USC students marched from Davis Field to the steps of the Statehouse Wednesday to protest various social issues they see on campus, including racism and feeling unheard by the university.
Student activist and fourth-year broadcast journalism student Courtney McClain, who led a protest against racist culture on campus in January, organized the walkout. The event was centered around handling of race-based violence, student wages, repealing the Heritage Act, gentrification and the treatment of student-athletes with injuries, according to McClain's Instagram post ahead of the walkout.
Several students gave speeches on the steps of the Statehouse, including fourth-year political science student Dominique Praylow, who said that she had spoken at the last protest and spoke again because she felt like no one paid attention.
“What urged me to speak up was the overwhelming emotion that I felt as we walked through the Horseshoe, as we walked to Greene Street chanting, 'Black students matter, Black students matter, Black students matter.' But as we walked through campus, I couldn't have felt more invisible. It felt that the fights, the cries that we are giving to this university are going unheard,” Praylow said.
Fourth-year interdisciplinary studies student Kayla Racine, who is a thrower on the South Carolina track and field team, also stepped up to the mic to address what she felt was mistreatment of student athletes sidelined with injuries.
“There have been lots of people on my team, football team, tennis teams, cheerleading, women’s swim and dive, who have been struggling with injuries and not getting proper treatment for those injuries,” Racine said. “I want there to be a system put in place that there is punishment or people being held accountable for what the student-athletes have to go through.”
Russell Facemire, a graduate art history student and member of the United Campus Workers, said he joined the march spontaneously.
“I saw that they were supporting all of the causes that I think are the right causes to support, and I knew that I had to offer some kind of support. If you don't show up, then nothing happens,” Facemire said.
Now that people have shown up and voiced concerns publically, McClain said that she wants to pursue more action.
“After this, since we have list of demands, like specific things that we want to see, we will be trying to meet with different members of the university administration and talk to the people ... respective of our issues and to see what we can do to move forward on this,” McClain said.