A proud time for us all

S.C. State proves ready for its close-up
MSNBC hosts shine positive spotlight before and after Thursday debate
By PAT BERMAN - pberman@thestate.com
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Fishing for support
Two sure winners emerged from the Democratic debate coverage Thursday: South Carolina State University and, by association, South Carolina itself.

Maybe it was the weather.

The sky was sunny, and the temperature was in the 80s for the outdoor coverage leading up to the debate, and MSNBC’s pundits — weary, perhaps, from the recent Northeast storms — clearly enjoyed their stay. Chris Matthews, the “Hardball” host who frequently takes his show on the road to colleges, proclaimed S.C. State’s marching band “the best” he had ever heard.

“Hardball” executive producer Tammy Haddad called S.C. State “the best campus we’ve ever been on.” She praised the students’ enthusiasm and knowledge of the issues.

“These kids were really interested in learning something and being a part of something,” she said.

The coverage was not all one big wet kiss though, as a Thursday story in the Los Angeles Times pointed out historic inequities — much of them along racial lines — that continue today in the state. The article touched upon unemployment and lack of health care and educational opportunities.

And at the end of its 6:30 p.m. newscast, NBC aired a segment looking back at the Orangeburg Massacre, when three S.C. State students were killed by state troopers in 1968.

Still, most of the TV coverage was upbeat.

The S.C. State marching band, known as the Marching 101, scored a lot of air time on MSNBC as a camera swept down lines of musicians while they played going into and out of commercials.

Haddad said school bands usually are given about 30 seconds of airtime on the “Hardball” campus tour shows. But the S.C. State band played for two to three minutes on each break.

MSNBC’s afternoon coverage began with Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and host of “Scarborough Country.” He said the small middle-class communities he saw on his drive into Orangeburg represented a truer picture of the nation than the far less diverse and wealthier enclaves often featured as backdrops for political campaigns and coverage.

Matthews, who followed Scarborough, seemed gleeful as he beamed at the crowd behind him during his interview with Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential contender John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina. He and his guest continually surveyed the cheering crowd, asking if they were registered and whom they would vote for.

Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” joined Matthews in pre- and post-debate coverage. He joked about the slightly Southern accent Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois acquired when speaking to a local audience. Then Olbermann, a New Yorker, added that although he had arrived in South Carolina only that afternoon, such was the welcoming nature and influence of the state that he, too, had begun speaking with an accent.

Issues specific to South Carolina arose when WIS-TV news anchor David Stanton posed viewer e-mail questions to the candidates about the Confederate flag and their decision to come to South Carolina, despite an NAACP boycott.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware said they were proud to come to S.C. State at the invitation of Rep. Jim Clyburn, the House Whip and an S.C. State alumnus.

For his part, Clyburn said he hoped the national debate would help heal the wounds that remain from the Orangeburg Massacre.

On the question of the flag, Obama said the Confederate flag that flies on the State House grounds should be in a museum.

Reach Berman at (803) 771-8417.

Debate at S.C. State: ‘Trying to turn a page’
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Walking the packed corridors of the Convention Center in the hours before his annual fish fry Friday night, Jim Clyburn was still smiling.

Clyburn, the U.S. congressman from Columbia whose muscle helped bring the presidential debate to his alma mater, S.C. State University, on Thursday night, was happy about the spotlight the event brought the school.

He said the debate, which brought the eight presidential candidates together on one stage before a national television audience, was a historic turning point for the school and for Orangeburg, where college students protesting segregation in 1968 were shot and killed in a tragedy referred to as the Orangeburg Massacre.

“The whole thing (Thursday) was about trying to turn a page,” Clyburn said. “We’ve been wallowing in 1968 for too long. When people would mention S.C. State or Orangeburg, it was all about the massacre. Now, we’ve got something else.”

Jonathan Pinson, vice chairman of the S.C. State University Board of Trustees, said Google recorded 1.3 million hits from people looking for information about the school Thursday. He said 2.2 million people watched the debate and saw a thriving campus with enthusiastic, involved students.

“It was a historic night,” Pinson said. “To be able to have that many people watch and to have people say what a wonderful time they had in Orangeburg, it was a totally great night.”

Even the presidential candidates said they were happy for the university and for Orangeburg.

“What happened (Thursday) was a big deal,” said U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. “Not us debating, but them, the kids. I told Jim that if he does nothing else for his alma mater, he’s done plenty.”

— Wayne Washington

A university transformed

President says SCSU won’t be the same; Clyburn says debate gets ‘us beyond ’60s’

By CHARLENE SLAUGHTER, T&D Special Assignments
Sunday, April 29, 2007

It finally hit Dr. Andrew Hugine, South Carolina State University's president, when he was standing on stage Thursday night before the debate with the candidates.

