Unable to formally introduce Dr. Glenn Boyce as the University of Mississippi’s latest chancellor at a press conference that did not take place on Friday, Boyce and the IHL held a teleconference that afternoon.

During the 24-minute phone call, Boyce and IHL Board member Ford Dye answered questions regarding the hiring process and how the IHL landed on the man hired to consult during the process of the job he eventually landed.

Dye, vice president of the IHL Board of Trustees and chair of the Board Search Committee, stated there was no other candidate’s name uttered or submitted to the search committee more than Ole Miss’s newest leader. The search firm Buffkin-Baker contacted Boyce during that time about being a candidate. Boyce declined and requested to not be a candidate, according to Dye.

“Dr. Glenn Boyce received more nominations in that nominating process than anybody else,” Dye said. “We began a national search and continued through that process for four months. …As the national search was conducted, it became evident that the most qualified candidate was Dr. Glenn Boyce.”

Dye was pressed that two sources on the Campus Search Advisory Committee had told another reporter Boyce’s name never came up in CSAC discussions. Dye said he would not discuss the hiring process, nor would he confirm that all eight of the candidates who were listed in a report by Mississippi Today on Monday had their interviews before hiring Boyce. He did not confirm the list, claiming it was a confidential list and that the IHL Board “never released a list.”

Boyce said he declined initially to become a candidate because he wanted the “process to play out” and to see what other candidates were out there for the board to consider.

“I wasn’t thinking about it very much at that point and time,” Boyce said. “I had other things that I was doing and I was just moving forward, thinking about what I was going to do in my retirement years. So, I left it at that and turned it over to the Board.”

He then interviewed for the position on Thursday and was offered the job the same day.

Another topic of discussion was if Boyce would return the money he received from the University of Mississippi Foundation to serve as a consultant. Boyce could not remember the exact amount but said it was around $87,000. He also stated he had no intention of returning the money.

“I don’t know about returning any money to the IHL. I was paid for consulting services and performed the work,” Boyce said. “I feel like I performed the work effectively and feel like I did the job that I was asked to do.”

When pressed later if Boyce would consider returning the money as a way to win over members of the Ole Miss community who were not pleased with his hiring or how the process transpired, Boyce said the question “gives me something to think about.”

Boyce is expected to begin his duties as chancellor on or before Oct. 13.