The College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology presents the 2017 Founders’ Day & Honors Recognition Convocation. The event will start at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 29th in the William “Billy” J. Nicks Sr. Building. This year’s selected keynote speaker is attorney and CNN Political Commentator, Bakari Sellers.
Along with being an attorney and CNN Political Commentator, he is also a former South Carolina District Representative. As of 2017, Sellers was the first and youngest black elected official in the United States. Viewing himself as a public servant and not a politician, Sellers said he finds passion is speaking about civil rights, equality, education and faith. These subjects are a reflection of his family. His mother, Gwendolyn Sellers, worked in higher education and his father, Dr. Cleveland Sellers, a civil rights activist, currently serves as president of Vorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina.
Sellers is a 2005 graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta. While there, he held the position of Student Government Association President for the 2004-2005 academic school year. During his term, he also sat on the College’s Board of Trustees. After graduation, Sellers attended the University of South Carolina School of Law. He graduated with his Juris Doctorate in 2008 and started his career in politics.
He has worked for United States Congressman James Clyburn as a congressional intern, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin as a mayoral intern, and with the Southeastern Regional Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Sellers has been with the Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. since 2007 and represented South Carolina’s 90th district in the lower house of the state legislature from 2006 to 2014. In 2010, Time magazine featured him in their 40 Under 40 list.
Sellers served on the South Carolina Steering Committee for the Obama for America campaign from 2007 – 2008 and is a member of the St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. Following the Honors and Founders’ Day & Honors Recognition Convocation, he will host a session for students interested in law school.