SC

College of Charleston: The Real McConnell Backla$h

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS, BABY … Much ado has been made about students at the College of Charleston protesting the controversial hiring of S.C. Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell as the school’s next president. We also publicly rebuked McConnell’s selection … but we tend to dismiss these protests because students…

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS, BABY …

Much ado has been made about students at the College of Charleston protesting the controversial hiring of S.C. Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell as the school’s next president.

We also publicly rebuked McConnell’s selection … but we tend to dismiss these protests because students at the government-subsidized “College of Knowledge” are … well … yeah.

Of course the real problem with the College of Charleston hiring McConnell is the negative impact it will have on enrollment – and fundraising. And not just because McConnell is a national embarrassment.

No, we’re referring to homegrown dissent … the kind that can cripple an institution.

McConnell’s candidacy – pushed by powerful state lawmakers – was overwhelmingly opposed by sizable majorities of the College of Charleston’s foundation and alumni boards. Why does that matter? Because the school’s foundation is in the midst of a major capital campaign – and is banking (literally) on enhanced alumni participation to bring it to a successful conclusion.

According to our sources, the school is seeking to raise $125 million in its current campaign – of which it has currently raised roughly 40 percent (around $51 million).

In addition to spooking big out-of-state donors, McConnell’s selection – made over the near-unanimous objections of both of these boards – threatens to further erode the College of Charleston’s already weak alumni giving.

Of the $51 million raised thus far, only 30 percent – roughly $15.2 million – has come from alumni. Compounding the problem, less than 10 percent of College of Charleston alumni donate to the school.

Bad, right? Right … and McConnell’s selection as president could drive both of these already weak numbers down even further.

McConnell supporters argue he will wind up being a financial windfall for the institution – although as you might expect they are referring to an expanded taxpayer commitment. In fact McConnell and his allies have big plans to remake the College of Charleston into another “research institution,” which is code for pouring millions of dollars down the drain on all sorts of dubious speculative investments that weren’t good enough to get funded by the private sector.

For shame …

South Carolina already spends way too much money on its bloated system of higher education. Expanding this exorbitant financial commitment in order to subsidize additional “economic development” scams is the very last thing taxpayers should be forced to do.

But that’s precisely McConnell’s vision for the school … that, and drying up its private resources.

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60 comments

Jackie Chiles March 25, 2014 at 10:25 am

Moronic student protests should be ignored. If donors actually stop giving money because they don’t like McConnell’s civil war reenactments, I suppose that’d be a reason to reconsider, but I doubt they’ll punish the school because the president does something they don’t like without having actually met and talked with him first.

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ubernuss March 25, 2014 at 2:37 pm

Do you seriously think that? You think Coca Cola is going to step up with the Stars and Bars on the front page? Go back to your soma.

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Jackie Chiles March 25, 2014 at 3:01 pm

So in your brain McConnel is putting the stars and the bars on CofC’s “front page”? What about in the real world?

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a face in the crowd March 25, 2014 at 10:46 am

The arrogance and entitlement of state politicians is beyond belief. How much money was wasted on a search firm for a “president”? How much time was wasted in search committee meetings, interviews, etc.? There is ZERO respect for process in this state. But you can bet every last one of these clowns shows up at church on Sunday morning.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 11:11 am

“Searches” are pablum for the faculty. Faculty think they are in charge. They are merely hired hands.

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a face in the crowd March 25, 2014 at 11:44 am

Faculty are the brains behind advances in human knowledge. Politicians and dim administrators coerce faculty into wasting their time on predetermined searches. Your responses never fail to show your ignorance.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 12:02 pm

Most faculty can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Remind me how the phrase goes, those who can’t do, teach. Is that it?

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a face in the crowd March 25, 2014 at 12:13 pm

I did hear McConnell might offer a guest lecture at College of Charleston, titled, “How I suckered the Clemson Board of Trustees into funding my lifelong obsession with the raising of the Hunley submarine.”

CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 1:04 pm

I was not aware that the Hunley Commission was a part of Clemson University.

a face in the crowd March 25, 2014 at 1:12 pm

Part 2 of lecture: “And then became president of another university and used my political connections to deplete Clemson of state funding.”

CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 1:30 pm

Does your puerile brain harbor any other fantasy?

Bwahaha March 25, 2014 at 3:49 pm

Not everybody fantasizes about little boys all the time, Tom.

CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 4:12 pm

Tom?

Lil' Boy March 25, 2014 at 3:48 pm

And nothing said on this page could be construed as an attempt to make you aware of such a thing, dolt.

carls jr March 25, 2014 at 10:00 pm

Exactly, like Dabo with football.

Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 2:43 pm

Who was president of Princeton when Einstein was on the faculty? The president must be more famous and important than Einstein since he was Einstein’s boss, right?

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Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 2:04 pm

We get it, CNSYD. Only the boss man matters. The people who do the actual work don’t count for squat.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 2:12 pm

In what industry does the “boss man” not make the final decision?

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Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 2:42 pm

Organizations in which the “boss man” ignores the perspectives of the other stakeholders, especially his best-educated professional workers and his “customers” (i.e. students) are organizations that are doomed to fail.

CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 2:52 pm

They weren’t ignored. Their opinions were given all the attention they deserved.

So, for example, in an unionized industry. the Board of Directors always seeks the opinion of the rank and file prior to making decisions such as closures, layoffs, etc.. Is that how it works?

west_rhino March 26, 2014 at 9:28 am

You recall the Federal Metal Trades Council well I see… spend much time in Bldg. 4?

CNSYD March 26, 2014 at 12:56 pm

actually 79 and 10.

Tom March 25, 2014 at 3:46 pm

Especially forestry professors. They always have overinflated egos.

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shifty henry March 25, 2014 at 8:06 pm

Forestry professors – but they know how to solve knotty problems. That’s good, I think…..

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Power March 25, 2014 at 10:46 am

LOL. You are really scraping hard for some sort of redemption both in your posture as to choice and the method in which the choice was made.

1) Students and faculty never like change. They never, ever like the choice of change. They loathe the Board and most of its Members at every institution.

2) The big donors aren’t going to be influenced unduly and without consideration of the facts and circumstances. They don’t get to be big donors by being as reactionary as a blogger and his lapdogs. They get to be big donors by being successfull including those traits of wise decisions after carefully weighted considerations of actions and their ramifications.

3) Charleston and the school is a “hot” place to be and to be seen. That ain’t gonna change anytime soon. The New York/East Coast/Finance/Banking money is enveloping the Low Country along with the newly wealthy of inland SC and other states.

3) When one finds oneself in a hole, it is most often wise to stop digging.

You should stop digging, FITS, and move on to your next lost cause.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 11:12 am

Dead on point!

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Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 2:02 pm

1) Yes, students and faculties never like change. That’s why they protested the well-qualified presidents hired at Clemson and USC. Oh wait, jeez, that didn’t happen?
2) Your conclusion is that a careful consideration of McConnell’s leadership will cause donors to increase their support. Considering the unpopularity of his selection among alumni groups, why would you come to such a conclusion?
3) You don’t understand “New York money” if you think they get off on Good Old Boy Southern politics. McConnell’s pick is a blunt reminder of the part of Charleston that doesn’t revolve getting a table at McCrady’s after taking the yacht up from Kiawah.
3(b) McConnell has dug the college into a hole. I wish he would stop digging.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 2:15 pm

Applying your “criteria”, Barker, Prince, Cox and Edwards were not qualified to be Presidents of Clemson. I do agree that there were no protests of their selections

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a face in the crowd March 25, 2014 at 2:24 pm

Barker was not qualified to be president at Clemson. He was installed by a Board of Trustees who did not like the fact that the provost at the time was an actual academic. They wanted a good ole boy who would be willing to make a public ass of himself by ranking Clemson ahead of every other university in the country. He drove away countless faculty by hoarding salary monies for the incompetents in his administration, and he is not missed by anyone at the university.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 2:31 pm

and you have, of course, polled each and every person at Clemson in order to support your “anyone” statement, correct?

