Wofford College


Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The historic campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the American Civil War that still operates on its original campus.
Wofford was founded with a bequest of $100,000 from the Rev. Benjamin Wofford, 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. In 1941, the college was awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society, and the Beta of South Carolina chapter was the first at a private college in South Carolina. Wofford's colors are old gold and black. The school mascot is the Terrier.

Wofford College Historic District

The Wofford College Historic District consists of the Main Building, which was designed by Edward C. Jones in the Italianate style, and six two-story brick residences. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Construction of the Main Building began in 1852 and the first classes were held in the fall of 1854. During the Civil War, the endowment was invested in Confederate bonds and other securities, which became worthless by the end of the war.

Academics

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

Faculty

136 full-time faculty teach at the college, 92 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 a variety of areas including 26 majors.
The college also offers pre-professional programs in Teacher Education, Dentistry, Medicine, Law, Ministry, Engineering and Veterinary Science. The college's Army ROTC program was established in 1919.

International programs

The college's Office of International Programs helps students select from over 200 study abroad 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%, compared to the Lincoln Commission national average of 9% of graduates earning credits abroad. The college has had six Fulbright English Teaching assistantships in the past four years as well as two Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships. In 2012, Rachel Woodlee was selected as Wofford's sixth Rhodes Scholar.

Athletics

The Wofford Terriers compete in NCAA Division I in the Southern Conference. Wofford's colors are old gold and black. The school mascot is the Terrier. 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 have made their summer training camp home at Wofford. The Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas is played at Wofford's Gibbs Stadium. Boss is the mascot for Wofford Athletics.
Wofford is represented by 18 men and women's varsity sports. Gibbs Stadium, opened in 1996, is the home field for Terrier football games. The baseball team plays its home games at Russell C. King Field. Men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams play in the Benjamin Johnson Arena of the Campus Life Building, opened in 1981. The inaugural men's basketball game was played in 3300-seat Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on 10 November 2017. Soccer teams play on Snyder Field, which was the college's football stadium through 1995. Wofford men's basketball has won the Southern Conference Championship and an NCAA bid five times since 2010, and in 2018/19 went a perfect 21-0 in Southern Conference play, and won an NCAA tournament game for the first time. Wofford football won the SoCon championship in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Student life

Wofford offers a self-contained environment. The Village apartment-style housing for the senior class was a 2008 "Dorm of Distinction" as chosen by University Business Magazine. Phase V of The Village, an $11 million project, opened in the fall of 2011. It added 80 beds in loft apartments, bringing the capacity of The Village to 428 students. It also houses The Space in the Mungo Center, specialized classroom spaces, and a dining and market area called the "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. Delta Phi Alpha, the national German honorary society, was founded at Wofford, as was Beta Club, an honorary society prominent in American high schools.
In 1941, the college was awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society. This was the first chapter at a private college in South Carolina.

Service learning

Wofford has a variety of student service organizations on campus, including the Bonner Scholars, Twin Towers, Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, 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, Research, and Service. 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.
Fraternities include Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Pi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Nu, and Kappa Alpha Psi.
The sororities of the National Panhellenic Council include Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, and Zeta Tau Alpha.

Diversity

In each of the years from 1901 through 1904, two women graduated from Wofford. In 1964, Wofford became the first private college in South Carolina to desegregate voluntarily with the admission of Albert Gray. In recent years Wofford has become one of the most racially and ethnically diverse colleges in the South.

Alumni

Athletics

Education