the helm as Voorhees University’s 10th president.
meet the unique needs of South Carolina’s communities.”
“He has always had a love for HBCUs,” said Leek. “Throughout his career, he’s been at several and he could have made many choices with other options. He stayed at HBCUs because that’s where his heart is.”
Balancing his love for research, culture, and the performing arts, Hopkins still finds time to help others. Dr. Tina Marshall- Bradley, who helped start Voorhees’ master’s program, said while she and Hopkins were faculty members at Norfolk State University, they hoped to work with people who are incarcerated to prepare them for post- secondary education in advance of their release. “Although that project never came through to fruition, we continued the work of empowering individuals in the community when we met again at Benedict College in Columbia, SC,” said Marshall-Bradley, an education consultant. “I used his book on educated Black males several times in classes in my education courses. The information was well received and the content is still very, very relevant to connect with a lot of the work that I’ve been doing in effective education in underrepresented communities.” Hopkins also founded Possible Worlds Foundation, an international nonprofit organization that provides education, empowerment and support to young people in Nepal, Thailand and Canada affected by poverty and abuse. “I founded Possible Worlds Foundation as an homage to my pastor,” he said. “Empowerment looks like embracing individuals who sometimes are the outcasts, the underclass, the overlooked. My pastor challenged us to get out of those pews and get out of the church. He said, “Church is what should be in you when you leave this campus.”
A Well-traveled Leader Equals Well-traveled Students
This year, Hopkins was named one of the Ten Most Dominant HBCU Leaders of 2025 by the HBCU Campaign Fund (HCF), recognizing “exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to higher education.” While Hopkins has received many accolades in academia and sports, he is most proud of being conferred Doctor of Humane Letters (LLD) Honoris Causa in May 2016 from Saint Monica University in Buea, Cameroon, one of the only English-speaking universities in the country. “This was the pinnacle of my career,” he said. “It was as if I was transplanted from Voorhees to Saint Monica. It was almost like I was at home speaking to my own family. It was culturally different and amazing to see the African drums. It is something I will never forget.”
world and to engage faculty,” said Hopkins, who works with college and high school faculty in tandem with the Fulbright Scholar program to facilitate international exchange. “The international stage is a wonderful stage and a very embracing stage to share research, and to exchange ideation about improving campus and curricula.” In addition to taking his research abroad, Hopkins is committed to exposing students to global experiences. He says one to two percent of HBCU students in their matriculation ever have an international global experience. “What’s problematic with that is if you ask industries what qualities or experiences they prefer, they say they want to have globally exposed students,” said Hopkins. “It’s very rare that I ever travel without bringing students. It’s important that they have international exposure and engagement. To see our students engage in service-learning projects and experiential learning projects, tutoring, working beside other students from the U.S. and students from other countries, it’s been amazing. I am just touched by the engagement that will be
with them for the rest of their lives.”
Research, Revamping and Giving Back
Hopkins has been laying the groundwork for Voorhees students to be true scholars, having announced the university’s first doctoral program, the Doctor of Education in Leadership. He also rebranded the school from Voorhees College to Voorhees University during the school’s 125th anniversary in 2022 and unveiled the statue of the school founder. Last December, the South Carolina Department of Education established the Voorhees University Charter Institute of Learning as a duly established Charter School Authorizer, one of three institutions in South Carolina and the only HBCU. “I’m so excited to be able to nurture students and support them all the way through college and their next level of excellence,” said Hopkins. “We’d like to support and be tremendously represented in that area. By partnering with local charter schools, we aim to cultivate academic excellence and provide tailored solutions that
Preparing Global Education Leaders
His travels, prompted by his research, allows him to visit the motherland often including Liberia, South Africa and 15 trips to Ghana. Hopkins is also an African drumming and dance teacher and the former leader of African dance troupe, Ngoma. He also helped develop African dance troupes on college campuses. “I’m most focused on Africa but I’ve also been to China and some other areas to share research with colleagues around the
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