[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 79 (Thursday, June 6, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM ``BILL'' HAMILTON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2013

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a loyal 
South Carolina State University bulldog, who dedicated his entire 
career to his alma mater. Mr. William ``Bill'' Hamilton is retiring 
after forty years of service as the SC State Sports Information 
Director, and his presence and leadership will be sorely missed.
  Bill Hamilton was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but grew up in 
Chesterfield, South Carolina. There he attended public schools and 
graduated from the former Gary High School.
  As an African American growing up in the deep South just as 
integration was beginning to take hold, Bill chose to attend South 
Carolina's only publicly supported historically black college. He 
graduated from South Carolina State College (SCSU) in 1973 with a 
bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature. He went on to 
earn a Master of Education degree from SC State in 1979, and did 
further study at New York University.
  Just two months after his 1973 graduation, Bill joined SC State as 
its first full-time sports information director. He holds the 
distinction of being the only person to hold that position in the 
history of the college.
  Bill has earned numerous professional and civic awards during a long 
and distinguished career. Most recently he received the 2013 College 
Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Lifetime Achievement 
Award. He has also been the recipient of CoSIDA's Bob Kenworthy 
Community Service Award (1998), the CoSIDA 25-Year Service Award 
(1998), the CoSIDA Trailblazer Award (2005) and the CoSIDA Arch Ward 
Award (2009).
  Other awards include the All-American Football Foundation Scoop 
Hudgins Outstanding SID Award (2005), the BCSIDA Cal Jacox-Champ Clark 
Outstanding SID Award (1989), and the Herm Helms Media Excellence Award 
(2012).
  Hamilton was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2009. He is 
also enshrined in the MEAC Hall of Fame (2009), the SCSU Physical 
Education Hall of Fame (2011) and the SCSU Athletic Hall of Fame 
(2002).
  In addition, he was named Staff Employee of the Year at SC State in 
1999 and also inducted into the Quarter Century Club. He was selected 
as a NAFEO (National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher 
Education) Distinguished Alumnus (2006), and appeared as a Stellar 
Alumnus on the SC State National Alumni Association's 2010 calendar. He 
is a Life Member of the Greater Orangeburg Alumni Chapter of SCSU.
  A member of a number of professional and civic organizations, 
Hamilton is actively involved in the sports industry and his community. 
He is a longtime pollster for the Sheridan Broadcasting Network (SBN) 
and The Sports Network, and served on the NCAA Final Four Media 
Coordination Committee nine years (1999-2007). He is the former 
chairman of the Orangeburg Attention Homes, Inc., a former board member 
and local chapter president of the Alston Wilkes Society, and currently 
a board member of the SC State Employees Association and president of 
the Orangeburg Chapter of SCSEA.
  In addition, he is a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. 
and was named the fraternity's ``Kappa Man of the Year'' in 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Bill Hamilton for his 40 years of distinguished service as South 
Carolina State University's Sports Information Director. His commitment 
to his alma mater and his profession are exemplary, and his 
contributions are incalculable. His retirement is well-deserved and I 
wish him all the best in this new phase of his life.

                          ____________________