USC board members say they weren’t told about Caslen’s resignation offer

Several University of South Carolina board of trustee members said they were not told about USC President Robert Caslen’s offer to resign until it appeared in news sources.

Charles Williams, a board of trustee member who initially opposed the process by which Caslen was hired in 2019, told The State on Tuesday he was not informed of Caslen’s offer to resign before the news was made public. Williams, who called the plagiarism in Caslen’s commencement speech “serious,” said the board needs to hold a meeting.

“I can’t understand why we’re not having a called board meeting to discuss this right now,” Williams said.

Board member Miles Loadholt told The State he also wasn’t aware of Caslen’s resignation offer until it appeared in the news.

“The full board should have been notified,” Loadholt said, adding there is discussion about trying to call a board meeting to address the controversy.

Eddie Floyd, USC’s longest serving board member, said he spoke to Board Chair Dorn Smith earlier this week and doesn’t remember Caslen’s resignation offer coming up.

The State has reached out to Smith.

The controversy around Caslen stems from a Friday commencement speech in which Caslen plagiarized a portion of his speech from retired Navy Admiral William McRaven. Shortly before that, Caslen accidentally referred to USC students as graduates from the “University of California,” The State previously reported.

Since then, he has faced calls from influential figures such as S.C. Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a Democrat whose district includes USC, to resign. Others, such as women’s basketball Coach Dawn Staley and outgoing USC Provost William Tate, have publicly expressed support for Caslen. Tate is leaving to become president of Louisiana State University.