Jackson Jambalaya

What that audit engagement put out to bid? Or was it given to that firm nobody has ever heard of for a different reason?

You can find a little firm like that that will say anything for a big enough fee. Witch hunt from the start

As with other large state agencies and departments, all of the good employees have either retired or moved to greener pastures because they have not gotten a raise in 7 years while their insurance rates have gone up steadily. The accounting staff of every agency in this state is held together by a thread, staffed by a lot of incompetent hangers-on and they are all using computer systems woefully inadequate. Let's do an audit of every agency and department in the state, you won't find anything different that what UMMC is accused of doing.

Some y'all need to get out more. That's not a "little" firm for Jackson.

So with a $1.6 billion ANNUAL budget for UMMC they are talking abot $22 million in contracts over 6 years. That sounds very, very far fetched. MDOT, MDOC and others have had much worse problems than that.

Read the audit. While many of the contracts and related problems happened on Jones' watch, many also happened before a specific Office for contracts was established in 2012. However, things continue to be a structural and administrative screw up. Still no written policy or procedure manual....contracts entered for limits below thresholds that would subject them for review, an institution that believed a lease only applied to real estate and not personal property (medical equipment)? Someone bears the burden for accountability.....IHL chose Jones, right or wrong. This is why healthcare costs so much.

Who haven't we heard from yet about this intolerable dismissal? Sela Ward, B.B. King, Gerald McRaney, Morgan Freeman, Oprah? Where's Dickie? Certainly Dickie is flummoxed about this unbelievable miscarriage. Oh, the hue and cry. The water walker Dan Jones can never be replaced.

Keep digging KF. Lots more there and don't ignore the past chancellor and his connection with Jones. Much much more.

Amen 9:18 & 9:24.

Is the 9/14 audit the one cited by IHL in their statement yesterday?

The C-L said they cited an audit that became available only last month.

(Sorry, reading too quickly. So 2d audit not released.)

It seems odd that with a new boss, Woodward, just then coming in, they wouldn't give her a chance to clean house.

That's one of the things that smells weird about pinning this on Jones. I mean, if I were him, I'd say "take your recommendations to the new vice-chancellor, she's the one running the med school."

The Ford Foundation
https://www.activistfacts.com/foundation/103-fordfoundation/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=act

Well said 9:24.

I’m one of the ones who left State government.

Actually my agency was worse than what you describe.

Whoa!
First of all, I don't expect a Chancellor to micromanage.
Key is the " similar findings" from the last audit.
Were there personnel changes then and was there improvement in the last 5 five years? And, was it reasonable given the past findings?
What did the reports to the Chancellor look like from the personnel at UMMC?
Were there other priorities that needed to be addressed at UMMC?
One of the things I've noticed is that UMMC is more efficient in patient care and is by far, the very best over other hospitals and clinics at getting tests done and back to the patient in a timely manner. The lack of getting critical test scheduled and information back is literally killing people in this state!
Given the " old boy" nature of all state government contracts in MS, this is an interesting area on which the IHL decides to " hang their hat".
I think I'd be looking at who did or didn't get contracts and their connection to the IHL...now and then.

Right now I know what I don't know...which is alot. All we know is there was a firing, some UMMC operations were cited as a reason, and we have a public audit and mention of another one not yet released. This non-CPA made an attempt to wade, and I do mean wade, through the 2014 audit. Feel free to correct or make observations about the audit or my interpretations.

Yeah I hear ya. But our athletic programs have done so well and Archie says we should keep him. Please get your priorities in order.

If you know your Bosses are unhappy with you, correct the audit finding or not get rehired. This could have been an audit from DOC. Jones did not think he had to account to anyone.

Glancing over the audit (which I'm even less qualified than KF to read), I see a lot of problems identified, and a lot of UMC responses saying they're doing this or that - pointing particularly to their new (2012) department that is trying to get things straightened out.

Thus far, I'm inclined to agree with Barksdale: this is stuff you straighten out, not a valid reason to fire the UM chancellor.

... From the wrapup, p. 78:

"We also discussed in length the post-contract process and the Contract Management System that is set to go live in spring 2015. This management system will assist the Office of Contracts Administration in oversight of the contracts. The contract owners will still be charged with the responsibility of monitoring their contracts, but this will allow the Office of Contracts Administration to help alert them when they are nearing expiration and/or overspend as well as expected rebate amounts.

