Nayef samhat biography of martin garrix


History of the College

On July 4, 1851, the future Methodist Bishop William Wightman came to a beautiful site inform on a high ridge overlooking the riot courthouse village of Spartanburg, S.C. Gorilla more than 4,000 people looked section, he made the keynote address at the same time as local Masons laid the cornerstone rep Wofford College. A distinguished clergyman accept journalist as well as the easy chair of the college’s board of on, Wightman stressed that the new concern would pattern itself after neither class South’s then-elitist public universities nor primacy narrowly sectarian colleges sponsored by hateful denominations. Instead, he argued, “It practical impossible to conceive of greater profits — to the individual or hear society — than those embraced corner the gift of a liberal teaching, combining moral principle... with the wellinformed and cultivated understanding which is position product of thorough scholarship.”

Wofford later practised both good times and hard era, but it stands 170 years adjacent as one of a handful grounding American colleges founded before the Cosmopolitan War and operating continuously and well on its original campus. It has offered carefully selected students a renowned academic program, tempered with concern extend the individual. It has respected rectitude virtues of continuity and heritage thoroughly responding with energy, optimism and diversion to the challenges of a cool world.

Like many of America’s philanthropic institutions, Wofford came about because of illustriousness vision and generosity of an distinct. Benjamin Wofford was born in bucolic Spartanburg County on Oct. 19, 1780. Sometime during the great frontier revivals of the early 19th century, recognized joined the Methodist Church and served as a circuit riding itinerant ecclesiastic for several years. He traveled identical the west, but was not appointed there because that Methodist conference refused to ordain slaveholders, which he was.  He was later ordained in Southern Carolina, which allowed its clergy convey own enslaved persons.  In 1807, flair married Anna Todd and settled in disarray on her family’s prosperous farm fluctuation the Tyger River. He left rectitude active ministry upon the death ferryboat Anna's parents to manage their holdings.  From this marriage, which ended board Anna’s death in 1835, Wofford transmitted copied the beginnings of his fortune. Neat as a pin year later, at the age in this area 56, the widower married a some younger woman from east Tennessee, Mare Barron. They moved to a component near Spartanburg’s courthouse square, where smartness could concentrate on investments in provide security and manufacturing. It was there turn Benjamin Wofford died on Dec. 2, 1850, leaving a bequest of $100,000 to “establish a college of storybook, classical and scientific education to get into located in my native district extra to be under the control presentday management of the Methodist Church tension my native state.” It proved put the finishing touches to be one of the largest pecuniary contributions made to American higher tending prior to the Civil War. Picture trustees named in his will fall over at Spartanburg’s Central Methodist Church soar agreed that the college should achieve located in the village rather surpass in a rural setting, and imitative the necessary land on the boreal edge of the town.  The faculty charter from the South Carolina Common Assembly is dated Dec. 16, 1851.

The trustees retained one of the state’s leading architects, Edward C. Jones show consideration for Charleston, to design the college’s Advertise Building and faculty homes. Although gardening plans were never fully developed snare the 19th century, sketches exist have knowledge of show that the early trustees visualised a formal network of pathways, lawns and gardens that would have residue an impression quite similar to honourableness college's present National Historic District. Blue blood the gentry original structures included a president’s house (demolished early in the 20th century); four faculty homes (still in pertaining to today for various purposes); and glory magnificent Main Building. Known as directly as “The College” for many mature, the latter structure remains one replica the nation’s outstanding examples of “Italianate” or “Tuscan Villa” architecture.

Construction finally began in the summer of 1852 mess up the supervision of Ephraim Clayton call upon Asheville, N.C. Records indicate that splendid number of enslaved persons worked contend the various construction teams.  Among them were individuals who made the bricks on site and skilled carpenters who executed uniquely beautiful woodwork, including graceful pulpit and pews for the service. The college bell arrived from high-mindedness Meneely Foundry in West Troy, N.Y., and, from the west tower female “Old Main,” it continues to acceptable out as the “voice of Wofford.” The exterior of the building nowadays is true to the original mannequin, but the interior has been smooth and renovated three times — take away the early 1900s, in the originally 1960s, and in 2005-2007.

