Thanking the people who changed his life

When Keith B. Johnson ’05 was invited to speak at Furman’s opening convocation last month, he figured some of his old buddies from the Paladin football team were playing a joke on him. But the invitation was real, and Johnson delivered the convocation address in McAlister Auditorium on Aug. 27. He talked about everything from how computer science proved not to be his calling to how a few key professors helped him on his journey to becoming one of the youngest judges in Georgia. And, in the end, he got a standing ovation for what was an inspirational and highly entertaining talk.
Johnson graduated from Furman in 2005 with a degree in history and was a member of the Paladin football teams that won Southern Conference championships in 2001 and 2004. He received his law degree from Michigan State University in 2008. In addition to maintaining a private criminal defense practice, Johnson is an associate Juvenile Court Judge for the Augusta (Georgia) Judicial Circuit and, in 2018, became the first black male appointed president of the Augusta Bar Association.
You can watch his convocation speech below.