“It seemed like I was in a dream world to see these things you see on TV; you say is it real?” Hugine said Friday. “For those accustomed to MLK and walked in there last night, you say is this the same place? Am I on the campus of South Carolina State? I think it really settled in when I walked on the stage with the eight candidates. You know this is no longer a dream. This is real. It is really happening.”

The day after the university, the South Carolina Democratic Party and the Orangeburg community successfully hosted the first-in-the-nation presidential primary debate, Hugine was still in awe.

Media crews had left, as had the candidates. Workers were clearing the campus of any leftover debris, but Hugine said S.C. State will never be the same.

“It won’t get back to normal right now,” he said. “The university has been changed now and will be seen in a different light. It will never get back to the way it used to be. We’ll go back to doing what we do best, and that’s educating young people. That was an education to them on yesterday. We didn’t disrupt education, just adjusted it.”

Driving back to Columbia from a speaking engagement early Friday afternoon, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said he felt the debate had accomplished what it set out to accomplish.

“It was about helping State College and Orangeburg turn a page in its history and get us beyond the ’60s; I think we did that,” Clyburn said. “We accomplished what we set out to do.”

Hugine was most proud of his faculty and staff and the S.C. State students. He also praised the way the city and county came together, along with the local newspaper, chamber of commerce, development commission, a plethora of law enforcement and the Democratic Party.

“They all made an enormous event for the state of South Carolina,” he said. “Our students, and I always say they are the best students, they certainly met that expectations and represented us well. I just cannot thank them enough for the way they conducted themselves.”

While the audience was filled with the who’s who of Orangeburg, as well as state Democratic dignitaries, Hugine noted that Gov. Mark Sanford was in attendance at the debate.

“That took a lot of political courage to do that,” he said. “I extended the invitation and I was pleased with the response ... It’s not only about Democrats or S.C. State or Orangeburg – it’s about the state of South Carolina ... He could have easily said ’I have something else on my schedule.’ I was quite pleased that he came.”

As far as the debate itself, Clyburn said he thought the frontrunners stayed on course, but he was surprised others in the second tier didn’t make more noise.

“I do believe the frontrunners didn’t do themselves any harm,” he said. “Joe Biden probably was the biggest among the second tier. Richardson did well on substance, although he was taking too long to answer some questions. I was surprised that Dodd wasn’t more animated. I thought he would take a few risks. ... He would have been great if he were a frontrunner.”

As things were getting back to normal on campus Friday afternoon, news trucks could still be seen heading out of town. S-H-M was nearly all cleaned up. The campus looks brighter with the overall improvements made – there are a lot of flowers now. But the feeling there is one of rejuvenation and, perhaps, rebirth.

“The way we operate will be different now,” Hugine said. “We gained new friends, many of whom had never been here before. We’ve come a long way to bridging the gap right here in Orangeburg. We tried very hard to reach out to the Orangeburg community. It’s not just this institution, it’s this community.”

Charlene Slaughter can be reached by e-mail at cslaughter@timesanddemocrat. com or by phone at 803-533-5529. Discuss this and other stories online at TheT&D.com.

SCSU set the bar high.

To be recognized for more than just sports and bands, etc is a major plus all HBCU's. We are proud to add this event to the many other outstanding accomplishments HBCU's have made in this country.

Clyburn says debate helps S.C. State turn a page
By BRUCE SMITH - Associated Press Writer

CLEMSON, S.C. --House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn will return to South Carolina State University this fall for his 50th homecoming at his alma mater. This one, he says, will finally be different.

Clyburn, D-S.C., says last week's presidential debate - which attracted both the Democratic contenders and worldwide attention - helped turn a page for the historically black school in Orangeburg.

For decades, he says, homecoming events have been overshadowed by the Orangeburg Massacre, which in 1968 put the school's name in a much different light in headlines nationwide.

Three civil rights demonstrators were killed and 27 wounded by white highway patrolmen on Feb. 8, 1968.

Some black South Carolina lawmakers have called for a new investigation, but the FBI said recently no decision had been made on reopening a probe.

Clyburn, who helped bring the debate to an auditorium at the site the shootings occurred, told graduates of Leadership South Carolina at Clemson University on Friday the massacre overshadows more than homecoming.

"From that day until now, if you were to go to Orangeburg and talked to anyone about Orangeburg and South Carolina State, you would have talked to them about the Orangeburg Massacre, that's all," he said.

The positives of the university, including its outstanding Reserve Officer Training Corps program, are little mentioned, said Clyburn,

"The whole country, if not the world," saw the campus in a different light, he said. "My whole point in getting that debate down there at South Carolina State was about a new page. ... People who have been there for years will tell you the last 10 days on that campus have been transformational."

One black leader was concerned some reporters would open their television coverage with film from the massacre.

"I said, why are you afraid of that? It happened, didn't it?" Clyburn said. "Let's not worry about how it opens, let's see if we can get them to close it on the right note. Let's do this and stop worrying about 1968."

Associated Press Writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia contributed to this report.