Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, President of Claflin University, announced the appointment of Ms. Vivian A. Glover as Assistant Vice President for Communications and Marketing in the Division of Institutional Advancement. The appointment comes as the University embarks upon a course to elevate its national and international profile. She will coordinate and lead the university’s ongoing efforts to develop strategies to enhance the image and brand of Claflin in recruiting and institutional advancement.
Commenting on the recent appointment, Rev. Whittaker V. Middleton, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, said, “This position is part of the university’s desire to expand and enhance our fundraising capabilities of Claflin on a local, regional, and national basis. Also, given her broad range of experience and skill, we believe that she will help to position the university in new and wider markets.”
Ms. Glover’s responsibilities include generating and managing local, regional, national and international media/publicity campaigns for the university. She will also oversee the university’s website and serve as the primary source for responding to external inquiries for public information.
Ms. Glover comes to Claflin from NBC News, where she was a network producer responsible for securing news elements and segments for NBC’s "Nightly News," "The Today Show," MSNBC, CNBC, "Dateline" and NBC Specials. She brings over 30 years of national and international experience in not only television news but also radio, publishing, public relations and marketing.
Having earned a degree in Mass Communications from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she studied international communications as a graduate student at Universidad de Las Americas in Pueblo, Mexico.
While living in Botswana for four years, she organized and managed the country’s first radio news department, broadcasting daily news reports in both English and Setswana languages. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Africa and, in 1977, moved to England, where she lived for 15 years and honed her literary skills.
In 1986, her first novel, The First Fig Tree, was published by Methuen Press and was nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize in the first novel category. In the United States, the novel was a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection. In 1992, she returned to her childhood home of Orangeburg to teach at both Claflin University and South Carolina State University. During this time, she researched and wrote Men of Vision: Claflin College and Her Presidents, a pictorial history to commemorate Claflin’s 125th anniversary.
Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, President of Claflin University, said, “Ms. Glover’s wealth of experience and knowledge will add enormous value to Claflin’s communications and marketing initiatives as we look to capitalize on opportunities to build our brand reputation in national and international markets.”
Ms. Glover’s documentary work includes credits as co-producer and segment director for the one-hour documentary, “Shared History,” in which black and white descendants of a slave plantation engage in frank dialogues about race and relationships. The documentary aired nationally on PBC stations and at film festivals in the United States and Europe. Ms. Glover was also consultant on the soon-to-be release one-hour documentary, “The Marines of Montford Point: Fighting for Freedom,” the first documentary chronicling the African American men who became the first United States Marines. Ms. Glover is currently producing a documentary sponsored by the SC Humanities Council on the life and works of batik artist, Dr. Leo Twiggs.
Claflin University, located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, is an undergraduate research-oriented institution. U.S. News & World Report, in its 2007 Guidebook to America’s Best Colleges and Universities, ranked Claflin in the “Top Tier” for the ninth consecutive year (1999-2007) among Comprehensive Colleges in the South for students pursuing bachelor’s degrees. To learn more about Claflin University, log on to www.claflin.edu.