COLUMBIA, S.C. – State lawmakers voted to retain the only Black member of the University of South Carolina’s board of trustees Wednesday in a vote that drew attention to the board’s lack of diversity and threatened the school’s football recruiting.
Leah Moody, an attorney, was elected by an 80-77 vote to continue to represent York and Union counties. She defeated Alton Hyatt, a White pharmacist and lawyer who was considered a favorite last month before Black lawmakers decried the prospect of losing Moody.
“It’s a glorious day,” said Rep. Todd Rutherford, a Black Columbia Democrat who helped lead the outcry. “It says the General Assembly does care about diversity.”
Even with Moody remaining on the board, an Associated Press analysis shows that the school’s governing board is already less diverse than others in the Southeastern Conference. Of the 10 public schools in the SEC, on average, about one in seven trustees are minorities.
Moody said she’s proven herself as an interim trustee since last summer, when Gov. Mark Sanford appointed her following the resignation of the board’s only Black member at the time. Moody is to keep her seat until 2012.
“I feel they voted like they felt was right,” Moody said after the vote. “I’m happy for the students of South Carolina.”
A month ago, when Black lawmakers thought Moody would lose the election, several said members of the Black community were telephoning the university’s Black football recruits and telling them to question their commitments. The Associated Press could not verify any were called, and there have been no reports of a recruit changing his mind. However, fans of the team were outraged.
