Tracy: Initiative coming to a close one way or the other
By the end of his term as USC student body president next spring, Kenny Tracy pledged, the long-talked-about initiative to bring CarolinaCards to off-campus vendors will have been driven to “a conclusion.”
He clarified two points about the statement after his state of the student body address Wednesday night, though: 1) The main focus will likely be on gas stations, which don’t compete with the Sodexo’s food offerings or Barnes & Noble’s bookstore and 2) The pledge doesn’t necessarily mean the program will be in place by spring. Rather, Student Government will make a decision by then on whether it’s feasible and will be pursued.
In his campaign last semester, Tracy said he’d work with local vendors and the university to expand students’ options of where they can spend their Carolina Cash.
SG has spent four years researching comparatively sized institutions, according to Student Body Treasurer Coy Gibson. It found that USC is one of only three SEC schools that don’t offer these capabilities and that seven out of 10 peer universities as well as in-state institutions like Clemson, College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina all have off-campus card options, Gibson said.
Tracy said the program will obviously benefit students, but what’s taken time has been the task of getting the various players on the same page.
“It’s something we’ve been discussing since we got into office,” Tracy said. “It’s just a matter of making it work for all the parties. I think we’re finally at a point where we can make that decision.”
He stressed that as a candidate he never promised to see the program through to implementation, but rather, that he’d continue previous administrations’ work toward it.
“I never guaranteed that this was going to happen under my administration,” he said. “I wasn’t in a position to say that. I’d seen some of that research at that point, but hadn’t talked to all the players involved.”
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jerry Brewer said Tracy, Gibson and Student Body Vice President Chase Mizzell have done a great deal of research and brought all the necessary people to the table.
“They’re closer now than they’ve ever been,” Brewer said. “Everybody’s engaged that needs to be engaged.”
Tracy’s speech detailed SG’s work this year, from representing USC on the Congressional Advisory Board in Washington D.C., to continuing to fund programs like the Carolina Cab and Carolina Convoy.
He noted USC’s football and basketball’s rise in popularity and the pride he’s seen on campus as a result, as well as SG’s efforts to promote safety and sustainability on campus. He said he’s working to better the advisement process as well as ensuring students have a “well-known” slate of commencement speakers to honor their achievements.
The address was centered on the theme of progress, both within SG and throughout the university, and Tracy ended with a reference to the new “No Limits” marketing campaign.
University President Harris Pastides, who gave his state of the university address last month, complimented Tracy on his speech and said it weighed both areas of success and necessary improvement.
“It struck a good balance between good things going on and the lots of work left to do,” Pastides said.