T&D TOP 10 OF 2022/NO. 9 – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visits Orangeburg in September

An Orangeburg visit by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris ranks as the ninth story among The T&D’s Top 10 of 2022.

On Sept. 21, Harris visited Orangeburg’s two HBCUs.

She was the keynote speaker at South Carolina State University’s fall convocation and she also met with a group of students at Claflin University.

In her convocation speech to the university’s largest freshman class in more than a decade, Harris encouraged the future leaders.

“You are united, students, by the pursuit of excellence. … There is no barrier that you cannot break. At this moment, our nation needs your leadership,” she said.

The standing-room-only event was held at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

Harris discussed the importance of young leadership.

She referred to the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington in 1963. He was 23 at the time.

She also noted the youthful leadership of U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, an S.C. State alumnus who participated in the civil rights movement. He was in his early 20s when he was jailed for participating in a protest.

“We turn to you once again. Your nation turns to you,” Harris told students.

She also praised the federal government for investing billions of dollars to boost lending to small and minority-owned businesses and to assist people living in poor communities with limited access to banking.

Harris also discussed climate change, calling on students to do all they can to be good stewards – from creating more effective solar panels to building more sustainable homes.

The Biden administration has increased apprenticeship programs to develop the next generation of, for example, engineers, scientists, mathematicians, welders and electricians, Harris said.

She also noted that the Biden administration increased the maximum federal Pell Grant by $400 per student per year.

She noted that 75% of HBCU students rely on Pell Grants.

“We’ve got to do more,” Harris said.

She also addressed the need to reduce gun violence across the country.

“We still have to address the epidemic of gun violence in our nation,” she said.

She urged students to register to vote and make their voices heard.

“You will help determine our nation’s future. … Your vote is your voice. We need you to lead America forward, and President Biden and I will be with you every step of the way,” Harris said.

During her other stop in Orangeburg, she discussed a variety of health-related matters with students at Claflin University.

She spoke in favor of student loan forgiveness and improving mental health treatment.

Harris talked about the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So many people lost their job and so the effects of that are still lingering in a very profound way. In fact, three in five college students have been diagnosed with some level of need for mental health care and that’s just among those who have been diagnosed,” Harris said.

“I have long believed that when it comes to the health care policy in our country, we still have so much more and we still must do so much better when it comes to mental health,” Harris said.

“We must realize we’ve got to stop acting as if the body starts from the neck down. We also need health care from the neck up, and there should be no stigma about that. People should not be made to suddenly suffer,” she said.

Harris spoke of Claflin’s achievements, including being ranked among the country’s top 10 HBCUs by U.S. News & World Report.

“I’m honored to be at Claflin University, which has a distinction of being a center of academic excellence in our country,” Harris said.

Harris was accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona during her stops at Claflin and S.C. State.