Wofford College

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.

As Wofford's 2025-26 Presidential International Scholar, Margeaux Stapleton '26 will immerse herself in three locations across the world to understand birthing practices and outcomes, especially preterm and special needs births. Each year Wofford's Presidential International Scholar is chosen by the college's president as the student with "exceptional potential to benefit humankind as evidenced by a demonstrated passion for service learning combined with a globally minded intellectual curiosity." The scholarship rewards these students with the funding to carry out independent research in non-traditional locations around the world.

Alexis DeLoach '25 won the Outstanding Oral Presentation Award in Cell and Molecular Biology at the Association of Southeastern Biologists 85th annual meeting held March 20-23 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. DeLoach led a research team that included Sebastian Sisk '24, a biology major from Inman, South Carolina, and alumnus Daiven Sharma '24. She presented evidence for the phosphate-dependent control of symbiont cell division in the model anemone Exaiptasia diaphana.

Tiana Kidd '25, a biology and physics double major from Greenwood, South Carolina, has been selected as Wofford's 2024-25 Presidential International Scholar. Kidd, the 40th recipient of the scholarship, hopes to journey to Cameroon, Ghana and Morocco, where she hopes to conduct research for her project "Beyond Aesthetics: Exploring Fashion as Identity."

Phi Beta Kappa inductions were held May 20, 2022. Phi Beta Kappa is Wofford's highest academic honor.

Dozens of Wofford College students were recognized for academic excellence, leadership and citizenship on Friday, May 20, at the college's annual Honors Convocation held in the Jerome Johnson Richardson Theatre in the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts.

Mia Kilpatrick '22 spent Interim on a 6,000-mile road trip to 10 U.S. presidential libraries. Her research took her from Atlanta, Georgia, to West Branch, Iowa, and as far north as Boston, Massachusetts. "My research centered around the question of whether presidential libraries reflect the legacy of the presidents," says Kilpatrick, an international affairs and Spanish major from Hartsville, South Carolina. "For example, Nixon doesn't have a great legacy. How would his library compare to someone like Reagan or Roosevelt?"

Wofford College was represented at the largest annual meeting of mathematicians in the world when Dr. Rachel Grotheer and Chase Creamer '23 presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings. The conference was be virtual.

Paola Cruz '23 understands the healing and therapeutic benefits of writing. Her smartphone has more than 800 notes that capture the moments she's needed to record thoughts and feelings. "My mom passed when I was 14," says Cruz, a double major in sociology and anthropology and Spanish from Charlotte, North Carolina. "The only way I could grieve was by writing. It turned my life around. The social worker told me every time I had a dream about my mom to just write it down." Cruz's mother died from gastric cancer. Her journal entries eventually turned into poems and songs. The writing is inspiring her research as Wofford College's Presidential International Scholar for the 2022-23 academic year.

An evening last year watching comedian Chris Rock's 2009 documentary "Good Hair" led Dieran McGowan '22 and Fadzai Mushayamunda '22 to develop an independent study project focused on the ways hair has shaped the social and historical experiences of Black women. Rock's joke about actress Jada Pinkett Smith's short hair during the Oscars' ceremony also reflects what their research noted. "Is hair just hair was our question going into this," says McGowan, a finance major from Taylors, South Carolina. "The answer is no."

The name of the class was "Classic Reads," and Will Hammontree '23 and Kriti Baral '25 took the title to heart. Hammontree, a biology major from Greer, South Carolina, took on "War and Peace" and Crime and Punishment." Baral, an undeclared major from Spartanburg, South Carolina, went after "Wuthering Heights," "Anna Karenina" and "Jude the Obscure."

Phi Beta Kappa inductions were held May 14, 2021. Phi Beta Kappa is Wofford's highest academic honor.

Phi Beta Kappa inductions were held May 14, 2021. Phi Beta Kappa is Wofford's highest academic honor.

Phi Beta Kappa inductions were held May 14, 2021. Phi Beta Kappa is Wofford's highest academic honor.

Phi Beta Kappa inductions were held May 14, 2021. Phi Beta Kappa is Wofford's highest academic honor.

Wofford College held its annual spring Honors Convocation on Friday, May 14.

Margaret Roach, a psychology major with a concentration in medicine and the liberal arts, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had a year like no other Wofford College Presidential International Scholar. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from traveling internationally to research the integration of traditional medicine with the biomedical approach to treating mental health in India. "I've definitely learned to be flexible and to come up with plan B, C, D and EI think that's what I'm on now," says Roach, who describes herself as having a Type A personality. Roach will discuss her year as the college's Presidential International Scholar during a webinar at noon on Thursday, May 13.

Dozens of Wofford College's recent graduates received awards from the college for academic excellence, leadership and citizenship. The college was unable to celebrate these students during the annual Honors Convocation in the spring, but their achievements and contributions to Wofford deserve recognition.

Wofford College held its annual spring Honors Convocation on Tuesday, May 7.

Wofford College's 38th Presidential International Scholar will spend the 2021-2022 academic year studying the relationship between public health and culture in Argentina and South Africa. Hector Ortiz '22, a triple major from Saluda, South Carolina, studying biology, philosophy and Spanish, was selected for the independent research abroad experience.

Wofford College held its annual spring Honors Convocation on Tuesday, May 8.

Wofford College held its annual spring Honors Convocation on Tuesday, May 9.

Wofford College held its annual spring Honors Convocation on Tuesday, May 3.

Wofford College held its annual spring Honors Convocation on Thursday, May 7.

Wofford College held its annual spring Honors Convocation on Tuesday, May 6.

Wofford College student-athlete Alissa Williams named Goldwater Scholar by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

Wofford College student-athlete Justin Whitaker received an honorable mention by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

Wofford College President Nayef H. Samhat has named Lindsey Grace Perret, a junior Spanish major from Charleston, S.C., as the 2014-2015 Presidential International Scholar.

Wofford College President Benjamin B. Dunlap has selected Laura Kate Gamble, a rising senior from Summerville, S.C., as the 2013-2014 Presidential International Scholar.

Six Wofford College students recently earned six awards in the Palmetto Chinese Star contest, a statewide (S.C.) competition that allows Chinese language students to demonstrate their language and culture proficiency.