THE DAILY
MISSISSIPPIAN
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Volume 104, No. 48
T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I S S I S S I P P I S E R V I N G O L E M I S S A N D OX F O R D S I N C E 1 9 1 1
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sports
Ole Miss soccer to host Vanderbilt senior night Page 8
Preferred Chancellor candidate to visit campus today
COURTESY: ROGELIO V. SOLIS | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jeffrey S. Vitter, selected by the state college board as the preferred candidate for Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, speaks with Michelle Wheeler a first year medical student at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Wednesday, Oct. 28 for the job.
TAYLOR BENNETT
tbennett@go.olemiss.edu
The Institutions of Higher Learning preferred candidate for the University’s new chancellor, Jeffrey Vitter, will be visiting with campus constituency groups today in the Inn at Ole Miss ballrooms. The college board announced
Vitter as the preferred candidate for chancellorship on Oct. 19, and according to University public relations director Danny Blanton, the outcome of the constituency groups will determine whether Vitter will be the next person to fill the void left by the termination of former Chancellor Dan Jones’ contract. “Our campus constituents have
the opportunity to meet Dr. Vitter as our preferred candidate and for him to have the opportunity to get to know each of them,” Blanton said. “He’s very excited about the opportunity to meet everyone not just to receive questions from them, but also have an opportunity to have a personal interaction with as many of them as he can. He’s looking forward to shaking
their hand and introducing himself.” Vitter, a native of New Orleans, is the provost, executive vice chancellor and the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas. Vitter met with several hundred faculty, staff, students and alumni Wednesday afternoon at the University Medical Center. Sessions were held in
the UMMC student union to give Vitter the opportunity to describe his vision and core values to each of the constituents. “It was very informative, and the faculty, staff and students were very engaged,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. “He was very confident in answering questions, and he showed a high level of energy, passion for education and a commitment to excellence. I was impressed by his academic credentials, and I look forward to the good things that can happen.” Blanton said even though there are designated times for each constituency’s session, the University encourages students and faculty to come to any session that is convenient for them. After all sessions meet, IHL will hold a board meeting to decide if they think Vitter is a good fit for chancellor. A press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. today in which the college board will announce their final decision. “This is a very important position for our campus,” Blanton said. “We’re excited to have someone with credentials and the impressive background that Dr. Vitter has and we would like our campus community to come see and get to know him as well.”
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
University of Southern Mississippi removes state flag Another public university in Mississippi is stopping the display of the state flag on campus because it contains a Confederate battle emblem many see as divisive. University of Southern Mississippi President Rodney Bennett on Wednesday ordered the state flag removed from the main campus in Hattiesburg and a branch campus on the Gulf Coast. He said USM will only fly the U.S. flag because it’s a unifying symbol. “While I love the state of Mississippi, there is passionate disagreement about the current state flag on our campuses and in our communities,” Bennett said in a statement. “I am looking forward to a time when this debate is resolved
and USM raises a state flag that unites us.” His action came two days after the University of Mississippi’s interim chancellor, Morris Stocks, ordered the state flag removed from campus in Oxford. Stocks acted after student and faculty senates adopted resolutions seeking removal of the flag at Ole Miss. There have been no similar resolutions at USM, where three flagpoles near a busy street now fly U.S. flags. The display previously had the U.S. flag in the center, flanked by a state flag and a blackand-gold USM flag. The Hattiesburg American posted photos of people holding signs on campus Wednesday to support and oppose removal of the state flag. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, a
USM alumnus, has said he thinks universities should fly the flag. State law, however, does not require them to do so. “I think that if you’ve got a publicly funded institution like that, they should be respectful of the people of the state,” Bryant said Tuesday in response to questions about the flag being removed at Ole Miss. Since 1894, the Mississippi flag has had the Confederate battle symbol in the upper left corner — a blue X dotted with 13 white stars, over a red field. Mississippi voters chose to keep the flag in a 2001 election, after a series of public hearings in which people PHOTO BY: ROYCE SWAYZE argued over whether the flag repThe American and state flags fly on Ole Miss campus earlier this month. resents heritage or hatred.