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Thread: Glenn McConnell

  1. #1
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    Default Glenn McConnell

    He's the next president at C of C....

    http://m.postandcourier.com/article/...e=mobile_story

    McConnell to lead College of Charleston
    Posted: 03/22/2014 06:17 p.m.
    Updated: 03/22/2014 08:39 p.m.
    More News >>
    By Diane Knich
    Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell has been selected as the next president of the College of Charleston, despite strong opposition from faculty members, some students and the local, state and national branches of the NAACP.

    The Board of Trustees voted unanimously Saturday to hire McConnell. But two of the board's 20 members, Jeff Schilz and John Wood, were not in the room at the time of the vote. A contract is pending.

    The board made its selection from among three finalists. The others were long-time Harvard University professor Dennis "Jody" Encarnation and University of West Florida Provost Martha Saunders. More than 100 people applied for the job.

    McConnell could not be reached for comment Saturday.

    Board Chairman Greg Padgett said McConnell was hired largely because "he has decades of experience as a state leader."

    Padgett said board members were aware that many people on campus were opposed to McConnell being hired, but the board had to make a tough choice about what's best for the future of the school. "McConnell has shown he's a visionary leader," he said.

    Padgett also said the board will begin meeting with various groups to bring the campus back together after a difficult search process.

    The selection process was contentious, largely because McConnell was named a finalist.

    McConnell, 66, had many strong supporters on the board and in the state Legislature, where he previously served in the Senate for 32 years, the last 11 as president pro tempore. In that role, he built up a great deal of good will, and earned a reputation for being able to work well with other legislators across party and racial lines.

    But he faced strong opposition at the college because he had no academic experience, and because some people thought his support of flying the Confederate battle flag on Statehouse grounds and participating in Civil War re-enactments might make it more difficult for the school to recruit minority students, especially black students.

    Sources also have said that McConnell and Encarnation were not among the five top candidates that a 15-member search committee recommended to the board.

    State Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, who supported McConnell being hired, said, "as an alum, I'm excited and optimistic."

    The college, Stavrinakis said, "needs an infusion of strong leadership with ties to the General Assembly and community leaders locally."

    Stavrinakis, who graduated from the college in 1988, is one of the sponsors of a bill to merge the college with the Medical University of South Carolina. He said hasn't discussed the merger with McConnell. But he's certain McConnell will do what's best for the college.

    Stavrinakis also said McConnell likely will win over opponents. "When they get to know him, they'll know him the way I do."

    He also said it's impossible not to be impressed with McConnell. "He's not the caricature some people make him out to be."

    But Dot Scott, president of the Charleston chapter of the NAACP said she was disappointed when she heard the news.

    She thinks the search process was sabotaged by powerful McConnell supporters in the Legislature who made promises to board members for their votes. "The process didn't work," Scott said, "but the promises did."

    Scott also said she thinks the NAACP will make a more complete statement in the coming days.

    Brandon Upson, a 2013 graduate of the college and a veteran who served in Iraq, participated in a student and alumni protest Friday.

    "I'm flabbergasted," Upson said after he heard McConnell had been hired.

    He thinks board members ignored the loud cries of opposition from students and faculty members, and instead chose to vote for McConnell to preserve their seats on the board. "I think their survival instinct kicked in and the students lost," Upson said.

    Members of the General Assembly elect most members of the college's board.

    State Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Charleston and a co-sponsor of the merger bill, said he was ecstatic when he heard the news. "It's going to prove to be one of the best decisions in the history of the College of Charleston."

    McConnell is especially good at building relationships, Merrill said, "and the college hasn't had that in a while."

    Merrill said he also thinks McConnell will win over opponents. "The opponents, none of them, have ever worked with Glenn McConnell," he said.

    And McConnell will forge a strong relationship between the college and the General Assembly. "The last few presidents have not been very attuned to the General Assembly and the politics of the state," he said. With McConnell at the helm, "it's going to be amazing.

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  2. #2
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    He was the best choice of the candidates they had. What they need is a proven fund raiser and someone who knows how to make relationships and work the state system. He's a good guy and competent. NAACP hates him because they are still mad about the Confederate flag on the grounds of the state capitol. They latched on to his reenactor hobby to try to make him look bad when it really only means he is a history buff. NAACP is a bunch of hard core racists that don't know how to spell compromise.

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    I think he is an excellent choice.
    Quote Originally Posted by Chessbay View Post
    Literally translated to, "I smell like Scotch and Kodiak".
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    The pic in the P & C this am was of AA's protesting, I think he was the best choice. I am old school and think that the Pres. of a college or Univ. should be an alumni. I also think that the POTUS should be a Veteran, how can you want to serve the CIC who has not served?

