USC students want a president to continue what Pastides started

Students are meeting with the finalists this week

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — As Harris Pastides gets ready for retirement, USC is introducing its four presidential finalists to the student body.

The four candidates are coming to Columbia this week to meet with students, faculty, and staff.

As students await who will take the reigns over the University of South Carolina this August, some say they need a strong leader who can influence others beyond the classroom.

“This is almost like a CEO. He’s going to run this entire university. He’s going to run the schools in the upstate, he’s going to run the schools in Beaufort. It’s so important to make sure we don’t just have someone who’s involved in research or who knows how to teach a class. We need someone who can really lead a university,” said Ben Murray, a junior Political Science major at USC.

On Monday, several students showed up to pick the brain of Joseph Walsh, one of the finalists who is currently the Vice President of Research at Northwestern.

Students may not have voting power (the USC Board of Trustees ultimately has the final say on who Pastides’s successor will be), but they want their voices to be heard.

“These are the people you are electing to lead and direct your education for however long you’re going to be here, so I feel it’s almost a robbery to yourself and your doing yourself an injustice to not be here,” said Deric Rush, a junior Broadcast Journalism major at USC.

As the four candidates continue to meet with students and faculty over the next week, USC students say they just want someone who can pick up where President Pastides left off.

“He definitely did his job and did his part, and I just want to make sure that that energy was carried on throughout the next tenure of whomever the next president will be that we will have,” Rush said.

In addition to Walsh, the three other presidential candidates are:

• John Strait Applegate: Professor and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs for the Indiana University System
• Robert L. Caslen Jr.: Senior Counsel to the President and Interim Chief Financial Officer, University of South Florida
• William F. Tate IV: Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education, Washington University in St. Louis

Tate will be having his forums with students, faculty, and staff Tuesday. Caslen Jr. (Wednesday) and Applegate (Thursday) will hold their forums later in the week.