which one?  he has two.

there are two.  i taught the other one.  Frances went to Mississippi State as an undergrad I think.

My favorite quote:

Women's rights and feminism played an enormous role in my life. At age 29, I was the youngest vice president for student affairs in the country and the first female vice president at Baldwin-Wallace College. Afterward, I became the first female vice president at Emory University, and then the first female president of Millsaps College. Breaking new ground at Baldwin-Wallace and Emory helped prepare me for the wonderful opportunity to lead Millsaps. Without progress towards women's rights, I wouldn't have had any of those privileges.

Maybe she could become the first female president at USM?  Where's the 'fingers crossed' icon?

It has been long rumored in some colleges out there at USM that Lucas' daughter was being "groomed" to be president at USM.

Those same rumors had some negative points with them, unfortuanely.

One, the nepotism sort of perspective, such that should she be any more "entitled" just because she was Lucas's daughter. This was at a time when Aubrey himself was in hot water. I will not go there but many here know what I mean. Some here tend to gloss over Aubrey's many failings, though compared to Thames, Aubrey looks good and would be all for faculty governance. I think Neil McMillan put it best: "Aubrey had a very very long learning curve." But in the end, sometimes he did learn.

Anyway, I remember hearing a "source" discuss his daughter's upcoming coronation, but that was just before the Thames thing and the switcheroo from search committee to number one board favorite.

It was also rumored before Flemming came to USM, another failed presidency of sorts, that Aubrey's daughter was "not quite ready."

I personally do not like coronations and others related to prior leaders being "groomed." I would like the best person for the job, who can indeed forge ahead with economic development with ethics and dignity without cutting off the rest of the university.

Finally, another negative was that the IHL board, indeed, was and would be interested in Lucas' daughtter for the very reason that her background and demeanor would lend herself to a perceived "weak" leadership, just what the IHL board wanted.

That is, she would in theory be a weak leader who could be controlled easier than Lucas was. Lucas was weak with our IHL board, and we all know that, even though he was gentleman.

Given her background, I'd have grave reservations for seeing her as USM's savior. I need to know more, but let it be known that the board, at least this current board, does not really want a dynamic leader down here.

At the low salary USM pays, it will be difficult to find the right leadership, but Donald Cotten comes to mind as the right mix of techology driven economic development without leaving off the traditional areas of liberal arts and all the rest.

I think that is the VERY reason Don was jettisoned by the IHL board. He was too competent.

The board can fire away at me, but I am sure of this.

quote:

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Originally posted by: greedy
"I think that is the VERY reason Don was jettisoned by the IHL board. He was too competent. The board can fire away at me, but I am sure of this."

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Competence has nothing to do with it. In the end, the simple fact was that Shelby had more rich buddies than Don. The last thing the IHL board wanted to do was appoint a competent president at USM.

On the Frances Lucas front, she was president at Millsaps. In fact, she is still listed as president at their website. <A HREF="http://www.millsaps.edu/get_to_know/president.shtml">Millsaps President's Welcome</A>