Appears to be the same number of faculty as normal. Some of them even have English as their first language.

VoiceofReason March 26, 2014 at 8:30 am

Your ignorance and that of the others on this site is simply mind boggling when it comes to Clemson. You just can’t stand it that CU is recognized nationally much much more than your precious uSC.

Keep living in the dark ages my friends.

Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 2:37 pm

I didn’t go to Clemson, and I don’t know or care about their previous presidents. Their current president served as president of WVU for 5 years and has a PhD in Operations Analysis. He has published more than 75 papers in Computer Science. In other words, he is qualified for the position.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 2:57 pm

Don’t disagree. The examples I cited were Presidents who did not have the academic pedigree that “face” cherishes. Edwards and Prince had business backgrounds. I dare say that in most universities that if you stopped the “student on the street” and asked who the President was they probably wouldn’t know. If they did and you then asked them about the academic background of the person they just named, they would not have a clue.

ubernuss March 25, 2014 at 2:42 pm

Amen!

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scotty March 25, 2014 at 10:56 am

It would appear the made a choice for the future of the College. With shrinking budgets and a possible merger they needed a President who knows the ways of politics. I would suspect he will let the dept. heads run the day to day operations while he works on a sustainable growth. He is a smart guy who knows how to talk to the politicians and donors.

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ubernuss March 25, 2014 at 2:35 pm

You must be kidding…or you are on the dole. He is not qualified In most places they do not appoint non-phd holding professional politicians to run a college. That is dumb ass South Carolina crap.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 4:17 pm

How about David Boren?

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jimlewisowb March 25, 2014 at 11:02 am

Another heaping pile of cockroach shit

Little Joe Riley High Priest of the Holy City, McConnell as POTCOC and Leatherpecker with the keys to the State’s safe deposit boxes could care less about donors, foundations, faculty, students, media or the taxpayers

They are on a mission, a mission from God. They are going to do what Oral Roberts failed to do.

They are going to create a mega University/ Medical Complex/Research Facility to rival any similar facility in the World

Their response to the taxpayers – simple – bend over, this wont hurt for long

My bet is that they will also establish the Leatherpecker Institute of Cryogenics to freeze their bodies to be resurrected later to fuck the children of our grandchildren

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anonymous March 25, 2014 at 11:06 am

“…could not care less….”

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RogueElephant March 25, 2014 at 12:05 pm

You took the letters right off my keyboard. LOL

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Philip Branton March 25, 2014 at 11:59 am

LOL…..its not what McConnell has done in the past………..it most certainly is about what revenue streams he can divert in the FUTURE for the CofC..! Period.

Does anyone remember his eyebrows twitching before the BOEING 900 million deal was rammed through..?

Did his eyebrows twitch when Scott got “appointed” Senator…?

How transparent has State government become during McConnell’s elected “tour” of duty..? Not much, eh…?

Dare to wager how informed the students will be concerning their TUITION increases and education reality at the CofC…??

Look OUT……

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Dan on Divine March 25, 2014 at 12:34 pm

“McConnell’s candidacy – pushed by powerful state lawmakers –….”

1. Some of those powerful state lawmakers are glad Glenn is going back to Charleston. He has ruled long enough and was getting more and more demanding.

2. Toal better cash in while she can on her deals with McConnell because once he’s gone, she is not going to have his protection and guaranteed senate votes any longer, and

3. Courson better go ahead and take the Lt. Gov. position. It will make his obituary read better and he’s toast after this term anyway. He’s not doing much these days and few, if any, will listen to him once Glenn is gone.

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Squishy123 March 25, 2014 at 1:33 pm

3. You mean it’d overshadow his “hero” status as a Marine? A Marine that never left US soil during the Vietnam War because of his connections. The last combat Courson saw was during basic training.

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Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 1:47 pm

Any political scheme involving Leon Stavrinakis is bound to be all about getting pork. I tend to vote democratic but Leon makes me ashamed. I have no doubt that Leon, Bobby Harrell, and Glenn have big plans to use the college (and the pointless “university” they want to create) to bring more pork to Charleston and their political/business allies there.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 2:17 pm

Pork to Charleston in lieu of what other SC destinations?

