Laughter rang out and tears flowed as USC President Andrew Sorensen announced his pending retirement at 3 p.m. today behind the Osbourne Administration building.
"We have come to the inescapable conclusion that it is time to pass the baton of the presidency," Sorensen said as both press and members of the university looked on.
Sorensen will continue to serve as president through July 31. He said for the rest of his term he will "work with the same diligence I have for the past five and a half years."
In the event a replacement is not found by the end of Sorensen's term, he said he plans to stay on.
USC is about to undertake a massive seven-year fundraising campaign, one that Sorensen thinks would best be executed by a single president.
"Our university requires a president who can see that campaign through from start to finish," he said. Sorensen said he was unable to foresee plans for seven years down the road and the university needs a president "who can articulate the vision of the future."
He said he held "amicable discussions" with Herbert Adams, chairman of the Board of Trustees, for approximately 6 months regarding his possible retirement. He said that it was during the Thanksgiving holiday that he and his wife, Donna, concluded it was time to go.
Sorensen, who has been president since July 2002, said he would remain a part of the university as a faculty member, "perhaps with administrative responsibilities."
Sorensen would not elaborate on his new job, saying only that he is "considering several alternatives, and will announce (his) plans for the future in January 2008."
In a letter to Sorensen, Adams said that Sorensen might serve as health sciences administrator. He has a master of public health from the University of Michigan.
"The state of South Carolina owes a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Sorensen," Adams said. "He's demonstrated not good leadership, but great leadership."
The Board of Trustees will appoint an 11-member committee, composed of five board members, three faculty members and presidents of the student body, faculty senate and alumni association, to find a replacement.
"The bottom line is it's a candidate search committee," Adams said. The committee will look everywhere, Adams said, and submit four names to the Board of Trustees. The process could take between six and eight months.
Sorensen said it would be inappropriate for him to be involved in the search and will not have any input in choosing his successor.
SG President Nick Payne said he would be looking for someone similar to Sorensen who believes in the relationship between students and the administration.
"He has said to me on more than one occasion that nothing can get done by yourself, it has to be a joint effort," said Payne, a fourth-year economics student.
Adams agreed, saying that Sorensen's relationship with students was one of his best qualities.
"He has had the ability to appreciate the student as well as anybody I've seen," Adams said. Adams has been a member of the board of trustees for 24 years and worked with four university presidents.
Tommy Preston, coordinator of USC government and community relations and former student body president, has worked with Sorensen for more than three years.
"It's a bitter sweet moment for all of us," Preston said. "He's a model for every student-administrator relationship in the country."
Preston cited the grade forgiveness policy, an initiative implemented in February 2007, as a prime example of Sorensen's cooperation with student government.
"He worked with me from the day I spoke with him in his office about it to the day it was implemented," Preston said of the initiative student government had worked on for more than 15 years.
Payne said Preston had compiled a six-page list of initiatives Dr. Sorensen had worked in conjunction with student government.
"It's limitless," Payne said.
Sorensen highlighted other accomplishments in his six-year tenure such as the growth of the research district Innovista, sharp increases in private giving, the building of the Inn at USC, establishment of a Student Success Center, and integration of the university's College of Pharmacy with the pharmacy college at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Sorensen expressed his gratitude to the USC community for its support during his tenure, which also saw the USC student body grow larger and smarter than ever before.
"We could not have asked for nor been granted a more caring and supportive community. You all have been consistently gracious and wonderfully accepting," Sorensen said.
Preston said Sorensen will be remembered for great things.
"He will go down in history as one of the best presidents ever," Preston said.
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