Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette will not speak at South Carolina State University's spring commencement after days of student protests against her selection as a commencement speaker.
SC State students chanted and marched in opposition to the announcement due to Evette's political stances and perceived lack of connection to students at historically Black colleges and universities. On Wednesday, hundreds in the city of Orangeburg trekked through university campus repeating chants and waving homemade signs to billboard their bewilderment.
University President Alexander Conyers announced the decision in front of a flock of protesters.
"I've invited everyone onto this campus at anytime to engage and have a dialogue with us — with you — with different viewpoints because that is important," he said. "But graduation is not the time for that."
The decision came hours after Evette, a Republican candidate for governor, had told students to be acceptive of diverse opinions in a virtual media briefing. In response to Tuesday student protests, Evette called the protestors a "woke mob" who were not being properly educated on dealing with oppposing viewpoints.
"There's a better way to do things," she said in regard to the protests. "These are well-educated young adults, and we should all be able to attend anything and hear opposing views and be okay with that."
At least 20,000 people as of Wednesday evening signed a student-organized online petition to request a different speaker.
Senior Class President Jayden Briggs spent hours protesting Wednesday. The 21-year-old said he did not feel like Evette was the proper sendoff speaker for students who had studied for a degree.
"As graduates, we are not going to sit through someone who is against what South Carolina State has worked on and build for more than 100 years," he said.
For him, diversity, equity and inclusion were words to embrace.
SC State is South Carolina's lone public historically Black university. Briggs said his peers at school compelled him to use his voice.
"Expect to be ready to make a change whenever duty calls," he said.
The university's official reason for rescinding the invitation is in an abundance of caution for safety.
"The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, family, staff and guests will always guide our decision," the university said in a later statement.
In a statement posted to social media and emailed to South Carolina Public Radio, Evette said the speech's cancellation was further proof of the harm DEI can cause.
"The fact that a speech had to be canceled for credible safety threats is exactly why we cannot give up the fight to end indoctrination and DEI on campuses once and for all," Evette said.
Evette's team did not answer for how long, if at all, the lieutenant governor was aware of the change before the public announcement.
In the earlier virtual meeting, Evette said President Donald Trump and the Republican Party had done recent work to help bolster HBCUs. In September, President Trump and his administration redirected about $500 million toward HBCUs and tribal colleges.
President Conyers said in a statement that Evette's "record as a business leader and entrepreneur" were factors in the initial invitation.
"As the founder and former CEO of a company that grew from a startup into a billion-dollar enterprise, she represents the kind of innovation, resilience and real-world achievement that aligns with the aspirations of our graduates," he wrote.
The university had contacted the lieutenant governor in December with the request, according to a member of her staff.
Conyers publicly invited Evette to visit the campus on a different occasion and engage with students.
Students throughout the day were telling each other to not get lost in the political aspects of the situation. They saw this as a time to band together before the May 8 commencement.
Senior Class President Briggs said the university's decision was exactly what he and fellow students pushed for.
"We didn't give up, even when we were called names," he said. "We stayed consistent, we stayed persistent, we showed up."
SC State has not made an announcement regarding a replacement commencement speaker. The next board of trustees meeting is Friday, April 30.
