Legacy on the Line: What Happens When Leadership Drifts from Community

As South Carolina State University found itself at the center of a national conversation, I cringed. My parents are alumni; my grandfathers worked there; one of my uncles taught ROTC there; and another founded and named the Champagne Dancers, of which my mom was an inaugural member. During the fall, my daughter and I are most likely at a football game, cheering on the SCSU Bulldogs and the Marching 101 Band.

Hearing the announcement that Pamela Evette, a gubernatorial hopeful and outspoken supporter of Donald Trump, would serve as commencement speaker was shocking to say the least. What followed was a familiar, escalating cycle: protest, public response, deeper outrage, and ultimately, the rescinding of the invitation.

And then, almost on cue, came the retaliation.

Nine elected officials have since called for the university to be defunded.

If you’ve been paying attention, not just to this moment, but to the broader landscape of leadership across sectors, none of this should feel surprising.

Not the decision.

Not the backlash.

And certainly not the consequences.

The Leadership Decision Beneath the Headlines

Let’s start with something that may be uncomfortable, but necessary: I do not believe that President Col. Alexander Conyers made this decision out of ill will.

In fact, I think it’s far more likely that he made it out of calculation.

Because South Carolina State University is still fighting for the hundreds of millions of dollars the state owes it, a staggering funding gap that has long represented not just a financial injustice but a systemic one.

And when you are leading an institution that has been historically underfunded, overlooked, and forced to do more with less, the pressure to secure resources is not theoretical.

It is constant.

It is urgent.

It is real.

So yes, it is entirely plausible that this decision was made with the belief that proximity to power could move the institution closer to receiving what it is rightfully owed.

And that is precisely why this moment matters.

Because it reveals something deeper than a single decision.

It reveals what happens when leadership begins to follow money instead of being anchored in values.

The Cost of Compromised Alignment

When leaders prioritize access, funding, or influence over alignment with their community, they rarely get the outcome they were hoping for.

Instead, they get something far more costly:

They lose trust.

And once trust is fractured, especially in communities that have already experienced historical harm, it is not easily rebuilt.

For students and alumni, this wasn’t just about a commencement speaker.

It was about what that choice represented.

It raised questions like:

• Who is this institution accountable to?

• What does it actually stand for?

• And at what point do financial considerations outweigh community values?

These are not small questions.

And they are not unique to this moment.

This Pattern Is Bigger Than One Institution

What happened at South Carolina State University is not isolated.

We have seen versions of this play out across the nonprofit sector, where organizations that once stood firmly for equity have quietly, or publicly, walked those commitments back in response to political pressure.

We have seen it in corporate spaces, where companies like Target have shifted their posture on DEI initiatives when faced with backlash, choosing risk mitigation over values alignment.

And in each of these cases, the rationale is often the same:

• Protect the funding.

• Maintain access.

• Avoid controversy.

But what leaders often fail to anticipate is this:

When you step away from your values to avoid conflict, you don’t eliminate the conflict.

You multiply it.

Values Are Not Situational

Effective leadership is not defined by easy decisions.

The hard ones define it.

It is defined by what you do when the stakes are high, the pressure is real, and the path forward is not clear.

Anyone can lead when the values are convenient.

But true leadership is revealed when those values come at a cost.

And let’s be clear:

Leading with your values will cost you something.

It may cost you access, it may cost you funding, it may cost you relationships with people in power.

But abandoning your values?

That costs you credibility.

It costs you alignment.

And ultimately, it costs you the very community you are meant to serve.

The Backlash Is the Lesson

What we are witnessing now, the protests, the rescinded invitation, the threats to defund the institution, is a case study.

A decision intended to secure financial support has now placed the institution in an even more precarious position.

This is what happens when leaders are forced to choose between values and resources, and choose resources without fully accounting for the consequences.

It rarely leads to greater stability; in fact, it often leads to greater scrutiny.

A Call for Courageous Leadership

This moment is not about condemnation.

It is about clarity.

Because leaders across sectors are navigating similar pressures right now.

The political climate is shifting, funding streams are uncertain, equity work is being challenged at every level.

And in this environment, it can be tempting to make decisions that feel strategic in the short term but are misaligned in the long term.

But here is the truth:

Courageous leadership is not about avoiding risk.

It is about choosing which risks are worth taking.

And for leaders committed to equity, the risk of stepping outside your values should never be the one you are most willing to take.

Because Your Community Is Watching

They are watching how you make decisions, they are watching what you prioritize, they are watching who you align yourself with.

And most importantly, they are watching whether your actions reflect the values you claim to hold.

When your roots are tied to a place like South Carolina State University, you understand that its legacy is too important to be negotiated in moments of pressure.

And that’s the lesson here.

Leadership that chases access will always risk losing alignment.

Leadership that holds its values, especially when it’s hard, builds trust that no amount of funding can replace.

If this moment teaches us anything, it’s this:

Courageous, values-aligned leadership is not optional. It is the only kind that sustains legacy.