The College Board announced Jeffrey Vitter as the new chancellor for the University of Mississippi Thursday following a day of meeting students, faculty, alumni and staff, although some were excited about the announcement others were not convinced.
Vitter, who currently serves as the provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas, said he is excited to be a part of a University which contains rich history within its campus, and said Ole Miss is making positive contributions not only to the sate, but to the nation.
“There is a wonderful opportunity to build on the momentum here,” Vitter said.
Alex Borst, a junior international studies major, said he felt Vitter brushed off responses to questions of Confederate iconography whereas previous administrators were very proactive and thoughtful early on.
“I think he’s done well in all of his past positions, but I don’t know how I feel about him for this school,” Borst said. “Dr. Jones and Dr. Khayat were very straightforward on the issues of race, which permeate every single part of this school.”
Vitter said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian that the University is at a point where it is necessary to look at what needs to be done now and what unique opportunities will make a real difference to connect the institution with the state of Mississippi, bettering the region overall.
“My whole core value is about listening and learning,” Vitter said. “I want to talk to key individuals and I want to reach out and explore peoples’ thoughts because it’s important to hear people.”
Vitter said he is a strong advocate of inclusion, promoting dialogue and engaging people in discussions. When situations arise, he said it is important to address the various perspectives and use the University Creed as a guiding principle for the decisions that are made.
“I really don’t know how to feel about Dr. Vitter,” Dominique Scott, a junior African-American studies major said after attending the student session. “I feel that he is very strategic in the way that he answers questions.”
Scott said she wished there were more time to ask questions, because it felt like many of the questions were not thoroughly addressed.
Scott said she feels there is a lack of transparency between the administration and the students because of the swiftness of the process and the timing of the announcement. She said it seemed as though it were an attempt to derail the conversation of the Mississippi state flag and give students something different on which to focus.
“It leaves me to be very cautious on how to proceed with senior leadership, because I’m not sure if there are ulterior motives or not,” Scott said.
Freshman computer science major, Thomas McFann, said he is excited to see Vitter as the new chancellor for the University, however, because of his outstanding technical background. He said another unique quality that Vitter has is the experience that he has outside of the state of Mississippi which could bring a different perspective to campus.
“I’m sure he’ll do a great job and I’m looking forward, especially being a freshman, getting to see him for the first time, because he’ll probably be with us throughout our college experience,” McFann said. “I can’t wait to see the things that he does.”
Michael Barnett, the president of the faculty senate, said he can understand that many people in the audience would’ve liked for Vitter to give more personal, more direct responses, but frequently that’s not what the chancellor’s job is. He said his responses were appropriate and it was wise to suggest he needs to gather more information in order to engage more intimately.
“The real question now is how he is going to integrate into the culture of Ole Miss, and we
won’t know that until he’s here,” Barnett said.
Aware of campus dissatisfaction of the non-renewal of previous chancellor Dan Jones’ contract, Vitter said he wants to be a familiar face on campus and will continue to make visits to campus by meeting with student groups, faculty and other organizations.
“I hope that they can build trust in me knowing that I care what they think,” Vitter said.
Participants at each of the meetings filled out and returned surveys with their impressions of Vitter.
“The rankings were based on a four-point scale,” Glen Boyce, Institutions of Higher Learning commissioner, said. “There wasn’t any set, say, ‘If he doesn’t get a 3.5 well, that’s just not it.’ This evaluation, while very important, was another piece to the process.”
When asked how he would handle sensitive subjects such as the noose being placed on the statue of James Meredith, Vitter said it is important to work on educating the entire community to advocate for mutual respect. Vitter said these are issues that really effect the community.
“I really want to work to promote a climate of understanding and mutual respect so that people feel empowered here,” Vitter said. “We don’t ever want to have those kinds of ugly incidents again.”
Vitter said handling sensitive issues is always a hard topic to address, but he said during his time at The University of Kansas, their campus had issues with sexual assault and sexual harassment cases.
Vitter said working with the chancellor in Kansas to address these problems and move the campus forward has prepared him to handle similar topics on the University of Mississippi campus.
“We want to prevent incidents from that from happening,” Vitter said. “That’s part of making the campus the place we want it to be.”
Alan Perry, president of the college board, said these questions are ones Vitter will face all year.
“Every time he speaks, he adds nuance that makes me convinced he is the right candidate,” Perry said. “Its’ been a great experience.”
