CommemoraTing The
one hundred FIFTY-FIVE year hisTory oF
BenediCT College
Thursday, the Twentieth of March
Two Thousand and Twenty-Five Eleven O'Clock in the Morning
Antisdel Chapel
Benedict College
Columbia, South Carolina
Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis President and CEO
This letter was written byMrs. Bathsheba A. Benedict to Dr. Moorehouse, general secretaryof the American Home Mission Society, on August 17, 1888. Mrs. Benedict responded to an invitation to appear at the school’s annual fund-raiser.
August 17, 1888
Dear Sir,
Your letter came in due time, found me absent from home hence the delay in answering. I thank you for your kind invitation to be present at the Institute on the 26th of September. It would give me much pleasure to be present, to look into the faces and take hands of the teachers, benefactors, and friends of the Freedmen’s schools. As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. May God’s blessing rest upon you this Memorial Day. May He guide you in all your deliberations and give you all the wisdom you need. I have never had any misgiving but that the Freedmen’s schools were His own right-hand planting. May God put it into the hearts of the friends to give liberally that the fund may be raised. May I have a mind to do as he would have me to do. Remember me kindly to the friends present. The journey is long. I do not think it wise to attempt it. May God be with you is the prayer of your friend.
B. A. Benedict
Benedict College, originally Benedict Institute, was founded in 1870 under the auspices of the AmericanBaptist HomeMissionSociety.Mrs.BathshebaA.Benedict ofPawtucket,RhodeIsland,provided financial support for the establishment of Benedict. Adding to a small bequest from her husband, Mrs. Benedictprovided$13,000towardsthepurchaseofaneighty-acreplantationnearColumbia,SouthCarolina, as the site for a new school for the recently emancipated people of African descent. Benedict Institute set out from humble beginnings in a dilapidated former mansion owned by a person who enslaved others to prepare men and women to be “powers for good in society.”
Duringthefirstquartercenturyofitsexistence,Benedict Institute’seducationalprograms addressed the severely limited economic and social conditions of the Black population in the South. The Institute’s original objective was totrain teachers and preachers,and its first curriculumincluded, of necessity, reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, and religion. Later, the curriculum was expanded to include the traditional college disciplines and an industrial department offering carpentry, shoemaking, printing, and painting.
On November 2, 1894, the institution was chartered as a liberal arts college by the South Carolina Legislature and the name “Benedict Institute” was changed to Benedict College”.
From its founding to 1930, a succession of northern white Baptist ministers and educators led Benedict College. The year 1930 signaled the succession of African American presidents at the College.
Over the years, the College has experienced steady growth in its academic and co-curricular programs and its physical plant. During recent decades, this growth has included land acquisition, construction of new residence halls and recreational facilities, renovation and upgrades of numerous facilities, and extensive community development efforts.
The College currently offers bachelor’s degree programs in twenty-six major areas of study. Benedict College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate and master’s degrees. (Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia, 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Benedict College.) The College’s Social Work Program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education; the Environmental Health Science Program is accredited by the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council; the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship is accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, the Environmental Engineering Program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), and the Art Program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
On June 30, 2017, Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis was appointed by the Board of Trustees as the 14th and first female President of Benedict College. Intentional, professional, and thoroughly committed to the proliferation and transformation of colleges and universities that serve underrepresented men and women of color, Dr. Artis brings to Benedict College a depth of knowledge in higher education and an enthusiasm for students’ success that is unmatched in today’s higher education arena.
Under Dr. Artis’ leadership, Benedict College completed a 5-year Strategic Plan entitled - Bold Execution of a Strategic Transformation - The B.E.S.T. Plan and is currently guided strategically by B2: Focus on the Future. The College has stabilized our financial position, streamlined our programming, embarked on an aggressive capital improvement plan, decreased tuition, increased admission standards, increased our enrollment, and exceeded our fundraising targets. These efforts have received national attention and in March 2019, the College received the ACE Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation and in the same year was honored by HBCU Digest as the HBCU of the Year. These and other initiatives represent TheBESTofBC!
Tyler McAllister graduated twice from Benedict College earning a B.S. degree in Business Administration in 2017 and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a concentration in supply chain management in 2020. McAllister was selected as the 2017 Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship’s Most Outstanding Senior as well as the School’s 2017 Best Senior Project Award recipient. He was a scholar and an athlete who was recognized as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (SIAC) Commissioner’s All-Academic Team from 2014-2017. McAllister also earned the highest-grade point average on the football team from 2015-2017.
