South Carolina lawmakers finally agreed Wednesday on legislation that would oust the entire Board of Trustees of beleaguered South Carolina State University, reports The State, a newspaper in Columbia, S.C.
The historically black university has been suffering from heavy debt and other financial woes for years, and its accreditor put it on probation last year. Those were presumably among the problems that led the board to fire the university’s president in March, although it did not specify a cause.
A legislative panel proposed shutting down the college in February, but lawmakers later decided instead to fire all of its trustees. It took weeks of negotiations, however, to settle the question of who would appoint a temporary successor board, which would serve until 2018. The newspaper reports that the compromise legislation calls for the new board to be named by the state’s governor, treasurer, superintendent of education, two members of the State Senate, and two members of the House.
Legislative leaders said they hoped the bill could be presented to Gov. Nikki Haley for her signature as early as Thursday.
“We are one step closer to righting the ship,” said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a Orangeburg Democrat who was on the conference committee for the S.C. State bill. “This is not a silver bullet.”
Read more at: www.thestate.com