ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Award-winning actress Shanola Hampton ’98 will help send off the 2025 Winthrop University graduates with inspiring words as the Commencement speaker for one of the institution’s two May 10 ceremonies at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Best known for her portrayal of Veronica Fisher in Showtime’s award-winning television show “Shameless,” Hampton currently stars as Gabi Mosely in the NBC drama series “Found” and is the face model of Rochelle in the video game “Left 4 Dead 2.”
At the 10 a.m. Commencement ceremony, she will offer advice to those graduating from the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the College of Arts and Sciences. President Edward Serna ’02 will preside over the ceremony and will present Hampton with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree to celebrate her success in the entertainment field and as one of Winthrop’s most recognizable alumni.
About Hampton’s Career
When “Found” debuted in the fall of 2023, it became NBC’s top launch on Peacock, with the series premiere drawing 10.5 million viewers across all platforms. It was renewed for a second season for 2024-25 and is awaiting renewal for a third season. Hampton serves as producer for the show, which sheds light on the stories of more than 600,000 people that are reported missing in the U.S., more than half of whom are people of color and are sometimes forgotten. Her role on “Found” has earned her a Gracie Award and Critics Choice Award and NAACP Image Award nominations.
Last on the Winthrop campus in 2018 to participate in a “Women in the Arts” discussion panel, Hampton talked then about moving to Los Angeles in 2001 and working in the industry for nine years on various television shows, such as “Criminal Minds,” “Strong Medicine,” “Stalker,” “Scrubs” and “Reba,” and movies, including “You Again,” “The Mostly Unfabulous Life of Ethan Greene,” “They Die By Dawn,” “Things Never Said,” “Christmas in the City” and “The Hanged Man.”
Hampton’s performance in “Things Never Said” earned her the Best Actor Award at the 2013 American Black Film Festival.
About Hampton
Born on Long Island, New York, and raised in Summerville, South Carolina, Hampton knew since the age of four that she wanted to be an actress. She followed in her family’s footsteps when it came to selecting a university. “My older sister went to Winthrop, and I always looked up to her,” said Hampton of her sister, Dr. Andrea Hampton-Mills, who graduated in 1991.
In past interviews, Hampton has credited Winthrop with her success. “Winthrop has one of the best theatre programs in the world in my opinion. I still use the training I received at Winthrop to this day. I use more of what I learned at Winthrop than what I learned in my graduate study. Also, the family atmosphere within the department was very supportive. The Winthrop program was not about putting you in a box; it was about defining who you were as an actress/actor, embracing that and then learning how to grow at what you do,” said Hampton.
While at Winthrop, she also was a member of the Mu Xi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Inc.
Hampton earned her undergraduate degree in theatre from Winthrop in 1998 and received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois.
Currently living in Los Angeles, California, Hampton offers master classes about her profession and works with charity organizations such as Feeding America. She has said in interviews that “her family is a family of philanthropists.” Both her father and grandfather are ministers who taught her that giving back is “what life’s purpose should be about.” These days, Shanola and her husband, Daren Dukes, whom she met at Winthrop, involve their two children in charity work and make it a family affair.
Second Commencement Speaker
The Commencement speaker for the 3 p.m. ceremony for the College of Business and Technology and the Richard W. Riley College of Education, Sport and Human Sciences is Rock Hill resident Warren Norman. Son of Fifth District Congressman Ralph Norman, R-SC, he is one of four managing partners in the family’s real estate business, the Warren Norman Company.
He provides leadership in commercial development and is involved in financial planning, securing debt and equity, project design and construction, site acquisition, development and zoning, leasing and site sales. He has been active with the creation of Miracle Park, the city of Rock Hill’s state-of-the-art park for people of all abilities. Norman has a bachelor’s degree in special education from Presbyterian College. His wife, Chrissi, graduated in 2000 from Winthrop with an art degree.
For more information on the May Commencement activities, please contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
