Wofford College
Encyclopedia
Established in 1854 and related to the United Methodist Church, Wofford College is an independent, Phi Beta Kappa liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

 college of 1,525 students located in downtown Spartanburg
Spartanburg, South Carolina
thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...

, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The historic 175 acres (71 ha) campus is recognized as a national arboretum and features “The Village,” which provides distinctive apartment-style housing for seniors. Wofford is listed on the President’s Community Service Honor Roll and in the annual “Open Doors” report for providing studies abroad opportunities for its students. Forbes, Kiplinger’s, U.S. News, USA Today and other publications have recognized the college for educational quality and value.

Wofford’s mission is to provide superior liberal arts education that prepares its students for extraordinary and positive contributions to society. The focus of Wofford’s mission is upon fostering commitment to excellence in character, performance, leadership, service to others, and lifelong learning.

Wofford was founded with a bequest of $100,000 from the Rev. Benjamin Wofford (1780–1850), a Methodist minister and Spartanburg native who sought to create a college for "literary, classical, and scientific education in my native district of Spartanburg." The college's Main Building is the oldest structure on campus and was designed by the noted Charleston architect Edward C. Jones.

The academic year consists of a four month fall semester, a one month January term called the Interim, and a four month spring semester.

Wofford's colors are old gold
Old Gold
Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from light olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow. The widely-accepted color "Old gold" is on the darker rather than the lighter side of this range....

 and black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

. The school mascot is the Terrier
Terrier
A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs. Terrier breeds vary greatly in size from just a couple of pounds to over 70 pounds and are usually categorized by size or function...

.

Overview

Operating continuously on its original campus in the City of Spartanburg, the Wofford College Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The campus now consists of 48 buildings on 175 acres (71 ha). In 2002, The entire campus was designated as an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...

, and Wofford is a member of the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta. The campus has been designated as "the Roger Milliken Arboretum."

Wofford has a 78 percent four-year graduation rate (82.3 graduate within 6 years) and in 2009, a 37% percent alumni giving rate. The mid-50% SAT range of the class that entered in 2010 was 1,160-1,340. 56 percent of the incoming freshman class in 2010 finished in the top 10 percent of their high school class. Wofford’s performance on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) ranks with the nation’s best colleges and universities. Details may be found in “Student Success in College: Creating Conditions that Matter,” by George D. Kuh, Jillian Kinzie and Associates (San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2nd edition, 2010). In 2010, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

 ranked it 58th in America's Best Colleges
Forbes Magazine's List of America's Best Colleges
In 2009 Forbes Magazine, along with The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, compiled a list of America's Best Colleges based on "the quality of the education they provide, the experience of the students and how much they achieve".- 2009 List :...

.

Gold, Black, and Green

A number of recent “green highlights” for Wofford have included the establishment of a campus Office of Community Sustainability; the work toward finalizing the campus Climate Action Plan; the college’s Sustainable Living Initiative aimed at residence halls and other areas of student life; the development of the interdisciplinary environmental studies program ; the renovation and restoration of the old Glendale Mill office into the Goodall Environmental Studies Center , the first academic building in South Carolina to be LEED Platinum certified; and the Wofford Santee Cooper Lecture Series on Sustainability and Energy

Faculty

One-hundred and nineteen full-time teaching faculty, 93 percent of whom have earned a doctorate or equivalent terminal degree. The FTE faculty to student ratio is 1:11.

Majors and minors

Wofford offers academic majors in Accounting, Art History, Biology, Business Economics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Chinese Language and Culture, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, Finance, French, German, Government, History, Humanities, Intercultural Studies, Intercultural Studies for Business, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Spanish and Theater.

The college also offers pre-professional programs in Teacher Education (secondary certification), Dentistry, Medicine, Law, Ministry and Veterinary Science. The college also offers an Army ROTC program.