"The Office of Contracts Administration has made progress in the contract process by clearing up past errors when found, improving new contracts, and working to correct lapses and overspends as they become aware of such. We have observed that UMMC has hired new personnel to fulfill the areas of the Finance Department, Legal Department, Supply Chain Management, Department of Information Technology, etc. We feel as though in time
the contract process will continue to improve."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronnie-musgrove/something-rotten-in-oxfor_b_6928482.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

Ole Miss folks are making real fools of themselves, treating as an act against Ole Miss rather than Jones.Such sheep being misled by the former chancellor.Sad

I'm not the expert but I feel pretty sure it's a giant fallacy to claim this is no big deal since everybody else has similar systemic issues in their agency.

The looming point here is that Jones was told by his employer several times over the past two or three years to correct cited deficiencies and he, in his arrogant wisdom, chose to ignore that counsel.

If every commode in town is over-flowing, do you ignore yours for that reason?

I don't see what any of this has to do with who the head ball coach is. That's all that matters.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronnie-musgrove/something-rotten-in-oxfor_b_6928482.html

Here's a direct link to Ronnie's Ode to Dan Jones since 11:00 AM & 11:28 AM are too lazy to learn HTML.

Did Butler Snow run over Musgrove's dog?

I have a feeling there is a lot more to this story than what is known by the public now. Jones probably should go away quietly, or he and others are going to wish he had.

What is a concern to many Ole Miss alums is that the school will get splintered on this issue. Jones has done that before on some of the social issues, but more importantly and visibly on his refusal to fire Pete Boone.

I appreciate someone besides the Clarion Ledger looking into this. They appear to be so deeply in bed with Jones they cannot even see objective reporting.

I'm a CPA. Haven't had a chance to read the audit findings but the CPA firm that did the audit is reputable, at least IMO.

For heaven's sake, Grisham said to rehire the guy. Just do it would ya!!

Good work, Kingfish. But I need the TLDR executive summary, once you have it ready.

Specifically, was this or was this not a hit job put out by Butler Snow (the "for profit branch of state government" --funny!)because Jones wouldn't pay for its protection? Or is Musgrove just out of his mind?

Thanks in advance.

Read the end of the Huffpo column. Ryan Brown. It fits with some of his other conspiracy theories.

To cottonmouth dude Ryan Brown... "You mad bro?"

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! What crap! They have every right not review that contract. Liberals heads are exploding.

Dam, this should have read the government of the Great State of Mississippi.

You really think Ronnie wrote that!! Sounds like a Grisham short story from the first paragraph.

Jones via Khayat is the last connection that the trial lawyers have to control in Mississippi. Yeah, Ryan Brown is a conspiracy theorist and Sam Hall a numbskull but this does have all the marking of a Haley Barbour hit.

Did Butler Snow run over Musgrove's dog?

After reading Ronnie's epistle, I'm more interested in his dog.

How about just let Ole Miss split off and be a private institution? If they don't want state oversight, then quit taking state money. Its been cut so much already that they probably could pull it off. Especially if the Barksdales and Grishams of the world put their money where their mouth is.

Ds vs Rs. Just look at who the Jones supporters are. This is right out of the Obama play book. A few good Ole Miss name people being used but this is all the Ds holding on.

So the legislature's solution is to create eight separate boards instead of one. Now that is what I call government efficiency at its best.

I say we eliminate all governing boards in state government. Let the governor be in charge. That's what we elect him for isn't it? This would save millions and millions.

I scanned through the audit. It looks like a collection of nothing but extremely trivial challenges to routine purchases. Nearly all of the vendors are companies who have done business with UMMC for decades. They even had things as a trivial as a $355 check made to the Mississippi Fair Commission (State Of Mississippi) and purchases of bottled water for the dispensers throughout the building. This was a hatchet job. I think IHL made the decision long ago. The audits are just a way to give them some cover and they have done an extremely poor job of that.

Jones was hand picked by one man, that being Robert Khayat and was removed by a legal board after he received many warnings. Move on..

What was the Butler Snow role in all of this according to Ronnie?

2:54pm
Butler Snow ran over his dog

Every R I have talked to wants Jones back. It's the 60's style D's that have old man costumes and flags in their closet that want him gone.

