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| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
The 1990s
A H I G H E R R O L E I N E D U C A T I O N
long as they understand why we do things the way we do. We
wanted to use the best ideas they could bring in, but at the same
time preserve the tradition and culture that made our system a
bit unique.”
Funny thing about that guidance for the new presidents: the
“boy presidents” had no manuals, no orientation programs. For
them, it came down to on-the-job training and flying by the
seat of their pants. But they got it done and in the process, they
changed the destiny for a state and many people, including some
of their own presidents. Dr. Dennis Merrell, for one, illustrated
how a man could go to a technical college, change his fate, and
rise through the ranks to assume the helm of a college. And then
there was a young man who caught a tantalizing glimpse of his
future by doing something a lot of college kids do.
Barry Russell was finishing his master’s program at Clemson
and looking for work. He wrote a letter—a simple form letter—
and sent it to the president of each technical college. He intro-
duced himself and told the presidents he was really interested in
getting into the system.
“Lo and behold, one afternoon, I got a call fromFlorence-Dar-
lington Technical College’s assistant director, Laurin Lowder.”
Lowder called Russell at home who was “just shocked.”
“I got your letter,” said Lowder. “Something about it attract-
ed my attention. We don’t have a job open here right now, but I
wanted to talk to you.”
And then a prophecy came straight out of Lowder’s mouth.
“My gosh, I hope we get something to open up here soon enough
that we can get you, but you need to persist on this and get in the
system. I can tell from talking to you that you could be president
of one of these colleges. Hell, you could be president of this sys-
tem, state director someday.”
Russell was just 23 years old. “I’ll never forget that,” he said. “I
