Jeffrey Rupp, director of community and government relations at MSU, is putting aside his role in the university administration in order to make a run for Mississippi secretary of state. Though he touted loyalty to MSU when he moved into his role, he seems to be putting MSU in second place.Rupp has only held his position at MSU for six months. President Robert “Doc” Foglesong created the position specifically for him. It’s sad that it appears that we can’t hire people who will be dedicated to the university, especially when it’s the basis of him coming in the first place.
But this isn’t the first time Rupp has departed from his position before his time was up. He was the mayor of Columbus but left that position after only 13 months into his second term to come to MSU. Waiting for him was a $90,000 salary, roughly a $60,000 increase from his previous salary as Columbus’ mayor.
He has said he’s been thinking about running for secretary of state for a few years, and now that there’s no incumbent, he may see this as his opportunity to win. Which is fine at the core; everyone is entitled to strive for success, but MSU has spent thousands of dollars on someone who can’t even stay around for a solid year.
To add insult to injury, Foglesong is holding Rupp’s position for him until the director’s run for secretary of state is over, just in case. That means Rupp’s job at MSU will be vacant for about six months, which indicates that perhaps the position isn’t that vital or important to begin with.
Rupp seems to have seized opportunity instead of loyalty. The whole ordeal can be seen as a slap in the face to MSU.
Perhaps the most unfortunate part about this situation is not the vacancy of Rupp’s position. Bark will also be losing a great lead guitarist. Hopefully, the students, faculty and staff of MSU will at least recover from this.
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Jed Pressgrove, news editor Nathan Gregory, assistant news editor Erin Kourkounis, entertainment editor Aaron Burdette, sports editor R.J. Morgan, photo editor Bud Sorey, online editor Jocelyn Marcus, managing editor Sara McAdory and editor in chief Tyler Stewart.