Bob Holdeman has been a University 101 professor at USC for 28 years. A graduate of the university himself, he has spent a great deal of his life making it his home.
Holdeman grew up in the Clemson area of South Carolina. After high school, he chose the University of South Carolina and graduated with three degrees. His wife is also a graduate of USC, and his daughter is a current first-year student. After graduating and after teaching at the middle school level, Holdeman began teaching the U101 curriculum in 1988. “What I love is to help the students discover and connect with the university. I love this university.” Holdeman says. “Once I got down here I fell in love with it, and basically have been here for 38 of the last 40 years.”
Aside from teaching, Holdeman also works through the training programs for the Fire and Safety Office in the Department of Environmental Health and Safety. “I talk to student groups and faculty and staff and just talk to them about fire safety,” Holdeman says. He has also worked in the athletic department, specifically working the scoreboard at Williams-Brice Stadium. “And really, that’s why I enjoy [the U101 program] because it gives me the opportunity to show my love for the university to freshmen that come in.”
The University 101 course consists of a diverse curriculum that provides first-year students with information on campus resources as well as lessons on USC’s history. “There’s plenty of stories about USC that I enjoy sharing with the students,” Holdeman says. His favorite historic Carolina moment is in 1902 when J. Rion McKissick, a sophomore student, pointed a gun at angry Clemson students, and became the president of USC almost 35 years later.
Holdeman scores a perfect 5.0 for overall quality of Ratemyprofessors.com, and humbly maintains a U101 environment from which his students benefit. “What I try to do ... is keep the students engaged. I try to make sure that each student, every day, has a speaking part, doing something, talking about something,” he said. “Get them out of their comfort shells ... just try to get them to step out and be comfortable around their new friends.”
Holdeman believes that beyond-the-classroom learning is important and valuable for students. Every semester, he sets aside one Sunday to meet his U101 students at the zoo. He then meets them at his home in Irmo, where he provides lunch for them.
“What I love about that ... is some of the students who are shy up to that point ... it’s amazing, the next day in class, how open they are,” Holdeman says. “It breaks down that barrier that a lot of freshmen see between them and instructors on campus.”
Holdeman is not simply faculty, but a revered representative of the Carolina family through his passionate work with his students.