President Smolla gives keynote address at South Carolina Bar Association

President Rod Smolla

Furman president Rod Smolla delivered the keynote address at the South Carolina Bar Association’s annual meeting in Columbia on Jan. 23.  His topic was “Living Greatly in the Law: The Lawyer as an Advocate for More Civil Public Discourse.”

The talk was among several of Smolla’s speaking engagements in January.  He addressed the Council of Independent Colleges’ Presidential Leadership Conference on Jan. 5 on the subject of “Shared Governance,” addressing such issues as allocations of authority within a university, due process, faculty contracts, and cultural identity issues within the context of a modern private university campus.

He also presented remarks as part of a Jan. 6 panel discussion sponsored by the NCAA in Frisco, Texas on the future of FCS football and the FCS post-season championship format.  The panel was part of a summit of FCS Division I presidents, athletic directors, and conference commissioners.  Smolla discussed ideas for raising the public profile and respect for the FCS championship, including new ideas regarding the structure and format of the FCS playoffs.