Mississippi's IHL announced their preferred candidate yesterday afternoon.
One can only hope that if this guy indeed becomes the President, he'll be honest and get USM in a positive direction.

Sun Herald (Gulfport/Biloxi) - USM Could Get First Black President
Hattiesburg American (via USA Today) - Southern Miss Nears Selection of First Black President

Dr. Rodney Bennett (currently University of Georgia VP of Student Affairs)
Undergrad and Grad - Middle Tennessee State
Doctorate - Tennessee State

I didn't realize so many CUSA schools were looking for presidents right now. Tech just hired within on Les Guice

i'm trying to figure out what put him above any of the other candidates... (But then again, I wasn't wowed by any of the names that were leaked). I just looked at his previous jobs, and nothing sticks out that says "this guy is going to be a good president"

Hope he's got the same fire our current AD has..

(02-02-2013 10:27 PM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  i'm trying to figure out what put him above any of the other candidates... (But then again, I wasn't wowed by any of the names that were leaked). I just looked at his previous jobs, and nothing sticks out that says "this guy is going to be a good president"

Hope he's got the same fire our current AD has..

He has a doctorate in education from Tennessee State. To me, that says "candidate for high school principal," not "university president." So I am scratching my head, too. Maybe he nailed the interview? So did Ellis Johnson.

I guess he'll either fix things, or he'll fit right into the club of idiots that's taken my school down into the abyss since 1999. I'm fully expecting the latter. The presence of world-class bootlicker Ed Blakeslee on the search committee was not a good sign.

Joe Paul has been a friend for 40 years. Personally, I am very disappointed he didn't get the job. I felt and still feel he would make a great President for USM.

(02-02-2013 09:57 AM)techdawg88 Wrote:  I didn't realize so many CUSA schools were looking for presidents right now. Tech just hired within on Les Guice

A search committee had picked UAB School of Medicine Dean Ray Watts to be our new prez. He'll go before the board to make it official next week.

Unless something stupid and/or happens, which one can never rule out, dealing with the UA Board of Trustees.

He got his undergrad at UAB and is a Birmingham guy. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Good luck to all our schools replacing presidents/ADs/coaches. Crazy times for post-secondary education (not just sports), and good leadership is paramount.

(02-03-2013 10:16 AM)AndreWhere Wrote:  He has a doctorate in education from Tennessee State. To me, that says "candidate for high school principal," not "university president."

Good grief....what a stupid statement. At what point did our fanbase become so ignorant?

(02-03-2013 02:01 PM)GoGold Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 10:16 AM)AndreWhere Wrote:  He has a doctorate in education from Tennessee State. To me, that says "candidate for high school principal," not "university president."

Good grief....what a stupid statement. At what point did our fanbase become so ignorant?

Believe me, that guy is no representative of our fan base.

(02-03-2013 02:13 PM)EagleRockCafe Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 02:01 PM)GoGold Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 10:16 AM)AndreWhere Wrote:  He has a doctorate in education from Tennessee State. To me, that says "candidate for high school principal," not "university president."

Good grief....what a stupid statement. At what point did our fanbase become so ignorant?

Believe me, that guy is no representative of our fan base.

Unfortunately, from what I have seen, he is a very accurate representation of USM fans' statements/feelings on the issue.

As for his original comment, his resume and experience is what you should look at.

I freaked out about it too when I saw he was the VP-Student Affairs. The more I think about it, the more I realize that we don't know what his place was in the hierarchy at UGA. Maybe he was seen as the #2 or #3 guy. It looks like he did a lot with fundraising at UGA. So far, he's talked a lot about improving financial management and improving fundraising--two areas we have failed in lately and for most of the university's history. I'm not sure about the hire, but it's not like we had any top-notch candidates who were finalists.

Everyone is freaking out about the fact that he received an award for an LGBTQ organization. So, this means that he received a vague award for opening up opportunities for those kids at UGA and promoting their involvement. Unless you hate gay people, I don't know how doing any of that is bad. He did a lot with multiculturalism? Well, aside from the HBCs, we have a higher A-A population than any university in the state. Throw in the ever increasing Hispanic population and openly gay, and guess what you have: DIVERSITY.

Look, I don't want him focusing on multiculturalism at the expense of white kids, but to assume that anyone who promotes diversity will ignore the majority is....well, stupid as f**k.

I'm not saying everyone questioning the hire is morally wrong. I'm still questioning it. But question it for the right reasons.

