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In order to lobby for fire safety legislation 20 USC students traveled to Washington, D.C. and were met with the promise of progress from S.C. Congressmen.
The Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act, if passed, would provide tax credits for the installation of fire sprinklers on college campuses nationwide.
The group decided to lobby for the bill in remembrance of the students who died in the tragic Ocean Isle Beach fire last year.
Among the students, two parents, Kaaren Mann and Connie Cale, also made the trip. Mann, mother to Lauren Mahon, and Cale, mother to Travis Cale, lost their children to the fire.
McKenna Young, a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, was one of the students who made the trip
"It went really well," Young said, "We got a really good response from all the Congressmen."
Young said students from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill also came to support the legislation. Young thought the number of people who came to advocate for the bill strengthened their cause.
"Because there were so many of us it spoke volumes," Young said.
Helen Chase Ford, also a member of Delta Delta Delta, said the group was able to meet all of the South Carolina Representatives and Senators.
"Seven out of eight S.C. Congressmen said they would support the legislation," said Ford, a third-year public relations student.
Ford said three of the Congressmen, including Sen. James Clyburn and Rep. J. Gresham Barrett, asked their assistants to start drawing up co-sponsor papers while the group was in their offices.
Ford said she was glad to have made the trip.
"The best part was knowing that we got the ball rolling on this legislation," Ford said. "I think this legislation will save a lot of lives."
Ford said the trip to D.C. was instrumental to her healing process.
"It gave us the opportunity to take something sad and turn it into something positive that will help people all over the country," Ford said.
Young said the group traveled via charter bus to D.C., which took around eight hours. The students were asked to pay what they could for the trip, but a lot of financial support came from the Delta Delta Delta alumni and the Ocean Isle Remembrance Fund, Young said.
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