After 14 years as chancellor at the University of Mississippi, Robert Khayat announced during a university meeting Jan. 6 his intent to retire.
Khayat will remain chancellor throughout the semester, officially retiring June 30.
In a press release from Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, Interim Commissioner Aubrey Lucas said Khayat has been an exceptional leader.
“Robert Khayat is one of the most effective university leaders I have ever known,” he said. “He has made a transforming difference at his alma mater. We wish him much happiness in his well deserved retirement.”
Amy Whitten, president of the IHL Board of Trustees, said Khayat has served both his university and the state with distinction.
“His accomplishments during his tenure have been exceptional, and he will be truly missed,” she said.
Neither Lucas nor Whitten could be reached for further comment.
Annie Mitchell, IHL director of media relations, said the board would meet Jan. 15 and is expected to officially accept Khayat’s retirement request. The board will also discuss how the search for a new chancellor will be conducted, Mitchell said.
“They [board members] have not met, so there haven’t been any discussions [about the search process] at this point,” she said. “The first time they’ll talk about it is at the board meeting [Jan. 15].”
In response to whether the search will be open or closed, Mitchell said the IHL calls its search processes transparent.
“The [term] closed comes from the fact that the board doesn’t release the names of the candidates, except to members of the search advisory committee, who’s the group on campus that’s actually responsible for going through all the resumes and forwarding the names of their top choices to the board of trustees,” she said. “In terms of how the board will run the search at Ole Miss, they will discuss that at the board meeting [Jan. 15].”
Sen. Doug Davis, R-Hernando, said he has spoken to members of the board, including Whitten, about the issue of the search process.
“[Whitten] indicated to me that it is the College Board’s desire to go forward using the same method as has been used in seating the presidents of Mississippi State and [Mississippi] Valley [State],” Davis said.
Davis, who chairs the colleges and universities committee for the Mississippi Senate, has proposed changing the search process system. Under his proposed system, the 12-member College Board would be converted into a board of governors, working as a liaison between the legislature and the eight universities. Each university would have a seven-member, non-paid board of trustees.
“I’m not critical of the College Board members, but I’m not a fan of the [current] closed process,” Davis said.
He said he thinks the IHL’s current search process, which was used to select Mississippi State’s current President Mark Keenum, is conflict-ridden.
“In regards to the presidential search process, it’s no secret that I’m not a fan of it,” Davis said. “I think that last year with Mississippi State’s search process, while a good candidate and ultimately a good president, in my opinion, was chosen, the process by which the people went through that was very political and very divisive.”
Jonathan Evans, a 2007 Ole Miss alumnus, said he has not heard anything about the search for the new chancellor.
“I know one thing is certain: Whoever the next appointee is will have to fill some gigantic shoes,” he said. “I find it highly improbable that anyone can surpass what Khayat has done.”
Khayat received his B.A. and J.D. from Ole Miss in 1962 and 1966, respectively. He has been part of the Ole Miss law faculty since 1969 and received his Master of Laws from Yale University in 1981.
The 70-year-old Moss Point native has served as chancellor since 1995.