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South Carolina Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell, for years one of the most powerful men in the South Carolina General Assembly, was elected president of his alma mater, the College of Charleston.
McConnell was elected by a unanimous 18-0 vote by the college board of trustees in Charleston on Saturday. The vote followed a two-hour executive session of the board, said college spokesman Mike Robertson.
McConnell will succeed George Benson, who is stepping down this summer after six years as president of the college.
The 66-year-old McConnell was one of three finalists for the job. The other two were Jody Encarnation, an international business consultant who has taught at Harvard and University of West Florida Provost Martha Saunders.
Civil rights leaders and some students on campus opposed McConnell, a Civil War re-enactor. Some demonstrated Friday as the board met in a multi-day meeting.
McConnell is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and has been the driving force in the work of the raising and the conservation of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship. The sub is at a lab in North Charleston.
McConnell has responded to the criticism saying he has worked during his years in the legislature to increase diversity among black judges in the state and to get lottery money for black colleges.
The Associated Press left messages with McConnell and members of his staff late Saturday seeking comment.
Greg Padgett, the chairman of the college board of trustees, said the board considered all the feedback about all the candidates. He was asked during a news conference whether the board weighed campus concerns about McConnell's Southern heritage activities.
"Our different campus constituencies are never going to agree on who should be the top choice for the presidency and it's the job of our board to make the tough choices between the candidates and I'm confident we have made a careful and thoughtful choice," he said.
Padgett added that what tipped the scales in favor of McConnell was "he has decades of experience as a state leader." That experience should be beneficial for the public college in working with state lawmakers.
Some faculty members were also opposed to the selection, saying an academic should lead the college, which has 10,000 undergraduates and about 1,500 graduate students.
McConnell, who graduated from the college in 1969, announced in January that he would not seek re-election as lieutenant governor and instead seek the presidency of the college. He said it would be neither honorable nor fair to seek the college post while also running for office.
McConnell was elected a state senator in 1981 and Senate president pro tem in 2001, which made him one of the most powerful men in South Carolina.
But when Lt. Gov. Ken Ard resigned and pleaded guilty to campaign fraud two years ago, McConnell left his Senate for a job largely viewed as ceremonial.
Supporters encouraged him to step aside long enough for the Senate to elect someone else to assume the role of lieutenant governor. But McConnell said his conscience wouldn't allow him to contort the state constitution's lines of succession then in effect.
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