5 days in May focused national attention on USC and its presidential meltdown
It was commencement season — the joyous annual ritual for college graduates and their families, a time of triumph for colleges and universities, their students, faculty and leaders.
For the University of South Carolina, this spring’s ceremonies marked the end of a difficult year grappling with the pandemic and other challenges: a football program upended with its coach pushed out with a huge, controversial severance package, and the university’s top donor threatening to break ties over the school’s failure to reach out in consolation at the death of her mother.
At the helm of these ups and downs was USC President Bob Caslen — a retired three-star Army general, a combat veteran who responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon and survived and was a superintendent at the nation’s military college West Point. He had overcome a nasty 2019 hiring process to succeed longtime President Harris Pastides and was earning a hefty $650,000 a year.
But over five days in early May, everything Caslen had done for better or for worse in his two years running the state’s flagship school was overshadowed by a self-inflicted action that went viral on social media and metastasized into the university’s messiest farewell since the late President Jim Holderman, plagued by financial and secrecy scandals, was forced to quit in 1990.
It started with a slip of the tongue by Caslen on a day when hundreds of college seniors gathered in person after a long struggle with COVID-19 to don what potentially could be the last cap and gown of their educational careers. Hundreds more watched through their cell phone screens on record.
That evening, Friday, May 7, at Williams-Brice Stadium, near the end of a three-hour graduation ceremony for some 1,800 college seniors, Caslen, 67, misspoke — he referred to the graduates as belonging to “the University of California.”
“It’s now my honor and privilege to officially congratulate you as the newest alumni from the University of California,” Caslen said, a moment that played out in enormous scale on the stadium’s jumbo screen high above the football field.
The remark was captured on digital devices and posted almost immediately to Twitter, where it went viral, lighting up the social media message boards with former and current USC students railing on the president’s acknowledged mistake. On videos, gasps were audible.
Immediately, Caslen apologized.
The West Point football player and former general who frequented USC’s Strom Thurmond gym and who had developed a competitive work out system with students, told the crowd, “I owe you push ups.” (In the Army, making soldiers in training do push ups is a common punishment.)
By Saturday, May 8, the university downplayed Caslen’s slip as an accident that could have happened to anyone with a crowded schedule.
“The president speaks at 15 separate ceremonies all across the state during spring commencement season, congratulating thousands of University of South Carolina system graduates,” said Jeff Stensland, a USC spokesman. “It’s a joyous time for our graduates, their families and the entire university community. President Caslen apologizes for accidentally saying ‘California’ instead of ‘Carolina’ at the end of last night’s ceremony and regrets any attention it may have drawn from the accomplishments of our graduates.”
On Saturday, Caslen spoke at four USC more commencements, including three at Williams-Brice Stadium and one at the Koger Center.
But the gaffe morphed into an entirely new problem for Caslen and for the university — already under the microscope of alumni, the public and an oftentimes critical state Legislature.
‘I take responsibility’
On Mother’s Day, May 9, the news blog FITSNews first penned a biting report that Sunday accusing Caslen of plagiarism for failing to attribute a portion of his May 7 speech to retired Navy Adm. William H. McRaven.
McRaven, one of the nation’s most celebrated military veterans, is a military legend who became well-known after he oversaw the 2011 Seal Team Six raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.
In 2014, at the University of Texas at Austin, McRaven told graduates, “Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if take you take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up — if you do these things, then the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today. And what started here will indeed have changed the world — for the better.” That speech is widely recognized as one of the best commencement speeches in recent years.
A day later, on Monday, May 10, The State confirmed that a section of Caslen’s speech matched that part of McRaven’s speech almost word for word, without attributing the remark back to the retired Navy admiral — a failure, students said, that would land them in the hot seat with the university, or possibly expelled.
That same day on Monday, again, Caslen apologized, acknowledging the error in an email to students, faculty and staff.
