{"id":23998,"date":"2023-03-29T14:36:04","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T18:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=23998"},"modified":"2024-03-26T16:08:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T20:08:19","slug":"from-the-vault-a-difference-that-endures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/from-the-vault-a-difference-that-endures\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Vault: A Difference that Endures"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>A name has the power to evoke. It can stir our hopes and inspire our efforts. At Furman, named gifts also symbolize academic prestige, athletic excellence, the embrace of community and opportunities that transform lives.<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Townes, Timmons, Lay. Their names are legend and represent individuals whose generosity endures across eras, creating a timeless presence at the university \u2013 and a world made better by the students who benefitted from their vision. In the decades that followed, so many others have given to Furman to support students, faculty excellence, facilities and life-changing experiences. Here are a few gifts from recent years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Jennifer McHan Good Collaboratorium<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, a study area and lecture hall in the computer science department, was named in 2022, thanks to a gift from Jennifer McHan Good \u201992. The <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Messinger Family Scholarship<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, through a gift from Wyatt \u201904 and Lauren Buquo Messinger \u201906, was created in 2018 for students with financial need. Preference is given to students who intend to pursue healthcare or health policy careers. In 2021, the couple also began providing annual support to The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health\u2019s summer fellows program.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A newly renovated film room for the men\u2019s basketball program, the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">John &amp; Barbara Block Film Room<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, was named in 2022. A gift from John \u201963 and Barbara Block \u201963 made the project a reality.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Mary Seawell Metz \u201958 Fund<\/span><\/b> for the Directorship<span data-contrast=\"auto\"> of the Faculty Development Center was created by a gift from former Furman Trustee Mary Seawell Metz \u201958. It is intended to ensure that faculty have ongoing support to help them build vital, purposeful academic careers.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Atkinson Gate<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, the front gate of the university, was made possible in 2016 through a gift from J. Thomas \u201958 and Sherry Atkinson.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>On March 14, Furman lost a beloved member of its community, Gordon R. Herring \u201965, who was a member of the Furman Board of Trustees and past chair, a retired executive vice president of TeleCable Corp. and one of the founders of the Weather Channel. He had served on Furman\u2019s Advisory Council, was a founding member of Furman\u2019s Benefactors Circle, chaired the Campaign Executive Committee for the Forever Furman Campaign and served on the Hollingsworth Funds Board. His generosity and vision will benefit music students and the university for years to come. <strong>The Herring Music Fellowship Fund<\/strong> and the <strong>Herring Music Chair Endowment<\/strong> were established by a gift from Gordon and Sarah Herring \u201966 in 2020. Their gift is intended to attract exceptional musicians to the university, to help Furman compete for talent against other institutions, and to enrich the university and community with cultural experiences.<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The generosity of friends of Furman Thomas J. Boone Jr. and Brenda Boone gave us the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Thomas J. Boone Jr. &amp; Brenda Boone Film Room<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, newly renovated and named in 2022 in support of the women\u2019s basketball program.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In 2020, the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Davies Idea Exchange<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> opened as part of The Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It serves as a campus hub for collaborative thought, exploration and entrepreneurial education for students, faculty and staff. The generosity of Gary Davies \u201990 and Kristin Baucom Davies \u201989 created the space at Furman.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Davis &amp; Faxon Training Facility at REK <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">was dedicated in 2022. The worldclass facility for men\u2019s and women\u2019s golf was built thanks to gifts from former Paladin golf greats Cindy Davis \u201984 and Brad Faxon \u201983.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A name has the power to evoke. It can stir our hopes and inspire our efforts. At Furman, named gifts also symbolize academic prestige, athletic excellence, the embrace of community and opportunities that transform lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":25766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1965,1963,1964],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-the-lake","category-furman-magazine","category-spring-2023"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}