The third largest institution of higher education in South Carolina is about to inaugurate a president with no experience in education.
Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell is expected to take over George Benson’s position as the College of Charleston’s president and resign his post in state government in order to take up his new mantle.
There are a few problems with this. First of all, it’s likely that the lieutenant governor position will sit vacant for seven months after McConnell departs. State Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, the President Pro Tempore and next in line for the position, has said he will not take the role.
We can understand his reservations; the lieutenant governor position isn’t exactly the most active or important in the state. But leaving such a high profile job empty for such a long time can’t help but negatively affect the state’s national standing.
But more importantly, a school of more than 10,000 students will be run by a man with no experience in education whatsoever. Sure, he is an alumnus of the college, (and, by the way, pursued his graduate study here at USC) but that alone does not in any way qualify him for such a high profile position.
We can’t help but be puzzled at presidential search committee’s decision at College of Charleston. The two other finalists, one a professor at Harvard and the second a president of a smaller university, both bring a lifetime of experience in academia. Either choice would have been just as sound as McConnell, if not more so.
If that wasn’t a big enough brouhaha, McConnell is well known for his participation in Confederate civil war reenactments, which, in itself, isn’t an impeachable offense. Nevertheless, we have to question the judgment of picking a politician known for his defense of the Confederate flag on state grounds, especially when he is set to head a liberal arts college.
Our own President Harris Pastides wasn’t an alumnus at the university he would eventually head. But his long-time credentials in academia and his educational record was more than enough to steer this university through the recession.
When it comes to running a college, it’s not about being an alumnus. It’s about experience. CofC would have done well to remember that.