“I am truly sorry,” Caslen said. “During my remarks in our weekend commencement ceremonies, I shared a well-known quote from Admiral William McRaven and failed to cite him as its original author and speaker. I was searching for words about resilience in adversity and when they were transcribed into the speech, I failed to ensure its attribution. I take full responsibility for this oversight.”
The failure and oversight, however, was not enough to assuage Caslen’s or the university’s critics. It was not enough to smooth out even the university supporters who saw the moment as cringe-worthy if not more.
It was, again, another PR problem for the university.
Late Monday, May 10, WIS-TV’s well-known anchor, Judi Gatson, interviewed Caslen in his first and what appears to be his only in-person interview.
Sitting on screen in a gray suit jacket, pinned with the university logo, and a garnet tie, Caslen told Gatson he felt like he had to address the commencement snafu as “a matter of trust.”
Caslen told Gatson he had seen the social media comments, and his family had, too. He said he understood why people were disappointed.
“I would be, too,” Caslen said.
During the interview, Caslen received a call from Gov. Henry McMaster, who serves as an ex officio USC board member, who told him he had the Columbia Republican’s support.
The “slip of the tongue,” of which Caslen said he apologized and deeply regretted, Caslen said, came after a “long day” and a “busy week” of speaking at various graduations around the state and fist-bumping more than a thousand students that Friday night.
“You’ve got to be on every single word, every single event,” said Caslen, who added the fault was his and he took responsibility for it. But he also acknowledged he is “not the best speaker,” offering another example years ago at an Army-Navy Gala when he mistakenly said, “Go Navy, beat Army.”
Gatson told Caslen some have suggested the mishap was a result of drinking, an accusation that Caslen flatly denied. He attributed any suggestion that he was slurring to the way he simply speaks. “I was not drinking at all,” he said.
The McRaven quote, Caslen said, came out of a quote file he keeps and, during graduation week, he wanted to talk to students about “perseverance and resilience in adversity.”
“I gave it (the quote) to my speechwriter and told her to put it in the speech. We did, and I completely didn’t think about attribution, and that is my fault. I should have thought of it, should have put it in there. ... It’s my fault, and I take responsibility,” he said.
Caslen said he wasn’t aware of his failure to attribute until it was reported. “But I said it — it’s my fault.”
When asked if it was fair to call it plagiarism, Caslen didn’t hesitate.
“It was. Technically, that’s exactly what it was because I used somebody else’s words without giving them attribution,” Caslen told Gatson, mentioning more people seemed upset by his mistaken “California” reference. “They should be more concerned about the Adm. McRaven thing. That’s the trust issue right there.”
Caslen also told Gatson if he had lost trust with the board, he would go.
“If I don’t have the confidence and trust of the board... I have assured the board chair I would submit my resignation.”
‘Mischaracterized’ to ‘lost trust’
But what was unknown to most of the public until Gatson’s interview, Caslen in the days after the Friday graduation speech had told board members he was ready to step down if trust was lost.
“I had a conversation with my board chair (Dorn Smith) and a number of other of the board members, and I told them, I said, ‘If there’s a trust issue that you do not trust me to be able to lead the university because of that particular oversight, then I have no problem giving you my resignation whatsoever,” Caslen said.
Caslen told Gatson the board members he spoke to communicated their confidence and support for him.
He ended the interview telling the public he hoped to “regain their trust.”
The next day, on May 11, the final Tuesday of the Legislature’s work session, lawmakers stood up one-by-one to slam Caslen and the university, venting out every frustration on the State House floor.
“He was the wrong choice. Clearly, this is the last demonstration of evidence of that,” state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a Columbia Democrat whose Richland County district includes the university, claiming his phone and emails were burning up from professors and others complaining about the plagiarism.
“He would be a much better president at The Citadel,” Harpootlian said, referring to South Carolina’s military college. “If he is the military man of honor that I think he is, he will resign.”
Others defended the former president, from state senators to a beloved USC college coach.
Answering Harpootlian in the Senate, state Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Newberry, and a 1973 USC graduate, said of Caslen, “I hate to see a person of his stature be mischaracterized as such.”
