South Carolina leaders weigh campus safety concerns

COLUMBIA — Campus safety officials at South Carolina’s major public universities met to discuss ways to bolster their internal security measures following several high-profile threats, ranging from bomb threats at historically Black colleges to a school shooting hoax .

And while the Sept. 16 meeting primarily centered around policies and safety protocols, the three-hour Statehouse hearing also touched on the possibility for political violence following the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at a Utah university.

The campus leaders — which included representatives from the University of South Carolina, Clemson, the College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina State — spoke of working within an increasingly complex threat environment where the lives, w