honors after a standout junior season at Georgia. Carter posted seven tackles for loss and three sacks from the defensive tackle position, standing as a catalyst of Georgia’s historic 15-0 campaign.
Police have issued arrest warrants for Jalen Carter, the former football star at the University of Georgia and top NFL prospect who is now being charged for his alleged involvement in a deadly car crash that left two people dead in January.
Carter, 21, faces charges for reckless driving and racing, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department announced on Wednesday. He is accused in connection with an accident, initially characterized as a single-vehicle crash near the university campus on Jan. 15, which killed fellow Georgia football player Devin Willock and team staff member Chandler LeCroy.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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University of Georgia football player Devin Willock and football staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed in a single car crash early Sunday just hours after their team celebrated its national championship with a victory parade and celebration, according to a statement from the UGA Athletic Association and reporting from CNN affiliate WXIA.
Willock, 20, and LeCroy, 24, were among four people in the vehicle at the time of the crash, which happened around 2:45 a.m. on Sunday not far from the UGA campus in Athens, WXIA reported.
“Devin and Chandler were two special people who meant so much to the University of Georgia, our football program and our athletic department,” the UGA Athletic Association said in a statement. “We ask that everyone keep their families in your prayers during this very difficult time.”
Willock, a redshirt sophomore from New Milford, New Jersey, played on the offensive line in all 15 of the team’s games this year, according to Georgia’s football roster.
Two other members of the football program were injured in the crash and are in stable condition at a hospital, the university said. The two others who were injured have not yet been identified.
CNN has reached out to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department to obtain a copy of the incident report.
Hours earlier, the UGA players, coaches and fans packed into Sanford Stadium to celebrate their second straight national championship. Many offered condolences and memories of the two.
“We are all heartbroken and devastated with the loss of Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy,” UGA Head Football Coach Kirby Smart said in a statement Sunday morning.
“Devin was an outstanding young man in every way. He was always smiling, was a great teammate and a joy to coach. Chandler was a valuable member of our football staff and brought an incredible attitude and energy every single day. We grieve with their families for this tragic loss and will support them in every way possible,” the coach added.
University President Jere W. Morehead remembered Willock and LeCroy in a statement Sunday morning.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends. We also pray for the full recovery of those injured in this tragic accident.”
Former Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Davis, now with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, said in a tweet he was heartbroken. “Watching them grow and become like family over these few years. There is no grief without love, and we love both of you like family,” he wrote.
Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith said the deaths “hurt my heart man, all I have to say the GREAT ONES LEAVE TO SOON,” he wrote on Twitter. “@DevinWillock I LOVE YOU FOREVER.”
The story went like this: One day, a police officer stationed near the University of South Florida’s campus watched as a car zoomed through a stop sign and barreled across a busy highway. When he caught up to the car, he found the driver overcome with emotion, tears running down her face.
Why was she so upset?
In Smith’s telling, the woman was “practically hysterical” over what she was being taught at USF. She told the cop that the university “would destroy the things she had built her very life on.”
“This,” Smith observed, “could have cost her life or that of someone else.”
The story, on its face, is absurd. Even the most rousing of lectures is unlikely to provoke reckless driving. But it was persuasive to Smith, whose son was a student at USF, then a brand-new university. She and other parents were already incensed by what they considered the anti-religious teaching at the institution and its coziness with Communism. They brought those complaints to Florida lawmakers, helping thrust USF into an existential crisis over what could and should be taught at a state-supported university.
“The question is, are we to have academic freedom without responsibility, without restraint? If so then it is not true academic freedom. It is an imitation of it,” Smith wrote in a lengthy report documenting her views.
In a note to a Florida representative, she was more aggressive. “Do I want my sons and daughters indoctrinated in the belief that there exists no right or wrong, no morality or immorality, no God, that family life has failed, that premarital relations are good, that homo-sexuality is fine? And then told, in the name of academic freedom it’s none of your business? … Then I say the parents should have unlimited freedom, even if it means seeing the professors — flattened on the floor!”
