Greetings fellow Tigers!
It was great to see so many of our alumni return to Clemson last week for the Golden Tiger Reunion. The weekend kicked off with a special induction of the class of 1968 to the Golden Tiger Society. During the next two days, our alumni enjoyed events and celebrations with new and past members of the Golden Tiger Society.
During the induction ceremony, the class of 1968 announced a $1,000,396 gift to Clemson’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program and scholarships for Clemson students. The gift will allow both the Army and Air Force ROTC detachments to enhance their recruiting and retention of student cadets, enable them to achieve their commissioning goals and garner national recognition. The scholarships will support cadets who plan careers in the military services and those who seek leadership training applicable to any endeavor making a positive difference in their Clemson experience. You can read more about the class of 1968’s gift here. You can watch a special thank you video to the class of 1968 here and view photos from reunion here.
Leslie Hossfeld will join the university as dean of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS) on July 1. She will provide leadership for 202 faculty members, 103 staff members, 2,807 undergraduate students and 443 graduate students. Hossfeld is a professor and head of the sociology department at Mississippi State University, where she also served as director of the Mississippi Food Insecurity Program and associate director of the Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities. Hossfeld’s work speaks directly to the strategic vision of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences, which is to make a tangible difference in the lives of people every day and to be a leader in the effort to solve problems in South Carolina, the nation, and beyond. Hossfeld earned her Ph.D. in sociology at NC State University. She holds a Master of Social Science degree from the University of Mississippi and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. You can read more about Clemson’s new dean here. Welcome to the Clemson family!
Clemson is preserving the legacy of what once stood where the new College of Business is being built. Trees that stood on the hillside across from Bowman Field are finding permanent residency in the design and functionality of the new building being constructed for Clemson University’s College of Business. More than 6,500 board feet of mostly white and red oak reclaimed lumber is being put to a variety of uses in the business school’s twin-tower, approximately 180,000 square foot building scheduled for completion in 2020. The university enlisted professionals to remove the trees as part of the plan to reclaim the lumber. Clemson forestry students are learning from the urban forestry project by participating in repurposing the wood and by planting new trees to replace those reclaimed for use in the new building. The building’s landscaping plan will involve planting up to 150 new trees, including varieties of paperbarks, red maples, magnolias, ginkgos, tupelos and red and white oak. The reclaimed lumber will be used in many areas of high traffic and visibility within the building. You can read more about how Clemson’s preservation effort here.
B-Forward-thinking
Clemson has established a balance between preserving its legacy and embracing the future. We often celebrate our past while looking forward to the possibilities. The new home for the College of Business is an example of this tradition. The state-of-the-art building will include the latest technology to make our students successful after graduation, and the building will also feature parts of our University’s history.
Our predecessors have helped us get to where we are today – a top-25 public university. With your continued support, Clemson can reach its goal of becoming a top-20 university. Projects – like the new College of Business – are propelling Clemson into its rightful place among the nation’s best universities.
There are just two weeks left to make your annual gift before our fiscal year ends on June 30. I encourage each of you to make your annual gift if you haven’t already and encourage your friends and family to join you in giving back to Clemson. You can do so by making your gift here. Your annual gift helps us reach our alumni participation goal of 23% – we are currently at 20.31%. Thank you for your continued commitment to our students, faculty and staff.
Go Tigers!
Brian O’Rourke
