Here's a message I just sent off to the IHL:

President Klumb has already helped to inflict severe damage on USM; now, apparently, he is doing the same thing to his own alma mater.  IHL members: is this the kind of leadership you want?

May 26, 2004

Petty fight over 'the cigar boys' is hurting MSU
By Sid Salter
ssalter@clarionledger.com

In common parlance, major donors to universities are sometimes called "the cigar boys."Call them what you will — the heavy hitters, the money men, the folks that write big checks — but every university has them. In Mississippi, where the Legislature consistently can't be counted upon to adequately fund public higher education, thank God for those who will give of their personal wealth to improve public education facilities.Matter of survival
Not only does every university have such donors, every university actively seeks such donors through development foundations or other entities. Private endowment of public higher education today is simply survival.Most high-profile donors — like Mississippi State University mega-patron Dave Swalm — want nothing in return save the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of their life's work dedicated to making the future better and brighter for deserving young people. When the current College Board tiff over the extension of Mississippi State University Athletic Director Larry Templeton's contract is boiled down to gravy, the main discontent that board member Scott Ross of West Point and board president Roy Klumb of Gulfport have centers on their apparent resentment of the influence they perceive "the cigar boys" to enjoy in the university's athletic programs. That is, particularly when compared with the level of influence that both these esteemed board members seem to perceive that they should enjoy.After all, aren't Ross and Klumb — as the beneficiaries of the purely political largess of former governors Musgrove and Fordice respectively in winning coveted College Board appointments — supposed to have the real clout here at our dear old alma mater?Can't have "the cigar boys" having too much influence over the athletic program, can we? Not when big, bad College Board members should be wielding that kind of influence, right? Wrong.Two types of members
In my observation of the institution, there are two types of College Board members. First, there are those who have a genuine desire to serve the state's entire higher education system and leave it better than they found it.Despite the obvious politics of winning a seat on the College Board, this state has been blessed more often than not with men and women serving on the board who want to build a better university system for all Mississippians.The second type of board member includes the persons who see a College Board seat as leverage to force their will on their own alma maters or to see how much misery they can inflict on the rival schools of their alma mater.They like bragging about who they "hired" or "ran off" on university faculties or coaching staffs and they like calling the university presidents by their first names in crowds for maximum name-drop appeal.For the latter category, College Board service isn't about the kids or the universities they attend — it's about the board member and his or her ego.Ross and Klumb have yet to define which path their board service will ultimately take, but singling out their alma mater's athletic director for contractual reprisal and glibly comparing MSU's program to that at the University of Colorado is simply petty and irresponsible.State has a strong, capable leader in President Charles Lee. Templeton has the support of the vast majority of MSU alumni — "cigar boys" and upper deck ticket holders as well — for his undeniable record of service to the university.Dr. Lee has been entrusted to hire and fire at MSU, not Messrs. Ross or Klumb. Their resentment of the "cigar boys" shouldn't become Dr. Lee's problem.Contact Perspective Editor Sid Salter at (601) 961-7084 or e-mail ssalter@clarionledger.com.