McAllister used his Benedict College education to get from where he was, to where he is as evidenced by his promotion from Operations Area Manager II at Amazon in 2016 to Production Controller for Target Distribution in 2019. His MBA degree provided additional opportunities for advancement from Manufacturing Department Manager for the PepsiCo in 2022 to his current position of Third Party Logistics (3PL) Warehouse FulfillmentSeniorManagersince2023atCharlotte,NorthCarolina.Inhiscurrentposition, Mr. McAllister supervises Warehouse Fulfillment Operations for the PepsiCo in Joliet, Illinois; Whiteston, Indiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina.
At each level of career advancement, McAllister relied upon the knowledge he gained and the skills he developed at Benedict College. His academic accomplishments qualified him as a recipient of the President’s List; his involvement in athletic competition brought him awards on the field and success in the classroom; his work off-campus with the Sisters of Charities and his service-learning activities on campus, created the quintessential Benedict College graduate.
McAllister, through precept and example, believes that a salient component of success is to share it with the wider community.. The Business Administration Department wrote that McAllister was recommended for this occasion “based upon his impressive academic record and his impeccable character. He is an adamant professional who keeps a positive attitude. Although his schedule is busy, he finds time to provide service to his community and to mentor students.”
Indeed, Mr. Tyler McAllister represents “TheBESTofBC!”
Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis President and CEO
Presiding
PRELUDE: ……………………… Alpha and Omega……………..……………....Israel Houghton arr Ronald Green
Benedict College Instrumental Ensemble
Mr. H. Wade Johnson, Director of Bands
Mr. Ronald T. Green, Assistant Director of Bands
THE ACADEMIC PROCESSION: …Pomp and Circumstance...............................................Elgar
Benedict College Instrumental Ensemble
The assembly will please rise when the academic procession enters the Chapel and remain standing through the singing of the first stanza of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.
THE PRESENTATION OF THE COLORS…………………………………..…Benedict College Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)-Color Guard
THE ANTHEMS: The Star-Spangled Banner ... Francis Scott Key and John Stafford Smith Benedict College Instrumental Ensemble
Mr. H. Wade Johnson, Director of Bands
Mr. Ronald T. Green, Assistant Director of Bands
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing …James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson Faculty/Staff Chorale and the Benedict College Choir
Mr. J. David Bratton Director of Choirs
Mrs. Rosemary Griffin, Assistant Director
Dr. Dawn Mills Campbell, Director of the Faculty/Staff Chorale
THEOPENINGREMARKS ...........................................................................Dr.RoslynClark Artis
THE INVOCATION .............................................................................Minister Cameron Seawright Student Campus Minister
THE OCCASION ................................................................................................Ms. Autumn Tisdale Miss Benedict College 2024-2025
THE READING OF THE HISTORY OF BENEDICT COLLEGE Mr. Scott E. Blanks Professor of Theater Arts Unit
MUSIC:
Benedict College Instrumental Ensemble
.CeCe Winans arr.Ronald T. Green
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE SPEAKER
….Mr. Malik Hudson
Mister Benedict College 2024-2025
THE CONVOCATION SPEAKER...................................................................Mr. Tyler McAllister Third Party Logistics (3PL) Warehouse Fulfillment Senior Manager PepsiCo Charlotte,NorthCarolina
THERESPONSE.............................................................................................Dr.RoslynClarkArtis
MUSIC: ………………………….. He’s Able…………………………………..…Deitrick Haddon
Benedict College Faculty/Staff Chorale and College Choir
THE INDUCTION OF ALUMNI INTO THE BENEDICT COLLEGE HALF CENTURY CLUB AND RECOGNITION OF OTHER CLASSES
Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis
THEFOUNDER’S DAYLITANY Ms.EmmieDavis Instructor of English English, Foreign Languages, and Mass Communication Unit
THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS............ Mrs. Leandra Hayes-Burgess Vice President for Institutional Advancement
THE ALMA MATER …..Anna Douglas
Benedict College Instrumental Ensemble, and Benedict College Faculty/Staff Chorale and College Choir
THE RETIRING OF THE COLORS
Benedict College Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)-Color Guard
THE BENEDICTION ............................................................................MinisterCameronSeawright
The assembly will please rise for the benediction and thereafter the ushers will direct the recession.
