Coastal Carolina University will recognize its newest graduates during commencement exercises on May 2-4. The events include a University ceremony in Brooks Stadium and college-specific ceremonies in the HTC Center. Approximately 1,600 students are eligible to participate in the exercises, which will also be livestreamed. Visit the commencement website for complete details, including a full schedule of events. The ceremonies will also be livestreamed.

The University ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m. in Brooks Stadium. This is a campus-wide celebration of all the students graduating from the University’s academic colleges. As part of the ceremony, each college dean steps forward to request that CCU President Michael T. Benson confer degrees on the college’s candidates as they stand to be recognized en masse. The event will also feature remarks by Benson; Oran P. Smith, a member of the CCU board of trustees; Sara Hottinger, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs; Diane Sanders, vice president for advancement and alumni engagement; Gabrielle Ryder, Student Government Association president; and Rachel Jeric, an interdisciplinary studies major from Conway, S.C., who will speak on behalf of the Class of 2024. The keynote address will be delivered by retired South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Clifton B. Newman, who will receive the honorary degree Doctor of Public Service.

The college-specific ceremonies reflect the personalities of each of CCU’s six academic colleges, but all will include addresses from guest speakers and presentation of degrees. The college dean presides over their respective ceremony, which is where the graduates’ names will be announced as they cross the stage and receive their diploma cover.

College-specific ceremonies schedule (HTC Center):

Friday, May 3

10 a.m., Conway Medical Center College of Health and Human Performance
2 p.m., Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts
6 p.m., Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences

Saturday, May 4

10 a.m., E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration
2 p.m., Gupta College of Science and HTC Honors College

Newman was born and raised in Williamsburg County amidst the tobacco and cotton fields of rural South Carolina. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctorate from Cleveland State University and practiced law in Cleveland for six years before returning to South Carolina, establishing a law practice, and serving as an assistant solicitor.

After 24 years as a practicing attorney, the South Carolina General Assembly unanimously elected him to the Circuit Court in 2000. Aside from his regular docket, he was a Business Court Judge and appointed by the South Carolina Supreme Court to serve as a special referee in several complex matters. He served as the presiding judge over the Multi-Week Trial Docket, a specialized docket of complex construction and other multi-week cases along coastal South Carolina.

Newman has presided in each of the 46 counties of the state and over numerous high-profile criminal cases, including The State of South Carolina v. Michael Slager, a police shooting in Charleston County; The State of South Carolina v. Nathaniel Rowland, known as the “Fake Uber” case; and, most recently, The State of South Carolina v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh.

Newman retired in 2023 after 23 years of service and is now an active/retired circuit court judge and a mediator/arbitrator with JAMS, a leading dispute resolution firm.