CCU Honorary Degrees, Commencement Speakers

In the early 1950s, a handful of community leaders were anxious about the socioeconomic perils that could befall a region without ready access to higher education. Those leaders set a goal, went to work, and on Sept. 20, 1954, Coastal Carolina Junior College held its first classes – after hours in Conway High School. In 1963, the institution opened its first building on the new campus, the Edward M. Singleton Building. On July 1, 1993, on the portico of the Singleton Building, S.C. Governor Carroll Campbell signed legislation that established an independent public university – Coastal Carolina University. The University awarded its first honorary degrees as part of the commencement ceremony in May of 1994.

Coastal Carolina University honorary degree recipients and their respective degrees are indicated below. Honorary degree recipients who delivered the commencement address are indicated with an asterisk. An August commencement was added to the academic calendar in 2013; while honorary degrees are not awarded during this convocation, University faculty who delivered the commencement address are shown in italics.