Clemson University () is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
land-grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Clemson, South Carolina
Clemson () is a city in Pickens and Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is home to Clemson University; in 2015, ''the Princeton Review'' cited the town of Clemson as ranking #1 in the United States for " town-and-go ...
. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the 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,
and the student/faculty ratio was 18:1. Clemson's 1,400-acre campus is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The campus now borders
Lake Hartwell
Lake Hartwell is a man-made reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina and encompassing parts of the Savannah, Tugaloo, and Seneca rivers. Lake Hartwell is one of the Southeastern United States' largest recreation lakes. The lake was created ...
, which was formed by the
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
completed in 1962. The university manages the nearby 17,500-acre
Clemson Experimental Forest
Clemson Experimental Forest, a 17,500 acre forest surrounding Clemson University, is a natural resource laboratory. It is a product of a land reclamation project funded by Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration's New Deal programs. The forest is ha ...
that is used for research, education, and recreation.
Clemson University consists of seven colleges:
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
Forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
and
Life Sciences;
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
,
Arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
and
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
; The Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of
Business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
; Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences;
Education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
; Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences; and
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
.
''
U.S. News & World Report'' ranks Clemson University 77th for 2022 among national U.S. universities.
[ Clemson University is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity."
]
History
Beginnings
Thomas Green Clemson
Thomas Green Clemson (July 1, 1807April 6, 1888) was an American politician and statesman, serving as an ambassador and United States Superintendent of Agriculture. He served in the Confederate Army and founded Clemson University in South Carolin ...
, the university's founder, came to the foothills of South Carolina in 1838, when he married Anna Maria Calhoun
Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson (February 13, 1817 September 22, 1875) was the daughter of John C. Calhoun and Floride Calhoun (née Colhoun), and the wife of Thomas Green Clemson, the founder of Clemson University.
Early life
Calhoun was born on ...
, daughter of John C. Calhoun, 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 future South Carolina Governor
The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making year ...
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 he wanted the school to be modeled after what is now Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...
: "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."
Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina
In November 1889, South Carolina Governor John Peter Richardson III
John Peter Richardson III (September 25, 1831 – July 6, 1899) was the 83rd governor of South Carolina from 1886 to 1890.
Richardson was born in Clarendon County, South Carolina to John Peter Richardson II, a former Governor of South Carol ...
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
The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or se ...
and the Hatch Act of 1887
The Hatch Act of 1887 (ch. 314, , enacted 1887-03-02, et seq.) gave federal funds, initially of $15,000 each, to state land-grant colleges in order to create a series of agricultural experiment stations, as well as pass along new information, e ...
were transferred from South Carolina College (today, the University of South Carolina) to Clemson. Construction of the college began with Hardin Hall in 1890 and then main classroom buildings in 1891. Convict laborers, some as young as 13 years old, built many of the original buildings on campus. Henry Aubrey Strode became the first president of Clemson from 1890 to 1893. Edwin Craighead succeeded Strode in 1893. Clemson Agricultural College formally opened in July 1893 with an initial enrollment of 446. The common curriculum of the first incoming students was English, history, botany, mathematics, physics, and agriculture. Until 1955, the college was also an all-white male military school
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
.
On May 22, 1894, the main building (Tillman Hall) was destroyed by a fire, which consumed the library, classrooms, and offices. Tillman Hall was rebuilt in 1894 and is still standing today. The first graduating class of Clemson was in 1896 with degrees in mechanical-electrical engineering and agriculture. Clemson's first football team began in 1896 led by trainer Walter Riggs. Henry Hartzog, a graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...
, became president of Clemson in 1897. Hartzog created a textile department in 1898. Clemson became the first Southern school to train textile specialists. Hartzog expanded the curriculum with more industrialization skills such as foundry work, agriculture studies, and mechanics. In 1902 a large student walkout over the use of rigid military discipline escalated tensions between students and faculty forcing Hartzog to resign. Patrick Mell succeeded Hartzog from 1902 to 1910.
