A house RESOLUTION

 

to recognize and honor Cynthia Louise James Walters, THE DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AT PRISMA HEALTH, AND TO CONGRATULATE HER AS SHE RETIRES AFTER FORTY YEARS OF EXEMPLARY SERVICE WITH PRISMA HEALTH.  

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives has learned that Cynthia Louise James Walters began a well-deserved retirement on December 4, 2023, after forty-nine years with Prisma Health, the last of which have been as the highly regarded director of diversity and inclusion; and

 

Whereas, the oldest of fourteen siblings, she is the daughter of James Clifton James and Ruth Ann Amiker James, and she grew up in the Town of Norway where she attended Norfield Elementary and Middle School and graduated from Hunter Kinard Tyler High School, the first African American female to matriculate for four years; and

 

Whereas, Dr. Walters earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1975, a master's degree in community and occupational programs in education (COPE) in 1982, and a doctorate in education-curriculum and instruction in 2008.  She holds a master's degree in practical ministry (MAPM) from Erskine Theological Seminary, earned in 2022, and she is a graduate of Leadership Columbia in 2010 and the Riley Institute of Diversity at Furman University; and

 

Whereas, she began serving at Prisma Health in December 1974, when it was South Carolina Baptist Hospital, as a unit secretary education assistant and an education instructor through 1983.  She served as the first AA director of education at Baptist Medical Center from 1984 to 1999.  When the system became Palmetto Health, she served as the first AA director of education, the corporate director of diversity and inclusion from 2000 to 2018, and as the director of diversity and inclusion under Prisma Health since 2019; and

 

Whereas, Dr. Walters authored From Chaos to Serenity: Messages to refresh and nourish your spirit in 2020, and she founded Women on Wisdom Ministries in order to help women to live successfully at each stage of life.  She is a devoted member of Columbia's alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Incorporated, and she was initiated into Iota Chi in 1974 at the University of South Carolina; and

 

Whereas, together with her beloved husband of forty-five years, Otis Walters, Jr., she has three adult children: Payton Otis-Derrell, Rena Brittney, and Jarryd Alexander.  Her children have blessed her with the affection of one grandson, Armon Nickalos, and one granddaughter, Sydney Harper; and

 

Whereas, in her youth, Dr. Walters attended Lovely Hill and Bushy Pond Baptist churches, and for forty-five years, she has been a member of Zion Baptist Church, serving the congregation in several offices.  In 2021, she was appointed executive director of ministry.  She has taught Sunday school, directed the youth, chaired the Young Women's Auxiliary, served as the second vice president of the Gethsemane Woman's Auxiliary, and served on the Women's Ministry and on Civic and Social Concerns Ministry; and

 

Whereas, dedicated to her community, she served as a board member of the James R. Clark Sickle Cell Foundation and of the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council, on the Education Committee of the United Way of the Midlands, as chair of the Diversity Council of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and as president of the National Association Healthcare Services Executives; and

 

Whereas, grateful for her many years of distinguished service to Prisma Health, the South Carolina House of Representatives takes great pleasure in extending best wishes to Cynthia Walters as she transitions to a richly deserved retirement and the unhurried pace of the days ahead, and the members wish her many years of enjoyment in her well-earned retirement.   Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Cynthia Louise James Walters, the director of diversity and inclusion at Prisma Health, and congratulate her upon her retirement after forty-nine years of exemplary service with Prisma Health.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Cynthia Louise James Walters.

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