Sorensen reflects on progress,
struggles during freshman year
PHOTOS BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK
Top: Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of Andrew
Sorensen’s election as USC’s 27th president. Above
left: Sorensen helps Maxcy residents move in. Above
right: Sorensen plays a trumpet solo at a football game.
BY KEVIN FELLNER
THE UAMECOCK
Thursday marks the first anniversary
of the Board of Trustees’ unanimous vote
to make Andrew Sorensen USC’s 27th
president, and since then, USC has un
dergone many changes.
The university is hoping to break
ground on the first phase of a 5-million
square-foot research campus before the
end of2003. Interest in the university from
prospective students is at an all-time high,
and more bow ties are being sported by
members of the Board of Trustees at its
quarterly meetings.
Sorensen says his greatest accomplish
ments so far have been establishing good
relationships with students, as well as
with state and local government officials.
“Students who see me on campus will
invariably say, ‘Hello, Dr. Sorensen,’ and
the fact that they recognize me is very
gratifying,” he said, adding that
students have introduced them
selves in places such as the airport
as well.
The challenge this year,
Sorensen says, has been dealing
with $41 million in reduced state
appropriations since his first offi
cial day in office last July.
Since his arrival, Sorensen has
officiated at commencement and
awards ceremonies, attended
dozens of performing-arts events
that featured students, and made
appearances at community events
such as the American Heart
Association’s Heart Walk. And on
top of that, he has held meetings
with the governor and Congress
members, attended a reception at
the White House, and taken the
entire Board of Trustees to New
Orleans for a weekend.
“The whole sort of fabric of stu
dent life in cultural experiences
as well as athletic has been very
enjoyable,” he said.
ouiciiocii i/Uiiamcio 1110 u auor
tion to Columbia from Tuscaloosa,
Ala., easier than he had expected.
“My wife and I feel that South
Carolinians are just wonderfully
hospitable people,” he said.
“There’s a sort of stereotype about
this type of Southern hospitality,
but having not grown up in the
South, my wife and I believe it.”
During the fall semester,
Sorensen said he was determined
to get to know people from all cor
ners of South Carolina and from
all walks of life. Thus the Bow Tie
Bus Tour was born.
A dozen day trips on a 14-seat
minibus took him to all of South
Carolina’s 46 counties, stopping at
high schools, corporate head
quarters, luncheons and alumni
residences to get acquainted.
“I wanted to visit people all
over the state,” he said in Rock
Hill on the tour’s third leg in
October. “I want to listen to South
Carolinians all over the state. I
want to hear what they say. I want
to hear what they would like to see
from the University of South
Carolina.”
At high schools, he would try to
persuade students to come to USC
and answer their questions about
the university. He’d then give stu
dents T-shirts with bow ties print
ed below the collar in honor of the
tour.
At other events, he’d entertain
his audiences with funny stories
about his experiences as univer
sity president, such as when he
asked a group of elementary
school students whether they
knew where USC is located and
one girl answered, “Yes sir, it’s
right across the street from
Rr»i art aloe ”
He’s now engaged in the Bow
Tie Sky Tour, which has him trav
eling as far as New York and
California to talk to potential
donors and corporations interest
ed in investing in USC’s research
ventures.
“People have to believe that I’m
sincere,” he said about his fund
raising approach. “And, general
ly speaking, people tell me that’s
an impression that I create. I hope
I do because I am sincere in what I
tell people.”
Sorensen’s staff is already
scheduling the next bus tour for
spring 2004. Sorensen said he
would have more time for it then
because, during football season,
he entertains visitors who come
to see the games.
Sorensen said the biggest dif
ference between USC and the
University of Alabama has been
his jurisdiction over more than
one campus.
“I can’t think just about
Columbia here,” he said. “I have
to think about all the seven other
institutions and 11 campuses. I
visit them on a regular basis and
keep them in my sort of thoughts
in vision, in aspirations and sen
sitivity.”
Sorensen said he doesn’t mind
that his peers or subordinates of
ten compare him to a politician or
traveling salesmen.
“In some respects, what I do is
sell the university to people who
don’t know about it, and it’s a req
uisite for every salesman to be
lieve in the product he’s selling.
I’ve got a terrific product. I’ve got
the education that the University
of South Carolina provides... and
I’m proud of it,” he said.
Sorensen’s staff members often
talk about how he never appears
to tire from his job.
People wm tell you 1 ao nave
a lot of energy,” he said, but he is
planning a summer vacation with
his family in Alaska in June.
Sorensen has been invited to
speak at a handful of international
conferences this fall. He says that
during the next 12 months, he is
most excited about continuing to
push his ideas for the university’s
growth and add initiatives that
conform to the university’s chang
ing layout.
“The response to my vision for
the university has been, quite
frankly, more positive and
widespread than I ever dreamed it
would be,” he said. “And I don’t
mean to imply that everybody that
hears it says, ‘Oh terrific. That’s ex
actly what I want to do.’ But the re
sponse is usually so enthusiastic.”
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