South Carolina State University News May 16, 2023 The South Carolina State University Golden Class of 1973 has made history and broken the record for the highest monetary gift raised by an SC State golden class. During the Alumni Honors and Awards celebration held Saturday during commencement weekend, the class presented President Alexander Conyers with a check for $450,500 – nearly half of the donations raised by all alumni class reunion groups this year. When the class roll call was over, alumni classes in reunion at raised $1.34 million, the highest in the university’s history. “With this historic gift, the class of 1973 is changing the way people think about philanthropy,” said golden class alumnus Dr. James Salley. “We have established the template that our classes in reunion and other donors can follow as they contemplate giving to the university moving forward.” Salley, an Orangeburg native and member of the esteemed Thomas E. Miller giving Society stood with officers of his class to present the check to the university. “We’re trying to make a real effort to raise funds for our university so we can provide more scholarships. We are really committed,” said golden class alumna Dr. Jerry M. Watson Coleman. “I think everyone knows what the goal is, we have to get funds for the university and support President and First Lady Conyers.” Watson Coleman was the 37th Miss SC State for the class of 1973 and received her PhD in speech pathology. She is a retiree from Greenville County Public Schools and lives in Greenville, South Carolina. She worked as an assistant professor of speech at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. Even though some of her classmates are deceased, she was overjoyed to be able to reconnect with her college friends and classmates who attended the reunion. “We have made a special effort to stay together,” she said. “Over 100 people came out and we all have great interpersonal relationships with each other. We can communicate – communication is the main thing and that’s what’s unique about us.” Throughout the weekend the golden class alumni attended numerous social events where they were honored and got the chance to mingle with their classmates. With approximately 105 registered classmates, this was the largest returning class in SC State history. “We are blessed to be here. We have 62 people who have gone on to their heavenly homes, but here we are able to come back, and we’re able to come back in person,” said golden class alumnus and former SC State University board chairman Rodney Jenkins. “Classes before us had to deal with COVID-19, so for us to make it to this point is a true blessing. We’re very proud, very honored and very blessed.” “I think we were the class of change. When we came in right after the Orangeburg massacre, things started to change as far as some small traditions,” Jenkins said. Jenkins described his class as being the “last of the old school and the first of the new school.” “After the Orangeburg Massacre, the class of 1973 helped to give SC State a fresh start. They were not afraid to push boundaries and started their own traditions that lasted for decades after them. This was also the class where women started wearing pants to class, something they were not allowed to do in the past. They strived to be bold and different,“ Jenkins recalled. “It’s an honor and it feels good to be here with all my classmates. Everybody looks so well and so expensive, so I’m highly impressed,” said golden class alumnus Larry Mitchell. Mitchell resides in the Cayman Islands and travels back to Orangeburg every year. He majored in business administration and ran a photography and custom framing business in Orangeburg for approximately 30 years before retiring. “The main thing we’re here to do is fellowship and have a good time and reconnect in some kind of way,” Mitchell said. “I think we have a good relationship with each other, and we have great leadership. Rodney Jenkins, our reunion chairman, keeps us very informed as to what’s going on at SC State and we really appreciate him. We have a great class.” Other classes in reunion this year also contributed heavily to the university’s coffers in efforts coordinated by the Office of Institutional Advancement. CLASS YEAR CONTRIBUTIONS 1948 $8,800 1953 $21,650 1958 $215.269 1963 $110,440 1968 $157,080 1973 $450,500 1975 $25,000 1978 $197,800.70 1983 $105,423.66 1988 $88,000 1993 $3,000 1998 $835 TOTAL $1,376,798.36 About South Carolina State University Founded in 1896 as a land grant institution with a mission of providing service to the citizens of the state, South Carolina State University has evolved from a small teachers’ college into a major University center of learning and research. Located in Orangeburg, S.C., South Carolina State offers more than 50 different fields of study on the undergraduate and graduate levels. South Carolina State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools. 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