SC State trustees have an obligation to school’s past in order to build a strong future
In 2007, 4,644 students were enrolled at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. By fall 2019, enrollment had sunk to 2,292 students, more than a 50 percent drop, according to the S.C. Commission on Higher Education.
Nationally, college enrollments have seen a decline, some of which is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
But clearly that can’t explain the drop over the past 14 years.
With the latest enrollment numbers and no signs of stemming the tide, it appears time was already running out for university President James Clark.
In March, the faculty senate, citing the falling enrollment figures among other issues, took a vote of no confidence in Clark and on Tuesday the university’s Board of Trustees voted to remove him as president.
An acting president has been named and the search for a new president will likely soon be underway.
What’s next for the SC State Bulldogs is unknown, but the significant role the university and other historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) continue to play in the lives of their students and communities is undeniable.
That’s why we hope the Board of Trustees will work to not only find a new president, but develop a real plan for tackling its dwindling enrollment head on.
The university got its start in 1896, the school’s website explains.
“As a land-grant institution, it struggled to provide agricultural and mechanical training to generations of black youngsters. Through its extension program, it sent farm and home demonstration agents into rural counties to provide knowledge and information to impoverished black farm families.”
During the 1950s and 1960s, the school history tells of hundreds of students participating in local civil rights demonstrations including a deadly event on Feb. 8, 1968, known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
Robert Lee Davis recounted the events for an interview with the Smithsonian Magazine.
“Students were hollering, yelling and running,” Davis told the magazine. “I went into a slope near the front end of the campus and I kneeled down. I got up to run, and I took one step; that’s all I can remember. I got hit in the back.”
Three young, unarmed Black men were killed.
Today, the university counts among its alumni U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and its website offers excitement and optimism with details about plans to return to full capacity at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium this fall.
As the school and its students look forward to football games and time together, we also want to be optimistic about the school’s long-term future.
South Carolina State University has a long history here and we hope the Board of Trustees works hard to ensure it has a bright future.
This story was originally published July 13, 2021 at 4:31 PM with the headline "SC State trustees have an obligation to school’s past in order to build a strong future."