THE ACADEMIC RECESSION: Pomp and Circumstance Elgar
Benedict College Instrumental Ensemble
POSTLUDE: I’m so Glad……………………………………………………...arr. Ronald T. Green
Benedict College Instrumental Ensemble
LEADER: In 1870, Mrs. Bathsheba A. Benedict founded Benedict Institute, under the auspices of the American Baptist Home Mission Society.
AUDIENCE: The institution encourages its students to become “powers for good in society.”
LEADER: In 1894, Benedict Institute won its college charter, becoming Benedict College, and awarded its first Bachelor of Arts degree in the same year.
AUDIENCE: More than 18,000 students have received undergraduate degrees from this institution.
LEADER: Fourteen presidents have led the College since its founding: Timothy L. Dodge, Lewis Colby, E.J. Goodspeed, Charles E. Becker, Abraham C. Osborn, Byron W. Valentine, Clarence B. Antisdel, John J. Starks, John A. Bacoats, Benjamin F. Payton, Henry Ponder, Marshall C. Grigsby, David H. Swinton, and Roslyn Clark Artis.
AUDIENCE: Benedict College will be a leader in providing transformative learning experiences for a diverse student body.
LEADER: Students are defined by superior cultural and professional competencies that are nurtured and developed by faculty, staff, and stakeholders who value innovation, customer service, community, and industry engagement.
AUDIENCE: Alumni of the College are among the nation’s most responsible and talented citizens and represent TheBESTofBC.
LEADER: We remember and revere the hundreds of faculty and staff, living or deceased, who have contributed to the development and effectiveness of this College.
AUDIENCE: To them we give thanks for their faithfulness in all things, both large and small.
LEADER: We are grateful for the community which has received Benedict College into its midst and supported us for more than 150 years.
AUDIENCE: We are grateful for all assistance, and we pledge to be of continuing service to the needs of the community.
ALL: In the millennium, during a period of unprecedented growth and development, the institution draws on its rich past to remain one of the nation’s premier Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Written by the late Mrs. Doris Wright Johnson
Mr. Alvin Abney
Mr. Harold L. Adams
Mr. Ernest Alexander
Ms. Carlean Alford
Mrs. Barbara Moore Anderson
Mrs. Doris D. Jeter Anderson
Ms. Terry Andrews Baker
Mrs. Jannice Inez Dean Bannerman
Ms. Shirnetha Robinson Belk
Mr. Charles Larry Bennett
Ms. Sonja Benson
Mrs. Viola Hayes Best
Miss Ruby Mae Black
Mrs. Judy K. Bradley
Mrs. Essie Green Brisbon
Mrs. Darlene L. Gadson Brooks
Ms. Barbara Evone Brown
Ms. Laura Ann White Bryant
Mr. Rodney Bryant
Mrs. Earlene Burgess
Ms. Jacqueline Burnett
Dr. Tyrone A. Burroughs
Mrs. Sandra Mathis Burton
Mrs. Edna L. Butler
The Honorable Benjamin F. Byrd
Mr. James Byrd
Ms. Gwendolyn Cameron
Mrs. Ernestine Holmes Canty
Mrs. Sarah Carroll
Mrs. Linda Williams Cayruth
Mr. Micheal Cayruth
Mrs. Martha R. Ealey Chandler
Mrs. Barbara Griffin Chapman
Mr. James E. Clinkscales
Mrs. Frances Rose Taylor Clinton
Mrs. Beverly Smith Clyburn
Ms. Sharon Lorraine Coakley
Mr. Ronald Coaxum
Mr. Marvin Cohen
Mr. Ludrick Cooper
Mrs. Alma Wilds Davis
Mr. Samuel C. Diggs
Mrs. Annie M. Dodd
Mrs. Janette Gee Donawald
Mrs. Carolyn Drummond Dowtin
Ms. Toni Marcella Harris Dozier
Mr. Michael Drescher
Mrs. Jacosahia Tisdale Edmond
The Honorable Peggy A.