Cromer told the Senate that Caslen helped the university in various ways, including hiring exceptionally qualified people.
“I just came up from air after losing a sibling,” tweeted Dawn Staley, the university’s women’s basketball coach and arguably the school’s most popular employee. “I just want to say to @Bob_Caslen thank you for your commitment to @UofSC. It is when we are in the midst of our hardest day true leadership rise. Win the war Prez!”
University board members, too, came out of the wood work to weigh in.
“It’s just hard to have a policy that you can get expelled from the university for plagiarism and you have a lesser standard for your president,” Charles Williams told The State last week. “It’s very serious. To act like it’s not serious, that it’s just okay, is not just not right.”
Eddie Floyd, the college’s longest-serving board member, advised to take a breath.
“I just think we need to sit back and think about things a little bit. I don’t think we should make a rash decision,” Floyd told The State last week. “We had a president who came in and it was real tough circumstances. During the pandemic he did an unbelievably good job.”
Although individual board members were making public statements, by Wednesday, the board of trustees had made no collective statement of support for Caslen.
The resignation and the fallout
Twenty-four hours later on the night of Wednesday, May 12, Caslen was out, submitting his resignation to board Chairman Smith.
University spokesman Stensland told news outlets that Caslen informed Smith of his plan to resign.
“No vote was necessary to accept Caslen’s decision, and it is the president’s right to end his employment with the university,” Stensland said.
Then, about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, in a signed letter emailed to the university community, Caslen announced he was resigning, saying, “trust is the most important ingredient of effective leadership, and when it is lost, it is nearly impossible to lead. I believe that is the case right now between the University of South Carolina and its president.”
“I am sorry to those I have let down. I understand the responsibilities and higher standards of senior level leadership. When those are not met, trust is lost. And when trust is lost, one is unable to lead,” Caslen added.
Floyd told The State last week he spoke to Chairman Smith — they work together at the same hospital — before Smith accepted his resignation.
Floyd called Caslen’s letter “his decision.”
Caslen’s resignation was effective Thursday, May 13.
The fallout over Caslen’s departure continued, landing in headlines in the New York Times that same Thursday.
“University of South Carolina President Resigns After Speech Blunders,” The Times headline said. It included a quote from McRaven himself, calling Caslen, “one of the finest and most honorable officers I have ever served with.”
McRaven told The Times he didn’t feel an apology from Caslen was necessary, and said he was “flattered” his words were of value.
“Honorable men and women make mistakes,” McRaven said. “It doesn’t make them less honorable. It just makes them human. I was terribly sorry to hear that he resigned. It is a loss for U.S.C.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education writer Jack Stripling called Caslen’s exit an “abrupt end to ... a tenure marred by political meddling.” He pointed to a book excerpt Caslen co-authored on leadership, in which he wrote, “trust … is arguably the most important quality fostered in troops by their leaders.”
“No matter how competent you are in the skill sets demanded of your high position, if you fail in character, you fail in leadership.”
And it was covered by The Washington Post columnist and Kathleen Parker, who has strong Columbia area and South Carolina ties.
“... We are all more than our worst mistake. The now-departed Caslen spent more than 40 years in uniform and fought in three wars. That is accomplishment enough,” Parker wrote.
In a multi-tweet thread a few days later on May 15, Caslen’s son, Nick, took to Twitter.
Nick Caslen declined to comment for this story.
“It is impossible for me to be more proud of my father Bob Caslen for having the moral courage and character to stand up and do the right thing in a difficult time, setting an example of accountability in leadership a lot of people affiliated with @UofSC could stand to learn,” Nick Caslen tweeted, saying in a next post that “deliberate deception being portrayed” in reports was inaccurate.
He added, “While there is more to the story than reported of my father quoting his friend and colleague Adm. McRaven, he owned his trivial mistake and accepted responsibility for not citing Adm. McRaven. He didn’t make excuses. He held himself to a standard most wouldn’t and never will.”
Pastides was named interim president by the university board on Friday at a salary of $750,000 per year.
Lucas Daprile contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
