By Dr. John C. Bednar
The lawsuit between former executive secretary Eugene Troutman and Clemson University has been at a mysterious standstill for more than five months now. The last deadline for submission of briefs on just one of the many points being litigated was April 28, 2009.
That point is of singular importance to both parties. Briefly stated, it poses the question of whether or not Clemson University is an “arm of the State.”
Troutman’s lawyer, Joel Collins, argued that Clemson is not an arm of the State. Clemson argued that it is. Collins presented evidence that Clemson has repeatedly stated, in previous litigation, the contrary of what it is stating now (i.e. that it is not an arm of the State). Clemson is now seeking confirmation by a federal judge that it is, because such a ruling would provide the umbrella of protection that all State agencies enjoy. If Clemson prevails, the lawsuit returns to State courts. If Troutman prevails, the case continues toward trial in the federal court system.
What many people may not know, is that if Clemson prevails, it will be in violation of the Constitution of the State of South Carolina, which clearly states that no government officials can be appointed for life. And seven (a majority) of the thirteen members of the Board of Trustees of Clemson University are life trustees. So a ruling that Clemson is an arm of the State would be tantamount to a ruling voiding the life status of those seven trustees and removing the autonomy and independence which Clemson’s board has enjoyed since its conception … with far-reaching implications and consequences for Clemson.
So Judge Perry has, indeed, a very weighty and serious ruling to make in so far as Clemson University and its future are concerned. But Judge Perry has an equally weighty and serious responsibility as far as Eugene Troutman is concerned. Mr. Troutman’s lawsuit has been deliberately dragged out by Clemson’s lawyers (another point argued by Joel Collins). This is a frequently-used tactic by large and powerful entities when they are defendants in law suits filed by individuals. They hope that time and their superior resources will be on their side and that the individual will eventually run out of money and abandon the search for justice. As of last spring, Clemson had spent over $700,000 on lawyers’ fees. Today it must be close to a million. Few individuals have those kinds of resources.
In the meantime, Eugene Troutman has not found employment and is waiting to try and clear his name in a court of law.
At this point, Judge Perry, who is arguably the most respected judge in South Carolina and certainly one of the most highly respected in the entire federal system, should render his decision. By delaying it any further in time, he himself becomes an unwitting partner to Clemson’s tactic of dragging things out in the court system; and his responsibilities to provide justice for Mr. Troutman will appear to be increasingly neglected. More than five months is ample time for a wise and balanced decision.
Dr. Bednar is a professor emeritus at Clemson University.
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' October 7, 2009 at 11:03 am
Perry is a legend, but he’s waaayyy past his prime. He pretty much certifies everything to the supreme court and drags out uncomfortable decisions. Maybe this time he’s waiting to hear what Chief Judge Joe Anderson (a Clemson graduate) wants the outcome to be.
By Mab October 7, 2009 at 11:06 am
Amen, Dr. Bednar. And Godspeed to Mr. Troutman seizing justice.
Clemson’s tactics are akin to Iran’s:
Stalling long enough to put the finishing touches on that big one.
By Crush October 7, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Can Troutman coach football? Doesnt matter, anyone with Spiller and Ford could be at least an average offense.
By No Name October 7, 2009 at 1:24 pm
At some point in the mid 90′s certain folks in the Clemson community….it looked to me at the time to be led by Skelton….understood that Clemson…sitting in a great geographic location and being very well priced as an experience and product…could be rebranded as something like an elite University in the trappings of Georgia Tech and MIT.
The rationale given was this was important to make the UpState economic developement “world class”….you need a “world class” university.
This was the beginning of a bunch of real estate investment in the area that made people on the inside a lot of money and caused the tuition to begin to sky rocket as the faculty and the administration raised the salaries in a move of brazen self aggrandizement.
In a move that I thought was beyond the thinking of the Business Departments Marketing faculty they also created a great demand draft by letting in more lucrative out of state students creating a panic among legacy students and a wealth of contributions and ingratiating ass kissing by alumni…..who began looking in horror at children not getting into the school with SAT scores that often dwarfed the scores of the parents.
Everyone in the community lined up and bent over and grabbed ankles as these self perpetuating crats managed everything into an unbelievable inflation.
And just to top it off …These geniuses imposed a sanctimonious football crat from the family football firm The Bowdens Inc. …..who could not even give them relief by winning football games on Saturday.
This led to the all time great line heard at a Tiger tail gate “If you want to be like Duke Monday through Friday…you are going to be like Duke on Saturday”…priceless wisdom delivered by a Corona fueled IPTAYER.
