Lawmakers Move to Defund SC State After Students Protest Evette; Critics Say Funding Can't Be Punished Over Personal Grievances

A group of South Carolina House lawmakers is pushing to strip funding from South Carolina State University after students successfully protested Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette’s selection as commencement speaker — a move critics say is an abuse of legislative power.

Students at the historically Black university staged a peaceful demonstration last month after President Alexander Conyers announced Evette as the keynote speaker. Many objected to her long‑standing opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, arguing she was not an appropriate choice to address Black graduates about achievement and opportunity. The protest prompted the university to remove Evette from the program.

Evette publicly blasted the decision, calling the students a “woke mob,” despite no reports of aggression or disruption during the demonstration.

Now, five Republican members of the South Carolina House are backing a proposal to defund the state’s only public HBCU in response to the controversy. Evette has voiced support for the effort, framing the students’ actions as intolerant.

Higher‑education advocates say the lawmakers’ push amounts to political retaliation. They argue that state legislators do not have the authority — nor the constitutional right — to withhold public funding from a university simply because they disagree with students’ viewpoints or a campus decision they find personally offensive.

The proposal has sparked concern among alumni, civil‑rights groups and education leaders who warn that punishing an HBCU for student expression sets a dangerous precedent and threatens academic freedom across the state.