The chief Gamecock was in town spreading a message of cooperation over confrontation during this week of the first-ever football match-up between the University of South Carolina and Orangeburg's South Carolina State University.

And Dr. Andrew Sorenson even used a Clemson Tiger to make his point.

Sorenson told Orangeburg Rotarians Tuesday that when he arrived at USC in 2002, he was shocked by the lack of collaboration among the state's institutions of higher learning. During his first week, Sorenson contacted Clemson President Jim Barker about a meeting on the Clemson campus. Sorenson arrived to a throng of television cameras only to be told his visit was news since, to the best of anyone's knowledge, a USC president had never visited except for athletic events.

"That's a sad commentary on the history of our institutions," Sorenson said, stressing that today Clemson and USC work hand in hand on a number of missions.

The same is true with SCSU and other institutions here, he said. "We have a lot of relationships in Orangeburg County."

Sorenson cited collaboration with:

* Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in a program to train more minority teachers. It involves structuring a seamless transition for students from the tech school's associate-degree program to pursue a bachelor's degree at USC.

* Orangeburg County schools in a public health effort to battle childhood obesity by promoting greater physical activity among young people.

* SCSU in exchange of faculty and a nuclear engineering degree program.

* Claflin University in battling health disparities including HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer, plus the S.C. Center for Biotechnology.

* SCSU and Claflin in recruiting more minorities in the public health field.

"These are just a few of the examples here in Orangeburg County. We have the need to learn from each other," Sorenson said before addressing the subject of the 7 p.m. Saturday game in Columbia.

"We're looking forward to building our relationship with the Orangeburg community ... by hosting SCSU," Sorenson said. "It think it will be a fun and enjoyable evening."

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