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Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 3:06 pm

How about spending the money where it is needed? For example, restore the general funding that was cut from higher education before embarking on a concocted scheme to create a University of Charleston. The only advantage to the latter approach is that it funnels money into the hands of a chosen few.

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ubernuss March 25, 2014 at 2:39 pm

This is a sad day for the Charleston region. As a local employer it will hurt our ability
to pull in quality employees. As a
relocated-yankee, who has come to love Charleston, it is an emotional
blow. It solidifies the realization that
“The Good Old Boy” network is slow to remove its grip.

I lived in SC during his flag “compromise” and it is not a
compromise to anyone who does not live here.

People may think non-locals don’t matter but they are sadly
mistaken. If it wasn’t for out-of-state money, the Charleston region and South
Carolina in general would be further behind the rest of the country.

Boeing, BMW, and a long list of new fast growing CHS based
firms are all non-local.

The big winner here is the National Media (as if “Southern
Charm” wasn’t enough fodder) and the Local Politicians.

The losers? Local people who want to see the page turn on
the Star’s and Bar’s as a tool of the liberal media. The academic minded people
at the C of C also loose. The Alumni just had the value of their degree take a
national hit. The students.

McConnell’s solution for increasing diversity is work harder
with local high schools. This is a
pathetic and insular perspective to say the least.

Hey Glen? Have you ever heard of Asia? South America? New England perhaps?

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Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 2:56 pm

Have you met the other CNSYD who has polar opposite opinions on this issue?

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 3:05 pm

When Nancy Mace ran FITSNEWS, I had an avatar that was mine and mine alone. Then you could tell the fakers. Mace left and techno wizard Sic Willie let everything go to hell. So now you can’t tell real from fake. Of course I could always bought into the “Disqus” (or whatever it is called) system but why? For someone so scared of “big brother”, it is very curious that Sic Willie wants you to log into a tracking system.

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Native Ink March 25, 2014 at 3:07 pm

Yeah, I have no desire to join Disqus either.

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shifty henry March 25, 2014 at 8:17 pm

With Disqus all one has to do is click on your profile and read every comment you have made. If “you know who” wants to track you what easier way than that — and you did the work for them! A profile pattern is always there. I have wondered sometimes why certain folks have disappeared from this site.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 3:10 pm

Not another overpriced SOB, Kiawah or Wild Dunes property will ever be sold again as long as McConnell is President of CofC. Yeah right. You still living out of your carpet bag?

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Jackie Chiles March 25, 2014 at 4:17 pm

LoL Just LoL.

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Nevermore March 25, 2014 at 3:44 pm

McConnell is greedy and he does not want to run for Lt Governor because he’d get his ass kicked. So that’s why this happened. The welfare of the college is not his concern, or he would have done much, much more for it during his 30+ years in the Senate, many of which he spent being one of the most powerful people in the State. Faculty are a dime a dozen. There are so many PhD’s stringing together careers with multiple part-time gigs that any faculty member who wants to quit COC will be replaced faster than a nursing home patient.

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Jackie Chiles March 25, 2014 at 4:16 pm

Agree with the faculty are a dime a dozen. If they quit, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. There’s plenty of hungry professors willing to teach in their place.

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ReElect Nikki March 25, 2014 at 8:08 pm

Buncha Damn Libruls?

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shifty henry March 26, 2014 at 10:23 am

You may now get on the sign-in sheet for my classes in “Spelling and Correct Pronunciation”…..

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Inciteful March 25, 2014 at 5:24 pm

Let’s send McConnell to western Australia to raise the lost Malaysian flight 370.

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west_rhino March 26, 2014 at 9:31 am

One facet I have to ponder, is Glen McConnell actually bringing diversity to a CofC that likes to maintain a politically segregated campus? I seem to recall Earl Capps had some issues with that a few years ago.

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dsmith March 26, 2014 at 9:53 am

Questions to be answered….Will he continue to appear in his Confederate uniform after he takes over as president and will his office be filled with civil war memorabilia? I would hope not.

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