The college board announced Jeffrey S. Vitter as the preferred candidate for the University of Mississippi today at the Lyceum. Vitter is currently provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas.

Alan Perry, president of the Board of Trustees, said Vitter will be on campus next Thursday Oct. 29 for the campus interview.

Perry said Vitter will have an opportunity to meet with students and faculty, where individuals will be able to rank the candidate. He said the college board will decide that afternoon if Vitter will serve as our new chancellor depending on the rankings students and faculty give him.

Perry said Vitter will start around early February if everything goes smoothly.

The Board Search Committee and the Campus Search Advisory Committee unanimously selected Vitter due to an outstanding academic resume. according to Perry.

Perry said the announcement came to the University today because of Vitter’s outstanding resume and the competition for acquiring Vitter.

“Our candidate is a scholar of great renown,” Perry said. “We believe he is the right candidate at the right time.”