Voorhees University sets May 1 baccalaureate and hooding ceremony speaker

Darrell Jackson Sr., the Columbia pastor and state senator who once became South Carolina’s youngest African American senator ever elected, will speak at Voorhees University’s annual Baccalaureate and Hooding Ceremony for the Class of 2026.

Voorhees said the ceremony will be held Friday, May 1, 2026, at 6 p.m. on the second floor of Wright/Potts Library in Denmark. The event is open to graduates, their families and invited guests, placing one of the school’s signature graduation traditions at the center of a weekend meant to move seniors from students to alumni.

The university’s choice of Jackson underscores the message Voorhees wants graduates to carry into public life. Jackson was born in Columbia on Feb. 1, 1957, earned a bachelor’s degree from Benedict College and a master’s degree from Columbia International University, and served as president of Benedict’s student government association. Before his election to the South Carolina Senate in November 1992, he was a commissioner for Richland County School District One. He still represents Senate District 21 and serves as senior pastor of Bible Way Church of Atlas Road in Columbia.

Voorhees President Ronnie Hopkins said the university wanted a speaker whose leadership, service and faith would resonate with graduates as they enter the next phase of life. That fits a ceremony that the school describes as formal, reflective and ecumenical, more than a calendar stop on commencement week. It is also a reminder that Voorhees continues to use graduation season to connect academic achievement with civic responsibility.

The setting carries its own symbolism. Wright/Potts Library was named in 1986 to honor Elizabeth Evelyn Wright and John Potts, tying the ceremony to the university’s history and to Wright’s decision to found Voorhees in 1897 after coming to Bamberg County. The university, a private historically Black institution affiliated with the Episcopal Church, says it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master’s and doctorate degrees.

The May 1 ceremony comes as Voorhees also prepares a Golden Celebration for the Class of 1976 on May 1 and 2, bringing multiple generations back to campus at the same time. Hopkins, appointed as the school’s 10th president in July 2021, has tied his leadership to a push for excellence that blends faith, partnership and community engagement. For Bamberg County and the Denmark campus, the message is clear: Voorhees is still producing graduates for churches, classrooms, boardrooms and public office.