A Couple's First Year Devotions by Robert A. Ratcliff

“We particularly liked traveling to New York to see Broadway shows, go to the ballet and to the opera. They loved to travel, and they enjoyed fine dining and fine wine in equal measure. Ironically, within a year after meeting, they would become co-owners of The Cotton Exchange and its sister restaurant, The Farmer’s Daughter.īoth men believed a meaningful life was about experiences and not about accumulating possessions. Despite an 18-year age difference, they developed a bond that led to many adventures during their nearly four decades together. They met at the Farmer’s Daughter restaurant, where Covington worked as a busboy during his final months at the College. He was helping run two Charleston restaurants, The Cotton Exchange and Queen Street Seafood Inn, when he met Covington in 1984. He was the arts and sciences department chair at Johnson and Wales University in Charleston. Lukey is a graduate of the University of Pretoria, The New School for Social Research in New York and The Citadel. I hope this opportunity will go to a student whose values reflect an attitude of inclusiveness, charity and tolerance, just like John. It was this awareness that motivated me to establish this scholarship at CofC. “He found both the College and the city of Charleston liberating he felt at home here. For example, although he was a pre-med student, he also took dance classes with Robert Ivey.” “He was able to pursue a wide range of interests during his time at the College. “John always spoke of his College of Charleston years as some of his happiest,” Lukey shares. Covington died in January 2020 after a 15-year battle with scleroderma. Recipients of the scholarship will have the benefit of meeting and getting to know their benefactor, Robert Lukey, but will only know Covington through the memories and stories Lukey shares of his husband. He ran the Sexton Dental Clinic in Myrtle Beach until March 2018. After graduating from CofC, Covington attended the Medical University of South Carolina Dental School and graduated in 1988.

Preference is given to students who wish to follow in Covington’s footsteps and pursue a career in dental medicine. Lukey Endowed Scholarship provides educational access to pre-med students in the School of Sciences and Mathematics. It is in this spirit of giving opportunity to the next generations that Lukey and Covington sought to establish and support scholarships. Both were deeply committed to helping others regardless of age, race, religion, origin and sexual orientation or identification. Lukey were a couple for nearly 36 years and shared a passion for travel, the arts, healthcare and education.

John Covington ’84 and Professor Robert J.

A Couple's First Year Devotions by Robert A. Ratcliff