Columbia College rescues agency

Columbia College has stepped in to give life back to the state Commission on Women, a year after Gov. Mark Sanford gutted its funding.

The private women’s college plans to raise $250,000 a year and take over the commission’s research and program development duties.

The commission, established more than 30 years ago to improve the status of S.C. women, will continue to guide the program, lobby the Legislature and educate public officials.

“It has the potential to do something the public and private sectors can’t accomplish alone,” said Caroline Whitson, president of the 150-year-old, 1,500-student liberal arts school in Columbia’s Eau Claire community.

Whitson watched with concern last year as Sanford cut the $99,955 budget for the commission and directed a committee to study the group’s goals.

“The very worst thing to do would be to abolish the Commission on Women,” Whitson said, especially given the state’s poor record on women’s health, safety and job equity.

So Columbia College officials offered to step in and help, and Sanford agreed.

In addition to providing staff and a more permanent home for the commission, the college will train women to take leadership positions, continue studies on women’s health and other issues, and coordinate its programs with those at other universities and state agencies.

Sanford will sign a memorandum of understanding between the state, the college and the commission this summer, his spokesman Will Folks said.

“It’s a wonderful idea, and I was delighted when (the college) made the offer,” said state Sen. Linda Short, D-Chester, who serves on the advisory committee studying the goals of the women’s commission.

Studies show women in South Carolina are worse off than their counterparts in other states.

S.C. women make about 70 cents on the dollar compared with men, and the state ranks third nationally on the rate at which men murdered their female partners.

South Carolina also ranks 50th nationwide on the number of women elected to office.

Formed in 1971, the women’s commission is smaller and less active than those in other states. But it had won some victories recently.

The commission fought successfully for a $20 fee on marriage licenses to raise money for domestic violence shelters and convinced state officials that since the state employees’ health plan paid for Viagra for men, it should pay for contraceptives for women.

Under Sanford, though, some began to question whether the commission had a future.

In June 2003, Sanford eliminated funding, using his line-item veto to cut the commission’s budget.

But Folks said Sanford wants to turn around the negative statistics, and he said the collaboration with Columbia College will help do that.

The arrangement “is not a case of giving up control,” Folks said. “It’s a case of adding resources to the effort.”

Columbia College officials said the commission fits nicely at the school because its core mission is improving the status of women.

If more women were involved in policy decisions, Whitson said, South Carolina might not rank near the bottom of so many indicators on the status of women.

The school already has a leadership institute. College officials want to train women interested in holding elected office and, they hope, increase awareness for women’s issues as a result.

Part of what is keeping South Carolina from overcoming its problems might be that people just aren’t aware of the hardships some women face — particularly the domestic violence statistics, Whitson said.

“It’s hard for me to believe that if the facts are adequately communicated, you wouldn’t have a lot of people who care.”

Reach Talhelm at (803) 771-8339 or jtalhelm@thestate.com