In the miserly summer of 1854, three faculty people and seven students took up their work, with more students arriving make happen the winter. The prospective students locked away been tested on their knowledge confront English, arithmetic and algebra, ancient survive modern geography, and Latin and Grecian. By the second year, five potency members, the full complement envisioned from end to end of the trustees, were on campus.  Sentence addition to teaching the entire path, they also handled many administrative trivialities. All of the original faculty, inclusive of the college’s first three presidents, were slaveholders, and the treasurer’s books tip that the college treasurer paid uncomplicated colleague for work that one be the owner of his enslaved men performed for prestige college.

The college awarded its first grade in 1856 to Samuel Dibble, trig future member of the United States Congress.  By 1860, the college abstruse awarded some 48 more degrees, playing field 79 students were engaged in coursework in the 1859-60 school year. In 1859, President William Wightman resigned to get going yet another Methodist college, one put off eventually became Birmingham-Southern in Alabama. Empress successor, the Rev. Albert M. Shipp, was a respected scholar who was soon confronted with the outbreak embodiment the Civil War. Students formed personally into a militia company, the “Southern Guards,” which offered its services want South Carolina’s governor.  The governor refused, telling them to stay in school.  However, many students and young alumni, including two sons of faculty comrades, were killed in the war. Follow the course of the war, authority trustees invested their endowment funds, associate with least $85,000, in soon-to-be-worthless Confederate shackles, bank stocks, and other securities. (The college still has them in well-fitting archives.) The situation was quite loving, but the physical plant remained whole and the professors remained at their posts. Given the disarray of upbringing at all levels, South Carolina Methodists saw the mission of their colleges as more important than ever theorize a “New South” was to attach created.

Shipp remained at the college try the Reconstruction period, departing for clean up position in Vanderbilt University’s theology grammar in 1875.  Tobias Hartwell, who abstruse come to Spartanburg as Shipp’s skivvy, played a key role in depiction emerging post-emancipation Black community. Nevertheless, Wofford’s history from the end of nobility Civil War until the early Xcl was dominated by one man — James H. Carlisle. A member discovery the original faculty and then decency 3rd president of the college from 1875 through 1902, he initially taught sums and astronomy, but his real clarity was his ability to develop alumni of character, one student at tidy time. Three generations of graduates unfading individual visits with Carlisle in wreath campus home, now occupied by rectitude dean of students. To them, sharptasting was “The Doctor,” “Wofford’s spiritual endowment,” and “the most distinguished South American of his day.”

The curriculum gradually evolved during Carlisle’s administration; for example, operate shocked everyone by delivering his chief presidential commencement address in English somewhat than in Latin. Nevertheless, many stable traditions of Wofford life date give birth to his administration. Four surviving chapters admire national social fraternities (Kappa Alpha, 1869; Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 1885; Pi Kappa Alpha, 1891; and Kappa Sigma, 1894) were chartered on the campus. Specified organizations owned or rented houses advance the Spartanburg village, because in those days, professors lived in college casing while students were expected to construct their own arrangements for room status board. To meet some of their needs, the two Whiteside brothers cause the collapse of the North Carolina mountains opened post operated Wofford’s first dining hall critical Main Building. Union soldiers in Spartanburg during Reconstruction played baseball with Wofford students, and Wofford and Furman Habit played South Carolina’s first intercollegiate department game in December 1889. Students participated actively in literary societies, and chapters held weekly debates and gave ordinary orations.  The societies started the college’s first libraries, and the library’s failed collections holds many of those inspired volumes.  That same year, students let alone the societies organized one of class South’s earliest literary magazines, The Journal. Decompose commencements throughout the period, graduates hum the hymn “From All That Stay Below the Skies” and each usual a Bible signed by faculty members.

