Clemson University

Clemson University   (University)
Formation	1889
Headquarters	South Carolina, USA
Type	•  Public Land grant university •  Sea-grant university
Other name	Tigers
South Carolina university with strong military recruitment presence

Clemson University is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enrolled a total of 20,195 undergraduate students and 5,627 graduate students. Clemson's 1,400-acre campus is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The campus now borders Lake Hartwell, which was formed by dam construction completed in 1962. The university manages the nearby 17,500-acre Clemson Experimental Forest that is used for research, education, and recreation.

Clemson University consists of seven colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts and Humanities; Business; Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences; Education; Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences; and Science.

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 slaveholder, 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 the white supremacist and future 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 November 1889, South Carolina Governor John Peter Richardson III signed the bill, thus establishing the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina.

Becoming civilian and coeducational and desegregated

In 1955 Clemson underwent a major restructuring and was transformed into "civilian" status for students. It began admitting white women; the university was still segregated.

In 1963, the school admitted its first African-American student, Harvey Gantt, who later was elected as mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Military Presence

Although the university became a coeducational civilian institution in 1955, it still maintains an active military presence. Cadets still participate during home football games, during which cadets hold the ropes as the team enters from the Hill, and they complete pushups for every Clemson point scored, just as the Tiger does.

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.

 

Alumni on Wikispooks

Person	Born	Died	Nationality	Summary	Description
Frank Archibald	31 July 1955	13 March 2020	US	Spook	Former director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service
Henry Cooper	8 November 1936		US	Civil servant	Neoconservative nuclear weapons proponent who attended the 1986 Bilderberg as a Deputy U.S. Negotiator, Defense and Space Group, and later became Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.
John Edwards	10 June 1953		US	Politician Lawyer	Democratic nominee for vice president in November 2004. Attended the June 2004 Bilderberg.
Nikki Haley	20 January 1972			Diplomat Politician	US diplomat, YGL 2011, RINO and Designated Survivor who contended the US 2024 Presidential election
Kristie Ann Kenney	24 May 1955		US	Diplomat	Ambassador with postings in Thailand, Philippines, Ecuador; political-military officer in the Office of NATO Affairs.
Strom Thurmond	5 December 1902	26 June 2003		Politician

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