by ANNA BROWN

Municipal Judge Wade Hampton says he wanted to advance in law enforcement and he saw going to college as a way to help accelerate his career.

As a young city police officer with the City of Union, he began taking courses at USC-Union. He rose to the rank of captain with the department before he retired in 1996. That same year, he was hired in his present position, the first African American to serve as city judge.

Getting a college education would not have been as easy for him if USC-Union had not existed, Hampton said.

“It gave me an opportunity to continue working and providing for my family and still go to college,” he said. “Had it not been here in Union I’m not sure I would have had the opportunity or could have afforded to go to college.”

Hampton graduated from Sims High School in 1963 and briefly moved to New York where he worked at Ideal Toy Factory. He came back to Union in 1965 and joined the Marines, where he served four years.

After his military service, Hampton went to work on the third shift in the weave room at Union Mill.

“But I knew that was not what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” he said.

Hampton and his wife, the former Dora Lee Gore, were married in 1969 and have three children — a son, Timothy; and twin daughters, Natasha and Shonika.

He joined the police department under then Chief Paul Allison in 1969. In the fall of 1970 he began classes at USC-Union.

“I wanted to advance in law enforcement and I knew having a college education was the best thing I could do,” Hampton said. “I was excited to be back in school — I had more determination and I was much more serious about an education than I was in high school. That time, I understood the value of an education.”

He attended USC-Union for a year and then transferred to Spartanburg Methodist College, which offered more courses in criminal justice. He graduated with a certificate of completion in 1974.

Since then, he has continued his education two more times at USC-Union — in 1977 and again from 1993-94.

Hampton said the last time he took classes, he particularly enjoyed the English courses he took under Professor Randy Ivey.

“His personality — was very easy to talk to and he seemed very interested in your success — that you succeeded in his classroom,” Hampton said.

Hampton said he hopes USC-Union will remain open to give other people the same chance he had.

“We need USC-Union here,” he said. “There are other people who have to work and can’t afford to go to a larger university.”