SC State Board of Trustees Chairman Douglas Gantt also thanked the lawmakers who attended the groundbreaking, noting that the university seated them – Republicans and Democrats side by side – on the front row.
“We gave them the frontrow seats for supporting and helping us build this new building for our kids,” Gantt said, “because we all know when all things are fair and equal, the individuals at South Carolina State exceed expectations.”
State Rep. Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg) recognized her colleague on the House Higher Education Subcommittee, Rep. Bill Taylor (R-Aiken) for his role in securing the funding to SC State.
“To have him as an ally and advocate fighting for this institution, for funding this institution, it has been so good to have someone committed to make sure we do what we can and to bring the resources here,” Cobb-Hunter said.
Later in the program, Taylor said a tour he took of the university last year alerted him to the deficiencies in SC State’s facilities. He pointed to the fact, however, that General Assembly had appropriated $85 million for capital proj-
