SC State alumnus support engineering students on Giving Tuesday

In this case, the reactants in the chain are science professors and a successful young alumnus. The fuel is knowledge. The catalyst is a willingness to give back.

And the products are future generations of South Carolina State University students.

On Giving Tuesday, SC State graduate Cliff Wilson furthered a chain reaction that sparked when he was an engineering student at SC State. He gave his alma mater $10,000 to support the program that fueled his success.

“When he (Wilson) came here, he probably did not have much … but he achieved something, which is knowledge,” said Saliman Isa, a professor of engineering who taught Wilson at SC State. “This knowledge has prepared him for what he has achieved and allowed him to give.

“There are students here today who are in the same position he was years ago. These students can be helped through him. It’s a chain reaction,” Isa said.

If the chain continues, he said, SC State and the Department of Engineering can only continue to grow.

“There will be more of him out there,” Isa said. “That is the whole idea – developing the students to be self-sufficient, caring for yourself and your family, then contributing to the society and most importantly contributing to the growth of the young ones.”

Wilson, who completed his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology from SC State in 2002, is president and CEO of The Centric Group LLC, a multistate construction and electrical service company based in Columbia, South Carolina. In giving to SC State, he paid tribute to Isa and other SC State faculty members who not only taught him the science he needed to succeed but also helped develop his character.

“When you are in position to obtain the things I have over the years, it’s only right to look back and see how you have obtained those particular things,” Wilson said. “Being able to give back to the university — this is where it started for me.

“I want to continue to see the school thrive and I want to be able to give back to help somebody who needs that help to get through school,” he said.

SC State Interim President Alexander Conyers thanked both Wilson and his wife, an SC State alumna, for the generosity.

“Mr. Wilson’s gift today is important because it demonstrates his desire to see our current students succeed,” Conyers said. “It is a very unselfish gift because many in his position choose not to give.

“Mr. Wilson saw a need and was in a position to provide assistance toward that need, and he did just that,” Conyers said.

Wilson’s gift occurred on Giving Tuesday, an annual post-Thanksgiving campaign that encourages people to show thanks by helping others through finances or service. He encouraged other SC State alumni to join him in giving to SC State – be it on Giving Tuesday or throughout the year.

“The support starts with us,” Wilson said of Bulldog alumni. “It doesn’t start with anyone else. If you’re not willing to help your own school, nobody else will contribute. It’s key that we do it ourselves, and then everyone else will follow.”