South Carolina State students made their voices heard regarding Lt. Governor Pamela Evette’s intention to serve as commencement speaker. Now Republican lawmakers are threatening to punish the university for exercising their right to free speech.
Columbia TV station WIS 10 reported about a letter circulating from a group of Republican lawmakers demanding that $5 million dollars in funding for a potential SCSU convocation center be removed from the state budget.
Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Aiken, and other lawmakers said the money should be excluded after SC State canceled Evette’s commencement speech following student protests.
“This issue is not about whether South Carolina State University is an HBCU,” Oremus said. “It’s about whether a publicly funded university should allow a small group of students to decide which viewpoints are acceptable to hear.”
