Claflin News

Speaking to Claflin University honor students, Panthers STEPS Director Dr. Mary Williams encouraged them to start their community service at home by mentoring incoming freshmen so they could experience the same level of success

Dr. Mary Williams, director of the Claflin University Panther STEPS program, will be the keynote speaker of the 2012 Honors and Awards Convocation on Tuesday, April 3.

South Carolina Center for Biotechnology Director Dr. Omar Bagasra will receive the James E. Clyburn Health Disparities Leadership Award on April 20 for his research that seeks to lower the chances of African-American males diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Claflin University will welcome its first visiting Fulbright Scholar this fall to research a potential solution for a dangerous infectious disease impacting 120 million people internationally. Fulbright Scholar Raghavendra Krishna Nagampalli, a student from the University of Madras in Chennai, India, is set to spend nine months at Claflin University working under the tutelage of Dr. Rajagopalan Bhaskaran, associate professor of chemistry and director of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facilities.

Looking out at a sea of Claflin University men dressed in suits and ties, Derrick Watkins,better known as Fonzworth Bentley, the former umbrella carrying personal assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs, said all he could see was a room full of CEO’s.