USC Aiken Leaders, Ace Spend Day at State House

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AIKEN, SC (02/06/2018) Each year, student leaders, the chancellor and Ace head to Columbia to spend the day with lawmakers as part of Carolina Day.

Dr. Sandra Jordan, chancellor, has the opportunity to speak with members of the local legislative delegation frequently. The annual trip to the state house allowed Student Government President Jacob Yarbrough a chance to meet members of the S.C. House of Representatives too. During Carolina Day, Yarbrough met Rep. Bart Blackwell (District 81), Rep. Bill Clyburn (District 82) and Rep. Ronnie Young (District 84).

Yarbrough believes the trip was worthwhile, particularly at the beginning of what promises to be an interesting budget cycle for the elected officials.

"Sometimes it is easy to forget that universities are a lot more than just brick and mortar," he said.

"Universities contain thousands of men and women who are trying to obtain a quality education.

"It is important to engage our lawmakers because sometimes you just need that human interaction from students and faculty alike from those universities to show them why it is so important to fund higher education."

With the state's budget season underway, the chancellor and student leaders will continue engaging lawmakers, sharing with them the university's budget requests and why they are important to students' success.

"While it is early in the state budget process, the fact that this is a university committed to providing South Carolinians greater opportunity through a quality, yet affordable, education gives us all a very positive story to tell," Jordan said.