University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones speaks in his office on the campus in Oxford, Miss., Friday, March 20, 2015. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
The editorial staff of The Daily Mississippian expresses its shock and indignation at the recent decision of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees refusing to extend the contract of our beloved chancellor, Dr. Dan Jones. In response to this decision, the staff aligns its compassion and support with Jones and his family as he not only recovers from his illness, but also faces the iniquity of being removed from his position, in which he served as a capable and brave leader.
Jones’ tenure at The University of Mississippi has been marked by his competency at addressing issues spawned from a campus and state history that struggles perennially with social and political corrective work still left undone. In response to these immense challenges, Jones’ leadership has shone like starlight.
He has reinvigorated the reputation of the university as a high-achieving educational institution. He has taken responsibility for the university’s contentious racial climate and has worked to establish an action plan with already implemented strategies to make the campus more inclusive. Without condescension, he has lent both his ear and his support to student organizations and proved that his priorities lie with us and our success, both on and off campus.
In this way, Jones has been an unfailing ally of our humble publication. In our daily endeavor of publishing campus and community news, Jones has understood our responsibility as members of the press and never moved to silence us.
We will not be silent now.
We will be persistent in our coverage of this issue.
We will fight for clarity where Commissioner Jim Borsig and the Board of Trustees have been intentionally vague.
We will require that our chancellor be treated with the respect and dignity that both his character and rightful position demand.
The actions of the IHL Board of Trustees attempt, unforgivably, to waylay the trajectory of progress and burgeoning improvement our university has seen under a talented chancellor, mentor and friend. Jones is a gift to the university. We stand with our chancellor.