State Archives of Florida
Jane Tarr Smith
Smith had dramatic flair. But the general thrust of her argument has pulsed like an electric current through the modern history of higher education: Out-of-control liberal professors infect impressionable young people with dangerous ideas, distorting their views of what the country has been, is, and should be. But other sensibilities — like those of parents, who pay tuition, or lawmakers, who hold purse strings — also matter when it comes to curricula at public institutions. Therefore, there must be constraints on what an instructor can teach, for the sake of the students and for the sake of America.
Over the past two years, that argument has been resurrected in the form of bills that restrict how faculty members (and schoolteachers) can teach race and racism. Critics of the measures, including free-speech organizations, contend that the legislation erects political barriers where there should be none, impeding faculty members’ ability to determine their course content as they see fit.
But supporters of the bills, including Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, argue they’re necessary curtailments of leftist indoctrination. Florida tax dollars will not go toward “teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other,” DeSantis said in a 2021 news release announcing one such bill.
By examining one historical precedent to such arguments — specifically the saga that engulfed Smith and the University of South Florida — we can see this moment with fresh eyes. Today, the professoriate is in some ways better positioned to fight back than it was in the mid-1900s. Many faculty members are doing just that. Yet these bills are being introduced during a bout of public distrust of professors and what they teach. And some colleges have urged their faculty members to err on the side of caution. The contours of academic freedom are, once again, hotly contested.
Amid those and other attacks, college leaders had to determine to what lengths they would go to protect academic freedom on their campuses. Until the mid-20th century, the “Gentleman Scientist Model” was in vogue, John K. Wilson writes in his dissertation, “A History of Academic Freedom in America.” Under that model, safeguarding academic freedom “depended upon the good faith of honorable administrators following unwritten academic norms.”
How a committee of Florida lawmakers waged a crusade against higher ed and upended the lives of people in it. Read more here.
“The academy did not fight McCarthyism,” Schrecker writes. “It contributed to it.”
In the wake of those purges, and after the failure of the higher-ed establishment to defend its faculty, many academics believed they needed to be more aggressive in protecting their rights. What Wilson calls the “Liberty Model” was born. That model, which arose over years of struggle and debate, represented “a much broader sense of academic freedom, in which professors were free to express their ideas on all political issues,” he writes, “even if it offended critics and embarrassed their institutions.”
Of course, there were always criticisms, especially from conservatives. In his 1951 book God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom,” William F. Buckley Jr. argued that “honest and discerning scholars” must “cease to manipulate the term academic freedom for their own ends.” Rather, it “must mean the freedom of men and women to supervise the educational activities and aims of the schools they oversee and support.” Or, put simply, those who pay should set the agenda. Those on the payroll should fall in line.
In the midst of this ideological tug-of-war, the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee was born. A late-stage Southern offshoot of McCarthyism, the committee was set up in 1956 to investigate “all organizations whose principles or activities … would constitute violence, or a violation of the laws of the state.” Lawmakers initially had integration in mind, but the committee soon became a roving attack dog that hunted for evidence of Communism and homosexuality in state institutions, including Florida’s public universities.
The Johns Committee thought decency was particularly imperiled at the University of South Florida. Lawmakers trained their eyes on the campus in 1962. A group of parents organized by Smith informed the committee of its concern that professors were introducing vulgar or sacrilegious materials or touting Communism and socialism in the classroom. At the heart of their complaint was the belief that academic freedom for professors had gone too far, infringing on the rights of students to learn freely, and that it now threatened democracy.
“Should the moral laws of our universe be repealed by the professors in their demand for academic freedom?” Smith wrote in her report. “They may call it academic freedom. Others call it national suicide!”
