Mississippi

University of Southern Mississippi names Dr. Joe Paul as president

Published

2 years ago

October 24, 2022

University of Southern Mississippi names Dr. Joe Paul as president

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) – Joe Paul, Ph.D., will function the eleventh president of the College of Southern Mississippi.

The choice got here after the Board of Trustees of State Establishments of Greater Studying accomplished its seek for the brand new establishment president and voted to nominate Paul, who’s presently serving as interim president of the college.

“Through the Listening Periods held on the campuses in Hattiesburg and Lengthy Seashore, the campus group spoke clearly and passionately about why Dr. Joe Paul is definitely the best individual to fill the position on a everlasting foundation,” stated Trustee Gee Ogletree, co-chair of the Board Search Committee. “I’ve recognized and witnessed Dr. Paul’s distinctive contributions to the college for over 4 many years.

“I acknowledge Dr. Paul’s power, relationships, affection and years of service to Southern Miss have confirmed past a shadow of a doubt that he’s the best individual to information the College into its subsequent chapter of management and excellence in educating, service and analysis within the state and nation.”

Paul, a Southern Miss alumnus, stated he was honored to just accept the place and humbled by the board’s belief in him.

“I’m honored and humbled to just accept this appointment from the Mississippi Establishments of Greater Studying Board of Trustees to grow to be the eleventh president of our beloved College of Southern Mississippi,” stated Dr. Paul. “The whole board and Commissioner Rankins have proven nice help for me and for Southern Miss.

“I’m particularly grateful to the presidential search committee co-chairs, Board President Tommy Duff and Trustee Gee Ogletree. These two Southern Miss alumni have displayed braveness, conviction and integrity by means of this course of. They love Southern Miss as I do, they usually share a imaginative and prescient of the potential this establishment has to positively impression our area, state and past.”

As interim president, Paul stated he labored to advance scholar recruitment, re-invigorate scholar life in a post-pandemic atmosphere, share the Southern Miss story, help intercollegiate athletics as a brand new member of the Solar Belt Convention and helped to push the college’s $150 million capital marketing campaign nearer to its aim three years earlier than completion of the marketing campaign.

“Now we have work to do in rising the enrollment, maximizing our impression on our Mississippi Gulf Coast and guaranteeing the continued progress of our analysis enterprise,” stated Paul. “I’m additionally deeply dedicated to creating an unapparelled scholar life and management expertise. A spirit of shared governance might be entrance and middle for me.

“I wish to guarantee all that I’ll assault these subsequent 4 years with the power and urgency with which I’ve approached these first 4 months. We’ll chase audacious objectives with ardour and persistence. Our Southern Miss grit will prevail.”

Paul beforehand served the college as a scholar affairs administrator for greater than 40 years. He turned the vice chairman of scholar affairs in February 1993 after holding numerous positions, together with assistant director of scholar actions, assistant vice chairman and dean of scholar improvement. Paul additionally held college rank in USM’s School of Schooling and Psychology.

Between his retirement from the college in 2015 and being named Interim President earlier this yr, Paul held part-time positions with the College Basis as a fundraiser, as a citizen service coordinator for the Metropolis of Hattiesburg, as an government coach for the Horne Enterprise Advisor Group and as an government coach and strategic advisor for the Blue Hen Consulting Company.

“Dr. Paul is well-known to the campus group and actually wants no introduction,” stated Trustee Tom Duff, co-chair of the Board Search Committee. “On the Listening Periods, scores of Southern Miss alumni and college students described the way in which Dr. Paul retains the wants of the scholars at first and provides every one the help wanted for them to soar.

“The personalised expertise college students obtain on the college (is) one of many many attributes that make The College of Southern Mississippi particular. Dr. Paul is the perfect individual to construct on these strengths and assist the college attain the subsequent degree of success.”

Past his work at Southern Miss, Paul has offered administration and management seminars and coaching applications for numerous companies, industries and academic organizations. As well as, he was a senior marketing consultant with The Atlanta Consulting Group, a Fortune High 50 administration consulting agency. Purchasers Paul has labored with embrace UPS, RJR Nabisco, Ohio-Edison, Stennis Institute, US Navy, Accenture and Horne CPA Well being care group.

Paul and his spouse Meg reside in Hattiesburg, MS, and are lively members of Trinity Episcopal Church. They’ve two grown youngsters and two grandsons.

