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Bicentennial closing ceremony set for Dec. 19

The University will close its yearlong observance of the bicentennial and commemorate its 1801 charter by the Legislature during a special hour-long ceremony on the south steps of the Statehouse at noon Dec. 19.

"We are having the ceremony at the Statehouse because it is where South Carolina College was created on Dec. 19, 1801," said Sally T. McKay, the bicentennial's executive director. "It is the appropriate place to commemorate the relationship that has existed for 200 years between the state and its oldest institution of public higher education."

Following the ceremony, which is free and open to the public, participants will be served birthday cake. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held inside the Statehouse.

The purpose of the ceremony is three fold, McKay said: "To commemorate the day in 1801 when the General Assembly chartered South Carolina College; to bring USC's yearlong bicentennial celebration to a close; and to usher in a new era of service to the people of the Palmetto State."

The occasion will include a public reading of the special resolution passed in the last session of the General Assembly commemorating Dec. 19 as the University's bicentennial. Two charters of the University also will be read: the first from Dec. 19, 1801, that founded South Carolina College and the 1906 document that designated the institution as a university. Eighth and 11th-grade winners of the Bicentennial Essay Contest held this fall will be recognized at the ceremony.

All members of the General Assembly have been invited to the event, which will feature remarks by President Palms and Gov. Jim Hodges, as well as state Sens. John Courson, Nikki Setzler, and House speaker David Wilkins. All Columbia faculty have received invitations for an 11 a.m. convocation in Rutledge College on the Horseshoe, featuring remarks by President Palms, other University dignitaries, and students.

Following the convocation, a procession of faculty in academic robes, University administrators, and community partners will walk from the Horseshoe to the Statehouse starting at 11:30 a.m.

"We had such a strong turnout of faculty at the opening convocation of the bicentennial on Jan. 10, we're anticipating a large number of faculty this time as well," McKay said.

The procession will symbolize the University's return to the place of its origin and a coming together of the University and the state for a celebration acknowledging a partnership of 200 years, McKay said.

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