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USC elects Gen Robert Caslen as 29th President (Official Thread)

uscbeckham said:
Worth a read. Clink on the tweet to read the thread.

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Genuine. I accept his mea culpa. I know others will not. Twitter is a plague upon us, and what we get are knee-jerk reactions, unreflective of how people truly feel after some time to mull things over.

Case in point, the moron in one of the Tweets who wishes death to Caslen within the first year of his presidency. My guess is that he will regret that Tweet after a good night's sleep. In fact, he's already taken it down. Who says/writes things like that?
 
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GandBinNC said:
Genuine. I accept his mea culpa. I know others will not. Twitter is a plague upon us, and what we get are knee-jerk reactions, unreflective of how people truly feel after some time to mull things over.

Case in point, the moron in one of the Tweets who wishes death to Caslen within the first year of his presidency. My guess is that he will regret that Tweet after a good night's sleep. In fact, he's already taken it down. Who says/writes things like that?
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World's full of them anymore. One of them is in the White House.
 
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Rollerdude123 said:
We need a mix of successful people from various backgrounds.

A pastor might not be wealthy but could be very experienced running an organization successfully, and dealing with different types of people.

A successful, professional HR director might not be independently wealthy but could have invaluable experience dealing with people and insight into how how good organizations run.

And yes, business owners. A room full of lawyers isn’t good.
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You get it
 
GandBinNC said:
I would agree with that assessment. Given that, where does USC stand among the second tier of state schools in the South? Where do we rank among Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas and Arkansas based upon reputation and/or actual meaningful data (not necessarily US News)?

Just a general question, open to anyone who might have a feel for that. My hunch is that we would be at or near the top of that second tier. I believe our reputation has improved over the past couple of decades from a regional and national perspective. I can tell you here in North Carolina, a good percentage of the kids coming out of high school have USC ranked high on their list.
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Univ of TX & TX A&M and then us...... we're ranked 5th in the SEC...
1. Vandy
2. UF
3. UGA
4 TX A&M
5. Carolina
 
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GeoCocky said:
Not even remotely unanimous, and the discussion at the meeting by Williams and others was fascinating. Votes:

YES (11): Adams, Burroughs, Fennell, Floyd, Jones, Mobley, Smith, Spearman, von Lehe, Warr, Westbrook.
NO (8): Allen, Dozier, Lister, Loadholt, Moody, Newton, Whittle, Williams.
PRESENT (1): Hubbard (in protest of the process).
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AND MCMASTER DIDN’T EVEN COME TO MEETING!
 
Rollerdude123 said:
Nonsense.

At the same time, our BOT should generally reflect the diversity of our student body.

If the board is willing to tout our student body diversity as a good thing, decency begs them to look around them and notice the lack of diversity on the board
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Oh, absolutely. I’m in agreement that the BOT can use some diversity as long as they are qualified.
 
SCBlueFan said:
I haven't seen the bill. How will they be selected?
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Rollerdude123 said:
Don’t know. Have looked at it. I think it’s just prefiled. It will be picked apart a bit before it gets serious consideration.
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Here's the link. Given that this was filed in April and the comments that Harpootlian has already made about it not going far enough, I'll be curious to see what kind of revisions are made to it. Elections appear to still be by the General Assembly (see section 1).

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess123_2019-2020/bills/798.htm
 
Rollerdude123 said:
I hope it has term limits and lowers the number on the board. I’ll settle for term limits though.
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Yes on reducing the size. Rather than basing the elected members on the judicial circuits (n=16), it will be by Congressional districts (n=7).
 
GandBinNC said:
Genuine. I accept his mea culpa. I know others will not. Twitter is a plague upon us, and what we get are knee-jerk reactions, unreflective of how people truly feel after some time to mull things over.

Case in point, the moron in one of the Tweets who wishes death to Caslen within the first year of his presidency. My guess is that he will regret that Tweet after a good night's sleep. In fact, he's already taken it down. Who says/writes things like that?
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Absolutely agree. I would add this: The Caslen sons have got to have the wherewithal to not both retweet and reply to that crazy tweet, which was at best a troll/very likely not even a fan of SC, which they both did yesterday. It’s just a level of immaturity that is not serving their dad very well, and which they both knew would make USC look horrible. Again: we’re talking about yesterday, after Caslen got the job.
 
Gradstudent said:
No, when I'm a old white dude, I will retire!
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As someone who likes you, just let me say this, as someone who is an old white dude, I retired 5 1/2 years ago. But, I love to be active, take trips, etc and keep up with all the latest news, trends, keep up with my investments, etc. Just saying when you retire you may want to go into another field, go into business for yourself, etc. Just because one is an old white guy does mean that they have to step aside from life, especially in a time when people are living longer and healthier lives.
 
