By Rickey Ciapha Dennis Jr. rdennis@postandcourier.com
As does the city in which it resides, the College of Charleston has a long, complex and troubled history.
Given the city of Charleston’s prominent role in the international slave trade and the magnitude of which enslaved labor shaped and influenced nearly every facet and institution in the Holy City, it is no surprise that slavery also helped form the city’s 250-year old institution, an uncomfortable truth the college has increasingly recognized.
The school’s ongoing struggle over racial tensions bubbled up over the years, noticeably in 2014 amid the hiring of former Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell as the school’s president. Many opposed the hiring, mainly because of McConnell’s support for the Confederate flag.
Yet, it appears now that the school is pushing toward reckoning with its past, some ways in which are more obvious and direct. In 2020, President Andrew Hsu announced a 10-year strategic plan that included requiring, among other things, mandatory diversity education for staff and a commitment to recruit more minority students.
This month, the college is celebrating Black History Month with a wide range of programs and events focusing on the accomplishments and struggles of African Americans. The programs include a film screening of “If These Walls Could Talk,” which brings attention to…
