EMCC divide may come down to Alsobrooks or Stephens

Seven months into his tenure, EMCC President Scott Alsobrooks could be under fire to either step down or force football coach Buddy Stephens out, people inside and outside the community college tell the Daily Times Leader.

The issue has been brewing for several weeks and spiked last month when six board members representing Clay, Oktibbeha and Lowndes counties walked out of a meeting in a dispute with board President Jimmy Moore of Lauderdale County.

But even that confrontation masked deeper issues over 10 years of deficit spending, much of it perceived to be on football especially and sports in general at the expense of workforce training, academics and economic development.

That burst into the public view Wednesday when a sports booster, Boomer Brown, the son of the late state Sen. and EMCC sports booster Terry Brown, appeared before Lowndes County supervisors to chastise Lowndes County's two EMCC board members.

That backfired, putting attention on the growing rift between athletics and academics and the two-year school's financial difficulties.

And while the differences are easy to see on paper, board members and university insiders aren't always as willing to talk on the record about just how deep they go and what the results may be.

“I'm afraid we've been losing our focus. Our mission is to educate students, train students and put people in the work force. These are students first,” said Oktibbeha County board member Rudy Johnson, whose history with EMCC dates back to when he was an assistant director at the school.

Lowndes County supervisor Harry Sanders, who disputed most of Brown's comments during Wednesday board meeting, agreed with Johnson.

“I think that is the big issue and it has come to a head. The college has lost its focus,” Sander said.

The EMCC board is made up of 12 members — two each from Lowndes, Clay, Oktibbeha, Noxubee, Kemper and Lauderdale counties. The board members are appointed by the boards of supervisors in each county.

In the recent confrontations, the board has been split with the southern counties — Kemper, Noxubee and Lauderdale — voting in a block against the representatives from Clay, Oktibbeha and Lowndes.