On May 8, South Carolina State University graduating seniors walked across the stage, celebrating the completion of their degrees amid recent backlash.

South Carolina statehouse Republicans are pushing to defund the state’s only public four-year HBCU (Historically Black College and University) after the school rescinded a commencement speaker invitation to S.C. Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette.

Just 10 days before the ceremony, students organized peaceful protests, voicing to school officials they did not want the lieutenant governor to speak at their commencement due to her opposition against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Her defense of an AI-generated video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys, her push to open immigration detention facilities and her views in favor of eliminating a predominantly Black voting district in South Carolina.

“Students at South Carolina State didn’t want Ms. Pamela Everett speaking because her morals do not align with the principles of any of the classes in the student body here at State,” Kameron Sutton, a 20-year-old civil engineering major, said to The Final Call.

He is part of the university’s campus activity board and serves as junior class president. He helped organize the protest and ensured it remained peaceful and that the students stood by their principles and morals.

“This isn’t about politics. This is about representation,” Zaria Tucker, president of the university’s Student Government Association for the year 2025-2026, said in a Facebook post articulating student views. 

“Commencement is one of the most important moments of our collegiate experience; it should reflect the voices, values, and lived experiences of the students it celebrates.

Right now, many students are speaking out, not to divide, but to be heard,” she added. “At an HBCU, our legacy is rooted in advocacy, equity, and the power of our voices. When decisions are made without us in moments that belong to us, it matters.”

Ms. Tucker and Yolanda Williams, president of the S.C. State National Alumni Association, were selected as the new commencement speakers.

Along with the campus protests, students put together a Change.org petition requesting a new commencement speaker. The petition now has more than 24,000 signatures.

In a statement, university president Alexander Conyers said the decision to invite Lt. Gov. Evette was rooted in her record as a business leader and entrepreneur. He cited safety concerns as the reason for the cancellation. 

Lt. Gov. Evette, who is running for South Carolina’s governor, has made several social media posts about the university’s decision.

“Just like President @realDonaldTrump, I pull no punches. So here’s the truth: the protests and pressure to cancel me was solely about my political viewpoints. If colleges can’t defend free speech, then we can’t continue to fund them. Full stop.

Merit over DEI,” she posted on X on May 1. In a video following the decision, she described the student protests as “woke mobs coming after” her.

“I was taken by shock when I saw that there was any backlash from us using our First Amendment right,” Mr. Sutton said. “… you would think that our First Amendment right would be protected above all else,” he added.

Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), who was arrested as a student protester and activist during the Civil Rights Movement, attended the May 8 commencement ceremony with surviving classmates from the university’s 1961 class. They celebrated their 65th graduation anniversary. He also issued a statement in defense of the student protesters. 

“(I)n 1960, March 15, my classmates and I joined more than a thousand other students from State and Claflin and marched on the square in Orangeburg, to challenge segregated lunch counters. Nearly 400 of us were arrested on that day,” he wrote. 

“I was very disappointed when our Lt. Governor referred to those students as a woke mob. Now I must admit, I don’t know what woke means. But I know what mob means. I know what a mob is,” he added. “And students peacefully protesting is not a mob mentality.” 

Nine Republican state legislators signed a letter calling the university’s decision “shameful” and “inexcusable.” They emphasized that the school is state-funded and supported by taxpayers’ dollars and requested that no funding be included for the school in the state’s upcoming budget.

Despite the emphasis on the school’s status as a state-funded institution, South Carolina State University receives only a fraction of what the federal government says it should receive. 

In the Fiscal Year 2025-26 State Budget, the HBCU received a little over $34 million, according to a local ABC News affiliate. Meanwhile, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, two public, predominantly White institutions, received more than $219 million and $325 million, respectively. The ABC News affiliate noted that in 2023, “the federal government told the state that the school is owed almost $500 million.”

Graduating students at Morehouse School of Medicine, an HBCU in Atlanta, are also challenging their school’s commencement speaker. Congressman Dr. Rick McCormick (R-Ga.), a graduate of the school, is slated for the May 16 ceremony. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, current students say his views and votes do not align with the school’s mission.

Despite the backlash, students at S.C. State are willing to continue to fight.

“The climate on campus has been amazing. People have been very happy for the win that we’ve been able to have, but we also understand that the battle is just beginning and we are ready to continue moving forward,” Mr. Sutton said.