USC's largest donor wants president vote stopped and search reopened

COLUMBIA — The University of South Carolina’s largest donor has asked the school to stop a vote for a new president Friday and reopen the search for a new leader.

“Not one constituency of the university is in favor of the current process, including the donors who are the lifeblood of the university’s future,” Lake City financier Darla Moore wrote in an email sent Thursday to board chairman John von Lehe. “The process should be started over to find a qualified candidate without the current controversy. To do otherwise is to do irremediable damage to the university.”

Moore, who has donated more than $75 million to her alma mater, said the university was caving in to political influence to hire retired Army Gen. Robert Caslen, a former superintendent at West Point who was among presidential finalists passed over by the USC board this spring.

Despite student and faculty complaints that led the board to continue the search in April, Gov. Henry McMaster lobbied USC trustees over Fourth of July week to bring Caslen, 65, to South Carolina’s largest university. Several top Statehouse lawmakers have come out in support of the former three-star general, who some on campus do not think has the experience or interpersonal skills to lead USC.

Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/usc-s-largest-donor-wants-president-vote-stopped-and-search/article_990e1838-a9b9-11e9-a281-0bf3768834f9.html
(Charleston Post and Courier)