Now the profligate nonsense of these crats has erupted into some consciousnesses by true Men of Clemson who realize that this is all wrong…and that the stated mission of Clemson is now missing in action…..killed by the crats and land developers around the county.
This brave man…who will now be subjected to a well orchestrated torture and character dismemberment by the Clemson powers that be….powers that by the way may not disagree with him…but who are loathe to discuss this in public or in the press among the herd like orange cattle masses …this brave man has been notified that he will be criminally arrested….booked and put behind bars by the Greenville local D umb A ****s for stealing files of this corruption.
Come on …what bullsh*****t….I have watched a Gamecock fan piss on a passed out drunken Tigers back…….cannot some Gamecock lawyer or legislature just for the spite and fun of it …..come to this guys support and protect him from this type of torture.
I mean this is a State where the hatred between the two schools is the dominant culture ….you have a guy with the solid proof that Clemson is a corrupt insider dominated over priced joke that exists to enrich the resident crats in faculty and administration…and he is getting no support.
Get this into the press…. the Greenville paper is on auto pilot.
Hey Clemson and area economic development wizards where are the jobs…with all that buildup and cost …what does the student get.
For those that thought a world class university would promote growth or even insulate you from a down turn…well you have failed….and so have all these world class universities in all the regions around the country.
Expensive college education….one of the great con jobs of the last two decades and they did not even get a decent football team.
By AD October 7, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Background of the case:
http://media.www.tigertownobserver.com/media/storage/paper1123/news/2008/01/01/NewsAndOpinion/Lawsuit.Rocks.Clemson.University-3174678.shtml
http://media.www.tigertownobserver.com/media/storage/paper1123/news/2008/03/04/NewsAndOpinion/Clemson.University.Struggles.With.Lawsuit-3293181.shtml
http://media.www.tigertownobserver.com/media/storage/paper1123/news/2008/03/04/NewsAndOpinion/Clemson.Lawsuit.Update-3251057.shtml
By CL October 7, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Norton is now the Chief Judge, not Anderson. Norton went to Sewanee and USC, and has no Clemson connection of which I am aware.
As for the article, perhaps Dr. Bednar should stick to teaching French to taters.
By Seekthetruth October 7, 2009 at 1:55 pm
There can be little doubt that administrators have used Clemson to bolster their bank accounts — and without a shred of accountability. Are their actions illegal? Probably not. Are they disgusting? Absolutely. The Greenville News, a disgrace to journalism, goes along to get along. It asks no questions and publishes CU drivel word for word. While administrators at West Virginia, NC State and Illinois have been shown the door because of impropriety, those at Clemson continue with business as usual. Quality faculty wait until the summer months and slip away to better places.
By Sorepaw October 7, 2009 at 9:02 pm
After John Bednar’s Town Hall meeting failed miserably last spring, FITSNews should have found someone else to write about Clemson-related issues.
Mr. Bednar (he never earned a Ph. D.) was pushed into retirement after an extremely checkered career at Clemson. He routinely sucked up to the administration, until he finally ran out of administrative sponsors. His Town Hall meeting failed because no one on the Clemson faculty who knows how Mr. Bednar behaved during his 16 years a professor would ever trust him to champion their interests.
I suspect, too, that there are much sharper legal minds than Mr. Bednar in the vicinity of Clemson.
It’s too bad, because Gene Troutman deserves more support than he’s been getting.
By Seekthetruth October 7, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Attack the credibility of the messenger — A Clemson favorite. Please identify any factual errors in the above article, so that we can stay abreast of the story.
By CL October 8, 2009 at 10:22 am
The main problem with the article is its obvious ignorance of the legal issues involved. Phrases like “arm of the state” or “state actor” are terms of art that have different meanings depending upon what body of law you are applying. The Clemson case involves the application of the 11th amendment, which has its own unique body of Constitutional law. Based upon the 5 minutes I spent researching the question, it seems there is ample authority for Clemson’s position that a public university is an arm of the state for 11th amendment purposes. See White v. University of South Carolina-Columbia, 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 711 (1996). The author’s broad statements about the import of Clemson’s argument show the shallowness of his understanding of the legal concepts.
By Lawyers October 8, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Norton is now the Chief Judge, not Anderson. Norton went to Sewanee and USC, and has no Clemson connection of which I am aware.
As for the article, perhaps Dr. Bednar should stick to teaching French to taters.
By sorepaw December 31, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Factual errors…
For starters, the byline reads “Dr. John C. Bednar.”
I will credit Mr. Bednar for pursuing a FOIA request against the university and getting Clemson’s administration to divulge how much it has spent defending the Troutman lawsuit.