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Glenn Boyce, the former commissioner of the Institutions of Higher Learning and former president of Holmes Community College, has been selected as the 18th chancellor at the University of Mississippi. This decision comes before several steps of the selection were complete, including the candidate visiting the Oxford campus and the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Boyce was an early consultant in the search for chancellor and did not submit a formal application to be reviewed by the campus.
This comes weeks before the IHL Board of Trustees was slated to announce their selection. On Sept. 5, Ford Dye, IHL board member and chair of the search committee, said, “The hope is to have our preferred candidate in late October to go to the medical center and to come to (the Oxford campus) to visit with the Ole Miss family.”
Former Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter visited both campuses before he was hired in 2015.
At a listening session on Sept. 5, Campbell McCool, an Oxford businessman, said that “there is a very disturbing rumor floating around in the business community that this group is going to review all the applicants and nobody’s quite going to come up to par and that the job is going to be offered to a former consultant to this board who was not an applicant. I’m not here to disparage any particular person, but I’m asking that this please be a fair and legitimate process.”
Boyce resigned as commissioner of the IHL in June of 2018. At the time of his resignation, Boyce said that he was stepping down to spend more time with his family.
“It has been a blessing to spend my life as an educator, and looking back on it, I would not have traded my chosen field for any other,” Boyce wrote. “The experience of working with and beside wonderful people to help students fulfill their dreams through education has given me an extremely rewarding career. After 37 years, it is finally time to pursue the dreams my wife and I put on hold while building careers and raising a family.”
Boyce was commissioner of the IHL when Vitter was selected as chancellor. Before the search process began, Boyce told the Clarion-Ledger, “I can tell you it will be an open and transparent process.”
Boyce also spoke in support of the IHL process of board-appointed university presidents. After being named commissioner, he said, “When you have a system that’s as diverse as ours, the (central) governing board is the way to go.”
Boyce, who is originally from New York, began his career in education as a history teacher and coach. He has also served as a high school principal and assistant superintendent. He holds a degree in education from the university, a master’s degree in education administration from Mississippi College and a doctorate in education leadership from the University of Mississippi.
In response to Boyce’s appointment, Garrett Felber, an associate professor of history, advertised a protest tomorrow. He wrote, “Action tomorrow at the Inn at Ole Miss at 12pm,” and “We’ll be making signs in the grove outside the auditorium at 11am. Join us!”
Associated Student Body President Barron Mayfield gave a statement to The Daily Mississippian concerning Boyce’s hire.
“I am hopeful that Dr. Boyce will be the leader this campus has been searching for, and I look forward to working with him. However, I am very disappointed in the lack of transparency, the lack of communication, and most importantly, the lack of student input in the process.”
This is a developing story.