    Just my take on it.

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    Fuk the NAACP!

    Best choice available.

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    Glenn and Encarnation are both alums, however, I'm glad that Glenn got the job. Could you imagine that K*&T Jenny Sanford in that position?
    \"Free your mind, your ass will follow\"

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    There is an excellent reason that there are no military requirements for the office of President.

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    How are yall saying he was a good choice? He has no academic background. Political pressure basically strong armed the CofC board into taking him.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CUAngler View Post
    How are yall saying he was a good choice? He has no academic background. Political pressure basically strong armed the CofC board into taking him.
    The last president that straightened out the mess that the C of C had become during the reign of Ed Collins was Harry Lightsey. A lawyer and veterinarian that brought the college to the international recognition that it enjoys today.
    Just for full disclosure, Collins was a life long educator.
    Just sayin...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Black River Josh View Post
    The last president that straightened out the mess that the C of C had become during the reign of Ed Collins was Harry Lightsey. A lawyer and veterinarian that brought the college to the international recognition that it enjoys today.
    Just for full disclosure, Collins was a life long educator.
    Just sayin...
    I just don't like it because Mcconnell is a washed up politician that has parlayed his life long political career into a cozy tax payer funded position in a field that he has no previous work experience.

    It's just more of the same old South Carolina politics and back room wheeling and dealing that keeps holding the state back.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CUAngler View Post
    I just don't like it because Mcconnell is a washed up politician that has parlayed his life long political career into a cozy tax payer funded position in a field that he has no previous work experience.

    It's just more of the same old South Carolina politics and back room wheeling and dealing that keeps holding the state back.
    You are right on that account. Once you are a SC politician you can rely on living well on the taxpayer dime until they drop you in a six foot hole. I'm sure it is SC politics as usual but McConnell may be a good president....emphasis on "may".
    Here's an example that should concern you. The SC legislature appoints the judges in the state. They also appoint the SC Workman's Comp Board. These same politicians that appoint these judges and boards all practice before them. The good ole' boy system is alive and well in SC.
    Now we have a senator that takes advantage of this system that is hoping to be governor.
    I'm just sayin....

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    Quote Originally Posted by CUAngler View Post
    How are yall saying he was a good choice? He has no academic background. Political pressure basically strong armed the CofC board into taking him.
    The trend now is for college presidents to be fund raisers, in order to do that you have to be well connected, which Glenn is.
    \"Free your mind, your ass will follow\"

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shotunderit View Post
    The trend now is for college presidents to be fund raisers, in order to do that you have to be well connected, which Glenn is.
    Very true.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shotunderit View Post
    The trend now is for college presidents to be fund raisers, in order to do that you have to be well connected, which Glenn is.
    Fund raising is huge no doubt and that's exactly why I said he has no qualifications. Shaking down the state legislators for budget money is completely different than private fundraising. If you want to see what a fundraiser looks like, look at Clemson's new president and what he did with the WV health system.

    The CofC board was threatened with a 'budget audit' if they didn't pick Glen. AKA funding cuts. Glenn could turn out to be a great president, but the whole process is a complete sham.

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    I'm led to believe that you attended Clemson?
    \"Free your mind, your ass will follow\"

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    Quote Originally Posted by CUAngler View Post
    I just don't like it because McConnell is a washed up politician that has parlayed his life long political career into a cozy tax payer funded position in a field that he has no previous work experience.

    It's just more of the same old South Carolina politics and back room wheeling and dealing that keeps holding the state back.
    Are you really that stupid.McConnell is one of the best we have had in a long time. and as far as the C of C Job that position is all about fund raising. And he is very good at that.
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    CU are you a liberal? I bet you have an Obama sticker on your Prius.
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    I am a C of C Alum, and I support the Board's decision.

    Lightsey was a great man and great President for the College.
    I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what they had to teach; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Henry David Thoreau, WALDEN

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    Quote Originally Posted by gundogguru View Post
    CU are you a liberal? I bet you have an Obama sticker on your Prius.
    Sweet 3rd grade ice burn. What about being opposed to handing a career politician a cozy position funded by tax payers makes me a liberal?

    And I never mentioned anything about his past job performance...
    Last edited by CUAngler; 03-23-2014 at 06:00 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shotunderit View Post
    I'm led to believe that you attended Clemson?
    Yes. Was talking with some connected CofC alumni this weekend who were not very happy about the selection.

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