Bowl game win, Biden visit highlight SC State’s proud HBCU tradition
The recent victory of South Carolina State University’s football team over Jackson State University - televised nationally by ABC and ESPN - and the commencement speech given by President Joe Biden a week earlier at the university in Orangeburg, South Carolina placed the school in a well-deserved spotlight.
The victory over Jackson State at the Cricket Celebration Bowl in Atlanta earned SC State the National Championship of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
SC State University has a storied tradition and has produced many influential citizens who have played key roles on both the state and national levels.
Despite the barriers of segregation and racism, the university has thrived and continues to serve as a source of pride for all South Carolinians.
That’s why I want to highlight some of the school’s many distinguished graduates and shine a light on a place that remains dear to my heart.
For instance, Benjamin E. Mays, born in Greenwood County, is one of the most prominent alumni of SC State.
He enrolled in the high school department at SC State, and graduated in 1916 as valedictorian of his class. He later earned degrees at Bates College and at the University of Chicago. He would later return to SC State to teach English before taking on roles as dean of the Howard University School of Religion and president of Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Mays was a spiritual mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and presented the benediction at the 1963 March on Washington.
Mays would later eulogize King following his assassination. Mays became an international figure, and advised Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Carter.
Another famous graduate was Judge Matthew Perry, who became the first Black U.S. District Judge in South Carolina.
Perry also graduated from the SC State Law School, which operated from 1947 to 1966. The South Carolina General Assembly authorized the establishment the law school at South Carolina State College because segregation prevented Black students from attending the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Perry’s landmark cases included achieving the integration of Clemson University and reapportionment of the state legislature.
Ernest A. Finney Jr. was the first Black Supreme Court Justice in South Carolina appointed to the Supreme Court since the Reconstruction Era.
Finney was also a graduate of the former SC State College Law School. He is noted for representing the Rock Hill 9, a group of Black college students arrested and charged when trying to desegregate a lunch counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Congressman James Clyburn is also a graduate of SC State University. Clyburn currently serves as House Majority Whip and is the dean of South Carolina’s congressional delegation.
Other prominent graduates of SC State University include current Chief Supreme Court Justice Donald Beatty, along with Harry Carson, Deacon Jones, Donnie Shell, and Marion Motley, all who have been enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame.
SC State does not have the resources of Clemson University, the University of South Carolina or Furman University, but what it does have is grit, determination, courage and integrity in abundance.
I attended SC State University from 1976-1980 and my mentor was the late Dr. A.M. Sharpe, and I remain grateful for the years I spent there.
The university has served its many graduates and the state of South Carolina well.
J. Dwight Donald, of Simpsonville, is a 1980 graduate of SC State University and a history buff.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 3:30 PM with the headline "Bowl game win, Biden visit highlight SC State’s proud HBCU tradition."