SC Lt. Gov. Evette’s anti-DEI stances scrutinized. What did her business promote
When controversy circulated around Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette’s invitation to speak at South Carolina State University’s spring commencement ceremony, she used the backlash as way to rally against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
But one of Evette’s opponents in the race for the Republican nomination for governor pounced on previous statements discussing the importance of diversity made by the company she founded to question whether she is really against DEI.
Students were upset with the choice of Evette because of her support for President Donald Trump. Students also objected to Evette’s call for a facility in South Carolina to house immigrants wanted for deportation, and defending Trump after he posted a video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
Evette used the protest to amplify her message against DEI initiatives, a popular mantra among the Republican primary electorate.
“I’ve never been for DEI. I have always felt that if you worked hard, and you excelled above everybody else, that opportunities would be unlimited for you,” a fiery Evette said Thursday, the first time speaking to reporters since the school rescinded its invitation to her.
The episode led one of Evette’s opponents for the Republican nomination for governor to publicly scrutinize her stances on diversity initiatives.
Attorney General Alan Wilson’s campaign pushed back on the lieutenant governor anti-DEI rhetoric.
The campaign pointed to how the company she started, Quality Business Solutions, which helps businesses with human resources related tasks, promoted how businesses could include DEI initiatives in their operations.
“Imagine a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality,” a QBS Facebook post from 2022 said.
Much of the evidence the Wilson campaign promoted came after Evette became lieutenant governor. However, Evette’s husband, David, remains with the company.
But the Wilson campaign also provided a 2017 blog post from the company that talks about why diversity can be beneficial for a company.
“She might try, but Pam Evette can’t rewrite her own history,” Wilson campaign spokeswoman Claire Brady said in a news release. “Pam Evette promoted DEI, profited from DEI and helped expand DEI. Now she wants conservatives to believe she’s leading the fight against it. South Carolina families deserve a governor who’s stood strong for conservative values and merit, not one who made millions from DEI but pretends otherwise.”
Evette dismissed the critical messaging from Wilson.
“The attorney general is an opponent in this election, right? So he’s going to say whatever he thinks, (that) spins people up,” Evette said. “I don’t really take the clips of my opponents as a whole lot of truth or fact.”
She also defended the verbiage used by the business.
“What would we have to benefit from that entire line of thinking? We did payroll, we did HR,” Evette said defending QBS. “Our whole business model was to keep our clients out of trouble, not to actually pull them into any kind of ideology, which is what’s happening in our college campuses.”
The lieutenant governor’s stances on DEI initiatives were brought to the forefront as she prepared to speak at the May 8 S.C. State commencement.
Evette received the invitation in December from the school’s president. After protests, the school’s lawyers on Wednesday reached out to lawyers in the governor’s office to inform Evette the invitation had been rescinded.
During this latest political episode, Evette called those demonstrating against her planned speech as a mob.
“I saw the pictures that, to me, is what it appeared to be, was a mob of people. We see that happening all over our country. Many times. It’s not even students, like who made up all of that,” Evette said.
SC State University President Alexander Conyers pushed back Wednesday on that characterization. He said he couldn’t hear the student protest, which included a sit-in the administration building while he was in meetings.
“I didn’t even know you were in the building. I don’t know how anyone could confuse that with being a mob,” Conyers said. “What I saw today (was) college students exercising their free rights, one that I swore to protect, one that I served 28 years in the Army willing to give my life for.”