Did Butler Snow draft the column? It reads like a litany of reasons why to hire the firm. I guess Musgrove is no longer at the Copeland Cook firm; they would not have sanctioned the publication of a half-baked hit job like this.

I've been hearing about this Butler Snow matter for a few days now, and then Musgrove writes about.....wow!

Actually, this is not an audit, but "Agreed-Upon Procedures" performed by a CPA firm. It tells me that someone up the line identified some suspected problems areas and hired that firm to look into them. I doubt if the firm doing the annual audit would have looked as deeply into these areas in performing their routine financial audit.

Please read greatest article ever written by Ronnie freaking Musgrove. "Something rotten in Oxford" on Huffington Post. Instant classic!

"Butler Snow could be considered the 'for-profit' arm of our state government." Ronnie Musgrove

Get over it. Shit. People get fired. Move on.

Simply put, if the board reinstates him, does the board really exist at all?

4:06 - thanks, that's interesting. So would the 2d audit have been a full-fledged audit motivated by these findings? Guess we'll wait to find out when the IHL releases the audit or else a court makes them release it.

2:01 - Great attempt at a spin job. Where in Dan's world do you operate?

As noted, this was not an 'audit' commissioned by the IHL, but rather a look at specific operating procedures. You note the comments about bottled water, and a check to the Fair commission.

But you conveniently skip over the
"nearly a million dollars overbilled by its housekeeping company because it wasn't reconciling statements" or the fact that UMMC "didn't receive nearly half a million dollars from University Physicians when it merged in 2012." among many other issues.

OK - don't worry about the $350. Lets worry about some of the other issues.

Also, I believe it is not mentioned in this document but check into the recent 'purchase' of the Courthouses and the $6 million pocketed by the owner as he bailed out of this business. Another way for UMMC to move into the 'for profit hospital business' competing with Baptist, St D, etc instead of performing their 'teaching hospital' purpose for which UMMC was created.

Hey Colonel. Get back to your cubicle at Butler Snow. There has got to be something you could be billing Kemper.

The IHL board approved the courthouse purchase. Funny part was UMC said it will lose money on the deal for the first 18 months.

4:55 PM, Dr. Keeton in the Clarion Ledger article pointed out the figure of $7 billion. The numbers flagged in the audit are nowhere near even 1%. There is nothing in the audit to support IHL. Absolutely nothing.

Kingfish--before the dust settles on this issue--why not use this as an opportunity to ask why we have such an inefficient, hopelessly outdated system of higher education--in bidness when u are threatened w marginal profits or survivability the FIRST thing u consider is consolidation--why do we have SOOOO many mediocre, redundant courses and plants (schools)---There shud be ONE university system--the long term benefits wud be dramatic--

True enough but we need to see the last audit. I'm keeping an open mind. However, given the PR beating IHL is taking right now, there needs to be some serious leaking if there is any documentation to support the firing.

Which came first, the PR campaign or the PR?

Seriously this circus is beginning to look like the 3-ringer Mikey Moore orchestrated when it became clear that his private tobaccy slush fund was placed on the endangered species list.

Jones serves as an at-will employee. Period. It doesn't matter one lick what the other audit found. He's not going to get reinstated.

Current and former members of the Vienna Boys Choir have issued a statement condemning Dan Jones' firing. They are flying in from all points of the globe to sing at a Grove protest this weekend.

This was a special audit. I'm wondering if this audit was requested by Bounds. Perry alluded that Bounds had issues/suspicions about things financial at UMMC. Khayat even referenced Bounds in his editorial letter. It appears that the Audit was begun sometime after March 2014 which was the end period they examined and it was specifically limited to purchasing and contracting procedures.

The audit was delivered in September, Jones got sick in November, and Bounds took the Nebraska job in January. Perry by his own words yesterday has the utmost respect for Bounds, yet could not raise really eye popping examples of major problems one would think an audit would uncover.

The fact that so many insiders have no clue what really happened based on the numerous theories thrown out, and the fact that the 3 Ole Miss alums all voted not to renew makes me wonder if we're more likely to learn why the Germanwings jet crashed than why IHL did what they did.

6:00 PM this is one of the most broad based coalitions of people the state has seen in quite awhile. If IHL sticks to their position they will have to offer quite a lot more than what they have so far.

Just for shitz and giggles can anyone name anything of value IHL brings to the State?

