Wofford College

Margeaux Stapleton '26 is researching how cultural practices and traditions around birth impact outcomes for preterm babies and special needs children across three continents.

Chaplain Fellows Mariam Ali '28, Jose Ruiz Torres '26 and Darcy Phillips '27 and Geneva Kowbeidu '26, Wofford's Campus Union president, are still processing their experience from August in Chicago at the Interfaith Leadership Summit 2025. Part of Wofford's Interfaith Young Adults student group, these students are hoping to incorporate what they learned at the largest American interfaith gathering of college students and educators to inspire interreligious education on campus.

Studio Smoothie, a smoothie shop founded by Caris Mitchell '27, is now open Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:30-10:30 a.m. in the Galleria in the Michael S. Brown Village Center. Studio Smoothie is an official limited liability company.

Guided by Abigail Dillard, assistant professor of theatre, five students spent the summer as dramaturgs - analyzing texts, poring over journals and mapping Edwardian England - to inform their all-student production of "The Drowning Girls."

Using zebrafish as a model organism, two Wofford students spent the summer studying a little-understood gene called Tango6 and the role it plays in embryonic development.

Devin Ruppe '26 spent the summer at Emory University in Atlanta, where he's conducting research on a protein that could be used to treat triple negative breast cancer, the same aggressive disease that took his grandmother's life at the age of 45.

Wofford College provost Dr. Timothy Schmitz has announced Dean's List students for the spring 2025 semester.

Wofford College celebrated student achievement at its annual Honors Convocation on May 16, presenting awards to dozens of students as well as several faculty and staff.

Wofford College awarded 452 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees to graduates during the college's 171st Commencement exercises.

The winners and second-place finishers for the Helmus Award in Poetry and the Journal Award in Fiction were announced by the Department of English.

Wofford's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa welcomed 39 members into the nation's oldest academic honor society during an induction ceremony at Leonard Auditorium on May 1.

Cole Anderson '27, a computer science and Chinese major, has been awarded a 2025 Critical Learning Scholarship to study Chinese in Tainan, Taiwan. The CSL program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and provides immersive study abroad opportunities for students to learn languages deemed essential to American foreign relations. Anderson, who is from Charleston, South Carolina, was one of 500 students accepted out of a pool of about 5,000 applicants, according to an announcement about this year's recipients.

Gabriel Tawiah '25 spent part of his winter break doing community service in Asheville, N.C, which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene. He worked behind the scenes preparing and cooking food, providing manual labor on the farm and filling boxes with supplies in partnership with three local organizations.

Joe Cahill '26, an environmental studies major with minors in Chinese and economics, has developed a passion for sustainability, and he's acting on it every chance he gets. Cahill is now a marketing and research intern with GIC Group, an international agribusiness company specializing in financial advisory services based in Bethesda, Maryland. Through his work with the GIC Group, Cahill was given the opportunity to research, write and publish an article for the Global Food Safety Forum on sustainable food packing and its effect on safety as well as the economy.

On Jan. 15 Schwarzman Scholars announced its 10th cohort, and Chandler Compton '20 was selected to the Schwarzman Class of 2025-26. He will attend a one-year, fully funded master's degree program in global affairs at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

Grace Loughlin '27 brought home a victory at the National Horse Show at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, earning first place in her Amateur Hunters division. "It's such an honor to get to compete at this venue, let alone win," says Loughlin of the National Horse Show, which has hosted some of the highest-achieving riders and horses in the world. This year, Loughlin was one of only 15 women in her section invited to compete.

When Marga-Rita Van Der Linde '25 was sworn in as Campus Union president for 2024-25 on April 22, she became the first woman since Claudia Albergotti Ruffin '11 to serve in the role. The new vice president, secretary and treasurer are also women, making this the first all-female executive cabinet since the 1995-96 academic year. It's something that Van Der Linde takes seriously but doesn't dwell on. She and the other women on the executive council have plans for enhancing the Wofford experience for all students. "Wofford has done a great job at putting the students' needs first, and I want to continue building on the foundation that the previous student body presidents have laid," says Van Der Linde, who is joined on the cabinet by Simrin Channa '25, vice president; Julia Brooks '25, treasurer; and Geneva Kowbeidu '26, secretary.

This summer, two Wofford students have picked up where they left off last summer. Clayton Hixon '26, a government major from Jackson, Georgia, and Julio Del Jesus '25, a government major from Kissimmee, Florida, are back in the courthouse with the Hon. Timothy Madden '85, continuing their legal internship with the 13th Judicial Circuit in Greenville, South Carolina. Last summer's internship enabled Hixon and Del Jesus to learn various components of law and how they interconnect. This year, they are making connections by visiting courthouses across the state, learning about different specialties in law, meeting with lawyers and networking in the legal community. Madden, a family court judge, has also taken the students to visit the University of South Carolina's Joseph F. Rice School of Law, where he completed his Juris Doctor degree.

The Southern Guards Battalion Army Reserve Officers Training Corps held its annual tribute on Saturday, Nov. 18, commemorating the 101 Wofford College students or alumni who have fallen in combat since World War I. As the morning sun rose above the treetops, cadets gathered in front of the Charles E. Daniel Building and read aloud the names. Jason Kellinger '24, an international affairs major from Calne, England, played "Taps" on a trumpet to conclude the brief but somber ceremony.

Promise Henry '25 knew she didn't want to pursue a traditional internship in finance at a bank to gain experience in the financial field. "I have an interest in higher education," says Henry '25, a double major in finance and accounting with a minor in education from Cowpens, South Carolina. "I thought it would be best for me to reach out to one of the finance professors here at Wofford to see what things look like in academia." Henry contacted Josh Harris '09, visiting assistant professor of finance, and Harris introduced Henry to a long-term project that explores the impact of self-esteem in personal finance.

Becca Watson '24 arrived at Wofford College with her sights set on becoming an attorney. During the first week of her college journey, Becca, a government major from Chesnee, South Carolina, joined Wofford's Launch Program. Through the program, she gained insights that broadened her business knowledge and started her on a path to becoming a fourth-generation owner of Watson's Furniture, her family's 72-year-old furniture store in Chesnee.

Dozens of Wofford College students were recognized for academic excellence, leadership and citizenship on Friday, May 19, at the college's annual Honors Convocation held in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. President Nayef Samhat named Josh Lipscomb '24, a philosophy and Spanish double major from Travelers Rest, South Carolina as Wofford's Presidential International Scholar for the 2023-24 academic year. Academic departments also recognized their outstanding students, and a variety of other leadership and citizenship awards were presented during the event.

Wofford College's fraternities and sororities held their annual Greek Week the week of April 25 and concluded it with the annual Greek Awards that recognized both organizations and individual achievements of members. Additionally, organizations raised $27,051 for the Grateful Hearts Project, started by Cate Whitlatch '24, a psychology major from Greensboro, North Carolina. The project creates themed boxes of decorations for kids admitted to the hospital.

In a small community in the eastern corner of the Dominican Republic, Santa Rhina Barett Figaro has a thriving business where she sells bread, sandwiches, fried chicken and fresh juices. It was all made possible by a $100 loan through funding provided by the James-Atkins Student-Managed Investment Fund.