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A conservative investment fund group is pulling its holdings of Tyson Foods over the meat and poultry giant’s hiring of migrant and refugee workers — claiming the employment practice will repel customers.

The American Conservative Values ETF, an exchange-traded fund managed by Ridgeline Research LLC, divested from the company and slapped a “refuse to buy” rating on its stocks for its clientele.

“We believe Tyson’s management has blundered into a political minefield (and should have known better),” Ridgeline founder and CEO Bill Flaig told Fox Business on Monday.

Many Americans are outraged by the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border and learning Tyson is giving jobs to asylum-seekers could be enough for them to stop buying the company’s products, according to the CEO.

“The risk of alienating a significant percentage of their customers outweighs any potential economic benefit,” Flaig said. “In a recent Pew Research poll, 80% of U.S. adults say the U.S. government is doing a bad job of handling the migrant influx.”

He claimed Tyson could become the next victim of angry Americans voting with their wallets.

“We have seen the negative impact of alienating customers recently with Bud Light and Target and by divesting we are protecting our shareholders,” he said.

But Tyson is defending its hiring practices, noting that it only employs people legally authorized to work in the US as it tries to dispel growing misinformation online about its workforce.

“In recent days, there has been a lot of misinformation in the media about our company, and we feel compelled to set the record straight. Any insinuation that we would cut American jobs to hire immigrant workers is completely false,” the food giant said in a statement.

“Tyson Foods is strongly opposed to illegal immigration, and we led the way in participating in the two major government programs to help employers combat unlawful employment, E-Verify and the Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) program,” the statement continued.

The alleged falsehoods about the company spread after Bloomberg News reported last week that “Tyson is hiring New York immigrants for jobs no one else wants.”

The article notes a partnership between Tyson Foods and Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit started by Chobani yogurt founder and CEO to connect refugees in need of work with private companies in need of workers.

Tyson joined the nonprofit’s mission in 2022 and committed to hiring 2,500 refugees in the US over the course of three years, according to Fox Business.

Between February and March, the meat maker hired nearly 90 asylum seekers to work at its Tennessee-based plant, Bloomberg reported.

A Tyson human resources rep was quoted in the article, praising the company’s refugee and migrant employees as “very, very loyal.”

“They’ve been uprooted and what they want is stability — what they want is a sense of belonging,” HR official Garrett Dolan said.

Tyson Foods currently employs about 42,000 migrants, who have legal work authorization, as part of its 120,000-strong workforce.

“We would like to employ another 42,000 if we could find them,” Dolan told Bloomberg.

Worker turnover in the food manufacturing industry is high at 40% a year. Dolan said Tyson is constantly looking for new employees to fill the vacancies and does not favor one group over another.

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Cyclones name WSU’s Rogers to replace Campbell

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Cyclones name WSU's Rogers to replace Campbell

Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers has agreed to a six-year deal to become the next coach at Iowa State, the school announced Friday.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard moved quickly to replace departing coach Matt Campbell, who agreed to an eight-year deal to take over Penn State on Friday, and landed Rogers, a proven winner at the FCS level who just concluded his first regular season at Washington State.

“Jimmy Rogers is a rising star in college athletics who has very strong ties to the Midwest both as a player and as a coach,” Pollard said in a statement. “He has been on my short-list ever since the first time I met him. He immediately impressed me with his interest in Iowa State University and told me during our first visit several years ago that he wanted to be the next head coach at Iowa State.

“Since our initial meeting, I have stayed in close contact with him and have been very impressed with his work ethic and understanding of what it takes to be successful at Iowa State,” Pollard added. “He is a proven winner who has demonstrated throughout his career that he will fit our culture.”

Rogers, 38, has a 33-9 record over three seasons as a head coach. He went 6-6 in his debut season at Washington State after overseeing a significant roster rebuild following the departure of coach Jake Dickert to Wake Forest.

“My family and I are excited to be joining the Iowa State University community and the Cyclone football program,” Rogers said in a statement. “Iowa State has been one of the nation’s top programs for the last decade and we look forward to building upon its upward trajectory. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity that Jamie Pollard has given me to lead the Cyclones.”

Rogers previously spent 12 years at South Dakota State and led his alma mater to an FCS national championship in 2023 with a 15-0 season in his first year as the Jackrabbits’ head coach after taking over for longtime coach John Stiegelmeier.

Rogers carried a 29-game win streak into his second year as coach and achieved a No. 3 finish in 2024 with a run to the FCS playoff semifinals and a 12-3 season.

The Jackrabbits also won the FCS national championship in 2022 after Rogers was elevated to being the team’s sole defensive coordinator, and they played for another FCS title in 2020.

