‘Everything Is Racial’ – University of South Carolina Curator Race Heated

Less than 48 hours after the official launch, a contested legislative election for a seat on the University of South Carolina board of trustees has become a race referendum, sources familiar with the situation said in this media outlet.

The election places the former National Basketball Association (NBA) Star Alex Ingles against the banker from Columbia, SC Robert Dozier and Irmo, SC entrepreneur Kevin Hunter.

English is the incumbent, having been appointed to the board on an interim basis last year by the “republican” governor Henry McMaster to fill the vacancy for William Hubbard – who resigned to lead the law school at the university.

English’s candidacy for a full four-year term on the council is being supported by a retired US Army general Robert Caslen, the school president. Sources close to Caslen contested that claim, however, telling us that the second-year president in trouble “is (are) completely out of these disputes.”

Even before candidates were allowed to formally request votes from lawmakers, the issue of race was at the forefront of this election … on several fronts.

First, some lawmakers are upset with English for taking a leadership role in the battle to rename the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center at the university center, Columbia, SC campus.

Named in 2003 in honor of the late US Senator Strom Thurmond – a prominent advocate of segregation during the 1960s – the building has been the focus of an aggressive campaign for renaming after the assassination of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the last day of the Memorial.

Some students from South Carolina have already stopped referring to the center as “the Strom” – and although Caslen has not taken a position on the controversy, he is supposed to have supported English behind the scenes due to the latter’s support to rename the complex.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers – especially the shrinking handful of rural white Democrats – have come under tremendous pressure to support the Englishman’s candidacy because he is black.

In fact, two white rural Democrats have told their colleagues that they are voting in English, although they believe Dozier to be the most qualified candidate.

The racial issue is cutting both sides, however. Black lawmakers are reportedly furious at the Englishman for his decision to hire a white Republican lobbyist to assist him in his campaign.

“We see who is getting their business,” said a black legislator to this media.

On Sunday, a registered lobbyist Lander Hiott – who represents various associations and corporations at SC State House – began to contact lawmakers on English’s behalf. Hiott was also seen in English at SC State House this week giving presentations on his behalf.

Hiott is the son of the state representative Davey Hiott de Pickens, SC – the president of the Chamber’s Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs. This raised eyebrows, as Hiott is supposedly one of the first legislative commitments of the English Republican Party.

Most Republican lawmakers are supporting Dozier, however.

While we hope that racial issues will continue to fuel the debate in this legislative election, the vote may well be a referendum on the extent to which lawmakers want the board to exercise oversight over the university’s finances – which has suffered a major blow with the coronavirus and its subsequent social outages.

According to our sources, Dozier is “committed to conducting a complete overhaul of the university’s finances after the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Hunter has a similar inclination. In addition, he outlined a vision (.pdf) for the future of the university that includes aligning degree programs with the needs of the community, stopping the “talent drain” from high schools in the state of Palmetto and focusing on a “return on investment” model for recruiting students.

As noted in the previous coverage, state lawmakers have routinely threatened to fire university trustees because of school maladministration in recent years … however, they continue to reappoint them.

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues with English …

Founding editor of this news medium Will Folks does not issue endorsements in college and university trustee elections due to its longstanding support for the privatization of higher education in the state of Palmetto (and beyond). Choosing among political appointees seems hypocritical in light of their fundamental belief in taking these institutions out of control of political governance.

However, we will obviously be watching this next election – scheduled for March 3, 2021 – very closely.

-FITSNews

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Flag: Travis Bell, photographers from Columbia SC