Workers listen during a meeting Thursday to discuss the possible closing of the post office on campus. Photo: Cady Herring, The Daily Mississippian.
Dana Amos, manager of post office operations, along with multiple representatives from The University of Mississippi, led a meeting yesterday to answer questions concerning the closure of the university’s post office. University officials announced the post office’s closure with plans to expand and renovate the Student Union.
The biggest topic of conversation in yesterday’s meeting was how international students will be able to continue using the United States Postal Service for incoming and outgoing mail.
Kim Russell, an employee at the Office of International Programs, was the first to mention this issue.
“(The international students’) issue is not just getting stamps, but they send stuff home all the time,” Russell said. “There is a lot of international mail being sent out.”
Amos explained that international students would now have to use the Oxford post office to send and receive mail.
The audience also raised questions about the transportation issues with the shuttle. Members of the audience had personal experiences with its ineffectiveness due to a bus change on the route from campus to the Oxford post office.
Other audience members raised awareness about the environmental impact of the extra drive to the Oxford post office, saying it seemed to defy Chancellor Dan Jones’ message of promoting a more sustainable campus.
Another issue many people raised was whether it would be safe to transfer mail to a dorm on campus, such as Crosby Hall. Their concerns are that it would bring traffic to dormitories, putting residents at risk for theft.
Amos said most of the questions directed toward the university are unanswerable at this time. Amos also explained that the decision to shut down the post office was not based on revenue.
“The post office was never designed to be a profit-based business,” Amos said. “We don’t really make decisions based on profit.”
Some citizens asked to hold another meeting with university representatives to discuss the issue again. There is not yet a date for this meeting.
A union steering committee has been charged with redesigning the current post office space for student purposes.
University Communications Director Danny Blanton said the university made this decision with students in mind.
“For all campus residents, mail pickup will be uninterrupted, and off-campus residents can use the Oxford post office,” Blanton said. “This Student Union renovation will only benefit the students. Students will get so much more out of that space with the new plans.”
— Libby Gerstner
eagerstn@go.olemiss.edu
