JACKSON - A state senator has criticized Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's selections to the College Board as showing the same lack of diversity in his appointments as his predecessor.
The Senate confirmed Thursday Musgrove's appointment of three white men, a white woman and a black woman to the board that oversees Mississippi's university system.
The board now has eight men and four women. Two of its members are black.
Sen. Barbara Blackmon, D-Canton, said Musgrove, in the appointments, ignored blacks who had voted him for governor in 1999 and black lawmakers who helped elect him when the campaign was tossed into the Mississippi House.
"Gov. Musgrove, like his predecessor Gov. (Kirk) Fordice, has taken refuge behind the worn out excuse that 'I have appointed the most qualified people.' This can no longer be acceptable as an excuse for the gross inequity in filling positions of leadership which will be responsible for governing the future of our children," Blackmon said.
Musgrove said Thursday he had picked board members who "are committed to work in the best interests of education and each of the Mississippi's eight universities."
"They will do an outstanding job and will work together to make positive improvements for our state universities," Musgrove said.
Blackmon, who opposed Musgrove in his 1995 bid for lieutenant governor, said blacks must now ask themselves "did we elect the most qualified person" as governor.
"Qualifications are not the issue. There are tens of thousands of individuals in Mississippi who would be equally qualified to serve. The blatant omission of minority citizens in proportion to our numbers in this state from this list was intentional," she said.
Each governor gets four appointments to the board, although Fordice had eight appointments because he served two terms. Musgrove's appointees replaced four who left the board on May 7, 2000. They had been appointed by Gov. Ray Mabus in 1988.
Musgrove also has a fifth slot to fill because of the death of Jake Mills.
The selections must be confirmed by the Senate. Fordice had trouble in the past getting board appointees cleared because of diversity concerns. In 1996, when Musgrove was lieutenant governor, Fordice's choices of four white men were rejected.
Those confirmed Thursday by the Senate were Bryce Griffis of Starkville; Scott Ross of West Point; Dr. Stacy Davidson Jr. of Cleveland; Amy Whitten of Oxford; and Bettye H. Neely of Grenada.
Ross, Davidson, Whitten and Neely were appointed to 12-year terms, expiring in 2012. The nominations are Senate Nominations 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19.
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