For the Johns Committee, too, academic freedom’s ripeness for abuse was concerning. Lawmakers conducted hearings on campus of students, professors, administrators, and the university president. Though the committee’s chief counsel, Mark Hawes, acknowledged that academic freedom is “a fundamental principle … that education rests on,” legislators nevertheless disparaged certain reading materials, like a short story by J.D. Salinger. They asked how far academic freedom extended, particularly when it came to Communism. “Would it include the bringing of a member of the Communist Party here to speak on the subject of Communism, or democracy, or the isms, generally?” Hawes asked the dean of student affairs. (That’s “a very leading question,” the dean replied.)
The committee’s eventual conclusion was scathing. Yes, academic freedom had been “the very backbone” of any educational institution, Hawes told the 1963 Legislature, according to one archived rendering of his speech. However, the term was now being used to mean that educators could “run these schools without restraint of policy at all from the people or their elected representatives.”
That sort of academic freedom covers the right “to teach as they please in a state-supported school in regard to religion,” Hawes continued, clearly indignant. “… It includes the right to teach there is no right and no wrong. It includes the right to take this ordinary, everyday filth, which I call intellectual garbage, off the newsstands and put it in the classroom as required text.”
The committee did not stop at a public harangue. In 1965 it proposed an “academic freedom bill” that regulated campus speakers as well as professors’ speech and actions. According to a copy of the bill in the state’s records, it would have, among other things, required the state’s Board of Education to adopt regulations banning any higher-education employee or organization from advocating, “by word or deed,” the willful disobedience of state or national laws.
But by the time the bill was on the table, Floridians had been grappling with what it would mean for politicians to regulate professors’ speech and course content. As one USF dean observed, the Johns Committee ordeal had provoked a fundamental question: “Does the state wish to develop distinguished universities where all aspects of the truth may be pursued without fear or favor? Or does it wish to develop a group of glorified finishing schools in which scholars are unable to pursue their honest lines of inquiry or to stimulate students into creative and unfettered thinking?”
Many citizens agreed with Allen and rallied to his defense. “I just want to be counted on the record as deploring this present ‘witch hunt’ on the campus,” one woman wrote to the university. Wrote another, to Allen: “I wish to assure you that as the mother of one of your students I heartily concur with the teaching methods and materials used by the professors.” Some Floridians worried that should their state not protect academic freedom, some gifted professors would resign, and others would be discouraged from accepting jobs at Florida institutions.
Florida faculty members also made the case for academic freedom publicly, arguing it was necessary to society even though, as one professor acknowledged, it could be uncomfortable. “Nothing grows without the signs of cracking, without the snap of bark, without unlovely skin peeling,” wrote the University of Florida historian C.K. Yearley in an open letter to Florida citizens and parents, published in the press.
Yearley continued: “You have an option, of course. You can cease to grow. I will not cease to grow with you. I will move on. And others will follow and you will have great husks of brick and steel and concrete. You may derive some satisfaction from that. But you will in the estimate of thinking men have nothing but a great investment in husks.”
The academic-freedom bill died a quick death. Nearly nine years after its inception, the committee folded, too. But not before leaving a score of college employees without their jobs after they were accused of homosexual conduct. Virtually no one rallied to those employees’ defense. In that way, said Wilson in an email, the Johns Committee period reflects the “darker side of the history of academic freedom in America” — one of “straight white male professors leaving behind disempowered groups in order to carve out a narrow idea of academic freedom that would protect themselves.” Yet when the committee expanded its attack and waged a campaign against the fundamental principles of higher education, that proved to be too drastic. The committee, which suffered from several scandals, eventually lost the support of the public. USF, though weary from the fight, was still standing.
It’s possible to see today’s bills that restrict instruction about race and racism as an extension of that same impulse. It’s no coincidence, said Jeremy C. Young, senior manager for free expression and education at PEN America, that the bills arose after the murder of George Floyd and the publication of The New York Times’s 1619 Project, at a moment when the country seemed poised for a racial reckoning.