Following the resignation of Mell in 1910 former Clemson Tigers football coach Walter Riggs became president of Clemson from 1910 to 1924. The Holtzendorff Hall, originally the Holzendorff YMCA, was built in 1914 designed by Rudolph E. Lee of the first graduating class of Clemson in 1896. In 1915 Riggs Field
Riggs Field is a 6,500-capacity soccer-specific stadium located in Clemson, South Carolina. The stadium is home to the Clemson Tigers men's and women's soccer teams. It has also hosted the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship in 1987. The stadium open ...
was dedicated after Walter Riggs and is the Clemson Tigers men's soccer
The Clemson Tigers men's soccer team represent Clemson University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I soccer. The program has won 3 NCAA national championships, 14 Atlantic Coast Conference championships, and hosted 3 Hermann ...
home field. During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
enrollment in Clemson declined. In 1917 Clemson formed a Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
Overview
While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...
and in 1918 a Student Army Training Corps was formed. Effects of World War I made Clemson hire the first women faculty due to changes in faculty. Riggs accepted a six-month army educational commission in 1919 overseas in France leaving Samuel Earle as acting president. On March 10, 1920, a large walkout occurred protesting unfair "prison camp" style military discipline. The 1920 walkout led to the creation of a Department of Student Affairs. On January 22, 1924, Riggs died on a business trip to Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
leaving Earle the acting president. In October 1924 another walkout of around 500 students occurred when Earle rejected their demands of better food and the dismissal of mess officer Harcombe and the reinstatement of their senior class president. The 1924 walkout resulted in 23 students dismissed and 112 suspended.
On April 1, 1925, a fire destroyed the interior of the agricultural building and its many research projects and an agricultural museum. The exterior of the building survived, leading to the construction of Sikes Hall to hold the library from Tillman Hall. On May 27, 1926, Mechanical Hall was destroyed in a fire. Present-day Freeman Hall, built in 1926, was the reconstructed shop building. In 1928 Riggs Hall was established in honor of Walter Riggs. President Enoch Sikes increased student enrollment by over 1,000 students and expanded the degree programs with an addition of the first graduate degree. The Department of Arts and Sciences was formed in 1926 with the addition of modern language programs. Programs at Clemson were reorganized into six schools of agriculture, chemistry, engineering, general science, textiles, and vocational studies. In 1927 Clemson received accreditation from the Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges of the Southern States.
During The Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
student enrollment and income declined. The New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
brought needed construction to the campus under the Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
with new dormitories to relieve the housing shortages. Long Hall, Sirrine Hall, and 29,625 acres of privately owned farmland was acquired by Clemson through federal funding. Agricultural engineers of Clemson diversified with the Clemson Agricultural Extension to educate farmers on soil conservation and crop storage techniques during The Great Depression. Robert Poole became the first Clemson alumnus to be president in 1940. On September 19, 1942 Memorial Stadium was formally opened as the new stadium for the Clemson Tigers football team previously played on Riggs Field
Riggs Field is a 6,500-capacity soccer-specific stadium located in Clemson, South Carolina. The stadium is home to the Clemson Tigers men's and women's soccer teams. It has also hosted the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship in 1987. The stadium open ...
since 1915.
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
more than 6,500 students were sent overseas in the military. As a result of the Clemson ROTC, around 5,850 were commissioned officers. The class of 1943 had a historical low of 343 graduates. By the end of the war, 376 Clemson students had been killed in it.
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
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
Clemson University
In 1964, the college was renamed Clemson University, as the state legislature formally recognized the school's expanded academic offerings and research pursuits.
In 2015, students protested against Tillman Hall
Tillman is a surname and given name of English origin and an Americanized spelling of Tillmann. Other variants of the name include Tilman and Dillman. Notable people with the name Tillmann include:
Surname
* Albert Tillman (1928–2004), Ameri ...
being named for Ben Tillman. Tillman, a Democrat, was a South Carolina Governor and United States Senator and was a white supremacist during the Reconstruction era
The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
as well as a member of the Red Shirts and a known associate of the Ku Klux Klan. The Board of Trustees voted against renaming the building. In the summer of 2020, following the murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...
, the trustees petitioned the state legislature to remove Ben Tillman's name from the building and restoring the original name ("Old Main"), at the same time it renamed the honors program, which had been named for John C. Calhoun. As of July 2021, no changes have been made toward renaming the building.[
]
Campus
Academics
Admissions
Undergraduate
The 2022 annual ranking of U.S. News & World Report categorizes Clemson as 'more selective'. For the Class of 2025 (enrolled fall 2021), Clemson received 47,007 applications and accepted 23,138 (49.2%). Of those accepted, 4,589 enrolled, a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 19.8%. Clemson's freshman retention rate
The term "retention rate" is used in a variety of fields, including marketing, investing, education, in the workplace and in clinical trials. Maintaining retention in each of these fields often results in a positive outcome for the overall organiz ...
is 94%, with 85.5% going on to graduate within six years.
