Claflin foundation crucial to her life, bishop says

Bishop Dr. Robin Dease was elected bishop by the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church and consecrated on Nov. 4, 2022. Her first assignment as bishop is to the North Georgia Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church. (Photo special to The Panther)

Claflin is where it all began.

Claflin University held a celebration Feb. 17 to honor Bishop Dr. Robin Dease, a member of Claflin’s Board of Trustees who was elected bishop by the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church and consecrated on Nov. 4, 2022.

“It was here at Claflin that I came of age,” Dease said.

She is grateful to her late parents for making the move from New York to South Carolina. She also credits Jonas and Odette Kennedy, major benefactors of the university, for encouraging her to give Claflin a chance.

“I will never regret those words,” Dease said.

“It was here that I learned to love my Blackness,” Dease said.

Dease is a 1992 graduate of Claflin University. She is also a member of the Gamma Nu chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

She learned her work ethic at Claflin.

Dease was a work-study student working in the kitchen at Claflin and was later hired. Dease said she wouldn’t have worked for Marriot if she didn’t have the experience she needed from working at Claflin.

She is also a former chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Claflin University.

“It was here within these walls and halls that God called me to ministry,” Dease said. She is the fourth Claflin alum to be elected a bishop.

“It was here that I made lifeline friends who helped me nurture that call,” Dease said. She considers her friends to be a part of her family and says she wouldn’t have them without Claflin.

“It was at Claflin professors and staff groomed and taught me disciplined and loved me,” Dease said.

She carries Claflin confidence with her throughout her journey and knows that her alma mater stands in support of her.

“It was here that I learned about The United Methodist Church and her extensions that seek to witness for Jesus Christ,” Dease said, “It was here at Claflin God orchestrated my life in deep and spiritual ways.”

After graduating in 1992, she joined the South Carolina Conference. She became a full-time local pastor in 1998 and was ordained an elder in 2001.

“I can never forget my alma mater, my nurturing mother, my roots, my beginnings, my first love,” Dease said.

She currently serves as the chair of the academic excellence committee on the board of trustees.

"I am humbled and grateful and thankful for all of the love,” Dease said.

Dease’s first assignment as bishop is to the North Georgia Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church. She began service in North Georgia on Jan. 1, 2023.