Dr. Cleveland L. Sellers, Jr.
President of Voorhees College
(803) 780-1019
A political activist, civil-rights pioneer,
educator, and administrator, Dr. Cleveland L.
Sellers, Jr., from his youth until this present
day, has had a profound impact on American
history, life, and culture.
As a young man, Dr. Sellers aligned himself
with the veterans of the civil-rights
movement. Joining the Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he traveled the
south in the 1960s urging African-Americans to
register to vote and worked as an advocate for
justice and human rights.
Dr. Sellers is a graduate of Shaw University
(B.S.), Harvard University (M.A.), and the
University of North Carolina-Greensboro (Ed.D.).
Dr. Sellers served as Director of the
African-American Studies Program at the
University of South Carolina. He also taught in
the Department of History and the
African-American Studies Program. He is a former
member of the South Carolina State Board of
Education, Second Judicial District.
Active in any community in which he resides,
Dr. Sellers is a warden at St. Philip’s
Episcopal Church in Denmark, South Carolina and
serves as president of the Denmark Recreation
Center, Inc. He also served on the board of the
Episcopal Church Foundation.
Dr. Sellers is a member of several
organizations including the South Carolina
Association of School Administrators, the
Southern Conference on Afro-American Studies,
Inc., the South Carolina Historical Society, the
Southern Historical Association, the
Organization of American Historians, and the
Kosmos Club. He was named “Who’s Who Among South
and Southeastern University Faculty,” 1996-1997.
He is the author of “The River of No Return,”
and has published articles in scholarly
journals. He has served as a historian and
consultant for several documentary films
including “ESPN’s Black Magic,” Tom Brokaw’s
“1968,” College of Charleston’s Emmy
award-winning, “Where Do We Go From Here,” and
Blackside Production’s classic, “Eyes on the
Prize.”
Dr. Sellers is a native of Denmark, South
Carolina. He and his wife, Gwendolyn, have been
married for 35 years. They have one daughter,
Nosizwe ́and two sons, Lumumba and Bakari.
Dr. Carl Carpenter
Executive Vice President/Dean of the College
(803)-780-1029 -
ccarpenter@voorhees.edu
Dr. Carpenter earned a Ph. D. in education with emphases on
Curriculum and Instruction & Administration. Master's in
education with emphasis on Chemistry. B. S. in teaching of
Chemistry. Graduated with honors.
Courtney L. Davenport
VP for Institutional Advancement
(803) 780-1199 -
cdavenport@voorhees.edu
Dr. F. Perna. F. Carter
VP for Student
Affairs -
Phone (803) 780-1269 -
pcarter@voorhees.edu
Dr. F. Perna Carter is a native of Montgomery, Alabama.
She earned a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems
Engineering and a Certificate in Health Systems from Georgia
Institute of Technology. She also earned a Masters Degree
in Public Administration from Auburn University at
Montgomery and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration
from Mississippi State University.
Dr. Carter currently holds the position of Vice President
for Student Affairs at Voorhees College. She also serves in
the role of Director of Title III programs. Her most recent
position was Vice President for Institutional Advancement at
Voorhees College. Her previous administrative and work
experiences includes Vice President for Student Affairs at
Mississippi Valley State University; Special Assistant to
the President/Director of Title III Programs at Mississippi
Valley State University; Director of Title III/Sponsored
Programs at Johnson C. Smith University; Coordinator of
Grants Development at Alabama State University; Grants
Specialist at Tuskegee University; and Legislative Fiscal
Analyst for the State of Alabama.
Dr. Carter was nominated, accepted, and participated in
the 1999 Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education
Administration held on the campus of Bryn Mawr College; the
2004 Mable Parker McLean Women’s Leadership Development
Forum sponsored by the United Negro College Fund; the 2005
South Carolina Leadership Forum for Women in Higher
Education sponsored by South Carolina Women in Higher
Education (the state’s arm of the American Council on
Education’s Office of Women); and the 2005-06 NAFEO Kellogg
Leadership Fellows Program.
Dr. Carter has a wealth of experience in fundraising and
sponsored programs. She has taught workshops for proposal
writing, budgeting, and grantsmanship overview activities.
She has extensive proposal writing experience. Many of the
initiatives were successfully funded by either federal,
state, or private entities. Dr. F. Perna Carter has been a
consultant and evaluator for several projects at various
HBCUs and well as with the U. S. Department of Education.
Dr. Carter is a charter member of the National Sponsored
Programs Administrators Alliance, a member of the National
Association of Title III Administrators, and the American
Society of Public Administrators as well as the New Mount
Zion Baptist Church and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Her hobbies includes reading, writing poetry, traveling, and
watching murder mysteries, westerns, and legal dramas.
