The Guest

Robert C. Khayat has been chancellor of the University of Mississippi since 1995. A former law professor at the university, Mr. Khayat was an Ole Miss football and baseball star during his undergraduate years and also played in the National Football League.

A transcript of the chat follows.

Goldie Blumenstyk (Moderator):
    Hello everyone, thanks for joining us today for this live chat with Bob Khayat.

I'm Goldie Blumenstyk, a colleague of Paul Fain's, the reporter who wrote this week's story about the changes taking place at the University of Mississippi. Paul is unavailable today so I'll be the moderator.

We are grateful to Mr. Khayat for being with us today to answer questions.

Question from Joy Huggins Student at OLE MISS!!:
    No question, just a comment. I was adamant about not attending Ole Miss because of the bad publicity. I thought that it was a school that waved a confederate flag, which represents opression. Once i visited the campus with a friend, I fell in love. I can't imagine that I almost missed this opportunity. I was guilty of the prejudice that I hated. I would not dream of attending any other University.

Robert C. Khayat:
    Dear Joy, thank you for your note. All of us are delighted that you looked beyond out of date perceptions and found the real Ole Miss. It would be a pleasure to see you.

Question from Goldie Blumenstyk:
    You've obviously had some great success in attracting gifts from alumni. Were some of them donors who were less willing to give in the days when "Old Reb" and the Confederate flag were prominent campus symbols?

Also, did the university lose a significant base of donors when it eliminated those symbols?

Robert C. Khayat:
    We believe that our donors have confidence in the work of our faculty and students and that a person who contributes to the University knows that he or she is making a good investment. We doubt that symbols materially affected decision making with regard to private contributions. Although there was a good bit of public discussion about our decisions to move beyond the past, we did not notice any reduction in private support. As a matter of fact, private support has increased each year.

Question from Jennifer Ruark, CHE:
    Relations between a college president's office and the athletics program are sometimes fraught with turf battles and other problems. How do you think your status as a former star athlete affects your relations with Ole Miss's athletics program, and the way the program operates?

Robert C. Khayat:
    We are blessed to have a group of faculty, staff, and administrators who work in an environment of mutual respect. Each of us understands that we are one University and that we will be strong only if we are united. With regard to my having participated in athletics, I suspect that our athletics personnel believe that I have a fairly clear understanding of the challenges facing Division 1A athletics.

Question from Jennifer Ruark, CHE:
    What is the biggest challenge you face right now on the job?

Robert C. Khayat:
    The biggest challenge we face is to increase the number of full time faculty needed to accommodate increases in our enrollment.

Question from Goldie Blumenstyk:
    How do you stay in touch with faculty members? What works? What doesn't?

Robert C. Khayat:
    I have found that by being out on campus there are opportunities for casual and informal visits with individual faculty as well as small groups. The dining hall provides many opportunities for conversations with faculty. When asked, I meet with the faculty senate or the executive committee of that group. Faculty are aware that there is an open door policy in the chancellor's office and that appointments are easily made.

Question from Jennifer Ruark, CHE:
    What could other institutions with a history of racial discrimination learn from Ole Miss's success in enrolling minority students? What has the university done both to attract those students to the campus and to make their college experience positive?

Robert C. Khayat:
    Our students adopted a creed that begins with, "I respect the dignity of every person." As a University community we honestly confronted our past and our deficiencies. With strong student leadership we worked hard to create a nurturing, inclusive, and open environment. We made it clear that every person, regardless of race, religion, economic status, political persuasion, or other personal characteristic is welcome in this community.

Our recruitment efforts included personal visits to predominantly black high schools from which Ole Miss had not been successful in attracting students. Most of our success is attributable to the leadership of our students and their commitment to respect.

Question from Goldie Blumenstyk:
    In you high school recruiting, do you use students from those schools?

Robert C. Khayat:
    Our high school recruiting program includes an admissions staff who visit high schools and make presentations at college nights. To the extent possible, we ask graduates of those high schools who are current students to help us with recruitment.

Additionally, our alumni association has a recruiting team that assists in identifying as well as contacting top students from local communities.

