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USC president nominee will be approved, governor believes

Henry McMaster says there are enough 'yes' votes on the board of trustees in support of Robert Caslen.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is confident the school's board of trustees will approve Robert Caslen as the next president of the University of South Carolina, days after some claimed he had injected himself into the selection process.

McMaster's will not attend the gathering of the school's board of trustees, scheduled for 10 a.m., meaning he also won't cast a vote. Because of his position as governor, McMaster is the ex-officio chairman of the trustees. 

McMaster is able to send a designee.

"I don't intend to go because I think they can handle this just fine," McMaster told reporters in the Upstate Thursday. 

McMaster believes he has the votes to confirm Caslen. "Oh yes, I do," McMaster said. "I think that's what I've been told." 

The agenda of the meeting shows the trustees will call to order, then hear from the faculty senate chair and student government president. At that point, they'll go into a closed door meeting, and then come out and hold a vote. 

The trustees are considering if they'll give the president's job to Caslen, the retired three-star Army general who also was once the superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. But the nomination--and the process to get to the vote--has led to a significant controversy that's embroiled the school, politicians, alumni, students, and faculty. 

"I am 100 percent behind General Caslen to be the next president. He is enormously qualified," McMaster said.

On Thursday, McMaster went further and responded to the controversy and the potential risk of a rift on campus if Caslen is chosen. 

"I don't have concern cause I know the extraordinary job that Bob Caslen did at West Point for five years. Usually they keep the superintendent, that's the president in West Point, usually they keep them for 2-3 years, they kept him for five. He has an extraordinary record there, that institution is stronger. I think as people learn more about him and get to know him, as many of us have in this process, I think they'll support him a 100 percent," McMaster told reporters.

Back in April, the trustees passed on Caslen and three other nominees for president after students and faculty raised objections over Caslen. Those opposed to Caslen said they felt he didn't have the necessary qualifications to be president, and were also upset over comments he made linking binge drinking to campus sexual assaults. 

There had seemingly been no movement on the issue until last week, when trustee Charles Williams claimed McMaster was forcing trustees to vote on the matter on July 12 . Williams went to court saying the trustees hadn't been given five-day notice of the meeting as required by law. A judge agreed, and blocked the vote

McMaster, through his spokesman, has said he did not get directly involved, but did acknowledge he'd asked trustees to try and reach a decision on a new president. A letter released by his office showed that Board Trustee Chairman Charles von Lehe Jr. had officially notified the other trustees of the vote. The spokesman called the notion that McMaster had done something wrong "preposterous." 

McMaster said he involved himself because the search had gone on long enough and the University needed a top leader to help fill other vacancies.

"I think he's going to win the vote, because I think the trustees who have studied this now since August, almost a year, have been involved in thinking of applicants, encouraging people to apply, they've gone through the process," McMaster said.

When reached by phone Thursday night Trustee Charles Williams, who has repeatedly criticized the Governor's involvement, said he did not know why the Governor did not plan on attending the meeting.

"Where's he going? He going to the Appalachian trail?" Williams said.

The question of Governor McMaster's involvement led the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission (SACS) to ask the school in a letter if it had allowed "undue" outside influence in the process.  If so, the school could face discipline, including the loss of accreditation, although that severe punishment would be highly unlikely. (The letter was prompted by WLTX's Deep Dive team asking if the agency was looking into those claims)

USC denied the claim, and said Tuesday it was working on a response to SACS letter.   

On Wednesday, a group called "Gamecocks4Integrity" held a rally on the USC campus, calling for transparency in the process to pick the president. 

Also on Wednesday, a former student of Caslen's wrote an open letter in support of the general.

"He was the Commandant at West Point during my stint as Class President. He worked closely with student leadership, which is where our relationship began. As Commandant, Lt. Gen Caslen was steadfast in his commitment to equal opportunity and adamant about his belief that diversity strengthens organizations," wrote the Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, Adrian Perkins.

Perkins' letter continued that Caslen worked to create a more welcoming environment for LGBTQ cadets and spearheaded a sexual assault commission with the NCAA.

"The United States Military Academy doubled its African-American population and substantially increased female enrollment during his tenure. Lt. Gen Caslen led the charge to transform the culture on campus," Perkins said.

At the end of his letter, Perkins wrote he supported Caslen to be the next president of USC.

Thursday afternoon, Senator Dick Harpootlian, (D) Richland, released a statement saying he would support Senate efforts to reform the University board.

Harpootlian criticized the Governor's involvement and said he was concerned about the accreditation questions now swirling around the University. 

At the end of his statement he wrote, "I respectfully call on the Board to postpone the selection of any applicant [Friday] and return to an orderly, deliberate, and merit-based process to select USC's next president.

The board is scheduled to meet Friday at 10am.

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