Professor found dead
OXFORD WEEKLY PLANET
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Ole Miss professor found dead
Foul play suspected?
Oxonian Kimberly Pace, 35, was found dead in the basement of her home earlier today. Her sister Rebecca Pace, also of Oxford, was one of a small group of friends who made the gruesome discovery.
The Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department has not released any details on the cause of death, but Public Information Officer Elizabeth Jones said the case is being treated as a homicide. Sources close to the investigation say the victim apparently suffered some type of head and neck trauma, but Jones declined to confirm or deny this information.
Kimberly Pace was an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Mississippi, where she had been on the faculty for a number of years. Last week, Dr. Pace was involved in a controversy on campus regarding accusations that students can buy grades.
After a column in The Daily Mississippian accusing unidentified professors of selling grades, Dr. Pace wrote to the editor in response.
She said in part, "The faculty, past and present, has always been devoted to the highest standards of learning... To engage in the activity Mr. Bender alleges would not only go against every ethical and academic principle we hold dear but would deprive the students of the very knowledge we seek to share."
Rebecca Pace did not respond to requests for an interview. No funeral arrangements have been announced.
The sheriff's department is still actively investigating the Jackson Avenue scene.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
