In the days leading up to Election Day 2016, College of Charleston President Glenn F. McConnell ’69 spoke to students in Political Science Professor and Chair Gibbs Knotts‘ Campaigns and Elections class.
McConnell, a former S.C. lieutenant governor and former president pro tempore of the South Carolina Senate, was in his element as he recounted how he first got involved with politics, his decision to run for public office over 30 years ago and his “North Star,” which kept him grounded as an elected official and, now, as a university president. What exactly is that guiding principle? Integrity.
McConnell told the students that leadership and integrity are all about, “being honest in your dealings with others, keeping your promises and being fair – no matter the circumstances or the consequences.”
At the end of the lecture, students asked McConnell a range of questions about current political issues in South Carolina and what it means to him to be leading his alma mater as president – only the third alumnus in the College’s 246-year history to do so.
