MORNING HEADLINES | After a student outcry over an invitation to GOP Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to speak at S.C. State University’s May 8 graduation, the university has rescinded the invitation. As of 9 a.m. April 30, the school had not announced an alternative speaker.
“Commencement should remain a moment of celebration focused on our graduates and their achievements, and we are committed to ensuring an environment that reflects that purpose,” University President Alexander Conyers said in a statement.
Students were upset at political stances, such as opposition by Evette, a 2026 GOP gubernatorial candidate, to diversity, equality and inclusion. Evette later called them a “woke mob.”
A student-run petition called for the university to disinvite Evette and select a different speaker. On Tuesday, students marched around campus, chanting, “Pamela Evette has got to go.” Their complaints, as heard in a video she re-posted on X, included that she’s a “Trump conservative,” “doesn’t support DEI” and is “anti-abortion.”
“Conservative voices will never be bullied or silenced anywhere in South Carolina,” Evette posted on X an hour before the university announced she would no longer be the speaker. “See you at commencement.”
After her disinvitation, Evette doubled down on the same conservative talking points that concerned students, saying this is “why we cannot give up the fight to end indoctrination and DEI” and blaming college professors for “feigned outrage.”
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