International Programs

The college takes international study seriously, and an Office of International Programs helps students select from over 200 programs in 59 countries. Wofford consistently ranks in the nation’s top ten in the Institute of International Education Open Doors Survey, which is based on a comparison of the number of students earning credits abroad in a given year to the number of students in the graduating class. Wofford’s 2009 score was 93 percent, compared to the Lincoln Commission national average of 9 percent of graduates who earn credits abroad. The college has had six Fulbright English Teaching assistantships in the past four years as well as two Rotary Ambassadorial scholarships.

Interim program

The Interim program is designed to provide students with opportunities for new experiences outside the realm of traditional academics and allows students to become involved in departments outside their academic majors. Interims generally fall into one of four categories. In the most common type, students enroll in faculty-proposed projects on campus. These projects range from participation in theatre to pottery, knitting and short story writing. Students may elect to enroll in internship projects that are supervised by faculty, but involve working off-campus in legal, medical, dental, congressional, corporate, or non-profit settings. Students may propose independent research projects under the supervision of a faculty sponsor. Finally, faculty-led travel projects take groups of students and professors to study in other parts of the United States or in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, or Australia. Recent travel projects have included study in England and Ireland, South Africa, Peru, Brazil, Belize, Vietnam, China and Japan.

Athletics


The Wofford Terriers compete in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Division I in the Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...

. In the 2010 NCAA Division I graduation success report, 9 of 13 Wofford teams posted GRS scores of 100, the highest available mark. For the past 16 years, the Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

 have made their summer training camp home at Wofford. The Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas (a prestigious high school all-star football game) is played at Wofford's Gibbs Stadium.

Wofford is represented by 18 men and women's varsity sports. Gibbs Stadium
Gibbs Stadium
Gibbs Stadium is a 13,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It opened in 1996 and is home to the Wofford College Terriers football team. It is also the home to the Spartanburg High School varsity football team. It is home to the 30th largest college football scoreboard in...

, opened in 1996, is the home field for Terrier football games. The baseball team plays its home games at Russell C. King Field
Russell C. King Field
Russell C. King Field is a baseball venue located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. It is home to the Wofford Terriers college baseball team of the Division I Southern Conference. It has a capacity of 2,500 spectators....

, and volleyball and men's and women's basketball teams play in the Benjamin Johnson Arena of the Campus Life Building, opened in 1981. Soccer teams play on Snyder Field, which was the college's football stadium through 1995.

Student life

Wofford offers a self-contained environment (93% of the students live on campus) reflecting the principles of technology, talent, tolerance, sustainability, and safety. The Village apartment-style housing for the senior class is a 2008 "Dorm of Distinction" as chosen by the University Business Magazine. Phase V of the Village, an $11 million project, will open in the fall of 2011. It adds 80 beds in loft apartments, bringing the capacity of The Village to 428 students. It also houses the Center for Professional Excellence, specialized classroom spaces, and a grand galleria.

Student Organizations

Students participate in a wide variety of service, pre-professional, religious, social, and other student organizations. Student publications at the college date to the first literary magazine, first published in 1889. The student newspaper, the Old Gold and Black, is published every other week, and the yearbook, The Bohemian, is published each spring.

Service learning

Wofford has a variety of student service organizations on campus, including the Bonner Scholars, Twin Towers, and ONE.

Wofford was included on the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, published by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Washington Monthly compared 23 of 252 Top Liberal Arts Colleges contributions to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country). In the magazine’s 2010 ratings Wofford finished 23rd among 252 Top Liberal Arts Colleges, and was number 1 in South Carolina). Newsweek identified Wofford as one of the most “service-minded” campuses in the country, ranking the college second in listings released in September 2010. Six recent Wofford graduates have been selected for the Teach For America Corps.

Student government

Student government rests in the Campus Union, with executive officers and an assembly elected by the student body. Students serve on various campus committees and represent the student body before various committees of the Board of Trustees.

Student conduct is governed by the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities, a document written by an Interim project in 1970-71. The code is enforced by a judicial commission consisting of elected and appointed members. An honor council enforces the student honor code in academic matters.

Fraternities and sororities

The college recognizes 14 chapters of national fraternities and sororities with 42 percent of men and 53 percent of women participating.

