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by WILL FOLKS
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With her foundering campaign for governor of South Carolina languishing in fourth place per the latest polls, Palmetto State lieutenant governor Pamela Evette finally got some good news this week.
Students at S.C. State University – a historically black college located in Orangeburg, S.C. – launched a protest of her selection as the keynote speaker for the school’s commencement exercises, which are tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. EDT.
Evette’s moribund campaign instantly seized on the controversy – insisting the protest was proof of her status as the true “conservative choice” for governor of South Carolina.
Ironically, the dustup over Evette’s appearance came less than two weeks after white “Republicans” in the S.C. General Assembly installed an über-liberal former black judge as the school’s newest trustee.
Apparently, advancing alternative viewpoints is a one-way street in the Palmetto State…
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Anyway, Evette’s selection as commencement speaker was pilloried by the protesters.
“She can’t speak over us,” one said at a rally held earlier this week. “She doesn’t relate to us. She doesn’t support us. None of her viewpoints align with any black person that goes to this school. It’s a slap in the face. It’s distasteful. It’s disrespectful.”
As of Wednesday morning (April 29, 2026) nearly 9,000 people had signed a petition calling on the school to rescind the invitation to Evette, which it referred to as “a disservice to the values and mission that our institution stands for.”
Values which would seem to include ending sentences with prepositions…
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“Pamela Evette’s political positions and affiliations have raised significant controversy in South Carolina, especially among communities who feel marginalized by current state policies,” the petition noted. “Many students, families, and alumni are concerned that her presence at one of our most significant events does not reflect the values we collectively hold dear.”
Note the wording: “political positions and affiliations.” Not a word was said about Evette’s record… because she doesn’t have one.
Hence all of the pie-in-the-sky promising she’s been doing…
Nonetheless, presented with her first real opportunity to be defined to the South Carolina GOP electorate as something other than the lurkingly eager shadow of status quo governor Henry McMaster, Evette leaped with both feet.
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Let’s be clear: facts trump feelings in the real world. President @realDonaldTrump and conservatives have done more for HBCUs than any administration in history.
— Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (@PamelaEvette) April 28, 2026
Here is my response to the protests today at S.C. State University. pic.twitter.com/HYF4XjzZd0
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“I must be doing something right, because ‘woke mobs’ are coming after me for being a champion of eliminating radical DEI scams on college campuses,” the native Ohioan said.
Wait… “eliminating radical DEI scams?”
Last time we checked, no one was more on board with radical diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) scams than Pamela Evette. Last summer, in fact, our media outlet published an exhaustively researched article detailing her corporate history as South Carolina’s queen of DEI.
The Upstate company Evette founded, Quality Business Solutions (QBS), has a long history of embracing woke propaganda – included discredited DEI programs. Not only that, her company previously advertised its services as a way for employers to game the system when it comes to meeting arbitrary diversity spending goals.
“Pamela Evette got rich off inflicting radical liberal DEI human resource policies and trainings on South Carolina workers,” an operative familiar with her company’s history told us at the time.
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RELATED | EVETTE’S WOKE DEI HISTORY
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Hmmmm… maybe the protesters ought to rethink their petition?
Obviously, none of this cognitive dissonance is stopping Evette from beating the anti-woke drum.
“The left hates Trump,” she insisted. “They hate conservatives. They hate anything that doesn’t fit their woke ideology. Well, they are going to really hate my speech because it does the thing they hate the most – telling the truth.”
For Evette, that would be a first…
Hypocrisy notwithstanding, the controversy has the potential to put some serious wind in Evette’s sails at the very moment her candidacy was gasping for oxygen. That’s especially true if S.C. State keeps her on the dais next month – and her remarks are greeted by a walkout and/or cascade of boos.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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