Justice Kaye Hearn to deliver Commencement keynote

Charleston School of Law has announced that Justice Kaye Hearn will provide the keynote message for Spring 2025 Commencement.

Justice Hearn retired in April of 2023 as a Justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court and currently serves at Wyche Law Firm in Charleston. At the time of her retirement, she was the longest serving member of the South Carolina State Court Judiciary.

Justice Hearn was elected to the Supreme Court of South Carolina in May of 2009, becoming only the second woman member in the court’s history. Prior to her election to the state’s highest court, Justice Hearn was a member of the South Carolina Court of Appeals for fifteen years, serving as Chief Judge for ten years. During her tenure as Chief Judge, Justice Hearn served as President of the Council of Chief Judges, a nationwide network of chief judges of the intermediate appellate courts.

In 2004, Justice Hearn was honored with a portrait by the South Carolina’s Trial Lawyers Association. In 2010, she received the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association’s Jean Galloway Bissell Award; in 2011, she was honored with an award in celebration of Inspiring Women from Coastal Carolina University; and in 2012, Governor Nikki Haley presented her the Woman of Achievement Award from the South Carolina Commission on Women. In 2022, she received the Outstanding Jurist Award from the American Board of Trial Advocates.

The Spring 2025 Commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, Maya 10 at the McAlister Fieldhouse on the campus of The Citadel. The event begins at 2:00 p.m. Doors to McAlister Field House will open at 12:00 noon.  All guests will be subject to the Citadel’s Clear Bag Policy and will enter through security screening.  Tickets are not required and there is no reserved seating.  The Commencement Ceremony will be streamed, live, and may be accessed in real-time for free by visiting charlestonlaw.edu.