Congressman Clyburn Hosts Savannah River Site-HBCU Partnership Summit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 5, 2020

Columbia, S.C. – On Monday, U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn was joined by Savannah River Site (SRS) officials and representatives from all eight of South Carolina’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to discuss existing and potential partnerships. The goal for the gathering was to ensure the growing workforce at SRS reflects the diversity of our state by creating and strengthening meaningful partnerships between public and private entities at SRS and South Carolina’s HBCUs. The summit’s speakers discussed developing talent in South Carolina, professional recruitment and training, and existing partnerships. The event concluded with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing between Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, South Carolina State University, and Claflin University.

“There are students from rural communities who are gifted and want to learn, but with no opportunity,” said Congressman Clyburn. “We’ve got to be a little more innovative and what better way than to start right here at this facility. Let’s decide that we are going to devise the ways and means to make it work. All we need is a chance for these young people and they are relying on us to help them.”

The MOU outlines opportunities for scholarships, curriculum development, faculty engagement, and pathways for employment that will be provided to qualifying students and schools.

“These are specific about what we’re going to do and what we could use from the universities to be able to make these partnerships work,” said Stuart MacVean, President and CEO of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. “I’m looking forward to kicking things off and making them work for students.”

Denmark Technical College signed an MOU with Savannah River Remediation in October that provided a formal avenue for collaboration as well as opportunities to expose students to career opportunities at SRS.

“Beyond giving our students an opportunity to be here we’ve had an opportunity to have a faculty member work on our campus to help train our students,” said Dr. Willie Todd, President of Denmark Technical College. “They have assisted us in purchasing equipment for our campus which has been very beneficial. This is really a good opportunity for our students.”