Clemson University

Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant and sea-grant research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States.

Founded in 1889, Clemson University consists of five colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts and Humanities; Business and Behavioral Sciences; Engineering and Science; and Health, Education and Human Development. As of the year 2012, Clemson University enrolled a total of 16,562 undergraduate students for the fall semester and 4,206 graduate students and the student/faculty ratio is 16:1. The cost of in-state tuition is about $11,078 and out-of-state tuition is $25,388.



History
Thomas Green Clemson, the university's founder, came to the foothills of South Carolina in 1838, when he married Anna Maria Calhoun, daughter of John C. Calhoun, a South Carolina statesman and seventh U.S. Vice President. When Clemson died on April 6, 1888, he left most of his estate, which he inherited from his wife, in his will to be used to establish a college that would teach scientific agriculture and the mechanical arts to South Carolinians. His decision was largely influenced by South Carolina Governor Benjamin Tillman. Tillman lobbied the South Carolina General Assembly to create the school as an agricultural institution for the state and the resolution passed by only one vote.

In his will, Clemson explicitly stated that he wanted the school to be modeled after what is now Mississippi State University: "This institution, I desire, to be under the control and management of a board of trustees, a part of whom are hereinafter appointed, and to be modeled after the Agricultural College of Mississippi as far as practicable."

In November 1889, South Carolina Governor John Peter Richardson III signed the bill, thus establishing the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina. As a result, federal funds for agricultural education from the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act and the Hatch Act of 1887 were transferred from South Carolina College to Clemson.

Clemson Agricultural College formally opened in July 1893 with an initial enrollment of 446. From its beginning, the college was an all-white male military school. The school remained this way until 1955 when it changed to "civilian" status for students and became a coeducational institution.

In 1963, the school admitted its first African-American student, future Charlotte, North Carolina, mayor Harvey Gantt. In 1964, the college was renamed Clemson University as the state legislature formally recognized the school's expanded academic offerings and research pursuits.

Admissions
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies the university as more selective, since the university admitted less than fifty-five percent of those who applied to be freshmen in 2006.

Clemson University emphasizes on the rigor of high-school study and standardized test scores, either SAT or ACT. The university also considers class rank, extracurricular activities, and an optional personal statement. The average incoming freshman had a combined SAT score of 1220 and a high-school weighted grade-point average (GPA) of 3.99 in 2010. In 2008, admission was the most competitive in university history.

It had over 15,000 applications for its freshman class of approximately 2,800 students. It was especially competitive for out-of-state students in that it is a state-supported institution. Of those 15,000+ applications, over 10,000 were from outside of South Carolina; however, a little over 1,000 freshmen from other states gained admission.

Research and rankings
The university endeavors to become a "Top 20" public institution, undergoing a process of enhancing its graduate programs while continuing to emphasize the quality of the undergraduate experience. It has steadily moved up the rankings for public universities from 34, to 30, to 27, to 22 in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 respectively: according to the U.S. News & World Report. For 2011, U.S. News & World Report ranked Clemson as the 23rd best public national university in the country. For the year 2012, Clemson ranks number 25th for top public schools in the country according to U.S. News & World Report.

However, some have questioned Clemson's efforts to improve its rankings. In 2009, an administrator revealed that "Clemson manipulated class sizes, artificially boosted faculty salary data and gave rival schools low grades in the rankings' peer reputation survey" with the goal of manipulating its U.S. News & World Report ranking.

As part of its push to enhance graduate-level education, several new Ph.D. programs have been created including interdisciplinary doctoral programs in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design (RCID), and Planning, Design, and the Built Environment (formerly Environmental Design and Planning). Also noteworthy is a new master's degree in historic preservation, jointly offered in collaboration with the College of Charleston.

The university's currently most ambitious academic and research endeavor is the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). The CU-ICAR is a 250 acre automotive and motorsports research campus located in nearby Greenville, South Carolina. ICAR will include a graduate school offering master's and doctoral degrees in automotive engineering, and offering programs focused on systems integration. The campus also includes an Information Technology Research Center being developed by BMW. BMW, Microsoft, IBM, Bosch, The Timken Company and Michelin are all major corporate partners of the CU-ICAR. Private-sector companies that have committed so far to establishing offices and/or facilities on the campus include the Society of Automotive Engineers and Timken. Plans for the campus also include a full-scale, four-vehicle capacity rolling-road model wind tunnel.

