Voorhees vice president becomes a MEAC Woman in Sports pioneer

Denmark, S.C.- Charlene Myers Johnson, vice president for student affairs and director of athletics, was recently recognized as a MidEastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) pioneer in women’s sports in celebration of MEAC’s 50th anniversary and Women’s History Month. The MEAC Senior Woman Administrators selected Johnson along with 26 other pioneers. Johnson has been a trailblazer in athletics as she became the first
woman appointed to a full-time coaching position at her alma mater in 1983.She later became the first woman to serve as chairperson of the Directors of Athletics Association in the MEAC and was presented the league’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2014. Additionally, she has received the MEAC Coach of the Year and served on several NCAA committees. She spent more than 30 years in athletics at her alma mater South
Carolina State University (SCSU), serving as an assistant coach, head coach, associate athletics director, and athletics director. She received several honors and awards during her tenure at SCSU. She remains the only woman to serve as an athletics director, which she held for 12 years before retiring in 2014. A native of Fairfax, S.C., she earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education and a master’s degree in counselor education from SCSU. As a player at SCSU, she helped the Lady Bulldogs win the 1979 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division II National Championship. Johnson was inducted into her alma mater’s Hall of Fame in 1998 and received special recognition as a member of the 1979 championship team in 2000. Johnson is married to judge Virgin Johnson II, and they have a daughter, Taylor, two sons, Virgin III andAnthony, and two grandsons, Kason and Chase. For more information, contact the Office of Communications, at 803-780-1191 or at
communications@voorhees.edu.