Being very concerned within the Hattiesburg group, Paul beforehand served two phrases as president of the United Means of Southeast Mississippi. He has additionally served as board chairman for the Higher Hattiesburg Space Growth Basis, as a Board Trustee for the Mississippi Public Workers Retirement System, as president of the Hattiesburg Space Schooling Basis, as a trustee for the Hattiesburg Public Faculty District and as a member of the board of administrators for the Hattiesburg Boys and Women Membership.

Moreover, Paul co-founded the Hattiesburg Management Pinebelt program and has served statewide in management positions with the Mississippi Financial Council.

Paul holds a Ph.D. in administration of upper schooling from the College of Alabama and was named the college’s Most Excellent Doctoral Pupil within the Subject in 1985.

The Bay St. Louis native earned a bachelor’s diploma in communication and political science from USM in 1975, graduating magna cum laude from the College Honors School. He later acquired a grasp’s diploma in communication and administration from Southern Miss in 1978.

In 2000, Paul was inducted into the College of Southern Mississippi Alumni Corridor of Fame.

Following the Monday, Oct. 24, announcement of Paul’s appointment, reward for the choice started to pour in from campus and group leaders. A number of the responses are beneath:

Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker: “I imagine each Southern Miss Golden Eagle enthusiastically applauds the selection of Dr. Joe Paul to guide our college for the subsequent 4 years. Dr. Joe Paul has Southern Miss in his soul. There isn’t any another trusted, succesful or ready to tackle that mantle of management, and I respect the IHL Board of Trustees listening to stakeholders and making a daring, decisive decide.”
Denis Wiesenburg, President of the USM College Senate: “I imagine the USM college might be happy with the number of Dr. Paul as our subsequent president. We informed the IHL Board Search Committee that our subsequent president must be somebody who shares Dr. Paul’s imaginative and prescient of how a college operates. He’s the kind of chief who will work in true partnership with the USM college and workers to information our college towards a shiny future. “
Jessica Langston, Employees Council President: “Throughout Dr. Paul’s time as interim president, he has been intentional in his efforts to interact workers and be inclusive of this essential group throughout all campuses. We’re excited to help Dr. Paul throughout his everlasting appointment as College President and stay up for collaborating with him and his management staff to proceed propelling Southern Miss ahead.”
Chuck Scianna, an alumnus from Houston, Texas: “I imagine the IHL has proven, by their number of Dr. Joe Paul as the subsequent president of Southern Miss, that they’re in contact with the short-term and long-term wants and objectives of the college. Dr. Paul possesses the qualities, expertise and relationships Southern Miss must go ahead with its R1 analysis designation and transfer to the subsequent degree. I imagine that is an excellent alternative and hope all college students, college, workers and alumni help Dr. Paul and his effort to take Southern Miss to the High!”
Ashley Lankford, Pupil Authorities Affiliation President: “Dr. Paul is the true embodiment of what it means to be a Golden Eagle! He reveals every one among us each day what it means to serve our college and to go away it higher than we discovered it. His help for college kids and fervour for campus life is unimaginable. With that being stated, we’re proud to have him function our official president for the subsequent 4 years!”

Along with the in-person Listening Periods held on the USM campuses, the board additionally issued an internet survey to permit as many college students, alumni, college, workers and group members to take part as potential.

Movies of the Listening Session and the outcomes of the web survey are posted on the USM President Search web site.

A proper announcement will happen as a part of on-campus actions associated to the soccer recreation on Thursday, Oct. 27, when the Golden Eagles tackle the Ragin’ Cajuns of the College of Louisiana. The announcement might be at 3:00 p.m. within the Ballroom on the Thad Cochran Middle on the USM Campus in Hattiesburg.

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Mississippi

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Mississippi's judicial runoff elections

Published

4 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Mississippi's judicial runoff elections

Voters in central Mississippi and the Delta and Gulf Coast areas will return to the polls Tuesday for a runoff election to resolve two state judicial races in which no candidate received the required vote majority in the Nov. 5 general election

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Mississippi

Mississippi Supreme Court balance of power at stake in upcoming runoff

Published

13 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Mississippi Supreme Court balance of power at stake in upcoming runoff

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Four of Mississippi’s Supreme Court Justices were up for re-election this year. Two of those had opponents. One lost in the general election and the other is going to a runoff.

The outcome of next Tuesday’s runoff could change the overall balance of power on the court.

