Here’s
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from yesterday on Mississippi public radio about the ground breaking for the new Ole Miss law school last weekend. During the course of it, the reporter, Sandra Knispel, notes that the project lacks $4.5 million of being fully funded, “that is if the five million dollar pledge by the Scruggs family comes through.” She then plays parts of an interview with Chancellor Khayat: “The Scruggs have been incredibly generous through the years. They’ve got some uncertainty in their lives right now with this pending decision in the federal court but I’ve known Dickie Scruggs since he was 15 and Diane since she was about 2, and we fully expect the Scruggs to work through this and do what has to be done and at the same time fufill their pledges to the University.” She noted that the Chancellor sees nothing unethical about taking the Scruggs’s money, and once again quotes Khayat: “It depends on what the felony is and what the plea is and the facts surrounding the event I guess, but the context in which this plea has taken place, I do not see that as an ethical issue at all with regard to their support of the university.”
Since we know what the felony is, where does that leave us?
h/t to Greenlawyer in comments.
Dr. Khayat has done wonderful things for Ole Miss and has been an outstanding Chancellor. I find his comment however to be absolutely insulting to the University and the thousands of alumni who go about their business every day and have never given a thought to whether they should bribe a Judge. What kind of message does this send to the students?? Our Chancellor has lost perspective and should retire.
I really think highly of Khayat– he taught me in law school, and is an impressive, and kind, man. But this is very very poor judgment on the part of the University. I know Ole Miss does not have a lot of money, but come on. This would be a lifetime mistake for the school.
satchmo, my vantage-point as an out-of-state onlooker allows me to agree with your “impressive” — what I’ve seen of Khayat has deeply, lastingly impressed me.
“Bought fool” sums it up.
Serious tactical error, in my opinion. Had he told Scruggs “thanks, but no thanks”, I suspect he could have replaced that $5M pledge a couple of times over – with the right kind of campaign.
I guess the one bit of reassurance we can take away is they won’t be naming stuff after them any more (Khayat’s quote about that was also odd– “some time ago” they said they didn’t want things named after them. Was it 2 weeks ago? Less?).
Naming part of the law school after Scruggs would be like having a Theo Bilbo School of Government. Oh, wait!
As a complete outsider–non-lawyer and non-Ole Miss person–I think it is time for your President to go. His ethics are now suspect. Who would he not take money from? He has made some very poorly worded statements about fellow state universities in recent days and now saying he has no problem with accepting donations from a known briber of judges for a law school–yes his time has come and gone.
A spew alert on your link at #5 woulda been kindly this time of morning, NMC.
(mopping keyboard)
I am reminded that Ole Miss Law does have the “Eastland Scholarship”– so maybe the shame is worth the money. Much like the flag, etc… I could never figure out why all the Ole Miss grads I went to law school with couldn’t figure out why their sports teams sucked, and why the university was often not taken seriously.
“It depends on what the felony is…” Kinda like “It depends what your definition of is is”. Pathetic!
Could there be a provision in The Tobacco Master Settlement that only attorneys that worked for the States at the time of the Settlement could collect The Settlement Fees’? I know that is a brain burner, but worth digging out. If true this is why Dickie is trying to delay his disbarment until something can be worked out by Moore. Maybe Dickie is still listed as a special Attorney General, as was Balducci, Langston and Nutts’ firm .
What’s the problem here? We have, just to name a few, the Ross Barnett Reservoir, the Carroll Gartin Justice Bldg, the Walter Sillers State Office Bldg, the Paul Johnson State Park, the Hugh White State Park, the MM Roberts football heap, the Trent Lott Leadership Institute, … tell me when you want me to stop….
“Forget it, Mack. It’s Mississippi.”
I thought about Ross, Ben Cole, and made a feint toward Trent above… So maybe you’re right.
I think this dilemma has really highlighted the drastic, unfortunate, and disgusting stratification of Mississippi socio-economically. This problem is everywhere I give you, but here in Mississippi it is exceptionally unique. It’s not poor and then the others, it’s the poor sector, the middle class, and this cadre of social/power elite. They go largely unquestioned as they keep power, money and opportunity firmly in their grasp and more often than not they are celebrated by most people. That seems to be the result of a poor state media (blogs quite the exception) and a complete, I mean a complete, lack of transparency. I would guess 95% of the state’s population know nothing of their incestuous political/power situation. It really is disheartening, and as much as I do love this state, I really am starting to think it may be time to go.
