USC has nothing to brag about when it comes to diversity

In a Dec. 19 article, “Minority enrollment up at USC, but not for black students,” University of South Carolina administrators touted “an increase in the number of minority students that have enrolled in the past eight years.”

But if you look back a little further, you’ll see that USC has experienced a significant decrease in the percentage of African-American students since 2000, dropping from 19 percent to about 10 percent by 2016.

Even more troubling is that, while USC’s enrollment has grown by 10,290 over this time, there were actually 228 fewer African-Americans as of 2016 in the student body. The percentage of African-American students in 2016 is the lowest since 2000.

I hope to work with university officials and state leaders in the coming months to reverse these trends and others.

When we make college more accessible and affordable to every S.C. family, we expand diversity. And diversity among students enriches college campuses

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 5:30 PM with the headline "USC has nothing to brag about when it comes to diversity."