"Engineering students pay some of the highest fees on campus and have nothing to show for it."
Assembly Street
Assembly Street has killed students. Intersections across campus put pedestrians at risk every day — wide lanes that invite speeding, ill-timed signals, freight trains that block crossings for 20 minutes at a stretch. This isn’t bad luck. It’s infrastructure failure. I will publicly demand protected crossings, signal retiming, and reduced speed limits from the city and SCDOT — and name every official who blocks it. Students shouldn’t have to gamble with their safety to get to class.
Affordable Parking
A $440 commuter permit. A $25 ticket for misjudging the clock. An $880 deck pass if you want peace of mind. Parking has become a luxury subscription instead of basic infrastructure. Students who commute from off-campus housing aren’t making a lifestyle choice — they’re managing the cost of attendance. Even Midlands Technical College partners with the COMET for free student ridership. USC should be expanding shuttle networks, subsidizing transit passes, and treating parking as infrastructure for learning — not a revenue stream.
Engineering Fees
Engineering students pay differential fees on top of tuition. Those fees are supposed to fund labs, equipment, and resources. But where does that money actually go? How much funds equipment, how much funds instruction, and how much disappears into overhead? I’ll demand a full public accounting. Students should get what they pay for — that means extended hours for labs and maker spaces, better access to computing resources, and transparency about every differential dollar.
Fix the Buildings We’re Already In
The university finds money for new construction while Swearingen and the 300 building age out. Students deal with broken equipment and work in labs that haven’t been meaningfully updated in decades. A new building looks great on a recruitment brochure, but it doesn’t help the students already here. Maintenance and renovation of existing engineering facilities should be prioritized before any new capital project breaks ground.
Org Autonomy
Student organizations exist because students build them. They shouldn’t be micromanaged by administrators through mandatory workshops that teach nothing about running an organization. If the university wants to offer leadership development, make it voluntary and make it practical. Don’t hold recognition hostage over attendance at workshops that student leaders describe as being about buzzwords rather than anything useful.