From what I have read from different UGA sites, I think this guy is going to do well. He seems to be focused on the students (main reason for a public university is to educate the masses), has experience in fund raising, and is a fan of athletics (but says you must get the right mix of academics and athletics). The fact that he is a black man is only important because this is Mississippi. I hope he comes in and knocks it out of the park. I look forward to meeting him and most importantly I look forward to him fixing this mess we (and I mean we as the entire university community) have gotten ourselves into. I don't envy the job in front of this man one bit.

From what ive heard from a trusted source this statment during the interview process did it. "We are going to own Mississippi from Jackson southward."

(02-03-2013 03:38 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  I freaked out about it too when I saw he was the VP-Student Affairs. The more I think about it, the more I realize that we don't know what his place was in the hierarchy at UGA. Maybe he was seen as the #2 or #3 guy. It looks like he did a lot with fundraising at UGA. So far, he's talked a lot about improving financial management and improving fundraising--two areas we have failed in lately and for most of the university's history. I'm not sure about the hire, but it's not like we had any top-notch candidates who were finalists.

This is the part that's bugged me.. again, being a President of a University is MORE than just improving fundraising. I'll be honest, nothing in his resume says anything about improving financial management. How did he propose to do it? (That I haven't heard). How's he going to run the important issues on the campus. (Making sure we improve on being more than a liberal arts university with a couple of science oriented strengths?)

Quote:Everyone is freaking out about the fact that he received an award for an LGBTQ organization. So, this means that he received a vague award for opening up opportunities for those kids at UGA and promoting their involvement. Unless you hate gay people, I don't know how doing any of that is bad. He did a lot with multiculturalism? Well, aside from the HBCs, we have a higher A-A population than any university in the state. Throw in the ever increasing Hispanic population and openly gay, and guess what you have: DIVERSITY.

Saw all that.. and personally, as I've said before. Doesn't bother me in the slightest about this LBGTO award thingy. Wouldn't care if he got an award from the NRA, the Presidential Fitness Commission, or the TANSTAAFL society.

Don't care, never did. You could hire a guy that could make sure the purple-polka dot peoples succeed, and that's fine by me.. as long as he makes sure the "UNIVERSITY" succeeds as a whole.

Again, my issue is that the first paragraph I wrote. Running a University is MORE than just the money issues. Is it a large part? Yep, but he better be damn good at all the other things in the process.

Again, as his big claim was his VP of Student Affairs... how does that make him a good candidate for the office of the president of USM, where your responsible for a heck of a lot more.

(02-03-2013 08:24 PM)Thegoldstandard Wrote:  From what ive heard from a trusted source this statment during the interview process did it. "We are going to own Mississippi from Jackson southward."

As well we should.

(02-03-2013 02:13 PM)EagleRockCafe Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 02:01 PM)GoGold Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 10:16 AM)AndreWhere Wrote:  He has a doctorate in education from Tennessee State. To me, that says "candidate for high school principal," not "university president."

Good grief....what a stupid statement. At what point did our fanbase become so ignorant?

Believe me, that guy is no representative of our fan base.

Actually, unfortunately, he seems to be a representative of a clear majority of posters on the USM message boards. Sad, but true.

(02-03-2013 10:13 PM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 03:38 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  I freaked out about it too when I saw he was the VP-Student Affairs. The more I think about it, the more I realize that we don't know what his place was in the hierarchy at UGA. Maybe he was seen as the #2 or #3 guy. It looks like he did a lot with fundraising at UGA. So far, he's talked a lot about improving financial management and improving fundraising--two areas we have failed in lately and for most of the university's history. I'm not sure about the hire, but it's not like we had any top-notch candidates who were finalists.

This is the part that's bugged me.. again, being a President of a University is MORE than just improving fundraising. I'll be honest, nothing in his resume says anything about improving financial management. How did he propose to do it? (That I haven't heard). How's he going to run the important issues on the campus. (Making sure we improve on being more than a liberal arts university with a couple of science oriented strengths?)

Quote:Everyone is freaking out about the fact that he received an award for an LGBTQ organization. So, this means that he received a vague award for opening up opportunities for those kids at UGA and promoting their involvement. Unless you hate gay people, I don't know how doing any of that is bad. He did a lot with multiculturalism? Well, aside from the HBCs, we have a higher A-A population than any university in the state. Throw in the ever increasing Hispanic population and openly gay, and guess what you have: DIVERSITY.

