Bulldog Class Notes for July 12, 2024
Sharing Good News about Alumni of South Carolina State University!
Capt. Patrick Burkett
Class of 1999
The ceremony was held at the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine and was presided over by Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath, commander, Fifth Coast Guard District.
Burkett reports to Sector Maryland-National Capital Region after previously serving as the chief of the 13th Coast Guard District’s Prevention Division from July 2021 to June 2024.
Previous operational assignments include Prevention Department head, Sector Jacksonville; executive officer, Marine Safety Unit Pittsburgh; investigating officer, Sector Hampton Roads, and marine inspector, Sector New Orleans and Sector Miami.
Burkett is a 1995 graduate of Hunter-Kinard-Tyler High School and a 1999 graduate of South Carolina State University and the Coast Guard College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative.
He also served as the Coast Guard liaison to Military Sealift Command, in which he was the primary advisor to the MSC commander to ensure vessel readiness for over 130 naval auxiliary vessels tasked to sustain global warfighting capability, provide combat support, and humanitarian aid around the globe.
The area of responsibility for Sector Maryland – National Capital Region spans the Potomac River, Chesapeake Bay north of the Virginia-Maryland line and its tributaries, as well as Ocean City and offshore Atlantic Ocean providing maritime safety, security, and environmental protection for the region.
Michael Allen
Class of 1982
The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement program is a 10-year restorative justice initiative launched in March 2023 in response to the Guardian founders’ connections to transatlantic enslavement. It is being designed and carried out in consultation with descendant communities in the US, Jamaica, the UK and elsewhere, centered on long-term initiatives and meaningful impact.
The initial act of the program was an apology, in recognition of the role the Guardian founder, John Edward Taylor, and his business backers played in slavery, which was a crime against humanity.
The program will incorporate a range of restorative justice actions focused on descendant communities and spanning apology and acknowledgment, truth-seeking and telling, and reparative actions.
Allen joins such eminent researchers as Professor Olivette Otele, a distinguished research professor of the legacies and memory of slavery at SOAS, University of London; Dr. Matthew Smith, professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at the University of London; and Professor Keith Magee, a senior fellow and visiting professor in cultural justice at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.
Allen grew up in Kingstree, South Carolina, and began his public career with the National Park Service in 1980. He served as the education specialist and site manager for the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site for 12 years, and was later appointed community partnership specialist for the Fort Sumter group.
In 2007 he became the executive director for the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. As a result of groundbreaking efforts by Allen and the community, the Reconstruction Era National Monument (now the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park) was established in Beaufort County, South Carolina, by presidential proclamation in 2017.
Allen has been involved in several other projects designed to engage new audiences in understanding and appreciating African and American history. He was a founding board member of the International African American Museum (IAAM), which opened in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2023.
You can read more about Allen's latest achievement here.
Dr. Monifa McKnight
Class of 1999
She previously served as the superintendent and deputy superintendent of MCPS, the largest district in Maryland, where she provided strategic vision and oversaw the education of more than 160,000 students.
McKnight received an Ed.D. in educational policy and leadership from the University of Maryland. She also holds a M.S. in education and administration and supervision from Bowie State University and a B.S. in elementary education from South Carolina State University.
Bridget Brown
Class of 1996
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business education from South Carolina State University, a master's degree in technology in education from Lesley University, a master's degree in educational leadership from Winthrop University, and a certificate of online teaching for K-12 from Clemson University.
Brown spent 17 years at her alma mater, Wilson High School, teaching CTE courses and serving as department chair, mentor teacher, committee advisor, and evaluator.
Before joining Williamsburg County, she worked as an assistant principal in Florence County School District Five.
Whitley Cheeseboro
Class of 2012
Cheeseboro brings experience and a strong educational background to her new role. She served as an elementary school teacher from 2012 to 2021 and has been a math interventionist since 2021.
Cheeseboro holds a specialist degree in educational leadership from Liberty University, a master’s in teaching elementary education from South Carolina State University, and a bachelor’s in history from the University of South Carolina Columbia.
Corey Haynes
Class of 2003
Corey Haynes joins Lake Marion High School with a diverse background in education and student services.
His previous roles include coordinator of student services in Allendale County School District, academic retention specialist/counselor at Claflin University, student concerns specialist for the School District of Charleston County and director of operations for the School District of Osceola County Public Schools in Florida.
He holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice from South Carolina State University and a master's degree in counseling from Webster University.