Ole Miss Chancellor Responds To Cries For Pete Boone’s Job

Chancellor Dan Jones sent a letter to the school’s athletic association members, which Red Cup Rebeliion shared and which maintains the verbose tradition that has been established as the preferred style in this debate:

Many are aware of anonymous, malicious and public attacks on athletics director Pete Boone. The Ole Miss family may not be aware, however, that as a part of this orchestrated campaign, I have received threats, promising that if I do not remove Pete Boone, “It is going to get real ugly,” and threatening to expand the attacks to other athletics employees.
Friends, supporters and the media have asked how I will react to this anonymous and vicious pressure. The short answer is that I will not react.
To maintain accreditation, the university must remain “free from undue influence from political, religious and other external bodies.” I would be less than the chancellor Ole Miss needs if I reacted to these polarizing tactics employed by anonymous critics. To do so would not only threaten the university’s accreditation, but it also would impair future university leaders by encouraging others to use such tactics to achieve personal, political or unsavory agendas or to harm the university.
As a university, we are committed to excellence in all things-including athletics. I regularly review the performance of all those who report to me, including Mr. Boone. But I cannot and will not engage in any sort of review in response to a public campaign to force his removal.

That’s only about half of it. William Faulkner was from Oxford. Everybody in Oxford just kind of writes and writes and writes, apparently.

For more, visit Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion.