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| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
The 1980s
A D E S I G N F O R T E C H N O L O G I C A L C H A N G E
to that, initially from the universities and a couple other smaller
colleges who feared we would take enrollment from them,” said
Morris.
Morris knew such fears were unfounded. He worked in higher
education in Jacksonville, Florida before a persistent Stan Smith,
state tech board chair from 1961 to 1973, recruited him to South
Carolina. Morris had seen eye-opening research in Florida: for
every freshman you took from a four-year college, you gave back
one and a half juniors.
“Because of the age of the student typically entering the tech-
nical college system, these students were much more mature,
much more determined, and made better grades in their junior
year than their cohort group that started at the university or the
senior college,” said Morris. “People didn’t want to buy into that,
but we kept saying that, and I think that turned out to be the
case.”
SIDESTEPPING POLITICS
When the tech system’s proposal was ready Morris went to see
Jim Holderman, the president of the University of South Caroli-
na. “I explained what we were doing and why. And Holderman
was in the midst of his own problems, getting bad publicity and
the subject of rumors. I said as directly as I knew how, ‘You and
I don’t need to fight over this issue on the TV every night, but I
want you to know that intellectually and emotionally I am pre-
pared to. It’s in your best interest that you let somebody else do
that from the university.’”
Holderman—despite the tight spots he wormed into—looked
after Holderman. His immediate response: “Why don’t we do
something different, Jim. Why don’t we merge the Technical
College System with the University of South Carolina, and we
would rule higher education in the state. Nobody could touch us
politically. We’d be dynamite.”
“I asked him a few questions,” said Morris. “The answers
came back in such a way that we’d end up subservient in ev-
ery respect, although he promised I’d be chancellor. He said our
state board chairman would be on their board. He was politi-
cally savvy.”
Wanting to avoid offending Holderman in their very first
meeting, Morris employed a bit of diplomacy. “Well, let me think
about that and talk to some of our people.”
Meeting with Holderman a second time, Morris rejected
his offer. “We ought not to turn this into a political issue. This
ought to be looked at on its merits and not from a political
perspective.”
“Well, I’ll do that,” said Holderman.
Holderman apparently contacted some political big guns.
Morris and his administration, meanwhile, approached every
member of the General Assembly and told them why they need-
ed their backing. “Not everybody pledged their support, but an
overwhelming majority did,” said Morris.
The day before the meeting with the Commission on High-
er Education Morris got a call from the commission’s executive
director. “Fred Sheheen said we had three letters of opposition.
One was from Senator Waddell. One was from the House mem-
ber from Clover, a big heavyset guy. He was a member of the
1984 1985
1984:
The sixth “Design for the Eighties” resource
center, the South Carolina Water Quality Institute at
Sumter Area Technical College, opened.
1985:
Two more “Design for the Eighties” resources were
added: Tourism at Horry-Georgetown Technical College and
Electromechanical Maintenance Technology at
Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College.
