Vice President's Forum on Inclusive Excellence at Claflin Set for Monday April 10 in Arthur Rose Museum

The Vice President’s Forum on Inclusive Excellence will host a panel discussion at Claflin University on Monday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in the Arthur Rose Museum.  The Vice President’s Forum on Inclusive Excellence is presented by the Division of Student Development and Services at Claflin.  The purpose of the event is to highlight Claflin’s ability to incorporate the diverse backgrounds, traditions, and experiences of faculty, staff, and students in realizing the goal of an inclusive community that values excellence in scholarship, teaching and learning, and student development.  

Contact Devin Randolph at 803-535-5301 or email to devin.randolph@claflin.edu for more information or to RSVP.

“The forum will focus on student intellectual and social development, encouraging a welcoming community that engages diversity in student and organizational learning, said Dr. Leroy Durant, vice president for Student Development and Services at Claflin. “We also want to acknowledge our acceptance of the cultural differences all students and faculty bring to the educational experience.”

Guest panelists for the forum are Ebony Jade Hilton Buchholz, M.D., author, community activist and first African-American female anesthesiologist hired at Medical University of South Carolina; Erica McKinney, Esq., judicial law clerk, United States District Court for the District of South Carolina; Megan Rivers, multi-media journalist and ABC News 4 producer; Chris Powers, speaker, consultant, manager of recruitment and diversity education for Medical University of South Carolina; and Kimberly Butler Willis, director of the Roper St. Francis Ryan White Wellness Center.

"We are extremely pleased to bring such an outstanding group of accomplished professionals to the Claflin campus community." said Devin Randolph, assistant vice president/director, Residential Life.  "They represent diversity and visionary leadership in their respective professions. We are looking to forward to hearing their perspectives on diversity and inclusion in the 21st  Century and what lessons they have learned about achieving and sustaining success."

Dr. Buchholz is a native of Little Africa, South Carolina. She graduated from Spartanburg High School in 2000 and earned bachelor's degrees at the College of Charleston in biochemistry, molecular biology and organic chemistry. She graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in 2008 and later completed her anesthesiology residency and Critical Care fellowship. On July 1, 2013 she became the first African-American female anesthesiologist to be hired at MUSC since its opening in 1824. In addition to pioneering medicine, Dr. Hilton is an author of children’s books.

McKinney is a native of Chicago, Ill.  Prior to her federal clerkship, she served as a judicial law clerk at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. McKinney is an alumnus of American University Washington College of Law.  She earned a bachelor's at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in broadcast journalism with a minor in African American Studies.