President Obama's impending visit to Columbia has the campus buzzing, even if he is speaking at Benedict College and not USC.
We are excited the president is coming, regardless of which school he chooses to visit. In fact, the subject matter of his speech (advocacy for his minority-focused initiative My Brother's Keeper and other similar causes) is better suited to Benedict.
It's disappointing but understandable that the general public won't have a chance to see the president in person. It's not like the administration hasn't been well-represented in Columbia — Joe Biden has visited three times in the last year, including serving as our commencement speaker last May.
That the president has waited this long to appear in the state is somewhat disheartening, but it makes sense in the context of political realities. We are a deep red state with little value to national Democrats.
We do wonder why Obama, if he is focusing on youth leadership in connection with a historically black college, chose Benedict over South Carolina State — a school which could certainly use the boost of a presidential visit right now. However, Obama will draw much more attention in Columbia, a larger media market, than Orangeburg. Such is the political reality, and Benedict will reap the benefit.
Overall, we feel it's a positive for Columbia to host the president. It brings the national press corps to town and shines a spotlight on our community. We will all benefit from Obama's visit, even if traffic will be awful on Friday afternoon.