Claflin University Student Activity and Community Center

Claflin University, located in a persistent poverty county with a Poverty rate of 29%, had a desire and vision to blend the University and the Orangeburg community together to move forward in economic development while preserving the integrity and Claflin’s academic excellence and achievement. Located in a non-metro community with a lack of access to many social goods and services, Claflin’s Student Activity and Community Center (SACC) will provide the community access to flexible meeting space, a community ballroom, food court, educational offices, a movie theatre, and an expanded on-campus food pantry (a collaboration with local grocers to provide healthy food in a food desert to students without access to reliable food sources). 

The Innovate Fund was proud to provide $15 million of NMTC allocation in partnership with one other CDE to facilitate the construction of the 82,500 sq. ft. SACC. The new services at the facility will be provided to 3,000 community members annually in addition to all Claflin students, 80% of which are Pell Grant eligible. Additionally, the facility will hire a total of 275 people for construction and permanent jobs to operate the different functions of the building, which will help alleviate the community’s 2.51x the national average unemployment rate. 

The SACC will focus on economic inclusion, equity, and racial justice at the core of all activities. Through relationships with the Chamber of Commerce, Minority Business Development Association, and Pathways From Prison program, the SACC will create opportunities for people with barriers to employment and participation. 

“Claflin University, the oldest HBCU in the state of South Carolina, has determined that a Student Activity and Community Center within the heart of campus where the community and students meet generates the best opportunity to impact multiple areas of focus and furthers the University’s desire to blend the University and community together.” 

-Tijuana Hudson, Claflin University VP for Fiscal Affairs