Commencement Crowd Celebrates Octogenarian’s Degree Completion (05/27/26)

HIGHLIGHTS

• At the May 9 Commencement morning ceremony, the crowd gave the diminutive 86-year-old a standing ovation.
• Decidedly one of Winthrop's oldest graduates, Jocelyn "Joycelyn" Davis has been on Winthrop's campus taking classes for 20 years.

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Eighty years ago, Jocelyn Sturgeon Davis started first grade at a Catholic parochial school in the Washington, D.C., area.

Fast forward to today, and this tenacious lady finished her English degree at Winthrop University, adding a bachelor's degree to her list of accomplishments. At the May 9 Commencement morning ceremony, the crowd gave the diminutive 86-year-old a standing ovation.

"I was shocked that everyone stood up," said Davis, who sometimes goes by Joycelyn. She added that she was worried about getting across the stage at graduation. "I was surprised by the applause."

Decidedly one of Winthrop's oldest graduates, Davis has been on Winthrop's campus taking classes for 20 years.

She started taking classes in 2006 after transferring from York Technical College with an associate's degree in business and entering with enough hours to be a junior. She took classes at Winthrop slowly, auditing a Spanish class and then a computer science course. "I was kind of feeling my way around," she said.

English faculty members said the younger students were glad for Davis' presence and were kind to the soft-spoken woman.

"They included her in group discussions and group presentations, and they listened carefully and encouraged her," said English Professor Amanda Hiner, who was Davis' advisor for the past three years.

One reason was because Davis displayed so much intellectual curiosity. "She wanted to learn more about each subject we studied and would often stay with me after class to discuss a topic in more depth or to share her insight on a literary text or topic," Hiner said.

English Professor Jo Koster said she admired Davis' tenacity, wit and perspective.

Education is a Long Journey

Education is a lifelong process of learning and growth, and Davis demonstrates that it's never too late to keep learning, growing and achieving great things, faculty members said. In addition, Hiner said Davis is a remarkable example of perseverance, intellectual curiosity and sheer joy of learning. "Our students benefitted from seeing her work so diligently and so persistently," Hiner added, particularly other non-traditional students.

This year, when it became clear that Davis had completed most of her degree requirements and could graduate in May, Hiner excitedly encouraged her to apply for graduation. "She was hesitant and looked almost downcast, and she finally said, 'I'm just not sure I want to graduate.' That's the first time I've heard that from an advisee!"

Hiner encouraged Davis to finish the degree she had earned, reminding her that she could still take classes or even pursue another degree. Davis believes she probably will return, maybe to take some music or other classes.

In Davis' mind, she was just an average student who enjoyed being around younger students. "They thought that if I could succeed in class then so could they," she said.

Born in the nation's capital, Davis was the eighth child in a family of five sisters and three brothers. Her father, a South Carolina native and an Army veteran from World War I, worked as a security guard at the post office. He met his wife recovering from injuries at Walter Reed Medical Center.

Davis' mother had come to D.C. after leaving her family's tobacco farm in Maryland.

Reading was an important part of Davis' childhood. "I made good grades in elementary and high school," Davis said, graduating second in her high school class from Immaculate Conception Academy in D.C.

Taught by nuns throughout her early school years, Davis also sang in her high school choir and played basketball and baseball.

Move to York County in 1987

A York County resident since 1987, Davis and her husband, Lyman, moved to Rock Hill where he was transferred to work for the Minkus Stamp and Coin Co.

Supportive of his wife's efforts, Lyman occasionally accompanied her to campus and could be found waiting for her outside her classes.

Besides completing assignments for her Winthrop classes, Davis spent time in Bible study group, a women's circle prayer group and, at one time, volunteering at the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen on Crawford Road.

Over the years in York County, she has worked at the McDonald's by I-77, was employed for a 20-year stint at Carowinds Theme Park, volunteered as a poll worker and served as a Kelly workforce employee.

Her overall experience at Winthrop was very positive. Her professors prodded her to think differently about some readings. She sought help when she needed it through visits to the English department's Writing Center or to her professors' offices. She enjoyed British literature courses where she learned about satire, poetry, etc. and American literature courses where she enjoyed Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott.

She took advantage of one-hour courses such as one about the writer Truman Capote, another about food and travel writer Anthony Bourdain, and her last class on the teen-age detective Nancy Drew. Other interesting courses were an aquatics course, one on Hinduism and another on Shakespeare.

Davis learned what many have discovered: you can never learn everything there is to know so a lifelong learner's curiosity is never quenched.

For more information, please contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at [email protected].