A member of a local citizens group said it and the College of Charleston are at an “impasse” on where the college should build a proposed dormitory.
The relationship between the Community Engagement Council (CEC) and the college has “bogged down” over explaining to the college the importance of adhering to a federal policy on the desecration of burial sites, said CEC member Millicent Brown of Charleston.
The CEC and the college “have not fully argued the question ‘can you have a dormitory on top of a cemetery?’ ” stressed Brown, a retired history professor and member of the descendant community. The college has not been transparent with the Charleston community, she charged.
At issue
The college wants to build a dormitory at 106 Coming St., an address that was once part of an 18th century city-owned cemetery for poor and enslaved people and strangers. The college purchased the land knowing it was once a burial ground…