new student wrote:

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....he/she seems awfully upset with someone he/she isn't sure really means much and is ready to drop a "bomb" of a letter on persons I would suspect would be surprised."

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disgusted student wrote:

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new student It took me at least two semesters to understand what was happening here. For a long time I just read the post on the board until I finally understood the issues. I would highly recommend that you do the same unless you want to occasionally ask a legitimate question.

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disgusted student,

I've been reading for approximately 6 months now - I've got the gist of the situation, thank you.  I'm not sure I like the tone of that last sentence.  Did I cross you in another life?

new student wrote:

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"I'm not sure I like the tone of that last sentence.  Did I cross you in another life?

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disgusted student wrote:

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Student Advisor: Who appointed you as my student advisor? My real advisor would not have such silly advice for me.

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Student Advisor's previous advice to disgusted student: "Good advice, disgusted student. Also, new student should read the thread entitled something like "Read this First" that USM sympathizer updates. Finally, disgusted student, you might advise new student not to get into a match with Seeker such as you did a while back"

disgusted student,

I also have some advice for you: Learn to take compliments. Lighten up.  Stay out of street fights.

It saddens me to read the Letter to Hattiesburg.  I am so very disheartened to see many of my favorite Professors leaving or planning on leaving.  I shall graduate in December and I can't say that it wont be a moment to soon for me.  I am so tired of what is happening at USM.  I feel as if I am a broken record every time I try to speak out for the faculty.  They are not the bad guys!  Why do people and even most of the students not get what is going on???? 

Citizen Gone wrote:

