Board of Trustees selects Conyers as 13th president of SC State University

South Carolina State University’s Board of Trustees on Thursday unanimously voted to name Alexander Conyers to be the university’s 13th president.

"This is our time,” Trustees Chairman Rodney C. Jenkins said following the vote. “I am a man of faith, and I am certain that President Conyers has been chosen to lead this university for such a time as this. Alexander Conyers is the righteous way for SC State.”

The board’s decision ratified the Trustees’ ad-hoc presidential search committee’s April 21 vote to recommend Conyers for the post.

“I am both humbled and excited about today’s vote by the Board of Trustees to name me president of SC State University,” Conyers said Thursday. “I thank the Board of Trustees for the trust they are placing in me to continue the momentum we have built at SC State University over the past year.

“I feel honored and privileged to carry out the board’s vision for more success,” Conyers said. “Together with our brilliant faculty and intrepid staff, I know we can bring SC State to greater heights.”

Conyers already has served at the university’s helm for more than nine months. The board named him acting president on July 13 and changed the designation to interim president on Aug. 25.

“This is a responsibility I take with utmost sincerity and respect, for I know the enormity of what is at stake,” Conyers said in accepting the permanent position. “SC State is a cherished asset for the people of South Carolina, and we must nurture, protect and polish it with resolve. Bulldog tenacity is more than a catchphrase -- it’s a promise to rise to every challenge.”

Conyers is a 1989 SC State graduate who returned to his alma mater last year after a lengthy career in the U.S. Army. He retired as a colonel and arrived back at SC State as vice president for strategic alliances and initiatives in May 2021.

“When I set foot on this campus as a student in 1986, I had no idea I would one day sit in the president’s chair carrying out the legacy established by the exceptional leaders who built SC State into the dynamic institution we know and love today,” Conyers said. “My wife Agatha and I, and our children, Ace and Ally, are most grateful for this opportunity to represent this institution.

“SC State is a family in every sense of the word. That family will always do remarkable, transformational things for our students, for their families and for the people of South Carolina,” he said.

Jenkins said Conyers has the support of state and local lawmakers, corporate and business partners, and most importantly, the university’s faculty, staff and students.

“Now, we cannot take our feet off of the gas,” Jenkins said. “Because of his leadership over the past nine months, this university has already begun its ascension as the first choice for men and women who desire to receive undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in their chosen career fields.

“With this level of buy-in, we can’t help but to succeed,” Jenkins said.

The chairman thanked all of the university’s stakeholders who raised their voices and let the board know who they believed was the right person for the job. He also thanked the president and First Lady Agatha Conyers for giving time, energy, ideas, and love to SC State.

“We look forward to continuing to build our university family around you as you focus primarily on transforming the lives of our students; and we pledge our support and resources to helping you reinforce a legacy that will last for another 125 years,” Jenkins said.

Conyers is an experienced servant leader with over 28 years in the U.S. Army. He is a proven leader who has led complex organizations in areas of leadership, recruitment, retention, training, human resources, finance and budget, safety, and accreditation. His assignments consisted of many stateside locations including two tours at the Pentagon and South Korea, Canada, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Conyers most recently served in Washington, D.C., in the Senior Executive Service (federal government just below Presidential Appointees) as the deputy assistant secretary of the Army (Review Boards); a two-star general equivalent. In this capacity, he led the Army Review Boards Agency, which on behalf of the Secretary of the Army serves as the highest administrative level for review and appeal of personnel actions taken by lower levels of the Army. The agency administers 12 different boards and adjudicates over 20,000 cases annually from soldiers, veterans and family members. He was responsible for boards that adjudicate cases involving evaluation and promotions, discharge upgrades, physical disability, eliminations, the parole board for military prisoners and other cases.

He culminated his military career in 2016 after rising from private to colonel as the leader of the Army’s largest and most complex military police brigade. He led over 3,600 soldiers and civilians across four military installations: Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, Ft. Stewart, Georgia, Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and Ft. Drum, New York. He was also responsible for the safety of the Ft. Bragg community with a population of over 100,000 personnel.

Conyers remained intimately involved with SC State even while serving in the Army. He served as member of the SC State Board of Visitors, Chairman of the Student Relations Committee for the SC State University National Alumni Association and a member of the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee. He was featured as a 2016 honoree on the Stellar Alumni Calendar. He has also been inducted into SC State ROTC Hall of Fame and most recently served as president of the Washington, D.C., Chapter of the National Alumni Association.

A Manning, South Carolina, native. Conyers holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from SC State, a master’s degree in corrections from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in public administration from Troy University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and The University of North Carolina’s Leadership, Excellence and Development (LEAD) program. He is a member of several professional associations, including the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education, and a former adjunct professor at Upper Iowa University.