Woody McClain to keynote Denmark Tech’s 77th commencement convocation

Denmark Technical College named actor and producer Woody McClain as keynote speaker for its 77th annual commencement convocation, giving Bamberg County students and families a rare chance to hear a nationally known entertainer without leaving the region. McClain, publicly described as an actor from Charleston, South Carolina, is known for playing Bobby Brown in The New Edition Story and Cane Tejada in Power Book II: Ghost.

The ceremony was held in the William L. McDuffie Student Services Center on the main campus, with the processional beginning at 9:50 a.m. and the program immediately following. Graduates and completers were required to check in by 8:00 a.m. in the Small Auditorium, Building 029. Each graduate or completer received four guest tickets, and the college said no extra tickets were available. Tickets and regalia were distributed May 1, 2026, after rehearsal.

McClain’s selection fit a pattern at Denmark Tech of bringing high-profile speakers from entertainment and public life to the Bamberg County campus. The college named Brandon T. Jackson as its 2025 commencement speaker, Congressman James E. Clyburn as its 2024 speaker and Denny’s executive April Kelly-Drummond as its 2022 speaker. That mix has helped frame commencement as more than a ceremony, but as one of the college’s most visible stages for ambition, achievement and public recognition.

The scale of that moment showed up in last year’s ceremony, when Denmark Technical College conferred 335 associate degrees, certificates and diplomas at its 76th annual commencement in 2025. That program also featured an alumni salute led by National Alumni Association President and Area Commissioner James W. Bowden Sr., underscoring how deeply the college’s traditions are tied to the families and graduates who keep returning to campus.

McClain’s career path also gave the keynote a practical message for students weighing careers in entertainment, media and other public-facing fields. A TV Insider profile said he was nominated for a NAACP Image Award in 2019 for The Bobby Brown Story, adding to the attention he earned through roles that brought South Carolina roots into nationally watched productions. For Denmark Tech graduates, the speaker choice put a familiar regional success story on a stage built to launch the next one.