SC State drops Evette as commencement speaker

April 30, 2026

Summary

South Carolina State University said Pamela Evette will no longer speak at commencement after criticism from students and some legislators.

Why this matters

The decision highlights tensions over campus speakers, student input, and diversity policies at a historically Black university. It also comes as Evette is running in South Carolina’s June 9 gubernatorial primary.

South Carolina State University said Wednesday that Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette will no longer speak at its May 8 commencement after objections from students and some legislators.

The announcement was also the university’s first public acknowledgment that it had selected Evette to speak. President Alexander Conyers did not name a replacement.

Conyers said the university chose Evette because of her business background. Before taking office in 2019, she founded and led the human resources firm Quality Business Solutions. He invited her on Dec. 3, according to the governor’s office.

Conyers did not address why the university had not announced Evette as the speaker until just over a week before graduation.

Some legislators objected, citing Evette’s calls to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on public college campuses.

About an hour before the university’s announcement, Evette, a Republican candidate for governor, wrote on X, “Conservative voices will never be bullied or silenced anywhere in South Carolina. See you at commencement.”

Earlier Wednesday, Evette told reporters her prepared remarks were not political and had been completed more than a month ago. She said the speech focused on hard work and her own experience as the granddaughter of immigrants.

“I’m going to bring a speech that talks about what hard work does, what they can become,” she said, “how you can be anything you want to be: That’s the message I’ve tried to send every time I spoke (at a commencement) because I think these young people are the promise of tomorrow.”

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