Harvey Gantt To Speak At Clemson Convocation

Harvey Gantt, the first African-American student to attend Clemson University, will speak at the 2012-2013 Victor Hurst Convocation, which begins Clemson’s academic year, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.

Faculty and staff will walk in a processional to the Brooks Center at 8:30 a.m., with the program following around 9 a.m.

Gantt’s address will kick off Clemson’s commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the integration of the university. A number of events are planned throughout the year to mark the anniversary.

“This is such a milestone for Clemson, and there was no better way to commemorate it than by starting with Gantt himself,” said Leon Wiles, Clemson’s chief diversity officer. “We hope that our students, faculty and staff will take part in the anniversary events and gain some perspective on how far Clemson has come over the past 50 years.”

Gantt, a native of Charleston, graduated from Burke High School in 1960. He was interested in studying architecture at Clemson, but because Clemson was not accepting African-American students at the time, he enrolled at Iowa State University. But Gantt persisted, filing a lawsuit in 1962 to gain admission to Clemson. In January, 1963 Gantt was granted admission and he enrolled later that month. He graduated from Clemson with honors in 1965.

Gantt worked for an architectural firm in Charlotte after graduating from Clemson. He received a master's degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1970 and formed the Charlotte architectural firm of Gantt, Huberman and Associates.

In 1974, Gantt was elected to the first of three terms on the Charlotte City Council. In 1983, he became Charlotte's first black mayor, serving two terms. In 1990 and 1996 Gantt ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by Jesse Helms, and in 1995 President Bill Clinton appointed him chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, on which he served until 2000.

In 1988, Clemson launched the Harvey B. Gantt Scholarship Endowment, and in 2000, the multicultural affairs office was named for Gantt and his wife Lucinda, who also graduated from Clemson.

The convocation and Gantt's address will be streamed live online at http://www.clemson.edu/tlt/stream/live/