USM: The Hattiesburg American Takes On the IHL Board

Today's issue of the Hattiesburg American includes four items of great interest to those who are attending to the saga of the University of Southern Missisippi.

One is a letter to the editor from a recent graduate of USM's beleaguered nursing program, declaring that her instructors didn't offer her adequate preparation for the nursing board exam:

I was severely disappointed with my experience while at USM, particularly when I started nursing school. Sure, nursing school is hard, you'll hear that from everyone. But I found it very disappointing when I managed to learn more from the Hurst Review, which I took after graduation to prepare for boards, than I did during the entire time I was in nursing school.

The second is a full-page advertisement, in color, bearing the USM seal, purporting to describe the good things that are happening at the university--but are being withheld from the public by hostile professors and biased media. Tomorrow, when I have time to comment on it, I will post the text of this ad, which is not available in the paper's electronic edition. The ad is, of course, a product of the Paving Company Putsch, organized by 10 local movers and shakers who want to make sure that"their guy," Shelby F. Thames, remains in charge of USM for the indefinite future. I don't think I'll be spoiling the suspense by telling you that it doesn't say a word about the nursing program.

The third is the American's editorial response to that full-page ad.

A reader with an eye for detail may find the writer too willing to accept the Thames administration's misleading assertions concerning such matters as USM's enrollment and manner of spending its revenues. The reader will also note a recurrence of the"world-class" hype that too often replaces any kind of realistic evaluation of USM's current strengths and future prospects. But none of that matters much. What's important is that the editorial takes on both the Paving Company Putsch and the Mississippi IHL Board.

Over the last three months, the American and the Jackson Clarion-Ledger have condemned Shelby Thames' leadership style and management record on their editorial pages; two columnists for the Clarion-Ledger have even called on Thames to retire. But until now none have dared to criticize the atrocious management record of the IHL Board, which installed Thames in the presidency and has repeatedly refused to fire him, even when he withheld information about USM's troubles with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Close observers of the USM crisis have known all along that Thames was and is a creature of the Board, which alone possesses the power to stop him. But reluctance to criticize the Board has been strong, if only out of fear that Board members who resented the criticism would spitefully throw their support behind another four years of Thamesian misrule.

Now that Virginia Newton, who will soon take over as Board President, and Richard Crofts, the interim IHL Commissioner, are pushing through reforms of the Board's reporting structure and procedures, the gloves are being taken off:

The state College Board must more openly discuss issues at Southern Miss instead of hiding dealings from public scrutiny.

When Southern Miss administrators sparred over the impact an executive business degree program would have on accreditation, board president Roy Klumb said he had a conversation with Southern Miss President Shelby Thames in which he directed him not to take on any programs that might create accreditation problems.

If you missed this in the College Board's meeting last month, you weren't alone. The conversation was held in private, a standard procedure for this panel.

Of course, Klumb held this conversation with Thames only because a majority of the Board instructed him to. Carrying it on it public would not just have humiliated Thames; it would have put egg on the face of Roy Klumb, who until last month was Thames' most audible political sponsor.

The College Board has outwardly done a miserable job of leading in the situation at Southern Miss. The board's actions seem to indicate that it is unconcerned with the fate of one of the state's largest schools. Board members appear to forget that nearly $70 million of tax money goes to the school annually, and that means the public has a right to know what's being done to protect their investment.

The university must strive for openness.

Thames and his administration have been characterized by a tendency to make decisions without first talking to those involved.

The faculty, equally vocal, have made it clear that there is no middle ground. Many feel they have no voice, at least not in the meaningful way that is evident at many other universities in the state and the nation.

A university so divided cannot stand....

As leaders of Southern Miss, the College Board and Thames must take the lead in making this happen [i.e, bringing an end to the fighting]. If he can't do this, the College Board needs to shake off its mantle of stagnant leadership and intervene publicly.

The editorial concludes with an equally barbed assessment of Bob Mixon, Bonnie Drews, and the other organizers of the pep rally for Shelby Thames that took place at the Warren Paving Company on March 10:

Community members agree on one point, and it's a fact that forms a basis for getting out of this current situation: all involved on and off campus love the institution and want to see it prosper into a world-class institution.

With that in mind, holding invitation-only meetings to"discuss" the future of the university only adds to the suspicion and sense of powerlessness felt by many of those who work at the university. If there's going to be a public discussion, don't limit to a select few a debate which is important to all.

If the kingmakers who wanted to arrange a presidency for their fellow local mover and shaker Shelby Thames had been getting these kinds of messages from the editorial page of their local newspaper back in 2002, think how much damage would have been averted, and how much farther ahead USM would be today.

The fourth item, I am sorry to say, is an op-ed by veteran reporter Kevin Walters (also not available electronically). Walters announces that after 5 years at the American, he will be moving to Tennessee to take up a new job as a reporter for a daily newspaper there. Without his insistence on staying on the story, and his persistent questioning of USM's upper administrators, Shelby Thames' depredations would have remained unknown to nearly everyone except their immediate victims.

To be continued.