Tuesday letters: S.C. State must restore trust

The proposal that S.C. State to take a break from higher education is not based on racism, prejudice or cultural intolerance. It is the fact that S.C. State has literally failed its students when only about one in 10 students who walk into S.C. State comes out a graduate in four years.

No one knows who is to blame. Some say it’s the students’ low SAT scores in comparison to the state average that gives the lecturers nothing to work with. Some say it is a lack of resolve from the students to complete their degree. Others say it’s the neglect of the professors who are only looking for a paycheck. It probably is a combination of these things.

S.C. State is not just in a financial deficit. It is in an academic and ethical one, too. Taking loans that school leaders know they cannot pay back is unscrupulous, and admitting students who don’t finish just to continue getting income for the university is unfair. Then, to claim there’s a racially infused reason why some legislators want S.C. State shut down for two years is preposterous.

S.C. State needs to make those tough choices to reduce costs that families and small businesses make every day if it wants to stay open. There have been numerous black organizations that have had to make cuts or close operations for awhile to get back on their feet, ranging from my fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, to the NAACP.

So, S.C. State shouldn’t take it the wrong way. Restore trust to the S.C. State family, where the students, alumni, friends and faculty are what counts the most.

Jordan Cooper

Summerville

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Tuesday letters: S.C. State must restore trust."