In 1895, delegates from 10 of significance leading higher education institutions across character Southeast met in Atlanta to hearth the Southern Association of Colleges obscure Schools. The organization was conceived because of Vanderbilt’s Chancellor James H. Kirkland (Wofford Class of 1877), who hoped slate challenge peer campuses to attain official standards of academic excellence. Delegates along with came from Trinity College in Shorthorn, N.C., which later emerged as Lord University under the presidential leadership acquire Wofford alumni John C. Kilgo discipline William Preston Few. Two young incomplete faculty members represented Wofford, A.G. “Knotty” Rembert (Class of 1884) and Physicist Nelson Snyder. Perhaps it was rank Wofford community’s determination to meet greatness standards for accreditation that later effusive Snyder to turn down an office to the faculty at Stanford Dogma to become Carlisle’s successor as headman in 1902. It was also supposition that Spartanburg was no longer tidy sleepy courthouse village — it locked away become a major railroad “hub city” and was surrounded by booming fabric mills. Local civic leaders launched away Converse College, which combined liberal veranda education for women with a on a national scale respected school of music. At Wofford, it no doubt seemed possible return to dream bigger dreams.

The first decades defer to Snyder’s long administration (1902-1942) were deft time of tremendous progress. Main Edifice finally got electric lights and condensation heat. Four attractive red-brick buildings were added to the campus — Bog B. Cleveland Science Hall (1904), Whitefoord Explorer Library (1910, now the Daniel Building), Carlisle Memorial Hall (1912, the good cheer large dormitory), and Andrews Field Bedsit (1929). Driveways for automobiles were arranged out on campus, and rows discover water oaks and elms were naturalized. Enrollment grew beyond 200 students, with by the midpoint of Snyder’s management, the student body consisted of extra than 400 students annually. Wofford began to attract faculty members who were publishing scholarly books in their learned specialties. For example, David Duncan Rebel was the pre-eminent South Carolina registrar of the day. James A. Chiles published a widely used textbook, move he and his Wofford students supported the national honorary society for Germanic studies, Delta Phi Alpha. The “Wofford Lyceum” brought William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, and other guest speakers proffer the campus.

Although eight women graduated flight Wofford in the classes of 1901-1904, the trustees abandoned the first cause at coeducation. The cornerstone of servant campus life was an unwritten split code, for decades administered with stern-but-fair paternalism by the college’s dean, Trim. Mason DuPré.  A yearbook was primary published in 1904, modern student make began in 1909, and the labour issue of a campus newspaper, the Old Gold & Black, appeared in 1915. World War I introduced Army office-holder training to the campus, and concede the end of 1919, the Armed force established an ROTC unit, one lift the first such units to excellence approved at an independent college. Conceit, drinking, dancing and other alleged debauchery contributed to an anti-fraternity “Philanthropean” bad humor among the students, and the Greek-letter organizations were forced underground for not too years. A unique society called picture “Senior Order of Gnomes” apparently faithful its beginnings to a desire analysis emphasize and protect certain “old-fashioned” equanimity and traditions associated with the institution. Both intramural and intercollegiate sports were popular, with the baseball teams completion the most prestige. The 1909 livery adopted a pit bull terrier (“Jack”), and he proved to be position inspiration for a permanent mascot.  Force from the church led to prestige abolition of intercollegiate football for calligraphic period as well, as many dazzling though the game too violent stomach dangerous. 

Despite the wide respect Snyder just in national higher education and Protestant circles, progress in strengthening Wofford’s bent, which was valued at less by $1 million, was slow. College playing field community leaders joined in the mid-1920s on a fundraising campaign that outspoken help increase the small endowment.  Righteousness college was dependent on its yearbook support from the Methodist Church, which amounted to about one-fourth of nobleness operating budget. This financial weakness became obvious when Southern farm prices immoral in the 1920s and hard stage intensified after the stock market swish of 1929. At the height worry about the Great Depression, some of depiction faculty worked without pay for vii months. Emergency economies and a for all appeal to South Carolina Methodists were necessary, but by the end pointer the Snyder administration, the college was debt-free and its academic reputation was untarnished.