To borrow the words of a great song, it’s like washing windows when you know that their are pidgeons on the roof.
greenlawyer//We have had no Newspaper media in Mississippi worth the Trees cut to print the rags. Now (since internet is common in most homes in my county) Newspaper Advertising dollars are off by 50%, go figure. I must tell you as I have watched my County degress in the last 50 years, I now have heart. The incestuous/political/power players locally was disingaged a small fraction in the 2007 election. By virtur of Internet I can read the Times of London every morning and don’t have to be enslaved by what is put out by Fox News or The Clarion Ledger. Our schools have always produced Doctors, Lawyers, Scientist that had to leave our State because of Pond Scum running the State. So please have Heart, Mississippi People have never been stupid just uninformed.
I object to the inclusion of Carroll Gartin in that list, but that’s just me.
mag 14, yep, the Net’s made a world of difference, hasn’t it? (Even if the same Rupert Murdoch who owns Faux Noise also owns the ToL, we’ve got The Guardian, The Indy, and Auntie Beeb to keep us up on London and the rest of the world, too!) Another case of More-speech-is-better.
I’d sure love to live to see what’s been keeping the GOBs fat turned to more and better education for Mississippi, though.
Gartin against Jim Eastland for Senate by trying to out-seg Eastland…. here is a story about it.. Hugh White was governor when Brown came down; he was thought of “back then’ as a good-government guy, but the Sov. Commission was founded on his watch.
lotus//The GOB’S don’t won’t better education. Thats a PLOY..The Money does not go into the Class Room it goes to the GOB’S contractors that keeps the GOB’S in Office. Its a Hell of A Mess..Probably as bad as The Judiciary or maybe worse. Our Former Gov. has remarried as of late and LO and Behold He Married the Former Wife of The Now State Superintendent of Education. Wonder How He Met Her. Bet She Had a Big Fat State Education Contract Under Her Arm. Doncha Know.
Can someone please tell me what Ben Cole meant about M.M. Roberts in #11?
This stance seems very appropos of some other naming misadventures. Mr Ross Barnett seems a very fitting name for public works projects in this state. I might also note his association with Ole Miss to close the circle…
Whoops I note this has already been mentioned but lets pile on.
M M Roberts is the “The Rock”–The University of Southern Mississippi’s football stadium–this is for Boo #19
Boo in 19:
Ben Cole may have had in mind M.M. Roberts’s “leadership” on the board of institutions of higher learning during their flirtation with contempt of court in the Meredith case and beyond. That’s just a guess.
#18–Education won’t really come to Mississippi until we consolidate schools districts. Think about it–in Monroe County Mississippi there are 3 school district with 3 superintendent, at least 3 assistants, 3 special education co-ordinators, 3 athletic directors , 3 food services managers, 3 vo-tech directors–3 of everything. If there was only 1 district think about how much money could be saved and put back into classrooms. Schools do not need to be consolidated just the districts to save a ton of money.
Why is this not being done? Greed and turf wars! GOB’s being in control. Stealing money from our children’s future.
Fewer districts would also mean less need for consultants to cover the state and tell real educators how they are suppose to be teaching and taking time away from teaching. Fewer districts would save time and money in the state department of education.
Ok–this is one of my soap box topics!
Ole Miss has a respected alum for whom to name its new building: former Justice Ruben Anderson, first AA justice, if I’m not mistaken and maybe first AA alum?
Ditto the comments of ventoux @ 1. And rubbernecker. Khayat’s ethics are not suspect to me. He has laid his ethics out for the world to see. It’s time for him to go. And it’s time for the IHL Board members to tell Khayat that they will find another name for the new law center. To see Khayat’s name on the law center would be insulting to all alumni.
I just feel like washing my hands of the school. Not that I was ever much of a donor, but God knows I don’t feel like sending one red cent to that fool place.