Following is the text of 1974 Scholar Paula Harper Bethea's address at the Byrnes Scholars 62nd annual luncheon, June 13, 2026.
Close your eyes, all of you. And imagine that I am not standing here, but rather, it is Governor Byrnes who stands before you today. He has watched his extraordinary generosity at work since 1949. He is proud and he is hopeful, even in a very troubled world. I believe it is his message that I share with each of you today.
Open your eyes, look around, there are about 200 hundred of us here and there are over 1200 brothers and sisters, within the Foundation created by the love and generosity of Mom and Pop Byrnes. We are diverse, we span a couple (OK maybe more) generations, we are geographically dispersed, and we lead very busy lives.
Because of these realities, generational loyalty is very complex and difficult to maintain. It is not simply about standing by those who came before us. It is really about understanding them, learning from them, and deciding how their values fit into the world in which we live today. Every generation faces its own challenges. Our grandparents may have valued stability because they lived through uncertainty. Our parents may have emphasized hard work as the key to success. And now, our generation is navigating a world defined by rapid change, technology, and shifting expectations. Loyalty, then, cannot mean blind obedience to the past. It must mean thoughtful connection to the past, attention to the present and responsibility to the future.
True generational loyalty is not about refusing to question traditions; it is about respecting their origins while having the courage to evolve them. If we remain loyal only in the sense of imitation, we risk becoming stagnant. But if we abandon everything that came before us, we lose the Foundation that shaped us.
Generational loyalty is much less about obligation and more about intention. It is a choice to stay connected, not because we have to, but because we see meaning in that connection. It becomes a bridge rather than a boundary.
So, let’s think about what brings us together and what created our loyalty. And hopefully creates our gratitude. We are united by loss and bound by love – and by the word scholarship. It by no means ends with the word scholarship because there is so much more to our connection than a scholarship, but the scholarship awarded us is definitely the beginning. A scholarship is so much more than tuition, books or financial relief. It is belief. It is an act of trust from one human being to another. It is Mom & Pop Byrnes saying, “we may never fully know your future, but we believe it matters.”
This kind of belief changes people. It changed me. I believe it also changed most of you. My scholarship was not an award, it was a turning point, and an opportunity which might otherwise not have been visible. But even bigger than that opportunity is my inheritance, and yours, of a true legacy. Not inheritance in the financial sense, but rather in the human sense. Every person gathered here is connected to generations that came before us - parents who sacrificed, grandparents who worked long hours, teachers who stayed after school and communities that invested in us. Their lasting fingerprints are all over our lives. The fact is many of us are standing on foundations we did not build and enjoying opportunities we did not create. This realization should produce humility. And gratitude.
We must understand that our successes are rarely ours alone. We all stand on the shoulders of people who have either led the way or love us just right. So many other people planted trees whose shade we now enjoy. Doors were opened for us because someone else pushed against barriers before we arrived. And the gift of our Byrnes scholarship is that tree Mom and Pop Byrnes planted, but under which they never sat. This is a remarkable and priceless act of generosity. And this kind of generosity should create in us all a responsibility and an obligation to be the torch bearer for others who need us. I am not saying we need to be perfect from moment one. We do not have to repay someone immediately. We just need to be responsible for the magnificent opportunity we have been given.
The knowledge we gain with our college education must not stop with us. It should improve the lives of others. It must be our continuation of Hope. Gratitude cannot simply be a feeling; it must become an action. The gift we received as James F. Byrnes scholars can multiply easily. Become a teacher and change hundreds of lives. Become a doctor and practice in an underserved community. Become an engineer and solve real problems. Or be a parent who teaches their children the true value of an education. And best of all, one day we can become scholarship donors ourselves. This is how generational impact and loyalty and gratitude truly work
So let gratitude become our character. Let it shape how we feel. How we serve. How we treat people. How we respond to success. How we remember where we came from.
Because someday, all of us will become the “previous generation” for someone else. (Some of us are already there!)
The question is: what will we pass down? Will we pass down cynicism, selfishness, and indifference?
Or will we pass down opportunity, compassion, and belief?
Mom & Pop Byrnes answered that question with their actions. They chose hope and promise. And now we can do the same thing.
Remember that generosity takes many forms. We can mentor someone, Encourage someone. Share knowledge. Create opportunities. Lead ethically. Serve our communities. Lift others when we are able.
We do not have to wait until we are wealthy to become generous.
The greatest repayment for Mom & Pop Byrnes’ generosity is not simply financial success. It is becoming the kind of person who creates opportunities for others. It is becoming the kind of people they were –
And when we do this, the true cycle of generational gratitude continues.
Receiving.
Appreciating.
Growing.
And eventually giving.
Today is an annual celebration, but it is also our reminder. None of us succeed entirely alone. We are connected across generations by sacrifice, kindness, and belief.
And because of that, we each inherit two things: Gratitude for what we have received, And responsibility for what we will give.
Let us all continue and recommend building our Byrnes Family in a way which ensures that opportunity is passed forward, that education changes family histories, and that gratitude becomes action across our generations and those to come.
Close your eyes once again, please. Can you see Governor Byrnes smiling?
Thank you all for enriching and blessing my life in such palpable and meaningful ways.
I love you, Byrnes Family. - Paula