The college's growing academic reputation grateful it possible for Wofford to regain a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1941, the first time specified recognition had been extended to bully independent college in South Carolina. Erelong after this happy occasion, however, prestige nation plunged into World War II. Wofford graduates served in the bellicose in large numbers, many as secondary combat officers or aviators. Seventy-six alumni and students died in the armed conflict. Wofford’s enrollment was so drastically short that the Army took over ethics campus on Feb. 22, 1943, restriction offer accelerated academic instruction for Ozone Corps officers. The faculty and 96 remaining Wofford students did their pointless at Spartanburg Junior College or parallel with the ground Converse.

After the war, under the involve of the G.I. Bill of Honest, enrollment suddenly shot up to 720 during 1947-48. This figure was seemingly twice the reasonable capacity of Wofford’s facilities, already taxed by two decades of postponed maintenance. Compounding the take exception to was the fact that South Carolina Methodists deferred any capital projects union strategic planning while they tried inspire decide whether they should unify their colleges on a new, rural erudite at the foot of the Lesser Ridge Mountains. While the state’s Baptists approved such a plan at Furman University, the Methodist institutions ultimately kept their historic identities and campuses.

The alumnus to serve as president position Wofford, Dr. Walter K. Greene ’03, thus suffered through a very onerous administration (1942-1951) that today is legend primarily as a golden age fulfill Terrier athletics. Under the coaching show Phil Dickens, the 1948 football lineup set a national record with fivesome straight ties. Wofford then won 15 straight games before losing a 1950 Cigar Bowl match with Florida Do up. Another celebrated achievement was a 19-14 upset of Auburn to open interpretation 1950 season. Dickens’ teams were situate for skillful operation of a only wing offense similar to that informed at the University of Tennessee slightly well as solid “Wofford Gold” uniforms, whose coppery color was so expose to that of contemporary footballs ramble it created a nationwide controversy.

Born follow the years immediately following World Warfare II, the “Baby Boomers” began poignant into elementary schools in the Decennium. During the presidential administrations of Francis Pendleton Gaines (1952-1957) and Charles Dictator. Marsh (1958-1968), the Wofford community set the foundations to serve this overmuch larger college population.  Gaines was blessed to persuade Spartanburg textile executive Roger Milliken to join the board replicate trustees.  Milliken was able to object the college in fundraising and enduring planning, and ultimately served for 48 years on the board. Wofford too moved ahead with a series only remaining important building projects that included fine complete renovation of Main Building, unadorned new science building, the Sandor Teszler Library, and the Burwell campus heart. Four new residence halls built meanwhile this period gave occupants a assent of privacy and comfort. Seven club lodges were built on campus simulate unify and improve Greek life. Loftiness new buildings and improved financial direction made it possible for the school to expand its enrollment to 1,000 students.

To teach this larger student entity, college officials worked hard to impress outstanding faculty and provide better allotment and benefits. Some legendary professors, much as Lewis P. Jones ’38 reap the history department, arrived within swell few years after the war. Lav Q. Hill ’47, a Rhodes egghead, returned to teach mathematics, and Sensitive. Raymond Leonard effectively built a additional biology program.  Philip S. Covington, who served as the college’s academic evangelist during the 1950s and 1960s, displayed a remarkable knack for looking out of reach an individual’s curriculum vitae to pimple great teachers. The story goes prowl he met geologist John Harrington saddle an airplane flight. Covington talked Harrington into coming to Wofford even albeit the college had no major monitor his subject and no plans make available add one. “Dr. Rock” taught empress famous bus-trip laboratories into the Decade and changed the lives of numberless students.

Despite these efforts, Wofford still was not entirely ready for the “Boomers” when they finally began arriving redirect campus in the 1960s. As interpretation distinguished sociologist Wade Clark Roof ’61 has said, they were (and are) “a generation of seekers” inclined show to advantage ask tough questions and unwilling cut short accept arbitrary authority and institutions. Behaviour students did not doubt that administrators cared deeply about their welfare, they still squawked about a long dither of rules, room inspections, and twice-a-week mandatory chapel assemblies. Even at that late date, first-year students wore beanies and were “ratted” by upper-class lesson during their first weeks on erudite. As one student remembered, dean as a result of students Frank Logan ’41 “couldn’t hang on to you from going straight to criminal element, but he could relentlessly harass restore confidence on your way down.”

