USC Candidates (Letter)

Mathieu Deflem
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This is a copy of a letter published in The Post and Courier, May 1, 2019.
Also online from the newspaper and as PDF file.

Please cite as: Deflem, Mathieu. 2019. "USC Candidates" Letter to the Editor. The Post and Courier, May 1, 2019.


The four finalists for the position of president of the University of South Carolina were all qualified to do the job, but some among them were clearly more qualified than others.

Whatever one thinks of the criticisms leveled against the search committee, as a faculty member I am saddened to see some students and faculty rejoice over the fact that the search failed, and thus that Dr. William Tate was not selected as the university’s first African-American president.

Dr. Tate has a great command of the issues facing higher education today and he articulated a clear vision of how he would lead.

The search committee and the Board of Trustees were in an ideal and unique position to make a smart decision and also to do the right thing.

I will not join those cheering their failure to do so.


See also Disgruntled Faculty (2019) and other writings on academe. presidential search