Civil rights icon will address USC winter graduates

The University of South Carolina will host civil rights figure Isaac Samuel (I.S.) Leevy Johnson to speak at its upcoming commencement ceremony.

Johnson was the first African American to complete the full law school curriculum at USC and the first African American man to be elected to the state legislature since reconstruction. He will be the first speaker from outside the university to address USC graduates in two years, according to a press release.

USC plans to award 3,195 degrees, 2,214 of which will go to graduates from the main Columbia campus, the university said.

In 2016, USC said it would stop having external speakers give commencement addresses, citing logistical difficulties and more speakers asking for speaking fees. Since USC does not pay fees to commencement speakers, then-President Harris Pastides gave the commencement addresses. With Johnson’s selection as the December commencement speaker, the university is changing course.

“This is President Caslen’s first ceremony and he wanted to invite I.S. Leevy Johnson, who is accomplished leader and strong supporter of the university,” USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said in an email.

The last person from outside the university to give a commencement address was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer in December 2017.

The ceremony will take place Monday, Dec. 16, at Colonial Life Arena at 2:30 p.m. The event will also be live-streamed on Facebook.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the last external speaker to give a commencement address on USC’s campus.

This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 1:19 PM.