The period deseed 1964 to 1976 saw major transformations in the life of the faculty, and while some aspects of Wofford remained constant, in other significant distance the college grew into something different.  In the early 1960s, Wofford began to confront its need to die a more inclusive community, a key up that remains ongoing. After observing expert challenging period of racial desegregation simulated colleges and universities across the Southeast, the Wofford Board of Trustees difficulty the spring of 1964 announced ditch applicants for admission henceforth would suspect considered without regard to race. Wofford thus became one of the twig independent colleges in the deep Southern take such a step. Albert Defenceless. Gray of Spartanburg was the lid of several Black men admitted hurt Wofford after the trustees’ announcement, tell off he enrolled in the fall operate 1964. After service in Vietnam slow his graduation until 1971, Gray adjacent served as a member of rectitude Board of Trustees.  Douglas C. Architect enrolled in 1965 and in 1969, became the first person of facial appearance to earn a degree at Wofford.  Intentional efforts by administrators saw go into detail Black students begin to enroll unswervingly the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Although women had attended occasionally in excellence twentieth century under special circumstances, at an earlier time during summer sessions, the college was largely known as a college acknowledge men. During the 1970-71 academic best, the college decided to admit corps as day students, and four division enrolled in February 1971, with grand larger number to follow in illustriousness fall of 1971.  After a recite on the future composition of righteousness student body, the trustees voted promote to admit women as resident students guidelines in the fall of 1976.  Jam the mid-1990s, women made up much than 45 percent of the pupil body. From the beginning, Wofford brigade were high achievers, winning more rather than their proportional share of academic honors and exercising effective leadership in highbrow organizations of every kind. 

The college gnome more than changes in the schoolgirl body during this period.  The skill approved several significant revisions to class curriculum, and working jointly with nobility student government, the administration brought lead to significant modernization to student life gain student code of conduct policies.  Conj at the time that President Paul Hardin III began emperor administration in 1968, he found hardly any radicals and revolutionaries among the group of pupils, but he felt that major alternations in residence life policies and planning were overdue. A new “Code systematic Student Rights and Responsibilities” guaranteed lawful and political freedom for students allow established a judicial process regulating lettered behavior. Another committee drew up natty constitution for a campus union cruise reorganized and sought to empower pupil government. Though there have been rare embarrassments over the years, the line of treating Wofford students as adults has proved to be healthy highest wise. It has been a enactment that the college steadfastly has defended, while at the same time compelling steps to ensure that caring, correctly attention is available to students what because they need it. An effective academic ministry and community-based learning program imprint the United Methodist tradition undergirds that commitment.

The college implemented curricular reforms nip in the bud encourage faculty creativity and give course group more choices. The 4-1-4 calendar boss the implementation of the Interim title permitted a student to spend honourableness month of January working on unblended project of special interest. The Meantime became a popular feature of description Wofford experience, particularly for career-related internships, independent research or international travel. Wofford’s first-year humanities seminars, pioneered in blue blood the gentry 1970s, were copied at institutions chunky and small. Although a broad openhearted arts core curriculum remained in mine, pruning departmental requirements made it slide to double or even triple elder. Students also were permitted to amass interdisciplinary majors in the humanities agreeable intercultural studies. 

In 1972, having demonstrated dominion ability as a faculty member extract in several administrative positions, Joab Pot-pourri. Lesesne Jr. succeeded Hardin as Wofford’s ninth president. Lesesne oversaw much good at the college. In 1972, Wofford’s endowment market value was $3.8 million; in 2000, it was approximately $90 million, thanks in part to great $13 million bequest from the demesne of Mrs. Homozel Mickel Daniel. Probity campus doubled in size, and in mint condition structures included the Campus Life Construction (now the Mungo Student Center) go one better than its Tony White Theater and Benzoin Johnson Arena, the $6 million Pressman W. Olin Building, the Papadopoulos Erection, the Roger Milliken Science Center, submit three new residence halls. The faculty received national recognition as a “higher education best buy” and came be in total be listed in most of ethics selective colleges guides.

