IHL Trustees Call for Accountability; Offer Little

As the search for the University of Mississippi's next chancellor begins, there are those who still believe this was a situation manufactured by some within the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees. These Trustees argued that there were financial concerns regarding the University of Mississippi Medical Center which were so egregious that Chancellor Dan Jones had to go.

For all the Trustees' "concerns" about financial accountability, let's take a look at one serious case involving two of the Trustees, Aubrey Patterson and Alan Perry. Mr. Patterson, who is the current President of the Board of Trustees for the IHL, retired from the board of Tupelo-based BancorpSouth in 2014. IHL Board Vice President Alan Perry currently sits on the BancorpSouth Board of Directors.

An issue facing BancorpSouth is a 2014 federal investigation into mergers planned by their bank while Patterson and Perry were on the Board of Directors; the investigation is ongoing. According to the Mississippi Business Journal,

BancorpSouth has learned that federal bank regulators have identified concerns during the course of routine supervisory activities regarding BancorpSouth’s procedures, systems and processes related to certain of its compliance programs, including its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering programs. In addition, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau currently is conducting a review of BancorpSouth’s fair lending practices.

While Patterson and Perry kick Dan Jones out of his position for so-called financial concerns, they seem to be content with their positions at a bank under federal investigation for possibly violating federal law. This calls for another executive session. All in favor?