I hope Dr. Lucas will speak out now because (a) he now has nothing to lose; (b) if he speaks out now he has a good chance to emerge as one of the real heroes of this mess; (c) if he fails to speak out now, people will increasingly question his motives and his reputation will be tarnished; (d) like all of us, he is mortal and he should have some interest in how he will be remembered by history.  I am serious about that; think of the people who are now largely forgotten except for their roles in Exit 13.

This remark about being remembered by history gives me a chance, by the way, to put in a plug for the new film about Troy, which (in my opinion) is being unfairly maligned by critics.  Despite some flaws, it is much better than they are suggesting or than I had expected it to be.  Being properly remembered is a major theme of the film. 

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Originally posted by: Invictus
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If AKL speaks now, he will demolish whatever chance, however remote, that his daughter has of being president of USM at some point in the future. IHL board members serve ridiculously long terms. Don't forget that."

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One could make the opposite argument.

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Originally posted by: The Shadow
"One could make the opposite argument."

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Then make it, Shadow!

But the way I see it, Shelby Thames is exactly what the IHL board wanted. The power brokers wanted somebody to whack USM out of the "comprehensive" university category. Shelby is delivering for them in spades. Those guys are delighted. Now, should AKL speak out against Thames, he's insulting the very people he might want to curry favor with later on.

But why does Dr. Lucas' daughter have to be president of USM?  She's president of Millsaps now, is she not?  There is a whole country full of good colleges she could go on to, should she even want to move up.

I will say that I think any woman, even a Lucas, would have a hard time at USM.  I thought that when I saw Ann Hart (one of the candidates against Thames, is now prez at U. of N.Hampshire).  Watching her, I knew she didn't have a prayer.  The only kind of woman who could make it is an ex-Marine D.I. who later joined a convent and became Mother Superior of some tough missionary order, and who coached a little football on the side, all the while being serene and gracious and looking like Ingrid Bergman in that movie. 

Would Dr. Lucas sacrifice the whole university to some possible ambition of his family, an ambition that doesn't even have to exist?

I only know Dr. Lucas from a couple of brief conversations on campus in the mid 90's, which is to say, not at all. I have friends on the USM faculty who describe him as decent and fair-minded, but meek, even timid. It seems unlikely to me that he'd be willing to leap into the midst of a very ugly fray and risk sullying his own reputation. What's the upside for him, if he were to speak out publicly, or attempt to intervene with the IHL? Another interim presidency? Wouldn't he too become the target of Thames attack dogs, or worse?

Speaking of Hanbury, his was a remarkably swift disappearing act. He seems to have left without so much as a whimper of protest. Not that it's important now, but I'd sure like to know the details of his execution, er, termination. Perhaps it could be used as a template for the elimination other Thames lackys.

Is it known for certain that the Hanbury dismissal was ordered by the AG, and triggered by his ham-fisted e-mail to the deans?

Now everyone knows the AKL that I have known so well the past 20 years.

Nice man, such a gentlemen, yet he is weak in many ways.

He is now being revealed for who he is and I am sure many on this board, some of whom saw him as our "savior" twice removed, are in mourning over the realization of AKL's failures.

No, he was not a vengeful man like SFT, but he hurt lots of people by never ever going against the lieutenants and colnels below him..........even when they were dead wrong........ and even when he knew they broke the rules.

Aubrey ALWAYS covered for the bad people below him, that "code of silence" for administrators another poster brought up. That was his downfall.

While AKL did wonderful things like initiate faculty governance with the Facutly Senate as one example, he was often petty in a different way that SFT. AKL did not have "vendettas" but he never once went against his commanders below him, even when they committed gross viololations of the faculty handbook. AKL was not above lying to cover his subordinates, even as he deliberated as a statesman and a gentleman. Odd mixture was AKL.

Now, sadly, the board sees who he really is, working weakly behind the scenes but no one listens to him. He was jerked around the IHL for 22 years, and he was happy to scarf up the "scraps" on the table that Ole Miss and MSU allowed him to have.

USM did pretty well with that model, and he even had salaries well above the other two, if you did not count summer pay. One way Aubrey did that was to fool around with funny money and to postpone any investment in technology. That caused much of the Fleming/McGowan problems.

I can hear many of AKL's supporters wimpering right now, for he was a good man, who compared to SFT did good things for USM, given his limitations.

He is hurt now and he grieves for USM but he will do nothing. It is not in his nature.

The higher ed environment was very different when AKL was President.  Plus, he's retired, and deservedly so. To call him to action at this point is very short sighted. We need an outsider as President, no questions asked. Will this work in Mississippi?  Maybe not.  But I'd rather go down fighting.  At the very least we can point at what happened and say "I told you so."

Not being from MS, I don't have a dog in the hunt.  I love USM and hope that it reaches what it could be. But in the long run, it's not going to hurt my family if the higher ed environment in the state suffers b/c of what happens now.

