House committee votes for replacing SC State's leadership

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Members of a powerful House committee called Wednesday for ousting the embattled president and entire board of South Carolina State University as a first step toward bringing the troubled school back to fiscal solvency.

The Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to put the proposal in its budget plan for the coming fiscal year, as a substitute for last week's stunning idea to temporarily close the state's only public historically black college for a massive overhaul.

The vote came hours after U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn and his wife, both 1961 S.C. State alumni, released a letter calling for ousting President Thomas Elzey and replacing the board. Last week, the Legislative Black Caucus called for Elzey to resign. He refused, and the board stood by him. Elzey's four-year contract extends to 2017.

But the Clyburns wrote that Elzey "has precious little support from alumni and supporters, and minimal credibility with those who determine the school's funding and academic status."

Elzey later issued a statement that ...

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