During Holderman's tenure, the university expanded its honors college, raised the academic standards for entering freshmen, and increased state funding.

[5] Holderman is also credited with bringing Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush to the university's campus.

[6][7] On April 18, 1984, recently dismissed University of South Carolina professor Philip Zeltner shot and killed himself after holding a student hostage at gun point in Holderman's office.

In 1992, he was stripped of his tenure and his honorary title, President Emeritus, after the university's board of trustees investigated accusations of sexual assault made against him.

Holderman was subsequently arrested in an FBI sting operation in 2003 for attempting to launder drug money and sell student visas.