The other universities in the state have nothing to lose from this, because we all know that public perception (nationally & internationally) of them is not going to change one bit, even if they gain from this in the short term. No way they will ever become competetive comprehensive research universities, ever. MS's population will never support a major medical research center & the ag & engineering coverage in the state is overshadowed by more prominent programs like UF, UGA, GA TECH, etc.

But if they bring us down, bring them all down with us.  Make every effort possible to convince students, foundations, donors, to channel their efforts out of state-

 

Notes about AKL's career, taken from Univ. Libraries web site:

http://www.lib.usm.edu/~archives/usmhist.htm

On July 1, 1975, Dr. Aubrey Keith Lucas became the sixth president of USM. Dr. Lucas had a long history at USM, having served as instructor, Director of Admissions, Registrar, and Dean of the Graduate School. He was also an alumnus. Numerous accomplishments punctuated the Lucas years. Among them were institution of a system of vice presidents; establishment of the School of Library Science; institution of the Honors College; formation of the Teaching and Learning Resource Center; creation of the Faculty Senate; establishment of the Center for International Education; replacement of the quarter system with the semester system; creation of the Polymer Science Institute; reorganization of the University's ten schools into six Colleges; formation of the Institute for Learning in Retirement; and affiliation with Conference USA. Notable additions to the Physical Plant were The R. C. Cook University Union, The Speech and Hearing Building, M. M. Roberts Stadium expansion, the C. W. Woods Art Gallery, the Chain Technology Center, the Polymer Science Building, the Payne Fitness Center, and a five-story addition to Cook Library. In 1995, a donation to the University of $150,000 produced spectacular results. The money was donated by Hattiesburg laundress, Miss Oseola McCarty, and represented the majority of her life's savings. No one could have predicted the local, national, and international response to her selfless act. Miss McCarty received countless awards, including the Presidential Citizen's Medal, and her name became a household word. By association, USM also became a household word. Dr. Lucas stepped down from the presidency on December 31, 1996. As President Emeritus, he maintains an office in the William D. McCain Library and Archives.

Aubrey Lucas anecdote: The following observations regarding Dr. Lucas are credited to Dr. Clyde Ginn. "I have never known that man to tell a lie, even when it would probably benefit him." "He doesn't believe gossip", Ginn added. "If you can't verify it, don't bother to tell him."

Ummm..... Get Ginn or anyone to tell this same tale about SFT.

Lucas did not start the Honors College, Dr. McCain did in 1965, with the first 'class' starting in 1966. USM has the fifth oldest Honors College in the nation (Michigan State was the first).

  I posted this earlier- maybe no one was interested-or maybe it just got lost in the thread-sorry-would like to try again

  Reference is made a lot to a national search and an outsider-Has USM ever had someone from outside the South at the helm or in an upper level administrative position? Has it ever had a president from outside Mississippi except for Fleming who didn't fare well. I ask because I don't know, and I also would like to get the very best no matter where he/she is from-but could an outsider work with the system, understand the culture, be accepted in the long term particularly if this person is a change agent? And does the university need a change agent now or someone to "maintain the organization" after this heady period of turmoil? 

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Originally posted by: LVN
"But why does Dr. Lucas' daughter have to be president of USM?  She's president of Millsaps now, is she not?  There is a whole country full of good colleges she could go on to, should she even want to move up. I will say that I think any woman, even a Lucas, would have a hard time at USM.  I thought that when I saw Ann Hart (one of the candidates against Thames, is now prez at U. of N.Hampshire).  Watching her, I knew she didn't have a prayer.  The only kind of woman who could make it is an ex-Marine D.I. who later joined a convent and became Mother Superior of some tough missionary order, and who coached a little football on the side, all the while being serene and gracious and looking like Ingrid Bergman in that movie.  Would Dr. Lucas sacrifice the whole university to some possible ambition of his family, an ambition that doesn't even have to exist?"

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I guess my point was.....I beg to differ on your opinion about a woman not fitting the bill for Prez!!

I am all for a woman to be the next president of USM, as long as she does not have the name Lucas in her name somewhere. I understand from my Millsaps friends that she is about as welcome there as Shelby is here. The alumni are drying up their checkbooks as long as she remains at Millsaps.

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Originally posted by: Grey Knight
"I am all for a woman to be the next president of USM, as long as she does not have the name Lucas in her name somewhere. I understand from my Millsaps friends that she is about as welcome there as Shelby is here. The alumni are drying up their checkbooks as long as she remains at Millsaps."

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I am glad to see that Grey. I wish there were more open-minded people like you around. I know the perfect woman leader that USM needs, but at this point she might kill me if I even mention her name. 

:quote:

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Originally posted by: Grey Knight
"Please mention her name and I will check the troll section of the obits to see if our burden has been lightened."

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        :)