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June 1, 2005 Residents of Hattiesburg: A number of years ago, I accepted a position at the University of Southern Mississippi, a regional university with a strong reputation in my field. I moved to Hattiesburg, a city I had visited only once, and became a happy resident of Forrest County and the City of Hattiesburg. I shopped at the local markets, dined at the locally-owned restaurants, used local mechanics, physicians, lawyers, and other professionals. I began to support USM in many ways, specifically through athletics and the arts. Football, theater, music, basketball, baseball, dance, and other activities became regular entries on my calendar. I worked forty or more hours each week, then spent some of my “free” time each week enjoying USM’s offerings. When given a choice of entertainment, I chose to support USM. When the opportunity arose to enjoy a meal at a restaurant, I chose restaurants owned and operated by Hattiesburg residents, which was again my choice. Rather than go to New Orleans, Jackson, or the Coast, I chose to stay at home. I bought a car in Hattiesburg. I gave charitably to Hattiesburg causes. Then, Shelby Frelend Thames began his cabal against a group of professors with whose beliefs he did not agree. He acted to fire Glamser and Stringer. He began to treat faculty at USM as though they were hired hands who had no stake in the future of USM and no right to input into their future. Through the actions of Thames, the faculty at USM became the whipping boy for the Hattiesburg community. Longtime friends made at USM began to leave Hattiesburg for better circumstances, better jobs, and better communities where they would not have to suffer the insulting remarks of those who claim to love USM but who are, in fact, anti-education and anti-intellectual. I chose to stay; things would surely get better. I turned down several job offers to leave USM for more money or prestige because I remembered the old USM, the USM that I had grown to love. The good residents of Hattiesburg, either through their action or inaction, disabused me of the hope that the old USM would return. Letters began to surface in the Hattiesburg American, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, and the Mississippi Sun-Herald, among other media outlets, that contained diatribes against USM faculty, calling them “lazy” or “troublemakers.” These letters were talking about me! They were talking about my friends and colleagues! Faculty responded in kind, attempting to tell their side of the story. Hattiesburg residents piled insult upon insult, continuing to deride and degrade USM professors. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) placed USM on probation for failing to comply with the accreditation board’s guidelines under Thames’ watch. Still, residents of Hattiesburg rallied to Thames’ aid, continuing the letter writing campaign. Secret meetings not open to faculty were held at Warren Paving to discuss the future of USM and to rally support for Shelby Frelend Thames. The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees largely ignored the USM debacle until Commissioner Richard Crofts apparently forced the Board to face the fact that USM was mismanaged; Crofts apparently brokered a deal to give Thames an exit strategy. And still the letters of support for Thames and those abusing USM faculty continued. There was almost no response from the majority of Hattiesburg. No letters rolled in from my Sunday School class members, my church family, my neighbors, or anyone else with whom I had a longstanding relationship. I noticed that there were no such letters from my colleagues’ friends and acquaintances. I noticed that there were no such letters from my dry cleaner, my mechanic, my doctor, or my lawyer. My only conclusion was that they must also think I am worthless, underworked, and overpaid. My profession must be useless in their eyes. So, I am now resolved. I am resolved today to not spend one thin dime in Hattiesburg if I can avoid it. Each year, I take home approximately $50,000 in after-tax pay. It is my stated goal to minimize the amount of that money that goes to support Hattiesburg and its residents. I will shop out of state if necessary. I will never buy another car in Hattiesburg. I will not dine out nor will I have a drink in Hattiesburg. I will not spend a dollar on the USM campus for a Coke, a theater ticket, or a ticket to a cookout at Nitchampburg. I will not patronize an establishment run by those who think that I am a useless piece of garbage and that my profession is useless. I will drive out of state to visit relatives and friends and will load up on groceries there so that the State of Mississippi and the City of Hattiesburg get the minimum possible sales tax from me. I will shop out of state or online to minimize the tax paid on my other consumer purchases. I will start eating at home rather than at restaurants so that I do not contribute to the ridiculous tax structure that supports the Lake Terrace Convention Center. I have already moved to Lamar County so that Hattiesburg gets zero tax dollars from me. If I have to shop in Hattiesburg, I will do so only at Wal-Mart, a national chain whose profits do not generally line the pockets of Hattiesburg residents. I will search for ways to minimize my Mississippi income tax and will refuse to pay any tax or fee unless absolutely necessary. I was a good citizen of Hattiesburg. Then, my neighbors told me I was a “whiner” and a “complainer.” They told me that I shouldn’t worry about what was fair within my job community and just be thankful I had such a cushy job. They told me I was expendable. Well, Hattiesburg residents, this letter is to inform you that you are now all officially expendable. I may live and work here, but my doctor lives in Biloxi, my lawyer’s in Brandon, and my tailor is in Atlanta. $50,000 may not mean a lot to you, but if all of my colleagues joined me, we could take over $25,000,000 out of the Hattiesburg economy. Are we all expendable? As of today, you all are. Signed, Citizen Gone

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I never fully noted until reading Citizen Gone's letter that we have seen very little in the way of supportive letters from the community-at-large. There have been a few (and those were very good ones), but not nearly the vitriolic regular peppering of letters we have seen from the anti- faculty cadre.

I find it very discouraging when I think about the many community members' children we have coached in little league; the Sunday School classes in which we have interacted; the civic and social organization meetings where we sat side-by-side; the charitable organization committees on which we worked in unison; the money, goods and services cheerfully exchanged (our money, their goods and services); the friendships formed by our children and their children at school and in the neighborhood; the athletic events and theatre productions, and musicals we witnessed together. And now that we need their support, only a few supporters surface. I never thought it would come to this. I had no idea we would be the object of neglect by those with whom we shared our hopes, lives, and aspirations? I never in my wildest dreams imagined it would end this way. Is that all there is? 

I thought the letter was great.  I shop out of state every chance I get, and will continue to do so.  The Internet is not good for Hattiesburg in my household.  Me and "Brown" are good friends by now --- he gets my stuff here safely.

I also like Jameela's explanation, for those who don't understand the particulars, of why you can't just pack up and leave for wherever you want as faculty. 

So many faculty/staff are sad.  Things have gone on so long by now that I know some in each category that are pulling for the institution to sink even deeper.  It's now a mob mentality of sorts, cheering for the great ship as she goes down.  Believe me, Celine Dione is not singing a pretty song to this one.