GSA Daily Staff Report
Published June 29, 2010

Merl Code, a Greenville attorney with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C., has been named acting president at S.C. State University, effective immediately, the historically black college announced Monday.

Code will serve while the university searches for a successor to George Cooper, whose contract was not renewed. Cooper became S.C. State’s 10th president after he was voted unanimously into the presidency and served in that role slightly less than two years.

Cooper replaced Andrew Hugine, who was fired in December 2007 by the board before his contract ended. Hugine filed a lawsuit over his firing and eventually settled out of court.

Previous coverage
S.C. State drops president’s contract

Code is the first black man to lead the Greenville County United Way board of directors, the first black municipal court judge and the first black man to become chairman of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce.

“Mr. Code isn’t just an African-American leader, he is a community leader,” the university said in a prepared statement. “Mr. Code is unbounded by others’ perceptions of the roles African Americans can and should play. Code’s leadership knows no bounds and has set the bar high for African-American leadership in Greenville.”