USC has embarked on an effort to create an endowed chair professorship in its African-American Studies Program honoring one of the state's early civil rights pioneers.

Fund-raising has begun for the proposed $2.5 million Mary McLeod Bethune Professorship that would honor the Mayesville native who was born in 1875 to former slaves and went on to become nationally known in the 1920s for her work promoting civil rights and education for women and blacks.

Creation of the chair is part of an effort to elevate the African-American Studies Program to national prominence, including the appointment of highly regarded faculty members, offering a comprehensive array of courses, and creation of a new Civil Rights Institute and a seminar for high school educators teaching African-American history.

The University of South Carolina, founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, is one of the oldest universities in the United States and has grown to become the major research center for the state of South Carolina.

As it has from it's beginning, the University continues to promote academic excellence while responding progressively to the educational needs of the citizens of South Carolina. This includes the University's historical commitment to enhancing our students' knowledge, understanding, and economic viability, but also their sense of character, empathy, and mutual respect. This ideal was a cornerstone of the original college and remains fundamental to the University's purpose in South Carolina and society at large. The University has through its Five Point Plan reaffirmed a commitment to the betterment of all parts of our community and campus life by promoting effective community centered programs and establishing meaningful partnerships between the African-American community and itself.

Few institutions of higher learning have more compelling reasons for focusing on African-American history and culture than the University of South Carolina. South Carolina was the port of entry for more African slaves than any other colony or state in North America. For a significant period of its history, South Carolina had a majority African-American population. Even today, African Americans make up more than 30 percent of the state's population. Moreover, USC currently has a student body that approaches 20 percent African-American, the highest of any major state university in the nation and ranks number seven of universities that provide bachelors degrees to African-American undergraduates.

The College of Arts and Sciences, steeped in a rich tradition of educational excellence, has two coveted units, History and African-American Studies, which are collaborating in the creation of this fully endowed professorship. The University administration has identified the Department of History as one of the institution's "cathedrals of excellence," a program with the capability of contributing significantly to the University's goal of achieving membership in the Association of American Universities. African-American Studies, an interdisciplinary program, provides the vehicle for the University to pursue new and expanding parameters with the African-American community and create new research and scholarship in the social sciences, humanities and the cultural arts.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), founder of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, the National Council of Negro Women, and advisor of African-American affairs to four presidents, was born in Mayesville, South Carolina. She devoted her life to ensuring the right to education and freedom from discrimination for African Americans. Bethune left a legacy of interracial cooperation and increased access to education opportunities for blacks.

Creating a fully endowed chair in African-American history will continue the legacy. It will also further stregthen both History and African-American Studies' standings by attracting and retaining a preeminent scholar and first-rate teacher with strong credentials in the African Diaspora. In addition, this scholar will attract other high-caliber faculty, students and funding, thereby advancing USC's educational mission of national and international stature. A capital campaign for funding the chair has begun. It is projected that the chair will be fully funded by the end of 2004 and the appointment made in Fall 2005.

Mary McLeod Bethune