Campbell, the winningest coach in Iowa State history with 72 victories, led the Cyclones to eight winning seasons during his decade at the helm and two appearances in the Big 12 championship game.

The Cyclones went 8-4 this season and are awaiting their bowl selection on Sunday.

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Cool it! JMU AD scolds fans for throwing snowballs

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Cool it! JMU AD scolds fans for throwing snowballs

HARRISONBURG, Va. — James Madison athletic director Matt Roan used the public-address microphone to implore Dukes fans to stop throwing snowballs onto the field during the Sun Belt Conference championship game against Troy on Friday night, warning that their actions could cost JMU a penalty.

Roan’s address to the crowd followed an incident that affected the game.

With 4:30 left in the first quarter, Troy’s Evan Crenshaw was nearly hit by a snowball while punting from the end zone with the JMU student section behind him. Crenshaw shanked a 26-yard punt that helped set up the Dukes’ first score, a 40-yard field goal.

Fans in the student section began throwing snowballs during pregame warmups, when the Dukes’ marching band got pelted. They kept it up for most of the first half, despite repeated warnings over the PA system.

Harrisonburg received about 1½ inches of snow Friday, its first measurable snowfall of the season.

No. 19 JMU had an outside shot at making the College Football Playoff field with a win over Troy and a loss by No. 16 Virginia to Duke in Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

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No. 1 recruit DT Lamar Brown signs with LSU

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No. 1 recruit DT Lamar Brown signs with LSU

LSU and coach Lane Kiffin closed a busy early signing period with a bang Friday, officially securing the signature of defensive tackle Lamar Brown, ESPN’s No. 1 overall 2026 recruit.

Brown, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound defender from Erwinville, Louisiana, signed his letter of intent on the final day of the three-day period, the program announced, formally joining Kiffin and the Tigers as the program’s first No. 1 overall addition since Leonard Fournette in 2014.

Committed to the program since July, Brown was not initially expected to sign this week following meetings between Brown’s representatives and members of the LSU staff Tuesday.

While Brown remained verbally committed to the program, sources told ESPN that his camp harbored reservations over Kiffin’s to-be-completed coaching staff. Uncertainty hanging over the futures of Tigers interim coach Frank Wilson and defensive coordinator Blake Barker marked a particular concern for Brown, who attends high school on the LSU campus and developed close relationships with the program’s previous staff during his recruitment.

As of Friday afternoon, the Tigers have not publicly announced plans for the program’s defensive staff. The statuses of Wilson and Baker, a reported candidate for multiple head coach openings across the country, remain unclear, too. But according to ESPN sources, Brown and the Tigers progressed toward his signing through talks across Wednesday and Thursday, culminating in the program officially landing his signature Friday afternoon.

Within an impressive Tigers defensive class in 2026, Brown was not alone in initially holding off on signing this week before ultimately submitting the official paperwork.

LSU officially announced the signing of ESPN 300 defensive tackle Richard Anderson (No. 90 overall) on Thursday after questions swirled over his signature on the opening day of the signing period. Top 60 defensive linemen Deuce Geralds (No. 39) and Trenton Henderson (No. 60) each pushed their signings to Friday. Henderson, amid late flip efforts from Auburn and Florida State, gave the Tigers his signature Friday morning. Geralds, ESPN’s No. 2 defensive tackle in 2026, followed in the afternoon, minutes before the program announced Brown’s signing.

For Kiffin, who officially arrived Sunday, Brown’s signature closes LSU’s class of ESPN 300 additions and marks a strong finish to a hectic first week on the recruiting trail with the Tigers.

Uncertainty surrounding Brown and the program’s top defensive pledges hung over early-week commitments from wide receiver Brayden Allen and former Ole Miss pledges J.C. Anderson (No. 165 in the ESPN 300) and Ryan Miret. Pass catcher Corey Barber, another ex-Rebels commit, also signed with the Tigers on Wednesday. LSU also lost five commitments following Kiffin’s arrival, headlined by safety Dylan Purter (No. 266), who flipped to Florida on Thursday.

Kiffin & Co. took some big swings, as well. Sources tell ESPN that the Tigers made late efforts to flip USC tight end signee Mark Bowman (No. 29 overall) and four-star South Carolina quarterback signee Landon Duckworth (No. 186). LSU also attempted to sway No. 1 wide receiver Chris Henry Jr., who affirmed his pledge to Ohio State and signed Friday.

With Brown officially in the fold, the Tigers will close the early signing period with the nation’s No. 14 signing class in ESPN’s latest class rankings for the cycle.

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