Purpose: The members of the greater College of Charleston community, demand that our venerable institution RECOGNIZE and hold itself ACCOUNTABLE for its dishonorable decision of selecting former Lt. Governor of South Carolina Glenn McConnell as its College President in 2014. We demand an official public statement by the College condemning the Board of Trustee’s decision to select McConnell as President and a renaming of the McConnell Residence Hall in honor of a Black alumna of the College of Charleston. We also demand the establishment of a commission to be formed by the Avery Research Center and tasked with identifying, historically contextualizing, and removing/renaming buildings and/or monuments on campus that "honor" Confederates and their supporters, those who enslaved people, and/or those who advocated for segregation. We finally demand the resignations of the Board of Trustee members still standing who affirmatively voted for McConnell’s selection and took part in the corrupted 2014 Presidential search process. We declare our demands be met, or we will withhold donations and contributions to the College of Charleston, indefinitely.

WHEREAS, DESPITE massive student, faculty, staff, alumni, and donor protests; DESPITE McConnell never having worked in higher education; DESPITE known political strong-arming from the Statehouse, DESPITE his history as a Confederate Sympathizer; DESPITE him once owning a Confederate Memorabilia shop; DESPITE his membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans who are charged with “the vindication of the cause for which we fought.”; DESPITE his role as the Chief Architect of the South Carolina Heritage Act which preserves Confederate iconography in public spaces; DESPITE his abysmal relationship with Black South Carolinians, Black students, and Black alumni; DESPITE media coverage of a Presidential search process corrupted by politics and the “good ol’ boy” system that pervades in South Carolina public institutions; DESPITE overwhelming evidence that all facets of the greater College of Charleston community strongly preferred other candidates, the College STILL selected Glenn McConnell as President;

WHEREAS, the College of Charleston claims it values diversity and the voices of a diverse student body, yet still chose to place promises of financial gains and political influence above and before those very values they profess to uphold, while the Board of Trustees ignored the recommendations of the Presidential search committee, ignored the demands of the College of Charleston students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors; and mainly, ignored the opinions and demands of Black voices among the College of Charleston community;

WHEREAS, the College of Charleston Faculty Senate declared a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE in the College of Charleston Board of Trustees on charges of a compromised Presidential search process undermined by a predetermined outcome, secrecy, lies, leaks, and disregard for faculty acceptability; as well as declared that the image and reputation of the College of Charleston was hurt and that his selection had negatively affected the College’s outreach to minorities, recruitment, and fundraising;

WHEREAS, the College of Charleston Student Government Association declared a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE in the College of Charleston Board of Trustees on charges of an unrepresentative Presidential search process, complete disregard of student opposition to Glenn McConnell, and failure of the Board of Trustees to follow the recommendations of the $100,000 search committee;

WHEREAS, a member of the College of Charleston Foundation Board immediately resigned his position and declared he would no longer donate to the College of Charleston hours after the Presidential selection announcement, alongside other donors and alumni who pledged to withhold donations to the College in protest to the search process and/or on the basis that the College does not value the voices of its diverse community it supposedly represents;

WHEREAS, the College of Charleston student body organized a petition that garnered over 2,200 student signatures against selecting Glenn McConnell as President, developed a resolution outlining this evidence therein with faculty and staff, and demanded the resignation of all Trustees complicit in ethically questionable behavior in regards to the “failed search” process when the Board of Trustees chose to ignore the voices of the students they serve and the faculty and staff voices who are the cornerstone of our academic institution; 

WHEREAS, under Glenn McConnell’s tenure as President, the College of Charleston quietly ended affirmative action in admissions, which eliminated a tool for increasing diversity at our College at a time when it continuously struggles to increase Black enrollment and improve its relationships with Black students and alumni;

WHEREAS, our nation is undergoing a cultural and political revolution that directly confronts the reality that all over the United States, Black voices, Black stories, Black votes, and Black lives have systemically been unrecognized and undervalued when compared to other incentives such as money, political power, positions of influence, and white-majority opinions; and that the College of Charleston and higher education are not immune to the same systemic oppression that is seen in law enforcement, the judicial system, healthcare, and other American institutions;

 
WHEREAS, the College of Charleston and institutions across South Carolina and the United States are already underway in reevaluating, recognizing, and acting accountable when confronting their racist and bigoted pasts by addressing policies, symbols, iconography, named buildings, and processes under their jurisdictions; and that the College of Charleston should address not only its older, but its recent and prevailing racists pasts;

WHEREAS, Glenn McConnell was the key architect in the 2000 “compromise” legislation known as the Heritage Act that created next-to-impossible legislative hurdles to remove Confederate iconography and monuments without Statehouse approval first - which is central to the present day South Carolinian led movement to REPEAL the shortsighted and bigoted law - where McConnell’s own words declared that the treasonous traitors who fought for the Confederacy were “honorable” and that monuments and symbols celebrating the “lost cause” to preserve the institution of enslaved peoples and white supremacy should be protected in our state;

WHEREAS, President Hsu, the current College of Charleston President, has VOWED to address racial inequalities at our time-honored institution; BELIEVES that Black Lives Matter, PLEDGED to be part of the solution and not the problem, RECOGNIZED that current initiatives may not fully address the issues, HEARS that the College does a lot of talking without following through with action; 

THEREFORE, WE THE GREATER COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON COMMUNITY DEMAND THAT:

1. The College of Charleston Board of Trustees and President officially and publicly RECOGNIZE in a formal statement a condemnation of and an apology for the 2014 Board of Trustees decision to select Glenn McConnell as President;

2. The College of Charleston Board of Trustees and President REMOVE the name McConnell from the McConnell Residence Hall;

3. The College of Charleston Board of Trustees and President RENAME the McConnell Residence Hall in honor of a Black Alumna of the College of Charleston;

4. The College of Charleston Board of Trustees and President ESTABLISH a commission to be formed by the Avery Research Center and tasked with identifying, historically contextualizing, and removing/renaming buildings and/or monuments on campus that "honor" Confederates and their supporters, those who enslaved people, and/or those who advocated for segregation;  

5. The College of Charleston Board of Trustees and President hold our institution ACCOUNTABLE by requesting the resignation of the Board of Trustee members still standing who voted affirmatively for the appointment of Glenn McConnell as President;

THEREFORE, WE THE GREATER COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON COMMUNITY DECLARE THAT:

We will withhold all donations and contributions to the College of Charleston until the list of demands outlined above are satisfied.