Regardless of what motivated the bills, they have proved popular among conservative state lawmakers, if not as popular with the public. According to PEN America, nearly 200 such bills, which the organization calls “educational gag orders,” were filed across the country in 2021 and 2022. Nineteen have become law, seven of which apply to higher education. This year, there has been “an increase in the complexity and scale of legislation, as lawmakers have sought to assert political control over everything from classroom speech to library content, from teachers’ professional training to field trips and extracurricular activities,” the organization wrote in a recent report.
Each historical moment has its own context, its own actors. But the rhetorical parallels between the Johns Committee period and today “are just stunning,” Young said. “Here we are fighting this battle,” he said, “and it’s a battle that’s been fought many, many times before.”
“We believe in academic freedom,” Patrick said. “But everyone has guidelines in life. Everyone has barriers.” He then said he planned to propose ending tenure for all new hires and threatened to rescind tenure for faculty members who teach critical race theory.
There are notable differences between the eras. During the McCarthy fervor, individual scholars were targeted, but the college classroom went untouched, though many academics began dropping controversial topics from their curricula, according to Schrecker, the historian of McCarthyism.
In the mid-20th century, skepticism about the value of academic freedom was broader, Wilson said in a phone interview. Now, it seems fewer people openly denounce the concept.
But there’s also a growing view among conservatives that universities are “captive to their enemies — not just containing radicals but being run by radicals,” Wilson said. “That’s language you didn’t hear in the ’50s and ’60s.” Which is not to say that criticism of faculty members as radicals has gone away. Nearly 80 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning respondents who said they think the higher-education system is headed in the wrong direction cited professors’ bringing their political and social views into the classroom as a major reason, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey.
Professors are also much more organized than they were during the 1950s and 1960s, and more likely to speak out — at least those with job security. The instruction bans have sparked a wave of faculty opposition, particularly in Florida. Florida International University’s faculty union launched a Freedom to Teach/Freedom to Learn campaign. It held a teach-in on academic freedom, has told professors they don’t need to change how they teach because of the law, and is attempting to build political connections with teachers across the state who face similar restrictions and are natural allies, said Eric Scarffe, vice president of the union.
HB 7, the Florida law, has also been challenged in court by professors, among other groups. The law says in part that students cannot be subjected to instruction that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels” them to believe certain “concepts,” including that the values of “objectivity” or “racial colorblindness” are “racist or sexist, or were created by members of a particular race, color, national origin, or sex” to oppress other such groups. If a university is found to have committed a “substantiated violation” of HB 7, it will not receive performance funding the following fiscal year, according to a separate law passed by Florida lawmakers.
In defending the measure in court, lawyers representing the state argued that professors do not have an individual right to academic freedom. Rather, that right, to the extent it exists, belongs to universities and extends only to their autonomy from the judiciary, not from “the state that chartered it, governs it, and provides its funding,” reads the filing. The idea that individual professors “have a constitutional right to make their own decisions, free from interference by anyone, whether university administrators or the state itself, concerning what may be taught and how it shall be taught would be a recipe for educational chaos,” it says, “not excellence.”
A guide for faculty members and deans at Valencia College, also obtained by FIRE, notes that while the “use of double negatives in the wording” of one of the concepts makes it difficult to know what is banned, “a critique of colorblindness or insistence on identity consciousness could constitute discrimination” under the law.
In America, the desire for censorship in public education comes in waves. There are fevers, PEN America’s Young said, and then they break, typically not on their own. The McCarthy era, and the Johns Committee, was one such fever. To Young, this is another, and he’s not sure when it will subside.
For now at least, what curriculum is appropriate for college students, and who should decide, remains an active national argument. Sentences that Jane Tarr Smith, the concerned USF parent who died in 2002, wrote six decades ago still resonate:
“We know that as the student goes, so goes the nation,” she said. “Hence, our grave concern over the teachings they receive.”