I am disgusted by the way USM President Shelby Thames and his surrogates continue to spin their current troubles into a liberal vs. conservative, right vs. left battle. The fact is, Dr. Thames, I am a lifelong Republican. I voted for President George W. Bush in 2000 and plan to vote for him again in November.

Yet I have become convinced that Dr. Thames is destroying the very fabric of Southern Miss. With his phony piety of wrapping himself in the mantle of a conservative martyr, Thames further degrades the leadership and values of real conservative and Republican leaders in our state and federal government.

The struggle under way at Southern Miss is not about rank partisanship, but rather safeguarding the values that every American holds dear. A truly world-class university enshrines the values of free speech, meritocracy and shared governance against the backward impulses of cronyism, nepotism and despotism.

Dr. Thames has steered Southern Miss for only two years now, but to undo the damage done in just a handful of departments may take 20. Another two years and the decades of hard work and devotion put in by the experienced and talented faculty fleeing USM in droves will have been ripped out wholesale.

Dr. Thames has proven he cannot successfully lead the faculty, staff and students of USM. If the members of the IHL board truly value these constituents of Southern Miss, they will promptly ask Dr. Thames to tender his resignation.

Adam Sencenbaugh, Hattiesburg

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