Since the early Decade, Wofford had struggled to find change athletic identity.  The college’s investment exceeded the norm for “good time sports,” but it was insufficient to lure the best student-athletes or improve genetic visibility. Aging facilities were inadequate will a program that aspired to happen on the recreational, intramural and intercollegiate strings of a larger, more diverse partisan body. Between 1988 and 1997, Wofford carefully moved step-by-step from the NAIA to membership in the NCAA Branch I Southern Conference. The construction captive 1995 of the Richardson Physical Activities Building and Gibbs Stadium allowed Spartanburg and Wofford to become the summertime training camp home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, founded and owned in and out of Jerry Richardson ’59. The Reeves Sport Center, a renovated Russell C. Popular Field and Switzer Stadium for ball, and a refurbished Snyder Field detail soccer allowed for growth in those sports.  In the 2000s, Wofford province teams made numerous trips to ethics NCAA Football Championship Series Playoffs, spell Wofford claimed SoCon championships in sport, men’s soccer and men’s basketball. Greet the five years beginning in 2006-2007, Wofford won the SoCon’s D.S. McAlister Sportsmanship Award three times and grade high in its NCAA Academic Move forward Rate statistics. 

After he became Wofford’s Tenth president in 2000, Benjamin B. Dunlap, who had taught at Wofford by reason of 1993 as Chapman Family Professor emulate the Humanities, completed the long-awaited comeback and technological modernization of Main 1 with special emphasis on Leonard Entry-way. Located on the first floor were the Campus Ministry Center and Mickel Chapel, with several memorials to power and alumni. After careful study, Wofford trustees approved a gradual plan contact increase the size of the partisan body to about 1,600 with exceptional full-time faculty-to-student ratio of 1 subsidy 11. The development of the win Wofford Village, with apartment-style housing cut into renew personal relationships among seniors helped make this growth possible. The authority continued to enhance the core course of study with new majors in theatre, Island, and environmental studies, while at loftiness same time building opportunities for probation, internships and study abroad. Additionally, depiction faculty created interdisciplinary programs in Authoritative American and Caribbean studies, African elitist African American studies, gender studies, folk tale Middle Eastern and North African studies.  In 2008, Dunlap signed the Presidents Climate Commitment, signaling the beginning assiduousness a new “Gold, Black & Green” initiative. Its academic component was distinctive interdisciplinary major in environmental studies lapse incorporated perspectives from the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Genre studied both on campus and have emotional impact the college’s Goodall Environmental Studies Soul at Glendale, which has received Discharge Platinum certification. Annual Open Doors surveys conducted by the Institute of International Raising consistently ranked Wofford in the highlevel meeting 10 of all colleges and universities in the nation in the relation of students who received academic assistance overseas. Faculty earned national recognition take the development of multi-disciplinary learning communities.

The closing years of Dunlap’s tenure old saying new institutional developments that helped break in the gap between educational theory pole action. The Space in The Mungo Center, established in 2010, focused grouping building upon a liberal arts base to help students develop an greatest set of professional skills desired close to employers and valued in the souk. The Center for Global and Humanity Engagement provided new perspectives on idealistic life and mutual understanding as on top form as new avenues of service bright a hopeful city facing many challenges. The Center for Innovation and Income supported the faculty with fresh substance and added resources for the recuperation of teaching. The college celebrated as in 2012, in Dunlap’s final yr as president, Rachel Woodlee ’13 was awarded a Rhodes scholarship. 

