Morgan Baskin

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this article misstated the number of stops on the tour and the location of one of the universities.

In an effort to court minority voters, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' campaign is launching a tour -- officially dubbed "Feel the Bern" -- of historically black colleges and universities. On the docket Thursday night: South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C.

South Carolina and Nevada are holding their primaries in February, and are next up after the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

Stops on the tour include Tennessee State University in Nashville; Alabama State University in Montgomery; Jackson State University; Florida A&M University in Tallahassee; Virginia State University in Petersburg; Howard University in Washington, D.C.; the Atlanta University Center; and Benedict College in Columbia, S.C.

Though the sites were announced on his website, exact dates have not yet been confirmed. Each stop is expected to include notable members of the black community. Socialist philosopher and social justice worker Cornel West joins Sanders at his South Carolina State University event. (West previously criticized Barack Obama's "Wall Street, drone presidency").

It’s unclear whether Sanders will be present at every HBCU event himself.

Despite pulling ahead of Hillary Clinton by 5 points in Iowa polls, Sanders faces an uphill battle with black voters. A November 2015 Winthrop poll showed 80% of black potential South Carolina voters surveyed supported Clinton.

Sanders hosted a rally at South Carolina State last November. That month, three black Democrats -- South Carolina State Reps. Terry Alexander of Florence, Wendell Gilliard of Charleston and Robert Williams of Darlington -- backed Sanders' bid for the nomination, according to thestate.com.

Over the last few months, Sanders has made a pointed effort to speak openly to the black community about his platform.

In November, Sanders sat down for a six-part video interview with Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike (of Run the Jewels fame) that have garnered almost 2 million combined views. The discussion included gun control and democratic socialism. Killer Mike has since become a vocal advocate for the candidate, saying at a November rally:



"After spending five hours with someone who has spent the last 50 years radically fighting for your rights and mine, I can tell you that am very proud tonight to announce the next president of the United States, Sen. Bernie Sanders."

In August, Sanders met with Black Lives Matter activists after members of the group stormed the stage at a Seattle campaign event to commemorate the death of Michael Brown.

Morgan Baskin is a student at George Washington University and a USA TODAY College intern.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.