Parham: Boyce's tenure at Ole Miss begins with look of down-the-hall hire

OXFORD | Glenn Boyce, several months ago, met with a potential Ole Miss chancellor candidate regarding the position. Following the meeting, that candidate told others, “He wants the job as much as I do.”

Now, on October 3, despite never being listed among the candidates or interviewees and receiving an approximately six-figure sum as a consultant in gathering information about other candidates and the qualifications necessary for the next chancellor, Boyce has the job and will be announced Friday on campus as Jeffrey Vitter’s replacement. Larry Sparks is the interim chancellor.

The Mississippi IHL chose Boyce for that consulting role, and the Ole Miss Foundation footed the bill, as Boyce was tabbed as an impartial liaison between the voting members and university stakeholders. But despite that on-paper designation, Boyce’s name as a potential permanent option stayed popular in most circles. That murmur became a roar this week, as multiple candidates invited to interview pulled out following their names being leaked to the media, presumably from an IHL board member initially.

And instead of following the process that has been spoken about for months, the IHL ended the search (charade?) weeks early, bypassing the portion of the search for vetting candidate visits with university groups. Boyce never applied for the position, and the IHL awarded him an interview on Thursday when a board member moved to invite Boyce, per Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau. He showed up 10 minutes later. The vote happened shortly after that conversation concluded.

The IHL also interviewed Eastern Kentucky University President Michael Benson, Texas Wesleyan President Fred Slabach, Auburn University Provost Bill Hardgrave, Oxford attorney Cal Mayo and former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale.

Boyce was the IHL Commissioner from 2015-2018 and a past president of Holmes Community College.

He’ll certainly start his tenure without a mandate or a honeymoon, and that reality is mainly no fault of his own. Other than the incorrect rhetoric that’s circled around Oxford for months that he didn’t want the job, Boyce simply accepted something awarded him.

The issues are with the process, the leaks and the overall lack of transparency that look like cronyism when applied with walk-like-a-duck standards. Leaks led to a diluted candidate pool, and the process — which was inflexible in working with high-level sitting presidents and candidates as options — led to a metaphorical down-the-hall hire.

Boyce may be a great chancellor. He may be the perfect candidate. I don’t know him. He’ll have the opportunity to convince detractors, form his own message and try to right the concerns with fundraising, student recruiting, communications and other immediate issues. Those results will ultimately deem the tenure a grade far more than this initial night.

Boyce’s first true test will be during his initial appearance on Friday, as he needs to start the process of a strong uniting message. The IHL process has done him no favors in that endeavor; it’s a first impression that seems quite important.

But at a time when Ole Miss needed transparency and the look of a well-oiled search, it got just the opposite.