SC politics, race in play as lawmakers to decide if Alex English stays USC trustee

High-profile University of South Carolina alumnus Alex English could be at risk of losing his seat on the college’s board of trustees, one he’s seeking for a four-year term, despite being named last year by Gov. Henry McMaster to an open seat.

Days ahead of what has turned into a contentious university board of trustees election — driven by political divisions and, for some, race — a small number of state lawmakers who favor English are working overtime to round up enough votes to ensure the former star basketball player and Columbia businessman keeps his highly-sought position.

English is one of two Black members on the University of South Carolina board.

The state’s 170 senators and representatives will vote Wednesday between English, who rose from hardscrabble roots in Columbia to become one of the nation’s best collegiate and professional basketball players, and Robert Dozier, a Columbia banker, former university ex-officio board member and president of the USC’s alumni association.

A third candidate, Lexington County businessman Kevin Hunter, dropped out of the race Thursday. He told The State he supports English staying on the board. Hunter said he endorsed English because his “heart is in the right place” and he is “a die-hard Gamecock.”

Opposed to the mostly Democratic lawmakers counting votes for English is reportedly at least one prominent Richland County Republican — state Rep. Kirkman Finlay — who is trying to boost English’s remaining challenger, Dozier.

Finlay did not respond to repeated attempts to reach him. Dozier was not immediately available late Friday.

In the House, it isn’t clear how many of the 124 House members back English or Dozier.

House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford and state Rep. Kambrell Garvin, both Richland Democrats, are counting votes for the incumbent. Rutherford declined to comment.

In the 46-member Senate, state Sen. Thomas McElveen told The State he remained confident English would have “overwhelming support” in that chamber.

“No. 1, he’s served well in the limited time that he’s had, and also this is someone who is been one of South Carolina’s most important ambassadors for decades,” said McElveen, the Sumter Democrat leading the whip count in the Senate. “He loves the university. He wants what’s best for the university, and this is someone who had a pretty amazing professional career and then came right back to Columbia, (and has) been engaged with the university. If we take someone like that off the board of trustees, the message that it sends I think is not a good one for the university.”

English v. Dozier

English was one of South Carolina’s greatest athletes, playing for 16 years and on seven All-Star teams.

In Columbia, English has become a prominent role model, telling his story at schools and civic groups about his transformation from humble upbringings into a Renaissance man. He came from a poverty-stricken Columbia family, then played basketball at the highest level before he became an entrepreneur who gives motivational talks to youth and civic groups, as well as raising money for charitable causes.

He served on the university’s board once before under former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges.

Then last summer — a year after a nasty board election for the next USC president and during civil unrest after the deaths of Black men and women at the hands of police — English was tapped by McMaster to fill the unexpired term of William Hubbard, who left the board to run the university’s law school.

To those who watched English’s appointment, it was a relief.

English would become the second Black board member, along with Rock Hill attorney Leah Moody, in a state where African Americans make up 27% of the population and where Black students make up 10.2% undergraduate enrollment on the Columbia campus.

“Gov. McMaster believes that Alex English’s service on the board of trustees makes the university stronger and more competitive,” said the governor’s spokesman, Brian Symmes. “His continued contributions are invaluable and critical to the school’s future success and prosperity. That’s why the governor appointed him.”

But despite the governor’s backing, political pressure is on for lawmakers to oust English and install Dozier in his place.

A successful banker, Dozier also has served on boards for Midlands Technical College, the Richland Two School District and the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, according to his LinkedIn account.

Very little media attention had been paid on the race since last year when Dozier said he would challenge English.

But this week, political blog FITSNews published a series of stories referencing English’s political leanings, social media posts and efforts supporting the possible renaming of the Strom Thurmond fitness center — a student-led effort sparked by last summer’s protests. Thurmond was a staunch segregationist from the 1940s through the 1960s, an era when African Americans were fighting for civil rights.

In recent months, The State was told some white lawmakers have been frustrated by English’s receptiveness to renaming university buildings named for pre-Civil War enslavers and Jim Crow era white supremacists.

Columbia attorney Joe McCulloch, who has known English since their days at Dreher High School, said rumors that English wants to try to single-handedly do away with the university’s traditions is simply not true.

“He is waiting for more information to come out about alternative solutions, and he will consider that information carefully. His temperament is such that he is a builder and not a destroyer,” said McCulloch, who also visited the State House this week to lobby support for English.

Despite rumors that English wants to rename buildings, English told The State Friday it hasn’t come up since he was on the board. A tweet made by English indicating support for renaming the Strom Thurmond center was made before he was appointed to the board of trustees.

“I’ve been on the board for six months, and in those six months there’s never been a conversation about changing the names of any building,” English said. “My priority is making tuition affordable for South Carolinians and navigating through this pandemic so we can get our kids back in school and making our university the best it can be. I think it’s an issue that my opponent has brought up to throw mud into the game.”

Asked his thoughts, though, about the university’s consideration to rename controversial buildings, English said, “I would have to research the plan because I’m not as familiar with it. Like I said, it’s not been my priority. My priority is trying to get us through the pandemic.”

Fresh off a rocky judicial election in which zero Black candidates were elected, many South Carolina lawmakers are closely watching what happens Wednesday afternoon when the Legislature decides whether English stays on the board.

“We’re starting to set some potentially dangerous precedent over here. I think more dangerous than the judicial race we had a couple weeks ago,” Sen. McElveen said.

Two years ago, Black lawmakers staged a walk out, angered after a Black judicial candidate — longtime S.C. Circuit Court Judge Alison Lee — was ousted by attorney Blake Hewitt, who is white. Then this month, state Judge DeAndrea Benjamin of Columbia lost her race for a prized Court of Appeals seat after Benjamin was accused of being a “liberal, Democratic” donor based on campaign contributions her law firm made before she became a judge.

Losses for the judges’ posts by three Black candidates earlier this month were especially bitter because judgeships — with their close to $200,000-a-year salaries and a judge’s ability to pick law clerks and establish political and legal networks — represent especially meaningful stepping stones for Black members of the legal community in South Carolina society, Rep. Rutherford said.

“We start talking about who’s liberal and who’s conservative. (On) judicial races, we should be talking about who’s the most fair, who’s the most impartial, who’s got the best temperament — not who’s liberal and who’s conservative,” McElveen continued. “Same thing on a smaller level here. ... When you start drilling down on minutiae like that, I think you’re losing sight of the big picture here.”

State Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, told The State that English’s bid for a four-year trustee seat will be watched around the country because English is exceptionally qualified on all levels.

“This is bigger than a board seat. This is bigger than Alex,” he said. “It will have everything to do with the kind of reputation that South Carolina wants to have throughout the nation.”

To oust English, state Rep. Leon Howard, D-Richland, said would be “a slap in the face to Gov. McMaster.”

Reporter Lucas Daprile contributed to this report.