Dan Jones is seen in his office Friday, March 27. Photo by: Kayla Beatty
After the Wednesday rally comprising 2,500 people in the Circle, Chancellor Dan Jones said Friday in an interview with The Daily Mississippian that he felt gratitude to the students and community who worked to make it a success.
“It’s good for the Ole Miss family to be pulled together,” Jones said. “Someone made the comment that this was probably the largest gathering of students for a non-athletic event on our campus ever and how good is that?”
Jones said when he was in college “student activism was a part of college culture – it was expected.” In the past 30 years, however, that level of activism has quietly stood by on the Ole Miss campus until last Friday’s announcement of the non-renewal of Jones’ contract culminated in the planned rally. Jones said he appreciated the work students put into organizing the rally.
“The rally had key messaging points,” Jones said. “The civility was something that was planned. The course of history suggests that kind of civil approach to messaging in rally is more effective than a more mean spirited approach.”
Jones said this rally showed a unity in the university that exercises student speech in a healthy way.
“I’m certainly gratified that my name was on the signs and so forth, but this is an Ole Miss issue,” Jones said. “I can’t tell you how good this has been this week on this campus, the way the students engage in a meaningful way, the huge response of students participating in the rally, the civil dialogue that has taken place.”
The State Institutions of Higher Learning held an emergency meeting 2 p.m. Friday, wherein they spent the majority of the meeting in executive session. Jones said, to his knowledge, this meeting was “not a decision making meeting but an information exchange.”
The college board’s decision to oust Jones was predominantly centered on management at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where Jones was vice-chancellor and dean for six years. Jones said he didn’t agree with the Institutions of Higher Education’s decision.
“I disagree with the board about some of the issues that have been identified – important business issues that we need to continue to work on,” Jones said. “I certainly disagree with that as any kind of indicator of Dr. Keeton’s leadership or the leadership I’ve provided as chancellor.”
Jones said what he most wanted to stress about this week was his appreciation of the students and their work.
“I’m grateful for a lot of people who have come forward and offered support to me,” Jones said. “I’m so proud of our students.”
– Clara Turnage
