Wofford College

A childhood love for performance art led Audrey Buffington '24, a theatre major and business and film and digital media minor from Greenville, South Carolina, to make a short film about her experience. The film, "Love Letter to SCNPF," recently earned first place in the AWE College Student Film Competition at the Tryon International Film Festival. "My dream, as long as I can remember, has been to perform, and I've pursued that in every possible way," Buffington says. "I've always been told I have to leave and go somewhere else. Then this festival showed up and said we have opportunities right here."

Sugar plus spice equaled a winning recipe for Heide Woodworth and her daughter, Colette, in the Department of Mathematics' annual dessert competition. Heide, administrative assistant for math and computer science, and Colette took top honors with a three-layer cake topped with a gingerbread house and copious amounts of frosting. "It was unexpected, and I'm honored to have won the competition," Woodworth says. "I had a vision in my head and a lot of spices around the house, so I looked up a recipe that could use those."

Evan Bergman, visiting assistant professor of theatre, has been working with a cast of 12 and crew of 14 to make the town of "Almost, Maine" come to life on a Wofford stage. "Almost, Maine" is a magical realism production that plays on the complexity of relationships. There are eight separate scenes, each focusing on a different storyline and all dealing with relationships in the fictional town of Almost.

Maggie Genoble '24 is going big with her upcoming solo exhibition in the Richardson Family Art Gallery, taking on the theme of technology and its connection to the human body and society. The 2023 Whetsell Fellow from Jonesville, South Carolina, spent her summer working on numerous mixed media pieces, from etched computer screens to silicone molds of body parts. "During my summer research, I began diving into readings about the posthuman body - the cyborg - and what that means for identity," says Genoble, who is majoring in art history and studio art.

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.

Maya Gentilin '24 was hoping for a passing grade for the short film she helped create as a final project for a Spanish cinema course she took while studying abroad in Granada, Spain during the 2022-23 academic year. She got that, and much more. Gentilin's film "Lost Time" was selected as one of three finalists in the IES Abroad Film Festival. Gentilin, a Spanish and art history double major from Charleston, South Carolina, attended the festival Oct. 11-13 in Chicago. She was Wofford's first finalist in the annual film festival.

Cassie Cohen '26 attended Wednesday's All Saints Day of Remembrance Tolling of the Bells to perform with the Wofford Singers. When a familiar name was read, Cohen, a theatre major from Hilton Head, South Carolina, was moved to tears. Michael Wallace Bassett '96 was Cohen's English teacher at Hilton Head Prep. She didn't know he was a Wofford graduate until the moment his name was read as one of the 141 students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends of the college who died during the past year.

Mariella Stine '25 learned a lot about herself while studying in Granada, Spain, during the spring 2023 semester. The most important lesson was that she could stand on her own. "The independence of going abroad and participating in a program where there weren't a lot of Wofford students was a good thing for me," says Stine, a Spanish and studio art double major from Sandy Springs, Georgia. "Now that I am back, my perspective about the challenges I face here is different, too. If I could handle going to another country for five months on my own, I can handle this."

Laila Villeda '26 is accustomed to being a trailblazer in her family. Not only is Villeda the first in her family to go to college. The finance major from Cumming, Georgia, also is the first to graduate from high school. "For my parents to not even have finished middle school, me going to a four-year college is unheard of," says Villeda. "I am so happy to be paving the way for my family, and to be able to help others like me." Villeda and 25 other first-generation students were the first inductees into Wofford's Theta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Alpha Alpha on Nov. 8. Students with a minimum 3.2 GPA and at least 30 earned credit hours are eligible for induction into the honor society for first-gen students. Tri-Alpha was founded in 2018 at Moravian University.

Inspiration comes in many different forms. For Nicke Haney, growing up as a latchkey kid was her inspiration for founding Brown Girls Read. Haney, who now serves as the organization's CEO, remembers being a child and waiting for her parents to come home from work. She used the time to read and journal, which led to an appreciation for the power of words.

Spartanburg County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. Two teams of Wofford students conducted research to determine the impact of that growth on the area's water quality. Dr. Amelia Atwell, visiting assistant professor of biology, and Dr. Johnathan Davis, assistant professor of biology, are directed the teams, which measured the aquatic biodiversity of Lawson's Fork Creek and its tributaries.