McFadden Elmore
Ms. Angela L. Evans
Mrs. Brenda Pyatt Ferguson
Mrs. Martha Finley
Mr. William Terry Forrest
Mrs. Gwendolyn B. Dizzley Fraiser
Mr. Ernest L. Fulton
Mrs. Elaine Evans Funderburk
Mrs. Mona L. Funderburk
Mr. Joseph A. Gadson
Ms. Jackie McFadden Garnier
Ms. Paula Gibbs
Mrs. Gloria Jean Blackmon Gordon
Ms. Lillie Edmond Graham
Mr. Karl Vincent Green
Mrs. Thelma A. Greene
Ms. Mary Francis Hannah
Ms. Elaine Rumph Harris
Mr. Marion D. Harrison
Mr. Seffton L. Hemingway
Mrs. Gwendolyn Gibson Henderson
Mr. Willie Clyde Henderson
Mrs. Brenda Warren Herrington
Ms. Rose Hill
Mrs. Fredrica P. Hilton
Mrs. Rose Marie Hinson
Mrs. Jesse Hipps
Mrs. Janice I. Hodye
Ms. Mary Coach Holmes
Mrs. Rosa Solomon Holt
Mr. Willie M. Houser
Mr. Norman Howard
Ms. Pamela Howard
Mrs. Barbara H. Hughes
Mr. Pressly Hughes
Ms. Janice Clarice Jackson
Mrs. Jennie McCants Jacobs
Mrs. Clary A. James
Rev. Frank James
Mr. Irick James
Mr. Larry James
Mr. Thomas E. James
Mrs. Ella Smith Jenkins
Mr. Tyrone Johns
Mr. J. Leroy Derrell Johnson
Mrs. Rosetta Hayes Johnson
Mrs. Sandra Johnson
Mrs. Sheila Drakeford Johnson
Mr. Donald H. Jones
Ms. Learnie R. Jones
Mr. Stanley Jones
Mrs. Lenora Blanding Kennedy
Mrs. Margaret Clyburn Lawhorn
Mrs. Olivia E. Wilson Lawson
Mrs. Bessie H. Lee
Ms. Learine R. Jones Lewers
Mrs. Alma W. Mack
Mrs. Deloris Rivers Mack
Mr. Wallace Makupson
Mr. Norman Mansell
Ms. Stella McCrae
Mrs. Linda Perry McNair
Mr. John E. Mender
Mrs. Harriet C. Miller
Mr. Shead Mills
Mrs. Evelyn Artison Moore
Mr. Joseph Moore
Dr. Marthena Grate Morant
Mrs. Lavern Blackmon Moss
Mr. Frank Munnlyn
Mr. Glenn Murray
Mr. Clyde Myers
Mr. Clark Eugene Nesbitt
Mr. Donald Nesmith
Mrs. Margie Dixon Olewunne
Mrs. Virginia Hall O'Neal
Mrs. Annie M. Perry
Mr. Reginald Phelps
Mr. Richard Pickett
Ms. Elease Portee
Mrs. Vivian Smalls Porter
Mrs. Deborah Wright Powell
Mrs. Millicent D. Pringle
Mr. Peter S. Prioleau
Mrs. Vera Benson Randall
Mrs. Mary J. Middleton Rankin
Rev. Redfern, II
Mr. Ronnie J. Reeves
Mrs. Ann Singleton Rice
Mr. John H. Richardson
Mrs. Deborah Deberry Ritter
Mr. Larry Robinson
Mrs. Bevelyn Ross
Ms. Betty Moore Ryans
Mrs. Gladys Raysor Salley
Mrs. Margaret Sanders
Ms. Joan Self
Ms. Dorothy Shirley
Ms. Effie Simmons
Mr. Joe M. Simmons
Mr. Samuel M. Simpson, Jr.
Ms. Ballery V. Skipper
Mr. Agieuary J. Smith
Dr. Carlos L. Smith
Mr. Eugene Smith
Mrs. Sandra E. Mungin Smith
Mr. Talmadge A. Smith
Mr. Isaiah Solomon
Ms. Lanette Weston Stevens
Mrs. Lou Bertha White Stewart
Mrs. Bertha L. Stocker
Mr. Robert Stokes
Mrs. Edith Corley Stone
Ms. Carolyn Woods Sumter
Mr. Robert E. Thomas
Mr. Richard Varn
Mr. Remmer Vereen
Mrs. Deborah A. Sims Walker
Mrs. Sandra K. Sharp Walker
Mrs. Claudette G. Dowling Warren
Mrs. Valerie S. Washington
Mr. Freddie Whaley
Ms. Marcella Whaley
Mr. Larry White
Mr. Lawrence White
Mrs. Barbara J. Wiggins
Mrs. Mary McCray Wiggins
Ms. Gleen Vivian Kearse Williams
Mr. Ransom C. Williams
Mrs. Rhonda Williams
Rev. Thomasine Roberts Williams
Mr. Wendell Waldo Williams
Mrs. Geraldine Ashford Wilson
Mrs. Jacqueline Sanders Wilson
Mr. Richard E. Wilson
Mr. Willie Woods
Mr. George A. Worsley
Mrs. Marietta Ascue Worthy
Ms. Zena Deas Young
Deceased
“and departing leave behind us, foot prints on the sands of time”
Mr. Howard L. Adams
Mr. Leon Ashley
Mrs. Patricia W. Brumfield
Ms. Madline Chandler
Mr. Donald Coaxum
Mr. William Edward Cobb
Mr. Melvin Crawford
Mr. Monroe Cusaac
Ms. Theresa Rogers Davis
Mrs. Vivian Stephens Davis
Mr. William L. Davis
Mrs. Beverly Thomas Dorrah
Mr. Robert Fields
Mrs. Vivian Fields
Mr. Freddie D. Foster
Mr. Solomon I. Foster, Jr.
