In 1968, Sellers was then a student at Harvard University. He was visiting Orangeburg as a recruiter for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). On the night of February eighth, he arrived on South Carolina State's campus shortly before the shootings (Orangeburg Massacre) began. He was shot while trying to help other injured persons. SLED and the FBI arrested Sellers at the infirmary and charged him with inciting a riot.
One of his lawyers was Dr. Fred H. Moore, the student leader who marshaled student support for a major boycott of White businesses in 1956. Sellers served seven months in prison and was released five months early for good behavior.
In 1993, he received a pardon issued by the State Probation, Pardon and Parole Board. Dr. Sellers is currently the director of African American Studies at the University of South Carolina.