The Wofford women's basketball team began August with a 10-day trip to France. There were basketball scrimmages and opportunities to explore the country. While Paris is on most bucket lists and Nice was as enjoyable as one can imagine, Normandy held the greatest educational significance to us both as Americans and as Wofford Terriers.

Simon Holland '25 and Katie Sullivan '25 spent their summers with ROTC cadets from across the United States fine-tuning their understanding of languages critical to the United States military. Holland, an international affairs major from Columbia, South Carolina, studied Arabic in Jordan. Sullivan, a Chinese and international affairs double major from Norfolk, Virginia, studied Chinese in Taiwan. Both participated in Project Global Officer (Project GO), an initiative of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office.

Traveling is usually a bad thing in basketball. Michael Henson '25 spent his entire summer doing it and didn't draw a single whistle. Henson moved between several power five colleges teaching young kids basketball while also creating connections for his future in the sport.

Joel Gammah '26 has spent his summer solving math problems and teaching others. Gammah, a computer science major and mathematics minor from Cape Coast, Ghana, is interning at the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in New York City. His primary role is guiding visitors as they explore the museum exhibits and ensuring they understand the mathematical concepts behind each display.

Most people don't know they have an aortic aneurysm until they need emergency treatment. Mark Hanna '25 spent the summer conducting research with the goal of changing that.

There is a lot more to the college application process than filling out an application. Wofford College faculty and a student spent time guiding high school students from around Spartanburg through the finer details of attending college by hosting an iCAN Spartanburg camp.

Wofford College awarded 384 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees to 369 graduates during the college's 169th Commencement exercises.

In early May, 18 Wofford College students discussed their work in the Spartanburg community with hopes of winning funding to continue supporting the growth and development of 10 community-based programs. Each of the 10 projects discussed walked away with at least $250 and the grand prize winner, Determined Minds, which serves Camp Croft Courts and Prince Hall Apartments, earned $1,250.

Dr. Timothy Schmitz, provost of Wofford College, has announced Dean's List students for the spring 2023 semester.

Five Wofford College students are spending the summer filling a void in the college's recorded history, and their research will contribute to ongoing campus conversations. The students will collect stories from Black alumni, primarily from the late 1960s through the late 1980s, as the first part of a research project organized by the college's Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Phi Beta Kappa inductions were held May 19, 2023. 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 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 Class of 2023 received words of wisdom from a Tony, Grammy and James Beard award winner, and they were all one person. Alexander Smalls, a renowned opera singer, chef and author who attended Wofford in the early 1970s, delivered the keynote address during the college's 169th Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The college awarded 384 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees to 369 graduates. The college also conferred honorary degrees on three individuals: Patricia Gainey, Brenda Lee Pryce and Smalls.

No matter what happens at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national championships on Thursday, May 4, Remington Linker '25 has already won. After what she went through to get there, it's just that simple.

Josh Lipscomb '24 has spent this year rehearsing for next year. Lipscomb, a philosophy and Spanish double major from Travelers Rest, South Carolina, has been studying in Spain since August. Next year he'll travel to Mexico and Peru as Wofford's 2023-24 Presidential International Scholar.

Early in his sophomore year at Wofford, Thomas Rowland IV '23 wrote a song about a woman and the trials of their relationship. He called the anthem "Ragdoll," and it became the first original song he performed for an audience. On April 13, Rowland will have the opportunity to perform the song for the largest crowd of his budding career when he opens for Old Crow Medicine Show at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. While he's played at colleges and bars throughout the Carolinas, this will be his first ticketed gig.

A pair of first-year students will represent Wofford College in the SoCon Entrepreneurship Challenge on March 31 at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Zion Sampson '26, an undeclared major from Aiken, South Carolina, will present a nonprofit business that provides dental care to underserved communities. Tommy Tessien '26, an undeclared major from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will present a for-profit business called Perfect Curb.

The Wofford College Theatre Department's spring production of "Equus" hits the stage beginning April 20. Alex Malvern '23, an English major from Greenville, South Carolina, plays one of the main characters, Alan Strang, and describes "Equus" as a show that is about belief and understanding one another, and making one's pain mean something.

Emily Lang '23 recently presented her summer research on the science of aging at Harvard University. The research involved Lang, a psychology major from Lexington, South Carolina, working with Dr. Kara Bopp, professor of psychology, to look at resources available to seniors in Spartanburg County while conducting interviews and creating a definition of successful aging.