@Claflin: Class of 2024 Virtual Parting Ceremony and more

The World Needs Visionaries

Claflin University Begins the 2020 Fall Semester with Virtual Parting Ceremony

Join us for the live streaming of the Virtual Parting Ceremony on Friday, August 7, at 3 p.m. when you will have an opportunity to meet Claflin University's Class of 2024. The Parting Ceremony is one of the University's time-honored traditions, when Claflin's freshman class members say goodbye to their parents and officially begin their transition from high school into college and campus life. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will welcome the students to Claflin during the virtual presentation.

Click here to view the Virtual Parting Ceremony and welcome the next generation of visionary leaders.

Employee News

Chymaine Guinyard, '16, has been appointed head volleyball coach at Claflin University. Guinyard, who served as the interim head coach last season, has been a member of the coaching staff for four seasons. She was an assistant coach during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

A native of Orangeburg, Guinyard played four years for the Lady Panthers. She was a member of the 2014 team that captured the school's first-ever Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) championship and the school's first-ever automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship. Guinyard is a charter member of the Timothy J. Autry Theta Chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. She provides leadership for the University's APPLE Training Institute/NCAA Sport Science Collaborative. Guinyard is IMPACT certified through the Palmetto Volleyball Association and a member of USA Volleyball. She also is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Alumni News

The work of Kemet Alston, '14, and his media company, Divrs Media Label, was featured in the July 2020 edition of Slam Magazine. It was a special edition dedicated to social justice and activism featuring Carmelo Anthony as the guest editor.

Derrick Quarles, '14, was featured in TOWN, an online publication that delivers the exceptional stories, culture, and style of the progressive South. In the story, Quarles discusses being a social justice activist and his founding of the Upstate Black Lives Matter chapter. When asked about the event that made him spring into action, Quarles stated, "My sophomore year at Claflin University, Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida, and I decided to get more involved in the community. I went to Florida and was there 31 days. We stayed at the statehouse, slept on the floor, met with legislators. It was all brand-new to me, but it was something that I was placed on Earth to do. I was ready to leave a couple of times, but the organizers would say they needed my voice. Those were some of the greatest days of my life because it helped me understand where I would end up in terms of social justice activism. I knew I could no longer sit idle." Click here to read the article.

Panther Pride

Former Claflin University track and field standout Faith McKie, '20, has been selected as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) women's nominee for the D2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCCA) Scholar-Athlete award. Earlier this month, McKie was among nine women nominated to represent the CIAA for NCAA Woman of the Year.

"Throughout her career, Faith has been a positive representative of Claflin University and the CIAA," said Tony O'Neal, athletics director. "She has served the University, and the Conference, in several leadership capacities, so her selection as the conference nominee is a well-deserved honor."

McKie, a former hurdler/sprinter for the Lady Panthers, hails from Columbia, S.C. She was crowned Miss CIAA 2020 and Miss Claflin University 2019-2020. McKie was recently named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team and nominated for the NCAA Today's Top-10 Award which recognizes former student-athletes for their successes on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.

A summa cum laude graduate with a degree in sport management, McKie was the 2020 CIAA indoor track and field silver medalist in the pentathlon.

During her quest for Miss CIAA 2020, McKie received the highest on-line popular vote out of all 12 contestants. She was honored with a $2,000 donation in her name to the Harvest Hope Food Bank in her school's local community by the Food Lion Feeds program. In 2019, she was a grand prize winner of the CIAA Essay Contest presented by Coca-Cola Consolidated and Food Lion, earning her a $5,000 scholarship.

In spring 2020, McKie presented a one-time academic scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to Claflin.

McKie was a member of several honor societies and campus organizations as a student at Claflin. She was a member of the Alice Carson Tisdale Honors College, Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society, the Honors Council, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, A. Bevy Collegiate Group, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.