Claflin University has a proud and enduring legacy of producing visionary leaders committed to making a difference in a constantly changing global society. Claflin was founded in 1869 as the first historically black college or university in the state of South Carolina.
Affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Claflin’s charter forbids discrimination “regardless of race, complexion, or religious opinion.”
That remains one of the hallmarks of the university, which enrolls approximately 2,000 students from all regions of the United States and 20 foreign countries. Claflin has a diverse community with four percent of its student body international students.
Claflin is garnering unprecedented recognitions for excellence through the achievements of students, faculty and its high-quality academic programs. The university will begin the 2015-16 academic year with the distinction of being named the 2015 HBCU of the Year by AARP/ HBCU Digest.
The University community is extremely proud of the honor. Claflin also received top honors among all HBCUs in 2014, when the university was ranked the top HBCU in the nation by Washington Monthly.
Student success is a core value at Claflin. An example of this commitment to student success is Emmanuel Pressley. Emmanuel became Claflin’s first-ever Harry S. Truman Scholar, a highly competitive, merit-based award offered to U.S. college students who plan to attend graduate school in preparation for a career in public service.
Emmanuel, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in political science, was the only student chosen from the state of South Carolina in 2014. Claflin students have earned other prestigious honors, including Fulbright and Pickering awards.
Claflin’s highly respected and diverse faculty represents an array of experience and expertise. All are dedicated to inspiring Claflin students to become visionary leaders with global perspectives. The Claflin faculty continues to be recognized for its contributions to higher education in teaching, research and public service.
In the critical area of fundraising, Claflin celebrated the successful completion of Phase I of Claflin’s “Imagine the Possibilities” Capital Campaign. Led by the Board of Trustees and the University’s institutional advancement team, this very ambitious fundraising drive has raised $92 million of the $100 million goal. The funds are being used to build the endowment, strengthen academic programs and enhance facilities.
The combined success of the campaign and the generosity of Claflin alumni were largely responsible for Claflin winning the HBCU Digest Alumni Association of the Year Award. In 2013, alumni annual giving rose to an all-time high of 52.2 percent. This level of alumni support is among the best in the nation for all colleges and universities.
Claflin’s prominence in higher education is further illustrated by its selection among only nine historically black colleges and universities by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help transform higher education. To support the initial planning process, the University was awarded a $75,000 grant from the foundation’s HBCUs Pursuing Transformative Change Initiative. The initiative challenges institutions to develop replicable transformative changes that will ensure student access and success in the 21st century.
No mention of Claflin, the state of South Carolina and the region can be made without referencing the horrific tragedy at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. and removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the State Capitol building in Columbia.
Claflin’s history is deeply tied to Charleston, where a missionary and a prominent Methodist minister and teacher at the Baker Theological Institute (now Centenary United Methodist Church) of Charleston conceived the idea of Claflin University.
In addition of offering prayer and condolences to the families and relatives of the victims, Claflin will engage national, local and state lawmakers, clergy and other individuals to have a meaningful dialogue on race relations. Claflin will be among the leaders in exploring and developing initiatives that could serve as a national model for thought provoking and vigorous discourse for bridging the racial divide.
For Claflin University to lead this effort is not a new phenomenon. Since its inception, Claflin has always taken the lead or had a significance influence and connection with the struggle for racial equality and social justice.
During the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Claflin students, including myself, and alumni helped to organize and participate in non-violent demonstrations in Orangeburg in the pursuit of equality and justice.
Notably, Glenda Gaither Davis, now a resident of Atlanta, was among the Freedom Riders, civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to challenge the non-enforcement of United States Supreme Court decisions which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.
The nation and the world are experiencing and witnessing dramatic changes in every aspect of our global society. The challenges and opportunities of the future will require visionary leaders who will be inspirational and transcendental.
Claflin University -- through its rigorous academic programs, compelling research and widely-respected faculty – will continue its reputation for preparing and graduating students who will be among the next generation of transformative visionary leaders with global perspectives.
About the Author
