Petition to Remove Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette as South Carolina State University’s Commencement Speaker Surpasses 10,000 Signatures

Students at South Carolina State University are pushing back on the selection of Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette as the speaker for the school’s May 8 commencement, citing her opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on college campuses.

A Change.org petition calling on administrators to choose a different speaker has gathered more than 10,000 signatures as of April 29. Students also organized a silent sit-in at the Donna Administration Building on Tuesday, walking through campus with signs before gathering near President Alexander Conyers’s office. According to Live 5 News, Evette’s office confirmed she accepted the invitation, though the university has not formally announced her selection.

South Carolina State, located in Orangeburg, is the state’s only public historically Black university. The petition argues that Evette’s selection is “a disservice to the values and mission” of the institution and that her political positions have raised concerns “among communities who feel marginalized by current state policies.” Evette, a Republican, is running for governor in South Carolina’s June primary.

SGA President Zaria Tucker addressed the campus directly in a statement posted to her official social media. “As your SGA President, I will always stand where my students stand,” Tucker wrote. “Commencement is more than a ceremony, it’s a reflection of who we are as a student body at South Carolina State University. It should reflect our voices, our values, and our experiences.” Tucker added that the response from students “isn’t about division, it’s about representation.”

Evette responded to the protest in a video posted to her social media accounts on April 28. She said President Donald Trump and conservatives “have done more for HBCUs than any administration in history” and characterized critics as a “woke mob.” According to the SC Daily Gazette, state Rep. Hamilton Grant, a 2011 South Carolina State graduate, called the selection “a tone-deaf decision.”

The university last faced a similar protest in 2017, when Gov. Henry McMaster delivered the commencement address, according to the SC Daily Gazette. The Post and Courier reports that the 2024 spring address was delivered by former Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, the first African American to hold the role.