All eyes on Winthrop

Students, staff and community members had the chance to meet and greet guest panelists at last Thursday’s West Forum event. From left: Chuck Todd, Steve Brusk and Steve Brooke. Photo by John Rhodes • rhodesj@mytjnow.comBy Kaitlyn Schallhorn
schallhornk@mytjnow.com

With the Republican primaries underway, it’s not just the candidates that are receiving national media attention.  Winthrop University, thanks in part to the Winthrop Poll, gained the attention of national news organizations as all eyes turned to South Carolina for the first-in-the-South GOP primary.

“Our political science department is outstanding,” wrote Judy Longshaw, university relations, in an email.  

The three-member team, comprised of political science professors Scott Huffmon, Karen Kedrowski and Adolphus Belk, became readily available to all member of the press night and day, according to Longshaw.

Kedrowski, department chair of political science, can recall being interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and the Detroit Free Press, along with many others, including the largest Polish newspaper.  

“It’s great for Winthrop,” Kedrowski said.  “Winthrop needs to sell [itself] to high school students but also needs to create an identity nationally.”

Belk, associate professor of political science, believes that Winthrop is doing just that.  The media attention is a “very good thing for the institution,” Belk said.

“It means that Winthrop gathers a faculty that does a sort of work that matters beyond the institution,” said Belk.  “Faculty are doing work that gives students wonderful opportunities to work with professors who do interesting and worthwhile things.”

Belk admitted that a lot of the media attention lately has to do with South Carolina politics. South Carolina is the first of the southern states to hold a primary election, which is important to both the Republicans and Democrats.  

“This state has a collection of conservatives that represent the party.  It’s a chance to measure the chance a candidate has to win the nomination,” Belk said.

Historically, South Carolina is extremely accurate in determining the nominee for the Republican candidacy.  The state has picked the winner of the presidential primaries consecutively since 1980. 

This election cycle, Winthrop has seen five presidential candidates visit the campus.  

“It’s one thing for people to be interviewed by telephone, but it’s another thing when people are coming to you,” Belk said.  

Winthrop saw MSNBC’s host of “The Daily Rundown,” Chuck Todd, appear on campus last week to film an episode of his show as well as film segments for “The Today Show.” While on campus filming, Todd announced live on his show the news of Texas Gov. Rick Perry quitting the Republican race.  

“How many people can say that ‘The Today Show’ starred on their campus?” Belk said.    

Belk believes that the excitement surrounding South Carolina and Winthrop University is nowhere near finished.

“There was tremendous energy in the 2008 contest,” Belk said.  

This energy was due to the distinguished range of candidates on both the Republican and Democratic side.  

“Both parties had candidates with star power as well as political experience,” Belk said.

The 2016 election has the potential to look more like 2008 if Obama wins the reelection this year, according to Belk.  

Belk credits Winthrop’s importance with the media lately to the Winthrop Poll, the growth and development of Winthrop’s Social and Behavioral Research Lab (SBRL), and the move of the West Forum from the University of South Carolina to Winthrop.

“And as long as South Carolina is in the first four primaries, South Carolina will be important to both Republicans and Democrats. As long as the Winthrop Poll is still doing good work, the faculty will still be asked for their insight,” said Belk.

Created by Scott Huffmon and sponsored by Winthrop’s Social Behavioral Research Lab, the Winthrop Poll was first conducted in the fall of 2006. 

“The Winthrop Poll alternates between regional, sub-regional, and single-state polling with up to four polls a year,” Longshaw said.  

“The Winthrop Poll provides the most consistent polling in this state on voter trends about candidates, issues, etc.” said Longshaw. 

“The Winthrop Poll reflects well across the university and institution,” Belk said.  “While we certainly serve a public function, we ask other types of questions that matter a great deal to South Carolina people,” Belk said. 

While Winthrop has garnered much attention from the media regarding politics as of late, the university has also been featured nationally due to other events.  

Winthrop hit national news in 1993 when a van ran off the road killing one tennis player and injuring other members of the team.  Among the news organizations that picked up this story was The Chicago Tribune, a paper that finds its home over 700 miles from Rock Hill.  

Winthrop has also succeeded in catching the public’s eye with its men’s basketball team in previous years.  The team has appeared in nine NCAA tournaments.

“A couple of years ago people talked about Winthrop because of basketball, but now it’s because of the work done by the faculty across the college in different departments with academic achievements and excellence,” Belk said.  

“We’re about more then men’s basketball,” Kedrowski said.  “We’re about other things as well.”  

“Winthrop helps put South Carolina back in a positive light.  It’s nice to be able to speak about our state in a positive way,” said Kedrowski.

Belk believes that all of this media attention indicates that the faculty is doing a sufficient job with building relationships with people outside of the university.  “If we were terrible at this, [the media] wouldn’t call us back,” Belk said.

“If you do good work and you do valuable research to teach us about the way things are or could be, people will find you,” Belk said.

“It’s an exciting time to study politics and it’s an exciting time to be at Winthrop University,” Belk said.