Staff reports | The Riley Institute at Furman University in January will honor the late state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, the pastor slain in June with eight worshippers in Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, with the David H. Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership, the Institute has announced.
It said the posthumous recognition would be accepted by Pinckney’s widow, Jennifer, at the Institute’s annual awards dinner on Jan. 12, 2016, in Columbia.
“Senator Pinckney’s life was characterized by humility, intelligence and a commitment to those citizens left out of the economic mainstream in South Carolina,” said Riley Institute Executive Director Don Gordon. “He worked with colleagues in the Senate and elsewhere for the common good in our state. “
Also to be recognized with the Wilkins Award for Excellence in Civic Leadership are S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and outgoing Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, both of whom will speak at the event and discuss their collaboration during the crisis involving the deaths the Emanuel Nine.
The annual ceremony honors David Wilkins, who served as speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives and as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Wilkins will co-host the event with former U.S. Secretary of Education and former two-term governor of South Carolina Dick Riley and Furman President Elizabeth Davis. More.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!