In 2004 the Restoration Institute was founded. Its mission is to "advance knowledge in integrative approaches to the restoration of historic, ecological, and urban infrastructure resources." The institute is located in North Charleston and subsume the Hunley Commission that is currently undertaking the stabilization of the H.L. Hunley, the world's first submarine to sink a ship.

In 2011, The Princeton Review ranked Clemson #1 for town-gown relations are great, #2 for happiest students, #2 for jock schools, #3 for everyone plays intramural sports, #8 for students pack the stadiums, and #9 for best career services.

In 2012, SmartMoney named Clemson University as 7th best salary returns on tuition.

In 2012, U.S. News ranked Clemson University 3rd for having the most financial resources per student. $26,293 was spent on the average student at Clemson University.

Clemson Colleges
In July 1955, the four schools that made up Clemson: Agriculture, Arts & Sciences, Engineering and Textiles transformed into nine colleges.

College of Architecture
Clemson's desire to have its own Architecture college began in the post World War II period. South Carolina was going through rapid industrialization and was in need of better-trained architects. The South Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects was the main backing of this new development and showed their willingness by creating a foundation that would provide money to supplement the available resources of the college. The School of Architecture was established on July 1, 1958 with Professor McClure as its first Dean. Professor Dean, originally from University of Minnesota, began to change the basic curriculum almost immediately. He changed the undergraduate program from four to five years and strengthened the Masters Program by adding a two-year internship. Within the college of Agriculture there was the department of Building Science and Management, Planning and Fine Arts were added to enrich the education of the architects. The architectural foundations major accomplishment was the overseas center in Genoa, Italy where many graduate students are very active in the local community.

College of Arts and Sciences
In 1969, the Board of Trustees approved the administration’s recommendation that the College of Arts and Sciences be separated into The College of Liberal Arts and the College of Sciences. This decision was based on the number of students and departments increasing as well funding for research being denied due to lack of adequate strength in the one college.

College of Liberal Arts
The Liberal Arts program was growing rapidly from 1950- 1969 in terms of population as well as quality. When liberal arts became a separate college in 1969, Dr. Morris Cox was appointed Dean. English and Modern Languages, History, Sociology, and Political Science were the departments in the Liberal Arts College. Music was shortly removed from Education and placed into the Liberal Arts College.

College of Sciences
Dr. Clayton Aucoin served as the first Dean of the College of Sciences until replaced in 1971 by Dr. Vogel. His first mission was to transfer departments from the College of Agriculture to the College of Sciences. The departments were Biochemistry, Botany, Microbiology, and Zoology. Another major organizational change was in 1978 when Computer Science was established as a separate department.

College of Commerce and Industry
The College of Commerce and Industry was created in 1962 and is on of the largest Colleges existing in Clemson University. Many years before Clemson was founded, textiles were the major industry in South Carolina. Greenville, South Carolina came to be known as “ Textile Capital of the World”. The College of Commerce and Industry includes two schools and four departments in addition to an Office of Research, Office of Professional Development and an Office of Small Business Development.

College of Education
Clemson University’s College of Education is also one of the largest. In 1965, the School of Education was established led by Dean Dr. Landrith. Due to a lack of classroom teachers, The College of Education was an important addition in order to restore the image of teaching and attract and interest the students. A recent major import to the College of Education has been the renovation of Tillman Hall during 1980-1981. After the library was completed, it was decided that the best use of Tillman hall was to house the College of Education.