Mrs. Francenia Davis Gadson
Dr. Richard A. Gadson
Ms. Beverly Gethers
Mr. Bezzlee Giles, Jr.
Ms. Shirley A. Hudley Gilliard
Mr. J. P. Graham
Mrs. Mattie Rutherford Harris
Mr. Eric Hunter
Mrs. Gloria W. James
Mrs. Gwendolyn G. Bennett Jamison
Dr. Beverly M. Johns
Dr. Cora Guider Johnson
Mrs. Sandra Fay Chestnut Jones
Mr. Abram J. Kennedy
Mr. John W. King, Jr.
Mrs. Gloria H. Lesane
Mrs. Jacqueline Humes Mackey
Mr. Willie Mangham
Mr. Thomas Marion
Mrs. Essie Louise McCants
Mrs. Carolyn McCullough
Ms. Sadie M. Middleton
Ms. Leitha Samuels Morgan
Mrs. Brenda Moultrie
Mr. William Murphy
Mr. Bobby James Pearson
Mr. James Rhinehart, Jr.
Mrs. Mae C. Stevens
Mr. Merriett M. Taylor, Jr.
Mr. Leonard R. Thomas
Dr. Jesse Thompson
Mr. Frank E. Williams, Jr.
Mr. Squire Wilson
Mr. L. E. Woods
Mrs. Laverne Woods
Mr. Denver Wright
Mrs. Hazel M. Wright
Class of 1974
Ms. Linda Campbell
Ms. Mary L. Harmon
Mr. Edward W. Robinson
Mrs. Linda Stringer Smith
Mrs. Sandra D. Smith
Mrs. Pearl B. Thomas
Class of 1973
Mr. Michael R. Jacobs
Ms. Jacqueline Burnett Jones
Mrs. Alma Jane Mills
Class of 1972
Dr. Incentlee B. Lemon
Mrs. Elaine Dowdy Melvin
Ms. Elizabeth Wolfe
Class of 1971
Mrs. Cedelle English Gates
Dr. Malqueen Howell Richardson
Mr. Christopher Smith, Jr.
Class of 1970
Mrs. Beverly J. Byrd
Mr. Charles Morant
Class of 1969
Mrs. Lillian Crosby Brown
Mrs. Linda Morant
Class of 1968
Mrs. Doris J. Andrews
Mrs. Geraldine S. Parker
Ms. Beverly Washington
Dr. Joseph A. Watson
Class of 1966
Mrs. Jessie H. Chandler
Ms. Alexzena Irving Furgess
Mrs. Harriet M. Perkins
Mrs. Naomi Woodson Scipio
Class of 1965
Mr. James Chandler
Ms. Louise Entzminger
Class of 1964
Mr. James Edwards
Class of 1963
Mrs. Marlene Murphy McClerklin
Class of 1962
Ms. Maxine Peterson Pearson
Class of 1961
Mr. Robert Brown, Jr.
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave
LIFT EV’RY VOICE AND SING
Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty; Let our rejoicing rise, High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song, full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song, full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Where the Golden sunshine falls, Rustling leaves about her, Breezes whispering round her walls Stands our Alma Mater.
Students all a sturdy band,
Loud our voices ringing; Of her kindly helping hand, Of our love, we’re singing.
We’ll remember in the years Coming swiftly towards us, All the smiles, but not the tears, Alma Mater brought us.
If the path of life be dim, And the way be dreary, Alma Mater points to Him Who will guide the weary.
Alma Mater strong and true, Alma Mater ever.
Benedict, we sing to you, Faithful we forever.