COLUMBIA — College students in South Carolina’s capital city want an Apple Store. Through petitions, social media campaigns and letters, a council of students plans to get one.
“What sends a stronger message to a company than 60,000 students reaching out to them?” Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said.
Rickenmann formed the Intercollegiate Engagement Council in January, made up of students at six of Columbia’s colleges — the University of South Carolina, Benedict College, Allen University, Columbia College, Columbia International University and Midlands Technical College.
As city leaders try to spur development, the council is part of an effort to keep college students in town after they graduate and harness their economic power while they’re here.
After hearing on the campaign trail from students who felt left out of the conversation, Rickenmann’s goal was to help create a sense of community and brainstorm ways to make Columbia a more appealing place to live.
The first step: “Operation Apple Cola,” as Melanie Jenkins, a council member and second-semester Midlands Tech student called it.
Other than Gamecock iHub — an “Apple-authorized” store for USC students — Columbia doesn’t have a place to buy, trade or troubleshoot Apple products in person. The nearest Apple Store is nearly an hour and a half away in either Augusta, Ga., or Greenville.
With Apple phones and other devices already in use by many people, “this is going to benefit everyone in this town, and it’s a beautiful thing to be a part of,” Jenkins said.
The plan is to create petitions, send letters and reach out on social media — basically, anything to get Apple CEO Tim Cook’s attention.
“We are trying to grab this man’s attention and (say) we are a town whose biggest asset is the students, and the students want this,” Jenkins said.
It exemplifies the power of Columbia’s 50,000 or so students, Rickenmann said.
“When people look at our population and they look at the city and they go, ‘Oh, it’s a government town,’ and this and that, they forget about the student population,” Rickenmann said. “They don’t understand the buying power that’s there.”
The work doesn’t end with an Apple Store. Rickenmann wants to start a contest for students to design an app that would help them get to know Columbia better, potentially including features like business recommendations and maps of restaurants or attractions.
At the same time, the council is helping students build community across campuses and leave their bubbles, Rickenmann said. That community will culminate in an end-of-year event — possibly a concert — open to students from the six colleges.
It also gives college students the power to help move Columbia forward, something that will benefit both the students and the city as a whole, Jenkins said.
“It’s giving students the opportunity to have a voice and say what they want for the town and how they want the town to progress and grow,” Jenkins said. “We’re helping amplify that voice.”
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Reach Skylar Laird at (843) 830-1526. Follow her on Twitter @sky_latte_.
