Charleston college inaugurates one of its own as president

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Charleston Southern University inaugurated B. Keith Faulkner as the university’s fourth president on Monday, March 25, in a service in Lightsey Chapel.

Faulkner was unanimously elected by the university trustees on July 25, 2023, and began his service as president in October. He is the first Charleston Southern alumnus to serve the university as president. Faulkner graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a finance emphasis in 1998, according to a university news release.

When Faulkner arrived on campus, he said he was focused on four things: listening, caring, casting vision and leading. He thanked the Charleston Southern faculty and staff, saying “This is a team dedicated to service above self,” according to the release.

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He pledged to invest in people — in employees and the student body.

“Casting a vision is not enough,” he told the audience, according to the release. “Faith requires us to act. Walking in faith requires vision and action. Vision with action can change the world.”

Faulkner’s service prior to accepting the position at Charleston Southern included serving in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear power plant operator and technician and an instructor, the release stated. He had 20 years of higher education service as president, dean and professor of law at Appalachian School of Law in Virginia; as dean and professor of law at Liberty University School of Law; as dean and professor at the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University; and as interim dean, vice dean and executive associate dean for external relations at Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. Before he stepped into higher education, Faulkner practiced law in the areas of insurance defense, criminal defense, estate planning, family law and real estate litigation and transactions, the release said.

He earned a Juris Doctor and an MBA from Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law and a Master of Laws in litigation management from Baylor University School of Law.