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You think the student body should be more diversified but not the board, that is a interesting position

But it is what it is, time to move on.[/QUOTE]

I didn't say I think the students should be more diversified, but not the board. I do think, however, that the number of grad students is too white and male, and that you, being a white male graduate student can make a difference and practice what you preach by dropping out, so that a woman of color can take your place. Then you can rest assured that you have the moral high ground. That would send a virtue signal that no one could ignore.

It doesn't matter that there might not be a qualified woman of color desiring to pursue an advanced degree in your field, at your university, in your department. It is the thought, and the optics that count.

How can you continue your studies in good faith, knowing you are the beneficiary of white male privilege? Are you going to dis-enroll?
 
Freddie.B.Cocky said:
As someone who likes you, just let me say this, as someone who is an old white dude, I retired 51/2 years ago. But, I love to be active, take trips, etc and keep up with all the latest news, trends, keep up with my investments, etc. Just saying when you retire you may want to go into another field, go into business for yourself, etc. Just because one is an old white guy does mean that they have to step aside from life, especially in a time when people are living longer and healthier lives.
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I like your posts and approach and contributions as well, All true, it was not my attention to offend people but if I did, I'm sorry if i offended, i should of expressed my desire that the board may need to be restructured and displeasure with this process and decision by said board in another way.

Im not a sensitive type, people can call me a middle age white dude all day long, I dont care, it doesn't make me mad, but people are different, so I need to keep that in mind, and will you will not ever see me post that someone is a old white dude again.
 
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a
ansoncock said:
but not the board
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And what are the demographics of graduate students today? Are you saying it's similar of the board? Do you have any actual figures, what is the source? We know the overall student figures and the board, and their is differences, and I'm not saying they should match, but I don't like the decision of the board, and I think some new members would be good, and if improved, quality members could be found that result in it being closer to the demographics of the school, then it is today, I think that would be positive for our University.

So you think the board is perfectly structured? Performing at a high level? No issues, Or no? What is your position? I feel this entire process showed some major issues, you disagree? You think this process put our University in a positive light?
 
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Rollerdude123 said:
As Phil Kornblut just said, when you hire a new president, they will likely meddle with athletics and will likely have a few people he wants to insert into the program.

That might not be what is wanted, but it’s what the president wants.

That might be good, or bad. At USC, it’s been bad before. But no one knows.
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Seems like I remember Jim Carlen remarking when he first evaluated the roster saying I found I found 3-5 football players and a bunch of political appointees. If I'm wrong I apologize. But there was too much interference from the state house. Hope we aren't going back to those dark days.
 
Did Caslen leave West Point in shambles? I have yet to hear anything about him that would indicate he's unqualified. The guy looks like a pretty solid choice. The fact that he doesn't have a Phd from an Ivy League school is a plus. Half of the people that get into Ivy League schools are political legacies, or people that get in because their parents bought their way in. Harvard's endowment didn't get to be the size it is by running a meritocracy. Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Steve Jobs didn't have college degrees of any kind, they did alright.

On the other hand, James B. Holderman did have a Phd from Northwestern, he didn't do alright.
 
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Gradstudent said:
a

And what are the demographics of graduate students today? Are you saying it's similar of the board? Do you have any actual figures, what is the source? We know the overall student figures and the board, and their is differences, and I'm not saying they should match, but I don't like the decision of the board, and I think some new members would be good, and if improved, quality members could be found that result in it being closer to the demographics of the school, then it is today, I think that would be positive for our University.

So you think the board is perfectly structured? Performing at a high level? No issues, Or no? What is your position? I feel this entire process showed some major issues, you disagree? You think this process put our University in a positive light?
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You are making this way too complicated.

What I am saying is I don't care one whit what the demographics are for graduate school in a particular field. Nor do I care what the demographics are for a specific specialty of medicine. When I go to a doctor I simply want the best doctor the meritocracy has trained.

I hope you are not pursuing a degree in Social Justice Warriorhood.
 
Carolina4 said:
I disagree. The BOT should be comprised of the best men or women, regardless of race, that are qualified for the positions. The longer we start trying to make groups reflect different genders and races, the more we continue to separate the genders and races.
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Does Bubba Fennel represent the best the state has to offer? Yeah...
 
ansoncock said:
When I go to a doctor I simply want the best doctor the meritocracy has trained.
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You obviously hold the board in high regard, think its the best as is, I think they aren't doing the best job, and could be improved, its simple, we disagree, it happens
 
polo-loco said:
Does Bubba Fennel represent the best the state has to offer? Yeah...
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You are thinking I’m taking up for this BoT. In no way did I even imply that. Change needs to happen and has for some time. I’m saying in the future, the most-qualified should be selected, regardless of gender or race. Period.
 
polo-loco said:
We've been at war for 20 years. You don't have to guess.
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Agree.

