CofC makes a "big splash" with Dr. George Benson

Wednesday, I went to the ceremony to welcome the College's new president George Bensen and his wife Jane to the City. I have to admit, even though he wasn't the "legendary Jazz-guitarist" George Bensen, he and is wife Jane charmed both myself and the crowded Alumni Hall (in Randolph Hall) and from what I could gather from the Bushido's contacts on George Street, we've made a big splash bringing Bensen to the College of Charleston. The ceremony had the usual laughs about the serendipitous nature of how we first all “fell in love” with one another and then after President Benson spoke, Greg Padgett (President of the College of Charleston Foundation) passed the welcome basket (filled with two CofC ball-caps, two CofC sweatshirts, probably scented candles, "Sex-Cougar" Cologne and keys to a new car and house) to our new President and First Lady of the College of Charleston.

It takes money to make money
For those CofC students worried their tuition will rise because of the price tag for Dr. Benson to come to Charleston, don't sweat it; you are just a bit misguided on how it all works. The State of South Carolina pays a prescribed amount of the salary and the College's alumni and boosters pick up the rest of the tab. My dear students (and this goes to all South Carolina students) if you are not happy about the hike in tuition, you should speak to Governor Mark Sanford, he cut State-financing for publicly funded Colleges and Universities from 33% to 14% (stats from The Citadel) and institutions of higher learning raised prices across the board-more on Sanford in Monday’s post.

I digress; indeed, the College of Charleston dangled a sizeable carrot to lure Benson to Charleston, but we have planted a seed for excellence. Dr. Benson received a 17% raise to leave his position at the Terry School of Business at UGA, and he is making $135,000 more than former CofC president Lee Higdon (not that $215,000 a year is a paltry pay-day for in the public sector) but Dr. Benson will be worth his weight in fundraising gold. During Benson's brief tenure as Dean at UGA's Terry School, he raised more than $40-million! Think about that for a minute, he was a Dean of their business school (not President) in Athens and rose forty-large!

When I return from my brief trip to Cola for John and Jacqueline Marshall’s wedding, I'll try to put up some photos of recent CofC developments from the construction down on George and St. Phillip streets.

*(Data from the Post & Courier: The State of South Carolina will pay the allocated money of $160,000; the College of Charleston Foundation will supplement Benson's income with almost $200,000).
(Photos compliments of JET/Bushido-taken with Sony-Ericsson W300i camera-phone)