Academics and medicine

  • C. Edward Coffey - vice president and chairman of the department of psychiatry, Henry Ford Health Care System, Detroit, Mich.
  • Gaines M. Foster - T. Harry Williams Professor of Southern History and dean, Louisiana State University College of Humanities and Sciences.
  • Michelle Phillips Hudspeth - Director of the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the Medical University of South Carolina.
  • Andrew Kang -- Goodman Professor of Excellence and Director of the University of Tennessee-Memphis Special Center of Research in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
  • Frank Smith
    Frank Smith
    - Academia :*Frank Smith , American psycholinguist, researcher of educational systems and the nature of learning*Frank Edward Smith , British physicist- Arts and entertainment :*Frank Smith , American animator...

    -- Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; holds the Marjorie J. Johnson Endowed Chair in pediatric hematology and oncology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Athletics and entertainment

  • David Bresenham - Television director and producer with the E! Network (Keeping up with the Kardashians and I’m Alive.)
  • Fisher DeBerry
    Fisher DeBerry
    Fisher DeBerry is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy from 1984 to 2006, compiling a record of 169–109–1. DeBerry led 17 of his 23 Air Force Falcons squads to winning records and 12 captured a bowl...

     – Retired head football coach at the Air Force Academy (1984–2006) and 2011 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame.
  • William McGirt
    William McGirt
    William McGirt is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-College career:McGirt attended Wofford College and won three collegiate events, including the 2001 Southern Conference Championship, before graduating in 2001...

     – Professional golfer on the PGA Tour
    PGA Tour
    The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

    .
  • Craig Melvin
    Craig Melvin
    Craig Delano Melvin is an American journalist, who works for MSNBC currently as an anchor, and was formerly with WRC-TV in Washington DC.-Personal life:...

     - Weekend Anchor for WRC-TV News, the NBC affiliate in Washington, DC.
  • Danny Morrison
    Danny Morrison (sports executive)
    Danny Morrison is currently serving as the President of the Carolina Panthers after previously serving in college sports administration.Morrison was the Athletic Director at Wofford College from 1985 to 1997 and then as a Senior Vice President until 2001. As a student he played basketball for the...

     – President of the Carolina Panthers NFL football team.
  • Wendi Nix
    Wendi Nix
    -Professional:Wendi primarily handles coverage for NFL and College Football games featuring teams from the New England area. Prior to working for ESPN, Nix was a weekend sports anchor at WHDH in Boston and previously reported for Fox Sports Net, NESN and WPDE in South Carolina...

     – Anchor and reporter for ESPN.
  • Jerry Richardson
    Jerry Richardson
    Jerry Richardson is the current majority owner and founder of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League.-Biography:...

     – Owner and Founder of the NFL Carolina Panthers
    Carolina Panthers
    The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...


Business

  • Michael S. Brown - CEO, Health Care Capital, Consolidated, Atlanta, GA
  • Harold Chandler - CEO, Univers Workplace Benefits, Hammonton, NJ
  • Catherine Sloss Crenshaw -- president of Sloss Real Estate, Birmingham, AL

Politics, law and public service

  • Rodney O. Anderson - Major General, United States Army, Deputy Commander, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg.
  • Michael J. Copps – Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission
    Federal Communications Commission
    The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

    .
  • Henry Franklin Floyd
    Henry Franklin Floyd
    Henry Franklin Floyd is a United States Circuit Judge, currently serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.- Early life and education :...

     – Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
    United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
    The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina...

    .
  • Clyde H. Hamilton
    Clyde H. Hamilton
    Clyde H. Hamilton is a United States federal judge.Born in Edgefield, South Carolina, Hamilton received a B.S. from Wofford College in 1956 and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1961. He was in the United States Army Reserve Captain from 1956 to 1958. He was in private...

     – Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
  • Greg O'Dell - President and CEO, Washington Convention Center Authority, Washington, DC.
  • Costa M. Pleicones
    Costa M. Pleicones
    Costa Pleicones is an American jurist who is a member of the South Carolina Supreme Court. He has served on the court since being elected in February 2000...

