MEET PRESIDENT ALEXANDER CONYERS
South Carolina State University (SCSU) in Orangeburg, South Carolina, is a small HBCU with a tight-knit student community. President Alexander Conyers says students are fully committed to and receive the same quality education than any of the larger universities at SCSU.
President Conyers has worked in a bi-partisan manner with members of the South Carolina General Assembly to secure record funding for the University. In fact, South Carolina State University has recently received over $150 million for new construction and infrastructure renovations.
Select projects include the following:
$54. 7 Million-New Academic Building
$30 Million- New Library
$24.2 Million- Renovation and Student Center Expansion
$15 Million Residence Hall Renovations
What Conyers says rings true when you take a close look at South Carolina State.
S.C. State University is the only public 4 year HBCU in South Carolina with a Division 1 athletics program.
“So, when you have student-athletes who want to play college sports at the next level, whether it’s volleyball or football or any sport they can do it with us as a Division 1 school,” Conyers said.
SCSU has produced over 40 NFL players, four football Hall of Famers, and six players that are currently playing in the NFL. A SCSU player has participated in the last three Superbowl’s.
SCSU is doing equally well in academics. This past June, the university was allocated $8 million in state funding to take their STEM program housed in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Transportation to a higher level.
Their ROTC program is one of the best programs in the country having produced 23 general officers, only 2nd to West Point.
SCSU is the only HBCU in the country with a nuclear engineering program. Students can get a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering, which prepares students to work in the field of nuclear engineering – whether it’s with the federal government, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or with different nuclear sites around the country.
“It bodes well for our students,” said Conyers. “We are in proximity to Savannah River Site, which is a nuclear site. Our students are very well sought after.”
SCSU is also the only HBCU in South Carolina with a theater arts program.
Even with all this growth and accomplishments, Conyers’ vision is to grow the university – particularly the endowment and the student population is his top priority. Conyers isn’t one for slow-motion. Within 48 hours of accepting the interim president position for the university, he made the decision to utilize funding from Covid-19 to provide $9.8 million in debt relief to over 2500 students. This singular action allowed many students to return to school.
“Some of this debt was years old, but students were stuck in limbo because they couldn’t retrieve their transcripts and things that they would need to get back in school. But this debt relief allowed for them to get a fresh start to get back on the path to obtaining a 4-year degree,” said Conyers.
“I want to grow the university to a 5,000-plus student enrollment, when I came on board, we were less than 2,000, now we are at 3,000,” Conyers said adding; “I want the university to gain research 2 designation. Currently there are only 11 HBCUs with that designation. That will allow my faculty and students to engage in more research to solve problems in our communities and in the nation,” said Conyers.
Conyers is a 1989 graduate of SCSU. He served 28 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel. He also worked as a military police officer and in crisis management.
In May 2021 he was newly appointed vice president for strategic initiatives and alliances at SCSU. In that role he took the lead in leveraging and interacting with any entity that SCSU was considering for a new initiative. Three months later he became the acting president.
Being a graduate, an active alum and president of the national alumni association chapter in Washington, D.C., Conyers encountered SCSU alumni and parents which helped him stay abreast of all of the strengths and weaknesses of the university.
The leadership attributes Conyers learned in the Army translated to the skills he used as president of the university. The same way he took pride in fighting for soldiers and removing barriers that would prevent them from succeeding, he brought the same energy to students and faculty at SCSU. He found those leadership traits were transferable.
“Whether a soldier or a student, they wanted to finish what they started, they wanted to make their parents proud, they wanted the best living conditions. I had to look at practices and policies that were preventing students from achieving their very best. And looking at ways to mitigate those kinds of things,” Conyers said.
His work paid off. In 2019 there were 371 students in the freshman class. This past year the freshman class was more than 1,200. In three years, he has been able to increase the overall student population by 1,000 students. While boosting enrollment, President Conyers has been able to secure over $150 Million in state appropriations for new building and renovations that will transform the landscape of the campus.
“We have had a 25% increase in alumni giving over the past two years. For the past three years that I’ve been here each May when we have reunion weekend, we have raised over a million dollars each night. It has become a million-dollar weekend for the past three years which is the first time that has ever happened,” said Conyers.
He’s looking forward to the University’s first ever Capital campaign – to increase their endowment – in the next few years.
S.C. State University has produced 17 College Presidents, including Morehouse College, Alcorn State University, Kentucky State University, and Paine College.
And SCSU has educated Black royalty like Dr. Benjamin E. Mays who served as the president of Morehouse for many years and served as a personal mentor to Dr. M.L. King Jr. He performed M.L.King Jr.and Coretta Scott King’s marriage and performed the eulogy at King’s funeral.
The School has graduated a Supreme Court Justice for the South Carolina Supreme Court, Justice Donald Beatty and the one and only Congressional influencer James Clyburn.
“Students and family still see the value in an HBCU – they know that if given similar opportunities and resources that a student from SCSU can compete with any student in the world,” said Conyers.
For HBCU presidents to stay on top, Conyers says: “Keep the main thing the main thing – taking care of those students, fighting for those students and being willing to challenge anything that’s considered a barrier to their success.”