Claflin University: The Best HBCU Tucked Away On The Hilltop High

Hey Honey! Hey Sweetie! Hey Sugar! Those arent cat calls but the sugar-dipped names you were baptized with when you walked on campus.

Hey Honey! Hey Sweetie! Hey Sugar! When you go to lunch, a carefree cafeteria lady dancing to Knuck If You Buck checks your I.D. and you make a beeline to your daily table.

Hey Honey! Hey Sweetie! Hey Sugar! Every turn is like a family reunion and like Cheers, everybody knows your name.

Hey Honey! Hey Sweetie! Hey Sugar! Welcome to Claflin University.

If youve never heard of it, its one of the Souths best kept secrets on the hilltop high and one of the top 10 HBCUs youd be lucky to graduate from. Over 150 years ago, Claflin was the first South Carolina university open to all regardless of race. Today, our quaint but growing HBCU continues to welcome diverse students and nurture their passion to change not only their own circumstances, but the world. During our matriculation, we all became a part of a unique learning tradition that focuses on the whole person.

We pray before and after every event but still know how to take over for the 99 and the 2000. So, we didnt and still dont have a football team but wed walk across the fence to South Carolina State University to watch and cheer their games. We all proudly learned the words to Lift Every Voice and Sing and can recite our universitys past and present. And everyone thats walked through Claflins doors has added to the rich fabric of African American history that we cant ignore.

Its home to over 2,000 students looking to find their way. Claflin churns out leaders, and were equipped with what we call the Claflin Confidence. Go ahead and enter Panther Town with your head down but prepare to leave with it held way up high. That confidence was instilled in us by all of our professors from day one. Professors who taught us our history, like Dr. Ratcliff, who pauses and exclaims Hello! every time he drops a gem. And Mrs. Alice Carson Tisdale who looks her Honors College kids up and down, above the rim of her glasses, to make sure their professional attire was on point. And Claflins President, Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, who walks across campus every day, learns all of our names and represents us all over the country as our visionary leader.

When my confidence is rusty, I think about my journey to now, which started on the hilltop high, I polish it and put it back up on a mantle because Claflin taught me. Its that confidence that helped us leave the warmth of Orangeburg, SC and walk into the cold corporate world. Its that confidence thats helped us become doctors, authors, teachers, therapists, nurses, counselors, journalists, publicists and music artists. Its that confidence that inspires us to sing Claflins praises and inspire students to apply to our alma mater.

Theres a reason Claflin has the highest alumni giving among HBCUs across the country. We give back because Claflin gave to us. We give back because we are leal and loyal alumni. You should always leave a place better than you found it, so we give back and we go back to Claflin. And sometimes just to hear that familiar and warm, Hey Honey! Hey Sweetie! Hey Sugar! Because its home.