     – Associate Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court
    South Carolina Supreme Court
    The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.-Selection of Justices:...

     since 2000.
  • Dennis W. Shedd – Judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Religion

  • Lyndon F. Harris - Executive Director, the Sacred City Project, New York, NY
  • William H. Willimon
    William H. Willimon
    William Henry Willimon is a bishop in the United Methodist Church in the U.S., currently serving in North Alabama. He is best known as a theologian, writer, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, and as one of America's best known preachers...

     – Bishop
    Bishop
    A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

     of the United Methodist Church
    United Methodist Church
    The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...

    , North Alabama Conference

Education

  • William Preston Few
    William Preston Few
    William Preston Few was the first president of Duke University and the fifth president of its predecessor, Trinity College....

     – First president of Duke University
    Duke University
    Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

     and the fifth and last president of its predecessor, Trinity College.
  • James Kirkland
    James Hampton Kirkland
    James Hampton Kirkland was the second chancellor of Vanderbilt University. He was elected chancellor at the age of 33 and remained in this function until 1937, thus becoming one of the longest-serving university administrators in U.S. history...

     – Second and longest-serving chancellor of Vanderbilt University
    Vanderbilt University
    Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

    .
  • Louis B. Wright-Shakespearean Scholar, Writer, Chief Librarian Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington (1899-1984)

Politics and law

  • Eight alumni have served in US House of Representatives, including Samuel Dibble
    Samuel Dibble
    Samuel Dibble was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina.Samuel Dibble was born in Charleston, South Carolina, son of Philander Virgil and Frances Ann Dibble. Young Dibble pursued an academic course in Bethel, Connecticut , and Charleston, South Carolina...

     the first graduate of Wofford College (Class of 1856).
  • Olin D. Johnston
    Olin D. Johnston
    Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston was a Democratic Party politician from the US state of South Carolina. He served as the 98th Governor of South Carolina, 1935–1939 and 1943–1945, and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1945 until his death in 1965.-Early Life, Military Involvement,...

     – Former United States Senator, South Carolina (1945–1965).
  • C. Bruce Littlejohn - Associate Justice South Carolina Supreme Court
    South Carolina Supreme Court
    The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.-Selection of Justices:...

     (1966–1984); Chief Justice (1984–1985).
  • Ellison D. Smith
    Ellison D. Smith
    Ellison DuRant "Cotton Ed" Smith was a Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of South Carolina. He represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1909 until 1944....

     – Former United States Senator, South Carolina (1909–1945: 17th longest-serving senator in history).
  • John G. Stabler - Associate Justice South Carolina Supreme Court
    South Carolina Supreme Court
    The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.-Selection of Justices:...

     (1926–1935); Chief Justice (1935–1940).
  • Charles Albert Woods
    Charles Albert Woods
    Charles Albert Woods was a United States federal judge.Born in Darlington, South Carolina, Woods received an A.B. from Wofford College in 1872 and read law to enter the bar in 1873. He was in private practice from 1873 to 1903...

     - Associate Justice South Carolina Supreme Court
    South Carolina Supreme Court
    The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.-Selection of Justices:...

     (1903–1913); Judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1913–1925)

Religion

  • William Wallace Duncan
    William Wallace Duncan
    William Wallace Duncan was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1886.He was born 20 December 1839 in Boydton, Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent and of scholarship. He was the son of Professor David Duncan, a native of Ireland, and of University of Edinburgh in...

     (Class of 1858) - Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
    Methodist Episcopal Church, South
    The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or Methodist Episcopal Church South, was the so-called "Southern Methodist Church" resulting from the split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church which had been brewing over several years until it came out into the open at a conference...

    .
  • Marion J. Hatchett
    Marion J. Hatchett
    Marion Josiah Hatchett was an Episcopal priest, scholar, and one of the primary liturgists who shaped 1979 Book of Common Prayer.Born in Monroe, South Carolina, Hatchett was the son of a United Methodist minister. In December 1946 he was confirmed as an Episcopalian while a student at Wofford...

     – Liturgical scholar in the Episcopal Church who helped to shape the 1979 Book of Common Prayer
    Book of Common Prayer
    The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

    .
  • Albert C. Outler – Theologian and philosopher.

External links

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