Nice offices, large salaries for employees, free football tickets/suites, university plane rides for board members don't count for the purposes of the above query.

Broad based coalition? ROFLMAO Let us know when the big Repub dogs publicly call for Jones' rehiring. Until then your broad basec coalition shoots blanks.

Hi Donner and Todd. Good to see you over here trolling for story ideas and leads.

Looking forward to the Freedom of Information requests that are about to go out to all IHL members requesting all emails containing Dan and Jones. They will scream confidential employee matter. Jones will waive confidentiality. Then the fun starts. Wonder who will be entangled in that one?

"Also, I believe it is not mentioned in this document but check into the recent 'purchase' of the Courthouses and the $6 million pocketed by the owner as he bailed out of this business. Another way for UMMC to move into the 'for profit hospital business' competing with Baptist, St D, etc instead of performing their 'teaching hospital' purpose for which UMMC was created."

I remember when this was announced a few months ago the paper made note that Jimmy Keeton thanked the COurthouse owner, describing him as "an old fraternity brother of mine", for his "donation". Then I read that UMMC was PAYING HIM for the "donation", and expected to lose money operating the Courthouse chain. This whole deal seemed like a crony capitalism giveaway to Keeton's "old fraternity brother" and a big money loser for UMMC.

Section (i) page 40-42 of the audit is interesting if anything. Where does the money come from to pay opportunity cost to physicians/dentists who are performing administrative, teaching, or supervisory activities rather than practicing medicine/dentistry. Anyone know if this is common in academic medicine to do this?

Ronnie Musgrove is not longer employed by Copeland Cook.

Has it occurred to anyone that the Board is under absolutely no obligation to lay out it's reasons for non-renewal of employee contracts? You people keep harping about 'freedom of information' and them 'having something to explain' and 'once the details are made public'....when, in fact, they are at liberty to do no such thing.

At will employment means just that. As long as the non retention was not a violation of federal (there are no state) employment laws, his dismissal is uncontestable. He is simply a 'contract employee' whose retention is decided wholly by the employer.

But, he still has about six months in which to change Vaught-Hemmingway to Manning-Grisham.

1:27 - IHL is a public entity, not Walmart.

1:27 am You seem to forget that Board is a government body and their first obligation is to and their financial support is from the taxpayers of Mississippi.

And, the Chancellor's job is not to make the IHL love him, but to make sure Ole Miss and UMMC do well. If the IHL wants him to do things that aren't in the interest of the University and what is asked isn't trumped by needs of the State, he should refuse.

The bottom line is that the IHL is supposed to work for us and are to act in the best interest of the State of Mississippi. They are not to please politicians, or special interest groups or favor friends.

And, they certainly could have, like is done most of the time when failure of performance happens at the upper levels of the organizational chart , outline those failures specifically to the person, let them know they have the choice of being fired with all the details of cause revealed or they can resign.

I would remind you as well, that this was not a unanimous decision.

So, the manner in which the IHL handled things is the cause of the current divisiveness.

One would think that if the Chancellor was as uncooperative as it's been portrayed, all members of the board would have voted to fire him.

Nevertheless, if their is cause for being fired, the IHL should have no problem making that clear and the Chancellor should have gone quietly.

That the IHL releases audits rather than their minutes and documents where they have given reasonable instructions that were not carried out, is a primary reason why everyone is suspicious.

It is poor management to fire someone who is doing a good job just because you and a few others don't want to go have a beer with them.

The ultimate goal is to strip the University Medical Center from Ole Miss and make it a separate institution. That's what this is about.

While $22 million is a lot of money, it represents an error rate of 0.2% of all expenditures over the 6-year period in which the contracts were reviewed.

For those keeping score at home, that's like planning to spend $100 and actually end up spending $100.24.

The state wants total control of UMMC. And this is their power play for it.

Expect the recently appointed VC to be dismissed at the end of the year and replaced by a guy named Blake Thompson, who currently is a political liaison to Washington for The Ohio State University.

Connect the dots and follow the money.

Cochran....Keenum....Thompson.....Morgan.....Delta Health Alliamce.....Barbour...Bounds....Butler Snow....
Bryant...on and on and on

Of course this is about power, money, control, influence peddling, along with wasteful and profligate govt. spending

There may have been inerrant business practices at UMMC, but there was a cast of characters that wanted Jones out form the beginning

So, I guess its ok to squander 22 million if you've got plenty public money to burn.