College of Engineering
The college of Engineering was developed in 1962. When Clemson decided to take on the training engineers, it essentially took the responsibility of serving as the state’s source of quality education. The engineering College of Clemson has close ties to the state of South Carolina. In the mid-1950s the construction of the Olin hall was complete to explore the vast mineral sources that could support a ceramic industry. Other work from this department found glass sands near Columbia, SC that formed the basis of the fiberglass industry here in South Carolina. Today the different departments of the College of Engineering are: Biosystems Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Industrial Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

College of Forestry and Recreation Resources
The college of Forestry and Recreation Resources were formed in 1970, which included two departments: Forestry and Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. This college is an example of Clemson’s responsiveness to the state of South Carolina and was formed because of independent actions taken by the United States Congress and the State legislature. The Park, Recreation and Tourism Management department is based on the program at North Carolina State University.

College of Nursing
The College of Nursing was designated as a college in 1972. In the early 1960s a serious health problem was going on in South Carolina which included shortage of nurses and lack of proper nurse training to meet the needs of post World War II era. The obvious solution to this problem was adding nurse education programs at colleges and universities. The college of Nursing now has five departments and is one of the highest respected programs in the nursing position.

Athletics


Clemson University teams are known as the Tigers. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sub-level for football), primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports since the 1953-54 season. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

The most-prominent athletics facilities on campus are Memorial Stadium, Littlejohn Coliseum, Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Historic Riggs Field, and Fike Recreation Center. Clemson has won four national championships including football (1981), two in men's soccer (1984 and 1987), and men's golf (2003).

Two-dollar bills
It has been a university tradition dating from September 24, 1977, for the school's fans to spend two-dollar bills on away-game trips. This began when the school played Georgia Tech "for the last time" as Tech refused to travel to Clemson. Of the seventeen games played between Tech and Clemson between 1953 and 1977, only once, in 1974, did the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come to Memorial Stadium. When in Atlanta, Clemson fans spent two-dollar bills stamped with "Tiger Paws" to show how they contributed to the local economy. This was the start of Clemson's two-dollar bill tradition, which was very popular in the 1980s and 1990s, but has waned since then.

Tiger Pushups
During football games, the Clemson tiger mascot does pushups that equal the total number of points on the scoreboard at the time. The tiger is in full mascot attire and has been known to lose 12 pounds in a single game. The Tiger pushup tradition began in 1978 by the Tiger mascot at the time-Zack Mills. The Tiger mascot outfit weighs in at 45 pounds, with the head weighing 20 pounds.

First Friday Parade
Clemson launches the football season with the annual First Friday parade. The parade includes Fraternities, sororities, the Clemson band as well as the university president. It goes right through Main Street and concludes at the amphitheatre, where the first pep rally of the year is held. In 1985, the parade was most attended when CBS commentators were the Grand Marshalls.

Tiger Paws
The Tiger paw became the official logo for Clemson University in 1970 in replace of the tiger. This change was inspired by President Robert Edwards in aims to “upgrade the image of the university”. The company hired for creating the new logo actually contacted the museum of Natural History in Chicago asking for a plaster imprint of the tiger paw. The paw is now used on football helmets, bumper stickers and painted on the football field. The tiger paw is also painted on campus and in a footprint pattern on highways leading to Clemson.

Homecoming and Tigerama
Every year Clemson students have the opportunity to attend the festivities of Homecoming and Tigerama. This Clemson Homecoming tradition began in 1914 and has been a big part of Clemson University since. Every year, preceding the first game different organizations build and create Homecoming floats that will be displayed on Bowman field and will be judged on game day. Since 1957, every Friday homecoming night Clemson holds "Tigerama". Which is one of the nation's largest student-run-pep rallies averaging about 40,000 people. This Clemson event includes crowning of Miss Homecoming, different skits by academic organizations as well as a firework show.

Alma Mater
The Clemson University alma mater originated in the 1910s after a group of Clemson ROTC cadets in May of 1918 was asked to sing the school song at a gathering of ROTC cadets at Plattsburg, New York and were unable to do so as Clemson had no song at the time. One of the cadets in attendance, A.C. Corcoran of Charleston, South Carolina decided to remedy the situation and wrote the words to the alma mater and set them to Annie Lisle, which was the melody of Cornell's alma mater and many others. The words were later officially accepted by the then-named Clemson Agricultural College as the alma mater and was first performed by the Clemson glee club on February 17, 1919.

