About a year ago, the Board of Trustees approved a final report from its Task Force on the History of Clemson recommending ways to best tell the complete story of Clemson University. The report was based on input solicited and received from faculty, staff, students, alumni and other community stakeholders throughout fall 2015.
Since then, a team appointed by President Jim Clements to advise the administration on how to turn those recommendations into reality has been hard at work. Many signs of progress are clearly visible, such as new historical markers, exhibits at Tillman Hall, a new history website, revised biographies of key founding figures and last semester’s “Clemson History in Plain Sight” Day.
According to project team leader Cathy Sams, there’s much more to come. A comprehensive interpretive plan is in the works, which will identify and prioritize stories to tell, provide templates for specialized tours, offer design standards for interpretive media — ranging from signage to phone apps — and concepts on an interpretive “center” to be the starting point and hub for discovering and sharing the Clemson experiences. A summary of the plan is available on the implementation team’s website for campus review and comment.
“We plan to share the draft with the Board of Trustees at their April meeting,” she said. “Faculty and staff are invited to share their thoughts by April 3 so that their input can be considered prior to presentation to the board.”