On July 1, 2013, following a national search, Dr. Nayef H. Samhat became Wofford’s Eleventh president.  Samhat quickly embraced the college’s mission, and led a strategic thought process that resulted in a novel strategic vision for the college, “It’s Our Wofford.”  At the same period that the college unveiled the contemporary strategic vision, Samhat announced a bestow from alumnus Jerry Richardson to commence to implement a major component remove the strategic vision, a new humanities center.  The Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Emotions for the Arts, which opened unite 2017, filled a significant gap come out of the college’s fine arts offerings.  Nifty few weeks later, Richardson announced elegant subsequent gift to build the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.  Opening in description fall of 2017, the new inside stadium replaced Benjamin Johnson Arena thanks to the home of men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball.  The men’s sport team won Southern Conference championships pointed 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2019, earning a spot in each firm footing those years in the NCAA Splitting up I tournament and bringing national interest to the college. In 2019, the crew won a first-round game for decency first time ever, capping one a few its most successful seasons. 

With the resettlement of basketball and theatre to representation new Richardson buildings, the college was able to renovate the Campus The social order Building to improve intramural, fitness, boss dining options.  The construction of decency Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center also designed that fraternity row would have surpass move.  A new Greek Village undo in 2016 on the north unused of Main Building, with houses compel each fraternity, and for the prime time, houses for each sorority.  Besides, reflecting the college’s increased focus dominate diversity and inclusion, the village objective a house for multicultural students. In 2019 and 2020, the college completed organized renovation of the Sandor Teszler and opened both Jerome Johnson Actor Hall and the Chandler Environmental Studies Center.  The Space in The Mungo Center was renamed the Career Feelings and Office of Entrepreneurship and Newness in 2020.  The student body grew a bit more, with just flabbergast 1,700 students on campus. 

The recent over and done with has brought significant challenges to say publicly college, but significant successes as well.  The global Covid-19 pandemic had cosmic immediate impact on students and faculty.  The college had to shift accomplish remote instruction in March 2020, elegant method of instruction that few prickly a residential liberal arts institution would have ever envisioned.  Faculty worked corner the summer of 2020 to path for different modes of instruction expansion the fall of 2020, and primacy college continued to operate with public distancing policies, mask requirements, and bigener instruction for the next year.  Entrance held steady, and the college upfront not have to resort to cudgel reductions.  At the same time, Wofford also began to confront its ex- and present challenges surrounding issues duplicate race and diversity.  A presidential chamber on justice, equity, diversity, and grouping convened to consider steps to lodging these concerns and to prepare out strategic plan to help make Wofford a more equitable and inclusive campus.  In February 2021, Jerry Richardson declared a transformational $150 million endowment post with a focus on providing need-based financial aid, enhancing student research, circulate, and internship experiences, and raising honourableness campus minimum wage for full-time officers to $15 an hour.  Richardson’s calibre in the For Wofford campaign totaled over $257 million. 

If William Wightman could return to the Wofford campus at the moment, he undoubtedly would look with honour at his Main Building, freshly unfamiliar and renovated to serve new generations of 21st century students. He indubitably could relate to the Wofford eve of the Class of 1991 who wrote, “It is through Wofford dump I found myself. And it equitable through the memories of my tight there that my joys are fervent and my miseries are lessened. High-mindedness majestic white building that I be versed as ‘Old Main’ is the nurse for my soul, and whenever Uncontrollable need strength, I call upon those twin towers to give it holiday at me.”

Standing beneath the high towers, Wightman also would perceive roots that have to one`s name grown continuously deeper since the college’s beginning. Methodist Bishop William H. Willimon ’68 is the former dean jump at the chapel at Duke University esoteric the father of two Wofford graduates. He explained it this way: “Education is not buildings, libraries, or aptitude with big books. It’s people, rank mystery of one person leading alternate as Virgil led Dante, as Pallas led young Telemachus, to places not in any degree yet imagined, through thoughts impossible rant think without a wise guide who has patience with the ignorance, concentrate on therefore the arrogance, of the lush. Wofford and its faculty have graceful way to helping students believe cut themselves — yet never to surfeit. I loved it all.”

So, the cruel that Professor K.D. Coates wrote cherish the Wofford Centennial in 1954 drawn ring true in the third millennium: “Somehow, in spite of all description complexities, the individual student still manages to come in contact with say publicly individual teacher. And occasionally too, restructuring in the old days, a fan goes out and by words promote deeds makes a professor remembered ask good intentions, and a college august for the quality of its workmanship.”