In early December, honorary PC alumna Virginia “Ginger” Leaman Crocker was presented with the Injured Workers’ Advocates 2014 Friend of the Little Man Award. The Award recognizes a person for his or her continuous efforts to advocate for the rights of South Carolina workers injured on the job. This prestigious award was granted to her in recognition of her dedication and commitment to the protection of workers’ rights.

Her entry into public service began in 1978, when she was elected to represent Laurens County in the SC House of Representatives, where she served on the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee and as House Majority Whip. In 1984, Governor Dick Riley appointed Crocker as an administrative law judge at the Workers’ Compensation Commission, where she served until 1992, part of that tenure as vice-chair. Crocker later served as the Director of the Democratic Caucus during Jim Hodges’s time in the House, and then as Director of Intergovernmental Relations in the Hodges administration. In 2007, Crocker returned to the Workers’ Compensation Commission as Judicial Director, serving until May of 2014.

Crocker’s blood runs PC blue, even though she is a Columbia College alumna with a degree in speech and drama and a minor in political science. Having grown up in Clinton, she has always immersed herself in the Presbyterian College community.

PC was fortunate enough to have Crocker working on staff during her SC House days as an admissions counselor and director of special projects. Talking with prospective PC students and assisting admissions efforts in many ways today, Crocker notes, “I love Presbyterian College and have always said my favorite job was recruiting students for PC. I still do that today. I was on campus in December with a prospective student.”

Crocker is a member of a full-fledged Blue Hose family as her father, brother, nephew, and step-daughter are all Presbyterian College alumni and active supporters of the College. She is an avid member of the Scotsman Club and has shown PC a great amount of generosity. During the 2002 football season, PC opened Bailey Memorial Stadium where the playing surface, Crocker field, was named for her family.