Winthrop alumna Kim Young Woods died on Saturday, only about a month after she spoke to students and faculty in the Department of Mass Communication for the department’s 75th anniversary.
Woods was named the 2021 Distinguished Alumnae of the Year by Winthrop’s Department of Mass Communication and she was also honored by the South Carolina General Assembly for being the first female African American publisher in the South Carolina Press Association’s nearly 170-year-old history.
According to the South Carolina Press Association, “Woods served on SCPA’s Executive Committee as a weekly newspaper representative from 2003-2005, while working at the Yorkville Enquirer and The Clover Herald. She also served on [the] Executive Committee as a daily newspaper representative from 2009-2012 while working as VP of Advertising and Marketing at The Herald in Rock Hill.”
When Woods spoke at Mass Comm Week in late October, she told stories about times in her career when she was the target of both racism and sexism. She spoke of the blatant disrespect that was shown to her by colleagues and community members who believed she should not hold any prominence in the journalism industry due to her race and gender. In one particular instance, she was even threatened by the Ku Klux Klan.
Woods held two degrees from Winthrop as well as another from Northwestern University. She leaves behind a husband and multiple other loved ones.
