“Dr. Lou” is coming to town — and boy, are we relieved.
Holtz, a former Gamecocks football coach-turned-ESPN analyst who will speak at the winter commencement next month, has just the dose of celebrity status last spring’s slate lacked.
While a National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration leader and several USC professors were no doubt qualified in their own fields, they were a downright disappointment as commencement picks for a university that had locked down Tom Brokaw the semester before.
What had added insult to injury for the Spring 2011 grads was that, down the street, Bill Clinton was speaking at Columbia College’s ceremony. (Turned out, USC had sought out Hillary, but had no luck.)
He’s no president, but Holtz, a nationally known broadcaster and championship-winning football coach, is renowned for his motivational speaking. Plus, he’s got South Carolina ties — he was coach Steve Spurrier’s predecessor and led the football team for six years to become USC’s seventh-most-winning coach.
A commencement speaker is more than just a speaker for an event — he or she is picked to congratulate graduates on a hard-earned undergraduate degree and motivate, excite and advise them as they leave USC to do bigger and better things. We applaud the board of trustees for getting Holtz. We look forward to hearing what he has to say.
Even more, we eagerly anticipate more speakers like him in the future.