SUMTER, S.C. — Morris College is what Sumter is celebrating today, 115 years to be exact.
The HBCU, which stands for Historically Black College and Universities, has been in the city’s downtown, serving residents for over a century.
"The college is an integral part of the Sumter community," Morris College President Leroy Staggers says. "It's a celebration of all things looking at the past, recognizing and appreciating the present and planning for the future."
The school started as a vision in 1877.
"Many African Americans in the state of South Carolina, as you would imagine in 1877, access to education and higher education was not that prevalent. So the goal was to provide another venue, an avenue so that African Americans can achieve and get an education," Staggers explains.
And years later in 1908, the Baptist Education and Missionary Convention opened the two wooden buildings, which have expanded to an entire campus over the past century to serve students from all over.
"We have students who come from all 46 counties in the state and a lot of them stay here after graduation in the area, and so that adds to the economic impact in the community," Staggers shares. "We have a very multi-ethnic multi-diverse faculty. But we also attract a lot of other people to Sumter. They get integrated into the Sumter community."
"It has graduates who have made an impact on the community level, state level, national and indeed international," Board of Trustees Chair Lucy Reuben adds. "It has for over 115 years, inspired young people to do their best."
Young people like freshman Jayce Williams, who moved to Sumter from Florida to attend the college.
"It’s the culture though. I came to an HBCU because I wanted to be surrounded by people who are like me, who will come from where I came from," Williams explains. "A lot of us, we all different. We all have different families. But we all went through the same stuff. We all know the same stuff. Like this music playing, everybody, we all know this, you know, this is our culture."
Along with music and performances, the community is celebrating Charter Day with a luncheon and presentations from speakers like U.S. Congressman James Clyburn.
"Morris College means a whole lot to me...I grew up here in Sumter," Clyburn shares. "My mother attended the school graduated here in 1953 when I was 13-years-old."
A message he’s sharing, along with the importance of HBCUs.
"African American colleges and universities, much more than educational institutions. They provide these degrees. But a long time before their graduates ever get degrees, these colleges are transitional," Clyburn says. "They take young people out of communities ever there have been under-educated sometimes intentionally so, and they turn them into productive citizens."
President Staggers says the two main goals for the future of the college include boosting enrollment and introducing new programs, certificates and majors.
"115 years of our history and we hope that there will be another 115 years plus moving into the future," Staggers shares.