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Floor Speech
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Mr. CLYBURN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a trailblazer, a role model for many, and a strong advocate for her alma mater, Clemson University. Celeste De Laine Boykin, known to her friends and associates affectionately as ``Clete,'' is being honored by the Clemson Alumni Association with the Distinguished Service Award, and I echo their recognition of her tremendous work.
Clete Boykin, is a native of Manning, in South Carolina's 6th Congressional District. She is a member of the distinguished De Laine family, who initiated the activities in Clarendon County, South Carolina that led to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that desegregated public schools. She continues to uphold that legacy with her work today.
Clete grew up in Lancaster, South Carolina, and graduated summa cum laude from Lancaster High School. She matriculated at Clemson University, which shaped the future trajectory of her life. Clete lived on the fourth floor of Benet Hall, and made lifelong friends known as the ``Benet Babes,'' who won the 1978 Women's Intramural Flag Football Championship. She still sees the group every summer, and, in 2015, the Benet Babes established a scholarship fund to give deserving students the opportunity to attend Clemson.
At Clemson, Clete distinguished herself as one of the first African American members of the Tiger Band, and still proudly wears her Tiger Band jacket in cold Washington winters. She graduated from Clemson with honors and received a Bachelor of Science degree in plant sciences.
Clete continued to break ground by joining E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company as the first African American woman to work as a sales and marketing representative in the company's Agricultural Chemicals business. Clete rose to manage du Pont's $ 1.5 million plant nursery business in Florida. The company then tapped her to join the company's government affairs office in Washington, D.C. There she managed a variety of policy issues including agriculture, transportation, environmental, trade secrets and defense matters related to the Kevlar
In 1989, Clete earned a Master of Arts in International Relations from American University in Washington. She attended the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Citizens Academy as a member of its Class of 2011, and received the Washington Government Relations Group's Reginald ``Reg'' Gilliam Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 for her excellence as a government relations professional.
She retired from DuPont in 2015 after 29 years of service, and started her own government consulting firm, CDB ProjX. She is often seen on Capitol Hill as part of Clemson's governmental affairs organization working to build relationships with federal officials and promoting her beloved alma mater.
Her work with Clemson also extends to volunteer roles. Clete has held many voluntary-leadership positions, including serving as a former member of both the University's Board of Visitors and the Clemson University Foundation Board of Directors. Currently, she chairs the Clemson Institute for Parks Board of Advisors. She is a member of the Clemson University Tiger Band Association and a longtime board member of the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. Clemson Club.
She has helped organize various Clemson events in the Washington area, including 2017's Clemson Day at the White House honoring the University's national championship football team. She also helps students of color in the D.C. area who are interested in attending Clemson by connecting them with campus contacts or facilitating campus tours.
In addition to her work with Clemson, Clete serves on the boards of the Washington Government Relations Group Foundation and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network Leadership Council. She volunteers for McKenna's Wagon, a mobile food service that feeds people in need throughout the D.C. area, and she has bicycled hundreds of miles to raise money for AIDS charities and to support the fight against multiple sclerosis.
She is a member of the board of the South Carolina Business Council and is vice chairman of the board of directors of the Briggs, De Laine, Pearson Foundation, which focuses on providing free after-school and summer tutoring for individuals from low-income backgrounds in Clarendon County, South Carolina.
Madam Speaker, I ask you and our colleagues to join me in congratulating Clete Boykin on her well-deserved recognition by the Clemson Alumni Association. I can think of no greater champion of their alma mater, and no one more effective or dedicated to her work than Clete. She makes Clemson University and her home state of South Carolina very proud.
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