9:21,

If you expect perfection from a public agency you're as crazy as the argument you're putting forth. $22 mill is a drop in the bucket for a large state agency. Department of Corrections much?

None of the $22 million out of $7 billion was squandered. Most went to supplies and services from long term vendors of UMMC. Nothing in the audit supports IHL, just makes them look much worse.

This circus has gotten out of hand.

For whatever reason, the IHL chose not to renew Jones' contract. When Jones was appointed, there was nothing that said he was appointed for life or until he decided he did not want the job. His supporters are basically crying over spilled milk, and everyone calling for the IHL to "reconsider" is basically teaching anarchy to the many students (at last count about 1,600 out of the total student population pushing 20,000) who want to "protest" this firing.

If the IHL bows to this pressure, Jones will not have to answer to anyone, and he can do as he pleases.

Timing being everything in life, Rick Ray displayed much more class in his dismissal than Dan Jones did in his. A sad day for all.

Obviously, Dan Jones is one of those arrogant individuals who does not believe the rules apply to him. What he does not seem to understand is that he is/was an employee and Mississippi is an "at will" state. A gentlemen would have accepted the board's decision and moved on. However, he seems to be one who enjoys "stirring the pot." His actions, since being named Chancellor at Ole Miss, have done nothing other than stir controversy, dividing supporters and alumni.

Also, to address the issue of the audit; I notice that one posting on here described the CPA firm as some "little firm" that would say anything. This statement could not be farther from the truth. This firm is not "little" and has been in business for years in the Jackson Metro and has an impeccable reputation. They also have more than one location in Mississippi. The only thing that can be classified as "little" in this entire "fiasco" is the behavior of Dan Jones. He has lost a great deal of credibility in the eyes of a number of Mississippians.

I wish the UMMC staff would get back to work and quit responding to every single post. If you are looking for something to do, I suggest you start with looking at your contracting procedures.

Yeah right 10:57. Go kick your dog. The IHL is the loser of credibility, not Dan Jones, whom I am sure you have never met.

10:57, You are correct.Jones and his spin masters have shown that it all about Dan. If Ole Miss or the State of Miss. gets hurt , that does not matter. Dan is no gentleman.

Best favorable interpretation is that the Board acted in good faith, just has no business perspective. The audit deficiencies have about the significance of a knat on an elephant's ass in the overall financial picture. Even then, continuing improvement is acknowledged in the audit. Extremely poor decision by an incompetent board at best. Unforgivable political hack job at worst.

Very well said Jerry Jordan...

" Extremely poor decision by an incompetent board at best. Unforgivable political hack job at worst."

"The ultimate goal is to strip the University Medical Center from Ole Miss and make it a separate institution. That's what this is about."

Agreed, and actually, I'm waiting to hear from someone why this would be a bad idea.

Agreed Andy. The two should have been decoupled a long time ago.

Jerry Jordan - you've nailed it. The "audit report" was done by a very, very reputable firm. But, when you read the detailed report, what you get is an endorsement of the efforts of UMMC (ostensibly Dan Jones and Dr. Keeton) at fixing antiquated accounting practices for a large bureaucracy that has all of a sudden, in the last decade, become a huge multi-billion dollar business. If you've had experience on a corporate board (which I have had) and you have read through these kinds of reports (which I have done), you learn the language of auditors and the message they are sending. If someone uses this report as a basis for firing a CEO, then they haven't read the report. While the report certainly exposes a host of problems at UMMC, there is no showing of corruption, fraud, dishonesty, or even incompetency. To the contrary, the report actually supports UMMC's ongoing efforts to modernize and streamline an inherited dinosaur of a bureaucratic institution (and a very important one at that). UMMC should be given kuddos for what they've been done. And, if you're going to tag the CEO with credit or blame, then credit should be given to Dan Jones. I am shocked that IHL board members, (particularly the allegedly super-smart Alan Perry, who, I believe is a CPA and a lawyer) have taken the position they have. I'm not a lawyer, but what I know a lot about firing people. In the public sector, even for an at-will employee, you can't fire somebody for arbitrary and capricious reasons. Using this report as a reason smells to me like arbitrary and capricious. Having said that, I would be looking deeper into why the hell IHL really did non-renew (or fire) Jones. Maybe some of the those conspiracy theories about Gov. Barbour are true. Maybe some of those conspiracy theories about Gov Bryant's strong arm anti-Obamamcare tactics are true. One thing for sure, this is not going away any time soon.