The enrolled first-year class of 2025 had the following standardized test scores: the middle 50% range (25th percentile-75th percentile) of SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores was 1240-1400, while the middle 50% range of ACT scores was 27-32.
Colleges and schools
In July 1955, the four schools that made up Clemson ― Agriculture, Arts & Sciences, Engineering and Textiles ― were transformed into nine colleges: Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Liberal Arts, Sciences, Commerce and Industry, Education, Engineering, Forestry and Recreation Resources, and Nursing. This structure was used by the university until 1995 when the university's nine colleges were condensed into five: Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts, and Humanities; Business and Behavioral Science; Engineering and Science; Health, Education, and Human Development. , the Eugene T. Moore School of Education broke off from the College of Health, Education, and Human development, thus becoming the sixth college.
An academic reorganization effective July 1, 2016, created seven new colleges: College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities; College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences; College of Business; College of Education (including the Eugene T. Moore School of Education); College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences; and College of Science.
College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences
The College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences (CAFLS) supports Clemson University's land-grant mission to provide education, research, and service to the public. CAFLS faculty members teach major subjects and core curricula while preparing students to be leaders, creative thinkers, and communicators. Emphasis is placed on engaging students in research, internships/coops, study abroad, and service learning. CAFLS research is focused on the sustainability of agriculture, forests, and natural resources; food and packaging systems to ensure a healthy and safe food supply, and biomedical sciences to improve human and non-human health.
College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities
The College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities (CAAH) contains three schools: the School of the Arts, the School of Design and Building, and the School of the Humanities. Within these schools are ten departments: Art, Architecture, Construction Science and Management, English, History, Landscape Architecture, Languages, Performing Arts, Philosophy and Religion, and Planning, Development, and Restoration. One of the departments of the college, the School of Architecture, was ranked as the No. 16 graduate school for architecture in the country by Design Intelligence. The Brooks Center serves as performing arts venue for the college.
Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business
The College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences
The College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Sciences (CECAS) specializes in engineering as well as the physical sciences such as physics and chemistry. Inspired by Thomas Green Clemson's dream to create a "high seminary of learning to benefit the agricultural and mechanical arts," engineering and sciences have been an integral part of the university's development. Since the first degrees were granted in 1896, Clemson engineers and scientists have made significant contributions to South Carolina, the nation, and the world.
CECAS was formed in 1995, joining the engineering disciplines with the chemistry, computer science, geological science, mathematical science, and physics and astronomy departments.
College of Health and Human Development
The College of Health and Human Development focuses on public health sciences, nursing, education, and parks, recreation, and tourism management.
Clemson University Honors College
The Clemson University Honors College focuses on education for highly motivated, academically talented students. Entrance to the college is very competitive, with only 250 incoming freshmen accepted each year with an average SAT score of 1400 or higher and finished in the top 3% of their high school graduating class. The college was founded in 1962 and originally named for John C. Calhoun, a South Carolina native and politician, who was the vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832.
College of Education
The College of Education is Clemson's newest college. It is centered in the famous Tillman Hall
Tillman is a surname and given name of English origin and an Americanized spelling of Tillmann. Other variants of the name include Tilman and Dillman. Notable people with the name Tillmann include:
Surname
* Albert Tillman (1928–2004), Ameri ...
. The college has some 600 undergraduate students, and 600 graduate students, with the mission to embrace the diverse faculty, staff, and students and provide them with a diverse set of experiences. The COE also houses the Call Me MISTER Program and the Moore Scholars.
On June 12, 2020, university trustees petitioned the state legislature for authorization to rename Tillman Hall. “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman was a governor and U.S. senator who used virulent racism to dominate South Carolina politics after Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
.
