[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 29, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E412-E413]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO DR. LUNS C. RICHARDSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 29, 2017

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a patriotic 
American, outstanding South Carolina, and very special friend and 
constituent, Dr. Luns C. Richardson. He is retiring after 43 years as 
President of Morris College in my hometown of Sumter, South Carolina, 
the alma mater of both my parent.
  Dr. Luns C. Richardson is the longest serving college president in 
South Carolina and the ninth president of Morris College. He is a 
native of Hartsville, where he graduated from Butler High School in 
1945 as Class Valedictorian. He received the A.B. degree (magna cum 
laude) from Benedict College and the M.A. degree in higher education 
administration at Teachers College, Columbia University. He pursued 
additional studies at my alma mater, South Carolina State University, 
Rutgers University and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
  Dr. Richardson held several significant positions in secondary, 
vocational and higher education before becoming President of Morris 
College in 1974. He served fifteen years at Denmark Technical College 
(then known as South Carolina Area Trade School) as Dean of Men, 
Chaplain and teacher, two years as the principal of St. Helena High 
School, Frogmore, South Carolina, and one year as the principal of 
Wilson High School, in Florence, South Carolina. He also served six 
years at Benedict College, the last sixteen months as Acting President. 
Prior to his assuming the presidency of Morris College, he was the 
Executive Vice President at Voorhees College in Denmark, South 
Carolina. He served as pastor of Thankful Baptist Church in Bamberg, 
South Carolina for 56 years, 1958 until 2014.
  My family's relationship with Morris College is very personal. My 
mother graduated from Morris College in 1953 when I was 12 years old. 
My father studied theology at Morris in the early 1940s for three years 
but was not allowed to finish his studies because he had not graduated 
from high school. Having been bom in 1897 in segregated South Carolina, 
my father was never allowed to advance beyond the seventh grade. Though 
he was not allowed to graduate in 1945 as he should have, thanks to Dr. 
Richardson and the Board of Trustees, he was posthumously awarded his 
Bachelor of Theology Degree 58 years later in 2003, a most proud moment 
for my family and for me.
  Under Dr. Richardson's leadership, numerous developments have taken 
place at Morris College: the liquidation of a half-million 
indebtedness, the construction of 17 new buildings, an increase in 
library holdings to more than 132,000 volumes, faculty upgrading to 72 
percent earned doctorates, curriculum expansion including at least 16 
new majors and an Army ROTC unit.
  The endowment has grown from $30,000 to more than $12 million. He 
also led Morris College in its initial accreditation by the Southern 
Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges in 1978 and 
to membership in the United Negro College Fund in 1982.

[[Page E413]]

  Dr. Richardson has received more than 100 honors and awards, locally, 
statewide, regionally, and nationally from Greek letter organizations, 
churches, conventions, schools, colleges, civic organizations, states 
and cities. Benedict College and Teachers College, Columbia University, 
have named him outstanding alumnus. Morris College, Benedict College, 
and Coker College have conferred on him honorary doctorate degrees, as 
well as Simmons Bible College in Louisville, Kentucky. As a leader in 
the community and throughout South Carolina, he has served on many 
Boards and Commissions to include the South Carolina Chamber of 
Commerce Board.
  Mr. Speaker, the full list of Dr. Richardson's accomplishments could 
fill volumes in the Congressional Record. It suffices to say, Dr. Luns 
C. Richardson is a giant of a man whose impact on the countless lives 
he touched, the City of Sumter, the state of South Carolina and indeed 
the entire nation will be felt throughout the ages.

                          ____________________