‘Shining Stars’ at S.C. State
As South Carolina State held its Scholarship Gala and Tribute, the reminders of fiscal problems facing the university were not ignored. But the S.C. State mission and achievement of its students were the focal points in an important Saturday night statement about the future.
Welcoming scholarship donors and university supporters to the annual event sponsored by the SCSU Foundation, Acting President Dr. Franklin Evans and Foundation Chairman Edward Williams thanked many personally.
Evans had a written message: “As the costs of higher education continue to rise across the nation, support is still urgently needed to ensure access to a S.C. State University degree. It is now more important than ever to raise, invest and steward private funds in the most efficient manner possible.”
Grammy-nominated musician Tony Grant, master of ceremonies and entertainer for the annual event, weighed in on the issue of the university’s future.
“South Carolina State University is needed and will remain for generations to come,” Grant said in citing a list of achievements by students, alumni, faculty and supporters. “It remains open.”
Even foundation board member the Rev. Willie Heggins acknowledged issues facing S.C. State when in a prayer before the meal, he sought guidance for state legislators making decisions about the university.
Then came the most important message of the evening, and the one that should reverberate in Columbia as state leaders weigh a course to save the university from its present fiscal crisis. Speaking were “Shining Star” students.
Via video interviews, football and academic standout Antonio Hamilton of Johnstone; Baumholder, Germany, native Adrian Juilen, and Orangeburg’s Valerie Nwadeyi offered praises for the university and its impact on their lives. Nwadeyi called the school the “backbone” of her family’s education legacy and a vital player in the future of Orangeburg and South Carolina.
First speaking via video and then in person as the representative for S.C. State’s “Shining Stars,” Tamekia Daniels of Hardeeville addressed S.C. State supporters and all South Carolinians amid the present cycle of high-profile problems at her school.
S.C. State is about opportunity, she said, with the institution offering her the financial help to make college possible. It is the same for many students, some from troubled backgrounds, who would not have the college opportunity without SCSU and its mission of serving the traditionally underserved.
“Many of our parents could not afford to send us to college. Many of us could not be here without you,” she said in thanking those at the gala. “I assure you, you will see a return on your investment.”
And so will all the people of the state through our government’s vital efforts to put the university on a stable course for the future.
Washington gridlock
Washington gridlock on immigration, energy, federal spending and health care, though lamentable, is understandable. After all, the two major parties generally favor opposing solutions to the problems raised by those issues.
But last week the U.S. Senate couldn’t even pass a bill that rated widespread support across party lines. That legislation would have toughened the penalties for human trafficking and enhanced law enforcement’s capacity to counter it.
However, Senate Democrats killed it with a filibuster threat after belatedly realizing that it contained a clause, inserted by Republicans, banning the use of a trafficking-victims compensation fund for abortions other than the types exempted (rape and incest) in the Hyde Amendment.
In other words, Democrats killed legislation that would have no practical impact on federal abortion funding. Indeed, it merely reasserts that intent of the Hyde amendment, which has been routinely attached to federal spending bills since its passage nearly four decades ago.
John Cornyn, R-Texas, offered to change the wording of the trafficking legislation’s abortion provision by creating an annual appropriation for the compensation fund instead of a separate pool of fees.
After Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and other prominent Democrats scrapped the bill, Sen. Cornyn expressed justified frustration by asking: “Can they take ‘yes’ for an answer? We’ve made a proposal to them to give them what they’ve asked for.”
And Minnesota’s Sen. Amy Klobucher, the top Democratic sponsor of the bill, like many of her party colleagues evidently didn’t know it included that Hyde Amendment echo.
Sen. Klobucher’s spokeswoman told The Associated Press: “The senator takes responsibility for the work of her office and missing the provision, and she is focused on moving forward to find a way to fix the bill and protect victims of trafficking.”
As for Democrats’ demands for a confirmation vote on attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has said he will comply as soon as the trafficking bill is passed.
Sounds like a fair, practical compromise to advance two legislative tasks.
And The Washington Post editorial board, no hotbed of pro-life or conservative zeal, offered this withering perspective on the needless derailing of the human trafficking bill:
“Perhaps Democrats thought they could score political points, or maybe they didn’t want to anger their traditional allies in the abortion rights lobby. Either way, it became depressingly clear that what they weren’t thinking about was the needs of vulnerable people, mostly young women and girls, who are the victims of sex trafficking.”
Meanwhile, as Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, aptly put it: “If we cannot approve a bill to deal with human trafficking, then what will we be able to deal with?”
Apparently, not much.
This story was originally published March 29, 2015 at 3:18 PM with the headline "‘Shining Stars’ at S.C. State."