As the state auditor’s investigation of Mississippi State University Interim President Vance Watson and the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Commissioner Tom Meredith continues, many IHL and MSU officials are declining to comment on the case.
Debby Golson, executive assistant to the interim president, said Watson has been on and off campus this week, but could not comment to whether he has set up an interview with the IHL or whether he has met with State Auditor Stacey Pickering’s office.
Amy Whiten, IHL Board of Trustees president, issued a statement Tuesday indicating the state auditor’s investigation could last about two weeks.
“While I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of the investigation, we anticipate it will take approximately two weeks,” she said. “The board is confident that the system will operate smoothly during this time.”
Lisa Shoemaker, director of communications for the state auditor’s office, said the investigation will be expedited, but declined to comment on a time frame for the probe.
According to a Web article published by WCBI, two MSU professors approached Board Search Committee Chairman Scott Ross with allegations claiming MSU agricultural department equipment at a Jackson-area extension center was used to landscape Meredith’s home.
Ross said he could not confirm the accuracy of the report.
“Any background information offered to me, I passed along the names and numbers to Jeffrey Baker [Baker and Associates LLC, consultants for the MSU presidential search],” he said. “I have intentionally not talked to anyone directly about these allegations [in order to] not affect the background checks.”
In her Tuesday statement, Whitten said the Board Search Committee is currently in the process of rescheduling second-round interviews with potential candidates.
“We are still on target with the same completion date, with the goal of having the next president named by the beginning of November,” she said.
Annie Mitchell, IHL director of communications, said the IHL has yet to reschedule the interviews.
Ross said could not comment on the speculated list of potential MSU presidential candidates.
“We have not confirmed the finalists in spite of speculation,” Ross said. “We haven’t even finished the second round of interviews; I don’t think it’s prudent to comment about candidates now.”
As reports of the allegations disseminate through the MSU community, many students and faculty members are not casting judgment before the facts of the investigation are revealed.
Dorothy Johnson, Mitchell Memorial Library associate, said people within the MSU community should wait for the investigation to develop before jumping to conclusions about Watson or Meredith.
“Allegations are just [allegations],” she said, “but if it turns out to be more, then I think we should proceed with caution when we find a brother or sister at fault.”
Senior communication major Maggie Spann said she doesn’t care about the alleged misconduct between the IHL and the MSU interim president because she feels the IHL has not been listening to student concerns regarding the presidential search.
“The students know the [IHL] won’t listen to them while picking the president,” she said. “Why even bother with caring about the allegations?”