Tjavascript:void(0);he College of Charleston received more than 100 applications from people interested in being the 22nd president of the 13th oldest educational institution in the United States. The applicants included current university presidents, chief academic officers, deans, and leaders from both the public and private sectors.

On Saturday, the college's Board of Trustees announced that it had voted to offer the job to Glenn McConnell, the current Republican lieutenant governor of South Carolina.

Minutes after an email announcing the choice went out to the campus community, students at the college "viscerally reacted over social media voicing their disapproval," according to the student-run Cistern Yard News. A few hours later, a few dozen students gathered on campus to protest.

The Confederacy thing is no secret. McConnell is a longtime Civil War re-enactor. On the biography page he has up on his personal website, under "community involvement/clubs," McConnell lists the Sons of Confederate Veterans -- a national organization "devoted exclusively to commemorating and honoring Confederate soldiers." And for years, until it closed in 2009, McConnell and his brother ran a Charleston store that specialized in Confederate memorabilia....