Graduate school
The Graduate School offers more than 100 graduate degree programs in 85 disciplines on the college's main campus and at sites such as Clemson at the Falls and the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville, the Clemson Architecture Center in the historic Cigar Factory
The Cigar Factory is a building on the National Historical Register. Located at 701 East Bay Street, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, it was constructed in 1881 and opened in 1882 as the Cotton Mill of Charleston. In 1912, it was purchased by t ...
in Charleston, the Restoration Institute in North Charleston
North Charleston is the third-largest city in the state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of North Charlest ...
, as well as some online/distance-learning programs. Many of the graduate programs are highly ranked nationally, and the school offers several unique interdisciplinary programs.
Rankings
Admission to Clemson is rated "more selective" by '' U.S. News & World Report''.
For the Class of 2022 (enrolling Fall 2018), Clemson received 28,845 applications and accepted 13,613 (47.2%), with 3,792 enrolling. The middle 50% range of SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores for enrolling freshmen was 610-690 for reading and writing, and 610-710 for math.[ The middle 50% ACT composite score range was 27–32.][ The average high school grade point average (]GPA
Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
) was 4.43.[
For 2021, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Clemson as tied for the 74th best national university in the U.S. overall, and tied for the 29th top public school.]
In 2016, The Princeton Review ranked Clemson University number one in three categories: Student Career Services, Town-Gown Relations, and Students pack the stadium.
Research
The (CU-ICAR) was established in 2013 in Greenville as a seminary for automotive research and innovation. CU-ICAR is a automotive and motorsports research campus. The department of Automotive Engineering was ranked tenth in the world in 2015. CU-ICAR includes a graduate school offering master's and doctoral degrees in automotive engineering, and programs focused on systems integration. The campus also includes an Information Technology Research Center being developed by BMW. BMW, Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
, IBM, Bosch, Timken, JTEKT/Koyo and Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
are all major corporate partners of CU-ICAR. Private-sector companies that have committed to establishing offices and/or facilities on the campus include the Society of Automotive Engineers
SAE International, formerly named the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a United States-based, globally active professional association and standards developing organization for engineering professionals in various industries. SAE Internatio ...
and Timken. Plans for the campus also include a full-scale, four-vehicle capacity rolling road wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
.
In 2004 the Restoration Institute was founded in North Charleston
North Charleston is the third-largest city in the state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of North Charlest ...
. Its mission is to "advance knowledge in integrative approaches to the restoration of historic, ecological, and urban infrastructure resources." The institute includes the Hunley Commission which is undertaking the stabilization of the ''H. L. Hunley'', a Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
that was the world's first to sink a ship. , the institute is constructing a 7.5MW and a 15MW wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...
test facility for $100 million
In 2016, Clemson announced a new partnership with Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
, including a grant with a total value of $357,224,294. This grant is the largest in the school's history. Through it, students in Clemson's College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Sciences will have access to a variety of new software.
In 2015, Clemson University broke ground on the Zucker Family Graduate Education Center in the City of North Charleston. The 70,000 sq. ft. facility is estimated to cost more than $22 million.
Student life
Intramurals
In addition to their varsity programs, Clemson offers a wide variety of intramural sports
Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
:
* Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
* Billiards
Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as .
There are three major subdivisions ...
* Bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...
* Cornhole
* Dodgeball
Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, cat ...
* Flag football
Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a Down (gridiron football), down. The sport has a ...
* Indoor soccer
* Kickball
Kickball (also known as soccer baseball in most of Canada and football rounders in the United Kingdom) is a team sport and league game, similar to baseball. As in baseball, one team tries to score by having its players return a ball from home ...
* Racquetball
Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...
* Soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
* Softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
* Spikeball
Roundnet (also commonly known as spikeball) is a net sport. The game is played between two teams, usually with two players each. Players initially line up around a small trampoline-like net at the start of a point. The game starts with a serve f ...
* Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
* Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...
* Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
* Wiffleball
Wiffle ball, a team sport developed in 1953 in Fairfield, Connecticut, is a scaled back variation of baseball designed for playing in a confined space. The sport is played using a perforated light-weight plastic ball and a long hollow plastic ...
Fraternity and sorority life
The university's fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradu ...
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 abolishment 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
A green building council (GBC) is any national non-profit, non-government organization that is part of a global network recognized by the World Green Building Council. A green building council's goal is to promote a transformation of the built ...
's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
(LEED) program. The remaining sororities' on-campus housing is 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 Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885.
As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across the United States, and the fraternity counts ...
, Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women.
Alpha Delta Pi is a memb ...
