Senator Lindsey Graham will deliver Tri-County Technical College’s spring commencement address Monday, May 7, at 6 p.m. at the Anderson Civic Center.
Approximately 659 students will be awarded degrees, diplomas and/or certificates during the College’s 50th anniversary commencement. In addition to families and guests of the graduates, alumni and other friends of the College are invited to attend the ceremony.
Senator Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002 and re-elected in 2008, garnering more than one million votes and becoming the top vote-getter in South Carolina history. In the Senate, he serves on the chamber’s most important committees: Appropriations, which oversees the expenditure of every dollar from the Federal Treasury; Armed Services, which is responsible for all areas of our national defense; Budget, which establishes the blueprint for total government revenues and spending; and Judiciary, which has a broad mandate covering multiple issues ranging from the Constitution to criminal justice to intellectual property law.
He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as the first Republican from the Third Congressional District of South Carolina since 1877. Prior to his service in the House, Senator Graham compiled a distinguished record in the United States Air Force as he logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer. From 1984-1988, he was assigned overseas and served at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany.
Upon leaving active duty Air Force in 1989, Senator Graham joined the South Carolina Air National Guard where he served until 1995. During the first Gulf War in the early 90’s, he was called to active duty and served state-side at McEntire Air National Guard Base as Staff Judge Advocate where he prepared members for deployment to the Gulf region.
Senator Graham continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is one of only three U.S. Senators currently serving in the Guard or Reserves. He is a colonel and is assigned as a senior instructor at the Air Force JAG School.
A native South Carolinian, he grew up in Central, graduated from D.W. Daniel High School, and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina. He lives in Seneca and is a member of Corinth Baptist Church.
