South Carolina State University now has its official appointed board of trustees. The final of the seven members were announced on Thursday after being appointed by various South Carolina leaders.
Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, John Courson, may have picked the most recognizable of the seven names. Former NFL player Donnie Shell is the trustee he appointed -- and he says there's a good reason for it.
Not only is Shell a graduate of SC State, but Senator Courson says Shell managed the Carolina Panthers, giving him a business background.
Courson says Shell has also worked with Johnson C. Smith University, a historically black college in North Carolina.
"I wanted somebody that would have the credibility with the institution, who's an alum of the institution, an alumnus himself, be in that position to go down and help straighten this mess out," said Courson. "I think he's the person to do it. One, I think he's got the business background, he's got the toughness playing safety for 15 years in the National Football League and I think he'll hopefully do a very good job."
News19 reached out to the other state leaders who appointed the remaining six members, but they were unable to meet on Thursday.
The only member appointed who lives in the midlands is James Clark. Over the phone, Clark said he's a man of facts and it would be a bit premature to talk about what the board needs to do before they've even met.
Senator Courson says once they do get together, he thinks they need to remain realistic about the task at hand when trying to sort out the university's financial issues. The school's debt could reach $23 million by the summer.
"We need these institutions to produce college graduates and they certainly have that role, but I think it's unrealistic for them to base their revenue stream, their budgetary process on having 5,200 students," said Courson. "They don't have that, they haven't had it in ten years. They've got 2,800 now. They need to stabilize that figure and figure out exactly what it would cost to do that and be realistic in the budgetary process, which they haven't been."
This board is considered an interim board. The members will be able to start now that all seven spots have been appointed.
The members can serve until June of 2018, or until a new board is elected.