In 1947 the club Tiger Brotherhood decided that, rather than continue borrowing another school's melody, that the university should compose its own and sponsored a contest for Clemson students to compose one. On May 5, 1947, The Tiger (the school newspaper) announced that the winner was Robert E. Farmer of Anderson, South Carolina, a member of the glee club at the time. That melody was slightly altered in 1970, but was restored to its original tune in 2009.

The lyrics to the alma mater:

Where the Blue Ridge yawns its greatness Where the Tigers play, Here the sons of dear old Clemson Reign supreme alway.

CHORUS

Dear old Clemson we will triumph And with all our might, That the Tiger's roar may echo O'er the mountain height!

| Performance of the Alma Mater by the Clemson University Choir

Fight song
The university's fight song is the jazz standard, the "Tiger Rag".



Fraternity and sorority life
The university's fraternities and sororities system (or Greek system) is somewhat different from other large universities in the southern U.S. in that there are no Greek houses on campus as interfraternity activity did not begin until 1970 following the abolishing of the military cadre requirements at the university. There are residence halls designated for fraternities and sororities, but there are no traditional Greek houses on campus. However, there are a few fraternity houses off campus near the college. The Fraternity Quad on campus (consisting of seven fraternity and sorority halls) is certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The remaining sorority's on-campus housing is located on the other end of campus in what is commonly referred to as "the horseshoe" in Smith and Barnett Halls.

The College Panhellenic Council Chapters at Clemson University include Alpha Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Zeta, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Kappa, and Zeta Tau Alpha. The Interfraternity Council Chapters include Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Kappa Lambda, Alpha Sigma Phi, Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Psi, Delta Chi, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Pi Kappa Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Tau, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Tau Kappa Epsilon.

As of the 2010-2011 school year there are twenty IFC Fraternities, eleven NPC Sororities, and nine NPHC Chapters, which make up approximately 20 percent of the undergraduate student body. In the Spring of 2011, there were 3,370 students involved in Greek life, which is about 23% of the 14,531 undergraduate students. Also, the mean GPA of each sorority was above the all university mean.



Military heritage
Although the university became a coeducational civilian institution in 1955, it still maintains an active military presence. The university is home to detachments for U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) as well as a host school for the U.S. Marine Corps PLC program adjacent to the Semper Fi Society.

In addition to students from the university, these organizations also serve students from Anderson University, Southern Wesleyan University, and Tri-County Technical College. The following organizations are present among the military personnel at Clemson:
 * Company C-4 Pershing Rifles
 * K-7 Scabbard and Blade
 * Maj. Rudolf Anderson, Jr Squadron Arnold Air Society
 * Maj. Dennis H. Satler Chapter Silver Wings
 * Clemson Rangers

The university's AAS squadron was selected to be home of Arnold Air Society's National Headquarters for the 2005–2006 year, and again for the 2006–2007 year. This is the first time is AAS's history that any university has served as national headquarters two years in a row.

The C-4 Pershing Rifles have won the national society's drill meet eight times: 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011. Company C-4 also performs colorguards, twenty-one-gun salutes, exhibition-drill performances, and POW/MIA ceremonies. Company C-4 performs colorguard performance at the university's home football games. In addition to the C-4 drill company, the university is the former home of the 4th Regimental Headquarters (4RHQ), the National Headquarters for the Junior ROTC level of Pershing Rifles (BlackJacks) and the Co-ed Auxiliary for Pershing Rifles (CAPeRs).

Its Air Force ROTC Detachment 770 "Flyin' Tigers" was selected as the #1 "medium-sized" Air Force ROTC detachment in the nation for 2006 (the "High Flight" and "Right of Line" awards), #1 Detachment in the "Southeast" in 2006 ("medium-sized") and 2007 ("large-sized"), and #1 in the state of South Carolina (out of three — University of South Carolina and The Citadel) three consecutive years (2005, 2006 and 2007).

The university has also developed a group of Marines and Marine Officer Candidates within an organization called the Semper Fi Society. The society is not associated with the ROTC, but can lead to a commission into the U.S. Marine Corps via the Platoon Leaders Course program.

