|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by WILL FOLKS
***
Just days before the start of its 2025-2026 academic year, the University of South Carolina – the Palmetto State’s so-called “flagship” institution of higher learning – finds itself facing a major overhaul of its key academic leadership positions.
According to emails obtained by FITSNews, the school’s provost – Donna Arnett – resigned late last month to return to a faculty position at the university’s school of public health. Arnett’s resignation – announced internally on July 30, 2025 – became effective on August 8, 2025 (last Friday).
“She leaves to return to her full-time tenured faculty position in the Arnold School of Public Health, while pursuing other opportunities,” an internal email from USC president Michael Amiridis noted.
According to Amiridis’ email, Mary Anne Fitzpatrick – a distinguished professor at the school’s college of information science – “accepted a two-year interim appointment” to fill Arnett’s roles.
The provost switch was not announced publicly by the school – and received only scant attention from local media outlets. Of interest? It was announced just one day after another major leadership shakeup at the university.
On Tuesday, July 29, 2025 – the day before the provost switch was announced – Joel Samuels, dean of the school’s McCausland College of arts and sciences, announced his resignation to become provost at the University of Miami.
***
McCausland College is the largest of USC’s schools – with a spring 2025 enrollment of 8,876 undergraduate and 662 graduate students.
“While I know that this news comes with short notice as we prepare for the start of the academic year, I want you to know the college is in a very stable place with well laid plans for the academic year ahead,” Samuels wrote in an email to college faculty. “We are in a strong position financially, thanks to five years of growth.”
Curiously, Samuels remarked in his email that he was unsure what the “next steps” would be for him – or the school.
“While I do not know the precise plans for next steps upon my departure, I think we can expect an update in the coming days from University leadership,” he noted.
That update eventually arrived last Thursday (August 7, 2025), when Amiridis announced that Thomas Hodges, dean of the school’s 2000-student college of education, would temporarily lead McCausland College “while a national search for a permanent dean is conducted.”
“After the new dean is selected, Hodges will return to his role as dean of the college of education,” Amiridis added.
With Hodges off to McCausland College for the time being, Angela Baum – the college of education’s senior associate dean for academic affairs – will temporarily fill his shoes.
***
RELATED | CLEMSON’S FINANCIAL POSITION IS GETTING WORSE
***
“As we look forward to the new academic year, we are confident that these two leaders will ensure excellent stewardship of these colleges on behalf of our students, faculty and staff,” Amiridis noted.
Sources following these high-level moves told FITSNews that faculty at the school are “in shock, total surprise” following the announcements – especially given the inopportune timing just weeks ahead of the start of the academic year.
“All of this happened just a few weeks before the (new) semester,” a source tracking the drama noted.
According to its academic schedule, South Carolina welcomes faculty back to campus next Monday (August 18, 2025) with classes set to begin the following day (Tuesday, August 19, 2025).
FITSNews reached out to the taxpayer-funded university in the hopes of finding out why such high-level staffing moves weren’t announced publicly, if any of the moves were related and whether the university was concerned that such significant shakeups might impact perceptions of the school’s stability.
“These leadership announcements were made to faculty and staff across campus, including those in the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education,” school spokesman Jeff Stensland told us. “We typically don’t send mass messages to students during the summer months unless it’s about critical issues like enrollment, housing or parking permits for the fall.”
“We did as a courtesy share the messages with reporters who most frequently cover the university,” Stensland added.
***
***
According to Stensland, “Dean Samuels’ decision to take the provost job at the University of Miami is not related to Provost’s Arnett’s decision to step down.”
“It’s simply a great opportunity for him and we wish him all the best,” Stensland said, insisting “the timing of the announcements were coincidental.”
As for any concerns regarding academic stability ahead of the upcoming school year, Stensland said the interim deans of the two affected colleges were “two experienced and highly respected leaders.”
“They understand USC’s mission to provide a world-class education to our students and both are looking forward to classes starting next week,” he said.
Not everyone was convinced, though, with our sources describing the reshuffling as “problematic for the university.” In addition to its recent educrat musical chairs, South Carolina currently has three vacant seats on its board of trustees – a body which has seen an abundance of drama in recent years.
