A moving thank you from my friend, Harris Pastides, President of the University of South Carolina

From: Harris Pastides

Date: Sun, Jan 11, 2015
To: Graham Arader
Cc: To McNally, D. Ray Tanner Jr.

Graham,

I've been down with a bug but wanted you to know that, on Friday afternoon, the framed baseball collectibles were brought to my office. Wow...Christmas in January!

The picture of the stadium is amazing. I could very well have been one of those kids pictured in front of the old stadium...in fact, any one of several million baby boomers raised around New York would feel that way. My dad brought me there on "bat day" one year and Mantle was an old, broken down guy but in the first inning he hit one into the monuments in deep center field. He hobbled all the way to third base...and then was removed by a pinch runner...the last time I saw The Mick. To have all of those Yankee super stars, old and young surround that photo was brilliant. And the even more emotional photos of Williams, Mantle, Aaron and Mays with their signed balls...well, that will need a security system upgrade!

A more formal thank you and acknowledgement to our generous donor, and to you, is forthcoming. Perhaps you can both come to a baseball game and allow us to introduce you on the field prior to a game? For now, a sincere thank you for your vision and for an even more rare quality these days, your follow through on what you say. Graham you get things done...and that is how I want to be known as a college president.

Best.
Harris