Student Media
Clemson University has two student-run newspapers. Founded in 1907, The Tiger News is the oldest student-run newspaper in South Carolina. The Tiger News publishes local and university related news pieces. Additionally, the paper publishes opinion articles on general and national issues, lifestyle articles on topics such as beer, sex, and music, and a large section on sports topics. The Tiger News is published weekly, on Fridays and maintains a staff of 20 senior members and 75 junior staff members. Clemson University's second newspaper is the Tiger Town Observer. This newspaper focuses on political news and topics. The newspaper identifies itself as a "traditionally conservative" news source and lists its political values as liberty, transparency, lifelong learning, free market and charity.

Clemson University also has a student-run television station, CTV, which was established in 1994

Clemson University's student-run radio station, WSBF-FM, broadcasts in the upstate on 88.1FM and online at wsbf.net and hosts live concerts for the student body and community.

Notable alumni

 * David Beasley, South Carolina governor (1995–1999). Beasley ran for the South Carolina State House while a student at Clemson and transferred to the University of South Carolina upon taking office, from which he went on to graduate with a bachelor's degree and law degree.
 * Kris Benson, baseball player
 * Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters of America, Inc.
 * Jonathan Byrd, PGA Tour golfer.
 * James F. Byrnes, U.S. Congressman, Senator, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1941–1942), Secretary of State (1945–1947), Governor of South Carolina (1951–1955), and confidant of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A dormitory on the eastern part of the university's campus is named after Byrnes. While not a graduate of Clemson, Byrnes was a Life Trustee of Clemson University (appointed in 1941).
 * Chad Connelly, Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party
 * Brian Dawkins, professional football player, Denver Broncos free safety and 9 time Pro-Bowler.
 * Lt.Col. Jimmie Dyess, of the United States Marine Corps, the only person in history to earn both the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Carnegie Medal of Honor. Annually, the Semper Fi Society on campus holds a 5K in the Spring to honor LtCol Dyess and those Marines that served from Clemson.
 * Lucas Glover, PGA Tour golfer, 2009 U.S. Open champion.
 * Nikki Haley, current Governor of South Carolina.
 * Stuart Holden, played soccer for the university until being signed with the Sunderland U.K. club in March 2005; played for the U.S. team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and currently plays for the Bolton Wanderers U.K. club
 * Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, United States Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines. She received a Bachelors degree in Political Science from Clemson University. She was nominated by George W. Bush on November 3, 2005, confirmed by the United States Senate on February 16, 2006, and sworn in to office by Secretary Condoleezza Rice on March 6, 2006. On March 17, Kenney arrived in the Philippines to assume her duties as the first female ambassador to this former U.S. colony in Asia.
 * Nancy O'Dell, American television host and entertainment journalist.
 * Oguchi Onyewu, professional soccer player, currently plays for Málaga CF and is part of the US national team
 * William "Refrigerator" Perry, former NFL defensive lineman 3-time NCAA All-American (1982–1984)
 * Ben Robertson, war correspondent WW II, author
 * Phillip Sandifer (writer, recording artist) received a masters degree from the university.
 * Jim Speros, formerly the majority owner of the Baltimore Stallions of the CFL, UFL Norfolk; served on coaching staffs of the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills in the 1980s. Won a Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins; youngest assistant coach in NFL history; played linebacker at the university from 1978 to 1981; member of the championship winning 1981 Clemson Tigers football team.
 * C.J. Spiller, football player, Buffalo Bills running back and #9 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft
 * Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator from South Carolina who was the longest-serving Senator in U.S. history.
 * David H. Wilkins Wilkins was elected Speaker of the House; the first Republican Speaker in the South since Reconstruction.
 * Betsy Banks Saul, founder of Petfinder.org, an online database of adoptable pets in the care of about 13,000 animal welfare organizations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Notable faculty

 * David Reinking, Eugene T. Moore Professor of Education (since 2003); co-editor of Reading Research Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal published by the International Reading Association
 * John W. Huffman, Research Professor of Chemistry and creator of many synthetic cannabinoid compounds, including JWH-018, one of the main ingredients in Spice (drug).