University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones speaks in his office on the campus in Oxford, Miss., Friday, March 20, 2015. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
Four days after returning to his office at The University of Mississippi, Chancellor Dan Jones learned Thursday that the Mississippi Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning would not renew his contract. His service as chancellor will conclude Sept. 14.
“I love this university, and I’m very saddened that I’m not going to be able to finish my career as chancellor,” Jones told The Daily Mississippian Friday in an interview in his office. “It’s very sad for me personally and for my wife, Lydia. We love this place.”
Jim Borsig, commissioner of higher education said in an official statement that the Board voted Friday to begin appropriate preparations to conduct a search process for the next chancellor of The University of Mississippi.
“Chancellors come and go, and (The University of Mississippi) has survived good and bad chancellors for a long time,” Jones said. “We continue to move forward, and we’re positioned in a great way to continue our positive momentum.”
Jones was diagnosed with lymphoma last November and completed his last round of chemotherapy treatment at the end of February. On Monday, he released a letter to the university expressing his gratitude to be back on campus, saying, “It’s so good to be back.”
In a statement released via email Friday, Jones said that the board’s decision was not health-related.
“I was informed a key concern for the board was my relationship to board members and the Commissioner and my unwillingness to adjust to the board’s desired governance structure,” he said in the statement.
Jones has expressed concern and disagreement with the board in some areas over the years, including the funding allocation plan that distributes state funds to various public universities, business issues at the medical center and responsibility for managing the selection process for the position of vice chancellor to lead the medical center.
Although he is disappointed in the board’s decision, Jones said that he, his wife Lydia and The University of Mississippi “will be fine.”
“God has given (my wife and me) a lot of opportunities in life, and I’m sure he’s got some other adventure planned for us in the next phase of life,” he said as he clasped hands and smiled. “I’ll start searching for what that is.”
