The $31 million early learning center that Richland 1 has slated for Caughman Road in Lower Richland will no longer bear the name of longtime Columbia leader Vince Ford.
School board members voted unanimously Tuesday night to remove his name out of respect for his family and his memory.
“Mr. Ford’s legacy has been dragged through the mud,” outgoing board member Cheryl Harris said as she made the motion.
Board member Jamie Devine said that it doesn’t mean Richland 1 is walking away from the project. But he said removing Ford’s name would be helpful as the district looks for resolution.
“Brother Ford was a great man. A community man. A giant in this community,” Devine said. “I just hate to see his name and legacy be tarnished because of a permit that was not issued.”
A community leader in more ways than one, Ford had spent nearly 25 years on the Richland 1 school board as an influential member and chairman after joining it in 1992. A Columbia native, Ford was a pillar in the local medical and business worlds as senior vice president of Prisma Health and board member of his alma mater, Benedict College. He was a 2018 inductee into the Richland 1 Hall of Fame.