ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA — S.C. Representative Kambrell Garvin ’13 will deliver Winthrop University’s Aug. 23 Convocation keynote address on how his Winthrop experience impacted his life as an educator, lawyer, public servant, dad and husband.
Convocation will officially usher in Winthrop’s 136th year as a higher education institution. The ceremony serves as an official welcome to new freshmen and transfer students and their induction into the Winthrop community of learners.
Incoming students and the campus community will be in attendance at the 11 a.m. ceremony at the Winthrop Coliseum. The event is not open to the public due to current COVID-19 conditions, and anyone who attends is asked to wear a mask.
The event will be live streamed. The link can be found on Winthrop’s homepage the morning of Aug. 23.
During Winthrop’s Convocation ceremony, students will be welcomed to Rock Hill by Interim President George Hynd, as well as Glenn McCall, chair of the Board of Trustees; Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys; Erin Emiroglu, chair of the Council of Student Leaders; Jennifer Jordan, chair of Faculty Conference; and John Kroft ’18, chair of Staff Conference.
Incoming students will learn about Garvin’s college experience and the lessons he learned. He will talk about the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity that college will afford and meeting new people especially those that share different backgrounds/experiences. He'll also cover the importance of getting involved on campus/community, overcoming adversity, and the power of time, truth and liberty.
A native of Columbia, South Carolina, he is an attorney with McGowan, Hood and Felder, and represents District 77 in the General Assembly.
The Blythewood resident graduated from Winthrop in 2013 with a degree in political science and a minor in African American studies and sociology. During his college years, Garvin served as the student government president, an ex-officio member of the Winthrop University Board of Trustees, a voting member of the university’s 10th Presidential Search and Selection Committee and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Upon graduation, Garvin worked as a public school teacher for the Colleton County School District for three years with the Teach for America program. He earned a master’s degree in education from the Johns Hopkins University School of Education in 2016 and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2019.
First elected to political office in 2018, Garvin serves as vice chairman of the Richland County Legislative Delegation and as the parliamentarian for the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus. He is a member of the Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs and the Legislative Oversight committees in the S.C. House of Representatives.
He and his wife, Monique Patton Garvin ’14, have a daughter, Wrenley.
For more information about Convocation, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or e-mail her at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