For those of you keeping score at home, South Carolina ranked No. 121 nationally on the latest U.S. News and World Report “Best Colleges” rankings – nearly ten spots lower than a decade ago.
Those who follow FITSNews know this author, a South Carolina graduate, has been outspoken for years in his belief that “no taxpayer funding should go to institutions of higher learning – either in the form of direct appropriations, loan guarantees or student loans.”
For more on his editorial perspective, click here.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
15 comments
Illogical to complain about a school’s rankings and then say schools shouldn’t get any public funding. Public funding is at the core of what gets schools good spots in the rankings–even private schools. Edit thyself, editor.
This, on top of many others! Weak connections, attempting to make reader speculate by mincing random facts. Terrible writing overall, andclearly bias “Palmetto State’s so-called flagship school of higher education” – if you’re a tigger write about tiggers, this told me what direction the story was heading in 3 seconds. The title is exaggerated. My education did me great and taught my writing basics at least!!
Exactly. Where does he think the money for public higher education comes from. Is his financial model Trump University?
FitsNews should dig into why Fitzpatrick left the College of Arts and Sciences in 2015. Something “like a drunken sailor” and had to do with the colors black and red.
I am confused.
Leftwing edu-crats are interchangeable. The names above are well known left-wingers the manage large WOKE colleges at USC.
It does not matter who fills which chair as the results are the same.
WOKE all day, everyday.
What do you mean? Tell us some examples that support your criticism, Alex. Mean people here will say you’re confused because you are an idiot. But I think those people should reserve judgment until we hear why you think USC is left-wing and woke.
Let us know so when someone calls you a dolt I can come to your defense.
I’ll always support USC, even after their ineptitude when they tried to market themselves as UofSC, but something must be done. There is no reason why USC should be ranked ten spots lower than it did a decade ago. Furthermore, USC should be trying to improve their rankings, by being more selective when it comes to who they admit. I am embarrassed by USC.
One thing you should consider when looking at rankings is that some schools play the rankings game (see Clempson). Other schools don’t really care and just seek to build the best university they can (see USC). For instance:
#1 Honors college
#1 Freshman experience
#1 Nursing Masters
Top 1% Nursing undergrad
#1 Exercise Science program national rank
#3 Ex Science program internationally
#1 Military Friendly (one reason that Fitzpatrick needs to go is that she is decidedly unfriendly to the military on campus)
Guys like Alex use the term woke for things they don’t understand, they just don’t like, or that make them feel uncomfortable. That way they don’t have to think about things too much.
All the changes have been announced publicly – be happy to share the emails with you.
I certainly hope in making changes just now, will give precedence to those who attend to get the most out of their educational choices and making the Business College and Law College better!
Football and Other sports are important, but education of our children are most important for a great life ahead! Times are changing and Educating our children is an honor for all professors at USC!
Arnett was the spearhead of DEI and wokeness at USC and hired predominantly women from her previous employer. She was not liked by the BOT, faculty and staff displaying a heavy-handed administrative. style (“my way or the highway”) Fitzpatrick was in the provost office before under Arnett and is in a tight race with Tayloe Harding to get the next interim position under her belt. . Samuels kept the lights on in the largest college and was looking since a year “to move on”. So we are re-arranging the deckchairs at USC again. After a lawyer he most research intensive college now gets a dean from the college of education with very marginal scholarly achievements – but good enough for rank 120. Amiridis learned from his buddy Pastides how to “ride a wave” and needs to deliver on building a second rank teaching med school that will never outrankMUSC. Same old politics ensuring mediocracy and further decline in rankings.
It really doesn’t matter who is provost and who dims Dean at USC East! Nothing good will happen here the next decade. Columbia is ehrte promising young faculty go yo then either and decay,
The vast majority of people who go to college do so to gain the skill sets and knowledge (or at least the credentials that ostensibly evidence them) that will permit them to achieve a significantly higher level of income and quality of life than they would presumably otherwise not have if they did not get a college degree. And those people want to do this without a crushing debt load. That should be the primary factor in college rankings. Everything else is decoration.
Academics move jobs like any other profession, top leaders get recruited often and offered raises, sign on bonus, etc like any other execs in business. Further, one of the reasons we dropped ranking was directly related to funding. The good ole days of affordable education and world class research in the US were directly related to generous federal funding.