And, me, being a white Southerner, I have always kept in mind many of the men and women serving today aren't white. Some of the best and toughest NCOs I had when I was a junior enlisted ragbag field artillery soldier back in 80s and early 90s were Hispanics and African Americans. I doubt that's changed.

You want a meritocracy, in many ways the US military is an example of that. Is it perfect, hell no.

Nothing is. But I'm a believer that West Point (as are all the academies) is a fine institution and it works to instill the highest ideals in those who are associated with it (not me, I was a slacker). Duty, honor, country.
Those ideals are not bad to have at the University of South Carolina. I suspect there might've been a time when getting a former West Point leader was a good thing here.
 
From reading some of these posts you'd think Caslen's academic credentials were a GED. He's got 2 master's one in business administration and one in industrial engineering. He's had a distinguished career, serving 4 overseas tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was at the Pentagon on 9/11 pulling people out of the building after the terrorist attack.

My oldest brother who has more degrees than anybody should have,has contributed millions to Ga. Tech and Georgia State;has buildings named after him on both campuses;was a business partner of mine for a couple of years and had this advice about hiring people: If you ever get a resume and the applicant has been in academia all of their career, pass on them. Those people live in an artificial world and have no concept of what making a living is all about. I'm not sure that is entirely accurate, but I know this,Caslen probably learned a hell of a lot more about life than a tenured professor could ever hope to walking the halls of Harvard.
 
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Gradstudent said:
I like your posts and approach and contributions as well, All true, it was not my attention to offend people but if I did, I'm sorry if i offended, i should of expressed my desire that the board may need to be restructured and displeasure with this process and decision by said board in another way.

Im not a sensitive type, people can call me a middle age white dude all day long, I dont care, it doesn't make me mad, but people are different, so I need to keep that in mind, and will you will not ever see me post that someone is a old white dude again.
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Man, you don't have to apologize for anything. All is good. I'm not very sensitive, and was certainly not offended by your comment at all. But, I guess where I was coming from (and again it has nothing to do with your post) many in America actually believe that old white dudes caused every problem in this country as well as the world. I can certainly say that the old white dudes solved far more problems than they ever created, at least speaking for my generation.
 
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SCexpat38 said:
Agree.

And, me, being a white Southerner, I have always kept in mind many of the men and women serving today aren't white. Some of the best and toughest NCOs I had when I was a junior enlisted ragbag field artillery soldier back in 80s and early 90s were Hispanics and African Americans. I doubt that's changed.

You want a meritocracy, in many ways the US military is an example of that. Is it perfect, hell no.

Nothing is. But I'm a believer that West Point (as are all the academies) is a fine institution and it works to instill the highest ideals in those who are associated with it (not me, I was a slacker). Duty, honor, country.
Those ideals are not bad to have at the University of South Carolina. I suspect there might've been a time when getting a former West Point leader was a good thing here.
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I work at a college and my boss is a 3 star. I like him. And I had no objection to Caslen until he did his presentation. He acted entitled and unprepared. He bombed, plain and simple. But I have to admit, I've never had a good experience with the West Pointers. At all. Oh well, we'll see how it goes.
 
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polo-loco said:
I work at a college and my boss is a 3 star. I like him. And I had no objection to Caslen until he did his presentation. He acted entitled and unprepared. He bombed, plain and simple. But I have to admit, I've never had a good experience with the West Pointers. At all. Oh well, we'll see how it goes.
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Can you be a little more specific, what exactly did he say that would indicate he thought he was "entitled"? I
know that he caught a lot of hell for saying there was a correlation between binge drinking and date rape, when everyone knows the correct response was "toxic masculinity".
 
WOFJRP said:
Can you be a little more specific, what exactly did he say that would indicate he thought he was "entitled"? I
know that he caught a lot of hell for saying there was a correlation between binge drinking and date rape, when everyone knows the correct response was "toxic masculinity".
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He has never felt entitled, they simply don't like him because he is older a man and white.
 
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WOFJRP said:
Can you be a little more specific, what exactly did he say that would indicate he thought he was "entitled"? I
know that he caught a lot of hell for saying there was a correlation between binge drinking and date rape, when everyone knows the correct response was "toxic masculinity".
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I'm not talking about his comments in the past. I'm taking about his answers when talking to the university community in his final pitch. The video is publicly available. He didn't seem to have familiarized himself with the university before showing up. I can only assume he believed (correctly so) that it was a foregone conclusion he'd get the job. To me, being unprepared for interview like this is a form of entitlement. Watch it and make your own conclusion.
 
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jeff2001 said:
He has never felt entitled, they simply don't like him because he is older a man and white.
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We had 28 presidents before Caslen. How many were old white dudes? The previous guy was an old white dude. He was beloved. How do reconcile those facts, Jeff?
 
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