South Carolina State University, the historically Black educational institution in Orangeburg, has entered into a partnership agreement with St. Hugh’s College at Oxford University in England. Under the agreement, five students from South Carolina State University will travel to Oxford to study at the Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory for a six-week summer program. The program is the first collaboration between Oxford University and a historically Black university in the United States.
The program is being sponsored by Bakari Sellers, an attorney and political commentator for CNN. “I could not be more proud of the students from South Carolina State University who are traveling to Oxford to continue their education,” Sellers said. “It is an honor of mine to be able to provide funding for these students to pursue their dreams. I believe students in rural South Carolina should be provided the same opportunities as those in urban areas and I look forward to continuing these efforts in the future.”
The five chemistry students who will be studying at Oxford this summer are Ciondi Bess, a junior from Hartsville, South Carolina; Demetria Dorsey, a junior from Syracuse, New York; Nurunnahar Abdussalam, a senior from Washington, D.C.; Michael Isley, a senior from Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Alston Jenkins, a junior from Charlotte, North Carolina.