SC Humanities is Pleased to Welcome Four New Board Members

SC Humanities is pleased to announce the FY2022 Board of Directors who begin their terms on November 1, 2021.

Four new members will join the Board of Directors in 2021: Brenton Brown of Columbia, Alli Crandell of Conway, Jennifer Gunter of Columbia, and Lucas McMillan of Greenwood.

 

Brenton Brown serves as the Chief of Staff for the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs. In this role he works to advance the agency’s public policy and community advocacy efforts on behalf of South Carolina’s ethnic minority communities. He is an alumnus of The Citadel and the University of South Carolina School of Law, a graduate of Leadership South Carolina, and has been recognized by The State newspaper as a member of its Top 20 Under 40. Outside of work he enjoys time with his wife and son, and is an avid reader.

 

 

Alli Crandell is the director of The Athenaeum Press at Coastal Carolina University, a student-driven publishing lab that focuses on regional, collaborative, and transmedia storytelling. She is also the interim director of the Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies at CCU. She earned her M.S. in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech. She and her wife enjoy exploring the foodways and hidden histories of South Carolina.

 

Jennifer H. Gunter, Ph.D., is the Director of the Collaborative on Race in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina. With COR, she focuses on education, facilitation, and connection. She holds an M.A. in Southern Studies and a Ph.D. in History and specializes in the intersections of region, gender, race, health, law, and activism. Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, she and her husband now proudly call South Carolina home.

 

 

Dr. Lucas McMillan is Dean of the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Lander University.  A native of Mullins, S.C., he earned a B.A. from Wofford College, M.A. in international relations from the University of Warwick in England, and Ph.D. in political science from the University of South Carolina.  As dean, he has led efforts to enhance community partnerships, some of which have been supported with grants from S.C. Humanities.  He, his wife, and their sons live in Greenwood.

 

Board Members continuing to serve are: David Hodges (Chair) of Columbia, Jennifer Thomas (Vice Chair) of Greenville, Richard Brown (Secretary) of Columbia; Tom Mack (Past Chair) of Aiken; Leslie Walker Bickford of Rock Hill; Duff Bruce of Greenville; Eric Crawford of Columbia, Tom Crosby of Columbia, Mary Ellen Fuller of Alcolu; Bonnie Hargrove of Beaufort; George D. Jebaily of Florence, Lisa Kerr of Charleston; Isaiah McGee of Orangeburg; S.C. (Cal) McMeekin, Jr. of Columbia; Dollie Newhouse of Irmo, James E. Smith, Jr. of Columbia; and Ashlye V. Wilkerson of Columbia.

SC Humanities bids a sad farewell to three outstanding Board Members who retired from the Board in 2021: Will Balk of Williston, Beryl Dakers of Columbia, and Jo Angela Edwins of Florence. Each served South Carolina Humanities with great diligence and passion and will be sincerely missed.

The Board of Directors of SC Humanities consists of volunteer academic and public members. Board members initiate and develop projects, seek to make the humanities accessible statewide, and take active roles in fundraising. Open nominations for Board Members occur annually. For more information about serving on the Board of SC Humanities, contact Executive Director Randy Akers at 803-771-2477.