Happy holidays: a look back as we look forward

Dear Furman Community,

What a year of progress and renewal we’ve had, one in which we emerged from the peak of the pandemic with a new appreciation for community. As we prepare for the holidays with family and friends and a new year filled with promise, I would like to thank all of you for your generosity of spirit to one another, your commitment to learning and your dedication to Furman’s excellence.

You make it clear every day that Furman is a place where community is all around you and where we work to ensure everyone is welcomed and accepted.

When I think back over the past year, the contributions of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, families and friends fill me with optimism for the year ahead. To celebrate your work, I would like to revisit just a few of our 2022 achievements.

A community that thrives

Our four community-focused institutes continued to provide immersive, purpose-defining experiences for our students. Among many other initiatives:

The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health convened leaders in aging and healthcare policy at its 2022 Community Health Forum to address the challenge of meeting the need for services for aging populations.

The Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s signature initiative, GVL Starts, advanced its mission to support a pipeline of startups, with the help of a grant from the Truist Foundation.

The Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities entered its second year of partnership with the BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament’s “For the Love of the Green” program, which curbs emissions and diverts waste from landfills.

And, The Riley Institute continued to recognize and advance social and economic progress, a mission at the center of the Building OneSouthCarolina forum. The Riley Institute awarded the inaugural OneSouthCarolina Partners in Progress Award to Spartanburg’s Northside Initiative in May for its neighborhood revitalization efforts.

A reminder of what’s possible

We announced new honors for Sarah Reese ’71 H’14 and Lillian Brock Flemming ’71 M’75 H’14 that will inspire all who come to Furman to be courageous and to challenge the notions of what’s possible – as Lillian and Sarah exemplified. These two remarkable alumnae, among Furman’s first Black undergraduate students, have led lives of fearlessness, brilliance and social unity.

Furman’s Lyric Theatre will be named for Reese, a world-renowned opera singer, in celebration of her musical gifts and influence. A portrait of her will be commissioned and displayed in the Music Library accompanied by a biographical sketch of her remarkable achievements.

Lillian has devoted her life to educating, leading and uniting her beloved Greenville community – as a Greenville City Council member and through her service to public education, many civic organizations and, of course, her alma mater. The university will commission a portrait of Lillian to be displayed on campus with a biographical sketch of her life and accomplishments. We are also creating the Lillian Brock Flemming Award, which will be presented at Fall Convocation, beginning next year, to a member of the Furman student body, faculty, staff or alumni in recognition of work that strengthens and lifts up their community.

These honors are a result of recommendations from the Task Force on Slavery and Justice’s “Seeking Abraham” report and the Board of Trustees’ Special Committee. These dedications help us tell a more complete history of the university, ensuring that our campus increasingly reflects our commitment to truth, humility and inclusivity.

A more welcoming community

We expect to begin soon the first phase of a comprehensive renovation of South Housing, which will include a new residence hall and updates to four other halls devoted to first-year students, as well as a new space for the Center for Inclusive Communities. I am so pleased that we are creating a community hub where first-year students can gather, learn and develop a sense of belonging.

Further affirming our commitment to belonging and inclusion, we made several key hiring decisions this past year. In July, Cynthia King, a professor of communication studies, became the inaugural associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusive excellence in Academic Affairs, and in August, Franklin Ellis joined us as associate dean and director of the Center for Inclusive Communities.

In April, the findings of a climate assessment conducted in 2021 showed where we’ve made gains and where we should strive to improve. The results will inform our ongoing and future efforts, such as the series of dialogues and information sessions this past semester and more planned for the spring.

New offerings

This spring, the faculty voted to expand the Pathways Program, a two-year curriculum at the heart of The Furman Advantage, to all students. This affirms our commitment to student belonging and guided reflection and will help students identify what interests them and what they want to do after Furman.

This year also brought the launch of a new graduate degree program, the Master of Arts in Advocacy and Equity Studies. The MAAES program will present a wide range of courses, including critical tools such as community-based research, grant writing, media creation, organizing, facilitation of dialogue and listening.

In October, students studying data analytics gathered at Furman 101. They were joined by faculty, administrators and employers, including BMW, Michelin and Prisma Health, to discuss the new academic minor, what skills employers are seeking, the potential for collaboration, and full-time and internship opportunities.

Honors and recognition

As in previous years, Furman again stood out in so many ways – and others took notice. Furman was recognized as a “Most Innovative School,” rising to No. 4, the university’s highest rank in any category, in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings. The university’s overall ranking rose to No. 45, and Furman was also impressively ranked No. 29 among National Liberal Arts Colleges for “Best Undergraduate Teaching.” All of this was possible because of the dedication of our students, faculty and staff.

We were also recognized as No. 3 overall among baccalaureate institutions in the 2022 Sustainable Campus Index, and we earned a top-performer rating in the Campus Engagement category this year among all types of institutions. Only one other university in the Southeast besides Furman earned a spot in the top 10.

And, our efforts to increase student voter participation landed us on the “ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting.”

Gifts that transform

We know that well-being and belonging form the foundation of student success. With that in mind, Congressman David Trone ’77 and his wife, June, gave a gift of $10 million to expand the counseling center, launch an integrative approach to mental health and well-being, and create the Hillel Endowment Fund. The gift aligns powerfully with The Furman Advantage and its emphasis on helping students thrive so they may create lives of purpose and impact.

Through a $1 million gift from father-and-son team Ken ’87 and Chase Clemens ’22 to The Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, students will be able to learn the secrets of angel investing. The newly named Clemens Angel Analyst Fellowship is a collaboration with VentureSouth, a Greenville, South Carolina-based firm that funds startups in the Southeast.

And, an anonymous donor is helping to bring new perspectives to sustainability and environmental sciences through the Marjorie Schmidt Scholarship, made possible by a $1.3 million gift and named for a longtime Greenville champion of community and environmental causes. The scholarship will be awarded annually to a female Black student.

Furman Athletics

Our student-athletes past and present made us proud throughout the year. 

We received impressive results from the NCAA, which released its annual Graduation Success Rate figures. Furman athletics continued to succeed in its core mission of graduating its student-athletes, registering an overall graduation success rate of 94, with nine sports posting perfect marks of 100.

Our Paladins continue to distinguish themselves in competition as Women’s Golf, Women’s Tennis, Men’s Cross Country and Women’s Cross Country each won Southern Conference Championships in 2022. In addition, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball are ranked Pre-Season No. 1 and No. 2 in the SoCon and Football hosted an FCS post-season playoff game in Paladin Stadium for the first time since 2005.

Former Furman All-American Walker Zimmerman ’15 was named to the United States Men’s National Team’s roster for this winter’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He joins Ricardo Clark ’05 and Clint Dempsey ’05 as the only players in program history to appear in a FIFA World Cup. In April, Furman Athletics announced the Walker ’15 and Sarah Tucker Zimmerman ’15 Endowed Scholarship for Men’s Soccer.

Dempsey was one of six international soccer stars to be inducted into the 2022 National Soccer Hall of Fame. And finally, Frank Selvy ’54 was among nine college basketball icons selected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Selvy still holds the Division I record for scoring 100 points in a single game.

Learn more

To see more highlights in images from this past year, please visit our annual year-in-review gallery. And check the Furman news site, too, for the latest stories about the Furman community.

Thank you for all that you do to serve and support Furman and our educational mission. On behalf of Charles and our family, we wish you and your family a holiday season of peace, hope and joy.

Warmly,

Elizabeth Davis
President