The letter from the auditor states it found no malfeasance or wrong doing. I'll post it in a little while.

See ya Dan. No way in hell you'll get any reconsideration now after this dog-and-pony.

This wasn't no spontaneous reaction folks. Many of Jones' defenders have been primed for months that his employment was ending.

Why is everyone saying that this was an IHL political hack job or a failure of IHL? Those that sit on the IHL are, for the most part, extremely successful and universally well respected individuals. I personally know, know of or have worked with most of them in some capacity. There is not one person on that board that isn't sophisticated enough to take all the information - to which none of are privy - and make a reasoned decision. They didn't fire the man, they just decided to let his contract expire because he couldn't satisfy their concerns. That's what boards do, and if that is a concern to you you've got a fundamental disconnect from reality.

The politics angle is also ridiculous. Not one of those individuals who voted to non-renew has an ego small enough to allow themselves to be used as a political pawn by anyone in this state. If the political angle is the one you're sitting on, you're making a fool of yourself, Gov. Musgrave included.

Dan Jones is as smart as each of his defenders says he is. However, he individually is not more wise than the collection of people on the IHL. If they demanded he take action and he refused to take it, that's hubris, and it's worthy of termination, much less non-renewal.

1:02, you are so right. This is not spontaneous and is a handful of " Jones Group" throwing Ole Miss under the bus to get its way. Up to now I have had no feelings in this matter but this is starting to remind me of how our current President does business. No one has a right to a life time contract. He was not fired but not contracted with for services. A real man would just accepted that without turning out the wolves. Ole Miss is being hurt by Jones.

Expect Jones to send for Jesse Jackson .

He should be escorted from his office just like every state employee and most private sector employees are, upon termination of employment. After watching him multiple times on the local news (in the past three or four days), I would not trust him as far as I could toss him.

The man is arrogance personified. If he has any love whatever for this state and these two institutions, I've yet to pick up on it. Like another 'leader' that comes to mind, his primary interest has been in remaking things in an image more pleasing to himself. Period.

'a handful of " Jones Group" throwing Ole Miss under the bus to get its way'

Funny. The students, faculty, and staff of Ole Miss don't appear to feel that way.

If they're not "Ole Miss," who is? You?

To 11:20
I beg to differ: Jones has lost all credibility by creating this "dog and pony" show reflecting the size of his ego. And, yes, I have met Dan Jones at several social occasions - I was not impressed!

I guess you have to be black or get caught with a bribe or kickback in addition to contract bid process irregularities like Epps before contract irregularities account for anything in a large public/govt. institution.

Or, have he support of a bunch of old white businessmen and washed up authors who don't like pig farms to bail you out. Then anything is ok.

I also think that Barksdale is throwing a nice little fit with his threat to go back on his $20 million pledge to Ole Miss. That will only hurt Ole Miss as does all of this fighting & bickering. It's a shame.

This is a "scorched earth" approach to someone not having their contract renewed. Never seen anything like this outside of Oakland. Has the LGBT/Birkenstock crowd up taken over at ole miss?

The students, faculty, and staff of Ole Miss don't appear to feel that way.

Really? Put up pantywaist.

Its Barksdale's money. Go earn your own billion f wad

Hope the Legislatue succeeds in sun setting IHL and remaking it into a Board of Governors.

And now the Ole Miss Alumni Association has gotten into the act. Their letter, signed by 27 past presidents who know no more about this situation than you or I, is a rehash of the "I Love Dan" spin machine. Hopefully each of these so-called "leaders" will wake up and realize that they are speaking for themselves and not the members of the Alumni Association.

"Ole Miss is bigger than Dan Jones"
Good article

http://onlinemadison.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=29973

6:15, thanks for posting the above link. That was the best article that I have read about this whole "ordeal". I hope the college board stands their ground.

Why ruin progress? Why hire a CPA to hunt for an excuse to get rid of someone the racist governor hates!

Where are all those Christians? Not in Mississippi.

7:08pm
Looks like The board blinked... 2yr extension.
They might as well pack up and go home. Just conceded themselves into oblivion.

Jones rejected offer and his ego is now really showing. Glad he will soon be gone.