Saw all that.. and personally, as I've said before. Doesn't bother me in the slightest about this LBGTO award thingy. Wouldn't care if he got an award from the NRA, the Presidential Fitness Commission, or the TANSTAAFL society.

Don't care, never did. You could hire a guy that could make sure the purple-polka dot peoples succeed, and that's fine by me.. as long as he makes sure the "UNIVERSITY" succeeds as a whole.

Again, my issue is that the first paragraph I wrote. Running a University is MORE than just the money issues. Is it a large part? Yep, but he better be damn good at all the other things in the process.

Again, as his big claim was his VP of Student Affairs... how does that make him a good candidate for the office of the president of USM, where your responsible for a heck of a lot more.

Agree with pretty much all of what you said.

First paragraph: I wouldn't expect him to immediately release a full plan at his press conference. No one wants to hear dry details at a press conference. It is for "Rah-rah" vague crap to rally people around you. Putting them to sleep is not a good start. Hopefully we'll hear more details as time goes on.

someone found a second article on Dr. Bennett

Quote:What is your occupation?

My job really involves oversight for the student life components at the University of Georgia, and of course there’s some functional areas that
make up student life such as university housing and the university health center, Greek life and the Ramsey Center for recreational sports. All of
that is part of the student life component so I have oversight for student affairs and student life but included in that are three or four very important
functional areas that I spend a lot of my time on. One is budget planning and oversight for the division; the second one, and these are not in any particular order, is all of our HR (Human Resources)- related function. We have more than 525 full-time employees from the division of student affairs and so the HR responsibilities go along with that (Really? Only 525 people to work HR for? Not impressed on this part.). I also spend a good amount of my time on policy development and policy implementation for the units that report to me (Okay, a little generic in the description, but it does tell a little more, so this i can accept as a reasonable associated job duty). And finally, I spend a good amount of my time in fund-raising. (This one we'll have to see, and how well he pulls that off)

(02-03-2013 02:01 PM)GoGold Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 10:16 AM)AndreWhere Wrote:  He has a doctorate in education from Tennessee State. To me, that says "candidate for high school principal," not "university president."

Good grief....what a stupid statement. At what point did our fanbase become so ignorant?

How is it stupid? All I'm saying is that his academic background isn't very impressive. Plenty of people get doctorates in Education and use them to advance within a public school systems. Probably 25-40% of Principals at large public high schools fall into this category. You have to assume that's what an Education doctoral program prepares people for... not running USM.

Look at Horace Fleming (a qualified and successful president) in comparison. He had a PhD in Political Science from Vandy: better school, better discipline. That's the kind of credential I'd like to be able to expect from a university president.

Its tough reading this thread. I really thought Southern Miss graduated people who understood that sometimes all you need is a chance in life to prove yourselves. Apparently when some of us werent looking some Ole Miss creeped in on us and set about spreading a sense of academic entitlement.

(02-04-2013 07:31 PM)cyc46 Wrote:  Its tough reading this thread. I really thought Southern Miss graduated people who understood that sometimes all you need is a chance in life to prove yourselves. Apparently when some of us werent looking some Ole Miss creeped in on us and set about spreading a sense of academic entitlement.

Well put.

I'll say this, first I didn't attend USM. Like my father, I was a kid that always perferred a seat to a sofa on Saturdays in the fall. When I moved here I was flat broke with a half broke down engine for a ride. So I went to the only game in town. Didn't take long before I fell in love with not only the program but with the fans of the program as well.

Never thought I would stay in Hattiesburg much less Mississippi. 35 years later I call it home. I'll give the man a chance. Because I thought that is what we did here.

(02-04-2013 11:20 PM)GoGold Wrote:  

(02-04-2013 07:31 PM)cyc46 Wrote:  Its tough reading this thread. I really thought Southern Miss graduated people who understood that sometimes all you need is a chance in life to prove yourselves. Apparently when some of us werent looking some Ole Miss creeped in on us and set about spreading a sense of academic entitlement.

Well put.

I'll say this, first I didn't attend USM. Like my father, I was a kid that always perferred a seat to a sofa on Saturdays in the fall. When I moved here I was flat broke with a half broke down engine for a ride. So I went to the only game in town. Didn't take long before I fell in love with not only the program but with the fans of the program as well.

Never thought I would stay in Hattiesburg much less Mississippi. 35 years later I call it home. I'll give the man a chance. Because I thought that is what we did here.

Agreed.. We won't know what he can do until he gives it a try or has a chance.