I participate in school visits, special invitation events for honors students, and campus events to which high school students are invited.

Goldie Blumenstyk (Moderator):
    We'll be wrapping up in several minutes, so if you have questions, please send them in now.

Question from John Darnell, Sophomore at Ole Miss:
    Chancellor, You have done amazing things for our University, and I am very thankful for your hard work. You have brought many great things to this University like the Honors College. What is the next "big thing?" What is your next goal that you want to achieve?

Robert C. Khayat:
    Dear John, thank you for your nice comments.

Let me remind all of us that the progress we have made is attributable to the hard work and generosity of thousands of people.

With regard to future goals, we hope to increase the quality of our academic programs, continue to modernize our buildings, classrooms, laboratories, and other facilities, protect and enhance our environment, and increase the respect people around the world have for The University of Mississippi.

Question from Goldie Blumenstyk:
    Is the "faculty" challenge you mentioned earlier finding the professors or finding the money ?

Robert C. Khayat:
    This is the first year since 2000 we have had sufficient resources to significantly increase the number of faculty positions. If our enrollment remains stable and if the state legislature provides additional funding, we will be able to attract the faculty needed.

Most faculty find this to be a wonderful university community and realize that the quality of life here is very good. Therefore, attracting faculty is not our challenge; providing the funding for new positions is.

Question from Allen Lind, Kentucky:
    Dr. Khayat, Do I recall seeing you sitting with a black basketball player that had earlier been snubbed by Ole Miss at an NCAA tournement? What was that all about?

Robert C. Khayat:
    In the mid-50s, Ole Miss was scheduled to play Iona College in a tournament in Kentucky. When our coach learned that Iona had a black player, he decided that under existing rules in Mississippi we could not play Iona. That black basketball player was Stanley Hill.

In 2001, we were scheduled to play Iona College in the NCAA tournament. At the suggestion of our Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations, Jeff Alford, we invited Stanley Hill and his wife Ruby to be our guests for the Ole Miss/Iona game. They graciously accepted and we had a wonderful visit. CBS television chose to feature that story as part of the NCAA tournament for that year. We remain friends with Mr. and Mrs. Hill.

Question from Heather Matthews, LSU, IU:
    How do you think that being a noteable alumnus from the University of Mississippi helped you to instigate cultural change on campus? Do you think you could have created similar change at a university you did not attend?

Robert C. Khayat:
    For me, it has been important to be emotionally invested in the University. The passion I have for this school developed long before I became chancellor and has intensified as I have developed a better understanding of our strengths.

Universities are ideally positioned to lead the way in cultural development as well as in the creation and dissemination of knowledge. We believe that our university has a unique role to play in the leadership of our state, region, and nation.

Question from Bonnie Davidson, Ole Miss alum:
    What would you consider your biggest mistake while serving as chancellor?

Robert C. Khayat:
    I have made many mistakes as chancellor, and it is difficult to select "the biggest." However, I could have avoided much of the contentious conversation regarding the civil rights monument had I involved students in the planning process and reached a decision sooner. I allowed that conversation to go on too long and it was not good for the university to be involved in a public controversy about something as important as that monument.

Question from Goldie Blumenstyk:
    Are there difficulties that you face in managing this large research university that would be different if it were not in the deep South?

Robert C. Khayat:
    We do not find that our location creates management problems unlike those in other parts of the nation. In fact, we believe that the natural beauty of the area, the lack of congestion, the friendliness of the people, the low levels of crime, and other quality of life indicators work to our benefit. I suspect management challenges would be greater in an urban environment.

Question from Goldie Blumenstyk:
    Well, that's all the time we have. On behalf of The Chronicle, I'd like to thank Bob Khayat for being our guest (and we hope he appreciates that we made it through an entire chat without one question about that missed kick).

Robert C. Khayat:
    Dear Goldie, Thanks to you, Paul, and others at the Chronicle for the very nice article and for this web chat. It is extremely helpful for our University to be presented to your readers in a positive way, and all of us are profoundly grateful. Come to see us. Warmest regards, Robert Khayat, Chancellor