Charles Butler, Mister Honors College 2026-27; Jada Gittings, Miss Honors College 2026- 27; First Lady Agatha Conyers; President Alexander Conyers; and Joshua Jackson, Mister Honors College 2025-26, with the check for the funds raised to date in the Power of SC State capital campaign.
South Carolina State University has officially launched The Power of SC State: A Capital Campaign to Elevate Excellence, a comprehensive $41.2 million fundraising initiative designed to transform the student experience and solidify the university’s position as a premier research institution.
The five-year campaign focuses on five strategic pillars:
- Revitalized Facilities.
“At SC State, we have set a vision to be a leader in offering relevant programs that fulfill the educational needs of every student,” said SC State President Alexander Conyers. “While public funding is vital, private support is the final piece of the equation. This campaign is about collaborating with alumni, partners, and friends to ensure our upward trajectory of student success continues.”
The “silent phase” of the campaign began in 2024. To date, donors have provided more than $17.4 million in contributions.
Campaign launch marks historic milestone
On Wednesday, May 6, SC State publicly launched the campaign at the Dr. Barbara A. Vaughan Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Center, bringing together university leadership, campaign volunteers, alumni and supporters. University leaders unveiled The Power of SC State and its bold vision, an ambitious and transformative initiative to elevate excellence, expand opportunity and strengthen SC State’s impact for generations to come. The launch marked a historic milestone that will help shape the university’s next chapter.
The launch follows a record-breaking fiscal year (2024–25) in which the university raised more than $6.08 million in private contributions. Donor participation surged by 34%, reaching the highest annual count in the university’s 130-year history. Notably, the alumni giving rate reached 15.2%, significantly outperforming both the national average (8%) and the HBCU average (10%).
Investing in students, athletics and research
A centerpiece of the campaign is the $10.4 million renovation of Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. Upgrades include new LED lighting, modernized press boxes, a second elevator for accessibility and the “Dog Park” premium pregame experience. These enhancements aim to elevate the Bulldog game-day atmosphere while providing student-athletes with firstclass training and competition spaces.
Beyond athletics, the campaign prioritizes academic excellence. The university recently achieved R2 status in the Carnegie Classification, joining an elite group of high-activity research institutions. Campaign funds will support this momentum through $2 million in endowed professorships and $5.5 million for scholarships, including 833 new needbased awards.
“Our students deserve a campus that reflects the excellence of their ambitions,” Conyers added, noting that the campaign complements more than $210 million in ongoing campus construction, including a new 94,000-square-foot academic facility and a stateof-the-art University Library.
The campaign is led
