SC State Board of Trustees names new residence hall Benjamin E. Mays Hall

The new Benjamin E. Mays Hall is underway at the corner of Buckley and Naylor Streets on the SC State campus.

Five-story, 532-bed facility will restore Mays' name to SC State housing while providing modern living space for freshmen

ORANGEBURG, S.C.- South Carolina State University's new $50 million freshman residence hall will bear the name of renowned educator, theologian and civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, restoring a historic name to student housing on the SC State campus.

The SC State Board of Trustees on Thursday approved naming the facility Benjamin E. Mays Hall. The residence hall is under construction adjacent to Mitchell Hall and Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, with occupancy expected in fall 2027.

The naming continues a longstanding connection between Mays and SC State. The university's former Benjamin E. Mays I and Mays II residential complex carried his name before the aging buildings were razed in 2021.

"Dr. Benjamin E. Mays is an important part of the history of South Carolina State University, and it is fitting that his name will continue to have a prominent place on our campus," SC State President Alexander Conyers said. "Generations of Bulldogs knew Mays I and Mays II as part of their SC State experience. As we build for a new generation of students, Benjamin E. Mays Hall will carry that legacy forward while reminding our students of a man whose life and leadership had an extraordinary impact on education and the civil rights movement."

University Golf Club, Orangeburg

Also on Thursday, the board approved renaming Hillcrest Golf Course as University Golf Club, Orangeburg, SC. The change reflects a new operational partnership with the City of Orangeburg and emphasizes SC State's role in the course. The university owns the Hillcrest property, which was the site of the university's farm decades ago.

The partnership and renewed focus on the course come as SC State prepares for the return of women's golf, providing the university with a home course for the revived program and another resource for student-athletes.

Mays' SC State legacy

A native of Epworth in Greenwood County, South Carolina, Mays attended the high school division of what was then Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina, graduating as valedictorian in 1916. He later returned to SC State as a member of the English faculty. He also served as the president of the institution's National Alumni Association from 1924-1926.

Mays went on to become dean of the School of Religion at Howard University and served as president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967. During his tenure at Morehouse, he became an influential mentor to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

King described Mays as his spiritual mentor. Mays helped shape King's thinking about service, equality and social change, and their relationship continued throughout King's life. After King's assassination in 1968, Mays delivered the eulogy at his final funeral service on the Morehouse campus.

Mays became one of the nation's most influential educators and advocates for civil rights and human dignity. He died in 1984.

Modern housing for a growing university

Benjamin E. Mays Hall will be SC State's first modern housing facility constructed in two decades and is designed to help accommodate enrollment growth and alleviate demand for university housing.

The new residence hall will feature:

• $50 million investment.
• Five stories and approximately 100,000 square feet.
• 532 beds, primarily for freshmen.
• Suite-style living arrangements.
• Three study areas on each floor.
• A common kitchen and gathering space in the lobby.
• Laundry facilities on each floor.
• Amazon mailboxes on the first floor.
• Electronic access controls for the building and individual rooms.
• Expected occupancy in fall 2027.

The university broke ground on the project in April. Construction reached another milestone in August when crews began erecting the facility's concrete and brick exterior wall panels.

Keep up with progress on Mays Hall's construction by visiting https://scsu.edu/construction/new_residence_hall.php

Much-needed residential space

SC State also is renovating Sojourner Truth Hall, a $25 million project that will modernize the residence hall and restore 384 beds to the university's housing inventory. The renovated facility is expected to reopen for students in 2027. Between the two projects, the university will add more than 900 beds to its campus housing inventory, helping the university enroll more students.

Campus transformation continues

Benjamin E. Mays Hall and the Truth Hall renovation are part of a broader transformation underway across the SC State campus.

Other projects underway include:

• New Academic Building: $54.7 million academic facility scheduled for completion in 2027.
• Bulldog Commons: $20 million expansion of the Kirkland W. Green Student Center.

Projects in design and approval phases include:

• New library: $30.3 million facility that will include library services and the Dr. Emily England Clyburn Honors College.
• New ROTC building: Planned facility for SC State's ROTC program.
• Public Safety headquarters: Planned facility to support campus safety and security operations.
• University Transportation Center: Planned facility to support transportation research and related activities.

Together, the projects will add new academic, residential and student-centered spaces while modernizing the university's infrastructure to support SC State's continued growth.

With Benjamin E. Mays Hall, that transformation also will preserve the name of an educator whose relationship with SC State began more than a century ago and whose influence helped shape the American civil rights movement.