When I drove over to the Bell Street campus Thursday morning, I figured I wanted to take a picture of the electronic sign near the road, in anticipation of the meeting I would have that afternoon. I circled through the drive and something told me - do you ever have that little voice in your stomach that tells you something? - to “Turn Right”. I figured, “No, no, nothing back there but the loading dock.”
I found out a few hours later, that’s where the USC-Union Laurens Location sign is, above an exterior door. District 56 is partnering with the college, which lost its lease in Laurens, to occupy the 2004 wing that has the cafeteria and other space, combined onto a school that once administered high school diplomas to the African-American community of Clinton.
If ever there is an iconic building, this is it.
I drove back over after our meeting at the (new!) District 56 office, and there it was! With paved parking spaces and gray outside walls that carry through the USC-Union signature paint palette. These are the exterior walls of the A & D wing that will continue to be the training center for the State Champion Science Olympiad Team.
David O’Shields said USC-Union insisted on that -- NOT “kicking out” the Science Olympiad Team. And, in a building that size, why should they? WOW, a second college right here in lil ol’ Clinton. As we said around the table at the District 50 office, “Why Not Us?”
What this opens up for Clinton is sky’s the limit. CHS students take their first two years at the high school and, with District 56 transportation, take the final two years at USC-Union Laurens Location.
The college has all the room it needs to enhance its Nursing program. Didn’t Covid convince us how vital these jobs are.
USC-Union has the chance to partner with Prisma, just down US 76, also with a formal Clinton address, for clinicals. Presbyterian College has an unlimited number of partnerships they can explore. Right off the bat, USC-Union has a greenhouse to use, and it’s within walking distance (for young legs) of a Community Garden at Friendship AME Church. And, it’s 3 miles to Piedmont Tech’s Higher Education Center.
This is not some corner building in a town somewhere. This is a campus that some day could become the property of the state’s Higher Education Commission. These are The Bantams, an additional opportunity for our athletes. This is District 56’s “gift back to the community.” Just, Wow!
Vic MacDonald is Editor of The Clinton Chronicle. In June, 2025, he will observe his 50th year in community journalism. Reach him at 864-833-1900.