Michigan State University College of Law Professor Quinn Yeargain explains that nonpartisan elections make it tough to get a sense of the ideology of state supreme courts.

The best way to get a glimpse of how the court leans is to look at previous decisions. Yeargain pulled six notable cases to examine.

“In recent years the Mississippi Supreme Court has been more of a far-right court or very conservative court than a moderate-conservative court,” noted Yeargain who is a state constitutional law scholar.

He created a color-coded chart with pink indicating more conservative decisions and green the more moderate ones.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to get a sense as to the actual ideology of state supreme courts, especially when they’re elected in nonpartisan elections. There’s a critical race for Mississippi Supreme Court up this year, so I thought I’d do a very(!) quick synopsis of the court. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/rBxe7i3vfy
— Quinn Yeargain (@yeargain) October 28, 2024

“And so a lot of the decisions that it has reached have been or have had a tendency to be a little bit more extreme, more deferential to the state legislature, more deferential to the governor, less willing to recognize individual rights and liberties, less willing to believe that the government has isolated peoples, individual rights and liberties,” said Yeargain.

The more conservative opinion won out in all of the example cases. But one of those four justices that leaned that way every time referenced is now being replaced. Justice Dawn Beam was defeated by Gulfport lawyer David Sullivan.

“There’s still a lot that will need to be learned about the ideology of the new justice,” Yeargain noted.

Then there’s this runoff for Central District 1 Position 3 with Jim Kitchens and Jenifer Branning.

“Justice Kitchens has been more willing to hold the government to account, to express skepticism about the nature of what the government is doing, and how it is acting,” he said. “But Senator Branning, for example, has been in the government. She has been one of these actors and I think it’s fair to conclude that she might be more deferential to the legislature or to the Governor in how she approached her rulings.”

Yeargain notes that it’s not to say that would be the case for Branning.

He hopes voters will do research about the positions of the judges before returning to the polls for the runoff.

WATCH: Justice Jim Kitchen’s Interview on WLBT+

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Mississippi

Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi's felony voting ban is cruel and unusual

Published

22 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi's felony voting ban is cruel and unusual

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era practice of removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes such as forgery and timber theft, attorneys say in new court papers.

Most of the people affected are disenfranchised for life because the state provides few options for restoring ballot access.

“Mississippi’s harsh and unforgiving felony disenfranchisement scheme is a national outlier,” attorneys representing some who lost voting rights said in an appeal filed Wednesday. They wrote that states “have consistently moved away from lifetime felony disenfranchisement over the past few decades.”

This case is the second in recent years — and the third since the late 19th century — that asks the Supreme Court to overturn Mississippi’s disenfranchisement for some felonies. The cases use different legal arguments, and the court rejected the most recent attempt in 2023.

The new appeal asks justices to reverse a July ruling from the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Mississippi legislators, not the courts, must decide whether to change the laws.

Stripping away voting rights for some crimes is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment, the appeal argues. A majority of justices rejected arguments over cruel and unusual punishment in June when they cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places.

Attorneys who sued Mississippi over voting rights say the authors of the state’s 1890 constitution based disenfranchisement on a list of crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit. A majority of the appeals judges wrote that the Supreme Court in 1974 reaffirmed constitutional law allowing states to disenfranchise felons.

About 38% of Mississippi residents are Black. Nearly 50,000 people were disenfranchised under the state’s felony voting ban between 1994 and 2017. More than 29,000 of them have completed their sentences, and about 58% of that group are Black, according to an expert who analyzed data for plaintiffs challenging the voting ban.

To regain voting rights in Mississippi, a person convicted of a disenfranchising crime must receive a governor’s pardon or win permission from two-thirds of the state House and Senate. In recent years, legislators have restored voting rights for only a few people.

The other recent case that went to the Supreme Court argued that authors of Mississippi’s constitution showed racist intent when they chose which felonies would cause people to lose the right to vote.

In that ruling, justices declined to reconsider a 2022 appeals court decision that said Mississippi remedied the discriminatory intent of the original provisions in the state constitution by later altering the list of disenfranchising crimes.

In 1950, Mississippi dropped burglary from the list. Murder and rape were added in 1968. The Mississippi attorney general issued an opinion in 2009 that expanded the list to 22 crimes, including timber larceny, carjacking, felony-level shoplifting and felony-level writing bad checks.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 2023 dissent that Mississippi’s list of disenfranchising crimes was “adopted for an illicit discriminatory purpose.”

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