, Alpha Phi
Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international sorority with 172 active chapters and over 250,000 initiated members.
Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York on September 18, 1872, it is the fo ...
, Chi Omega
Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities.
Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chap ...
, Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international women's fraternity founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University by Sarah Ida Shaw, Eleanor Dorcas Pond, Isabel Morgan Breed, and Florence Isabelle Stewart.
Tri Delta part ...
, Delta Gamma
Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...
(2021), Delta Zeta
Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Delta Zeta has 170 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 200 alumnae chapters in Cana ...
, Gamma Phi Beta
Gamma Phi Beta (, also known as GPhi or Gamma Phi) is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874, and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Man ...
, Kappa Delta
Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia.
Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, whic ...
, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi
Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...
, Sigma Kappa
Sigma Kappa (, also known as SK or Sig Kap) is a sorority founded on November 9, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
In 1874, Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pie ...
, and Zeta Tau Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its Internatio ...
. The Interfraternity Council Chapters include Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Sigma Phi
Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social fraternity with 181 active chapters and provisional chapters. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 10th oldest Greek letter fraternity in the United States.
The ...
, Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...
, Beta Upsilon Chi
Beta Upsilon Chi () is the largest Christian social fraternity in the United States. Since its founding at the University of Texas in 1985, ΒΥΧ has spread to twenty-nine campuses.
According to the fraternity's official website, Beta Upsilon ...
, Chi Phi, Delta Chi
Delta Chi () is an international Greek letter collegiate social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890, at Cornell University, initially as a professional fraternity for law students. On April 30, 1922, Delta Chi became a general membership soc ...
, Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapter ...
, FarmHouse
FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...
, Kappa Alpha Order
Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. As of December 2015, the Kappa Alph ...
, Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...
, Pi Kappa Alpha, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Sigma Kappa
Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#List of Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in ...
, Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...
, Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlva ...
, Theta Chi
Theta Chi () is an international Fraternities and sororities, college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 c ...
, Tau Kappa Epsilon
Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an interna ...
, Psi Upsilon
Psi Upsilon (), commonly known as Psi U, is a North American fraternity,''Psi Upsilon Tablet'' founded at Union College on November 24, 1833. The fraternity reports 50 chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America, some of which ...
, and Triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC.
In Euclidean geometry, an ...
.
As of the fall 2017 semester, there are twenty IFC Fraternities, thirteen NPC Sororities, eight NPHC Chapters, and four MGC Chapters, which make up approximately 23 percent of the undergraduate student body.
In 2017 15% of men and 31% of women were involved in Greek life, out of 19,825 undergraduate students. While the required GPA to join Greek life is 2.7, 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. 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
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
and U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
Overview
While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...
(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
Southern Wesleyan University is a private Christian university in Central, South Carolina. It was founded in 1906 by what is now the Wesleyan Church. The institution is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on ...
, Bob Jones University
, motto_lang = Latin
, mottoeng = We seek, we trust
, top_free_label =
, top_free =
, type = Private university
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, f ...
, and Tri-County Technical College
Tri-County Technical College is a public community college in Pendleton, South Carolina. It is part of the South Carolina Technical College System. Established in 1962, Tri-County Technical College has four campuses in Pendleton, Anderson, Ea ...
. 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 (AAS)
* Maj. Dennis H. Satler Chapter Silver Wings
* Clemson Rangers
* Tiger Platoon
* Clemson Corps
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 in AAS's history that any university has served as national headquarters two years in a row. The squadron again serves as national headquarters for the 2015–16 school year.
The C-4 Pershing Rifles have won the national society's drill meet nine times: 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2017. 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 fourth 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 No. 1 "medium-sized" Air Force ROTC detachment in the nation for 2006 (the "High Flight" and "Right of Line" awards), No. 1 Detachment in the "Southeast" in 2006 ("medium-sized") and 2007 ("large-sized"), and No. 1 in the state of South Carolina (out of three—the University of South Carolina and The Citadel) for 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 five completely student-run media outlets. These organizations operate under Tiger Media, the university's student media department, and are each on the third floor of the Hendrix Student Center. These include The Tiger (newspaper), ''The Tiger'', Tigervision, ''The Pendulum'', ''The Chronicle'', and WSBF-FM.
Founded in 1907, The Tiger (newspaper), ''The Tiger'' is the oldest student-run newspaper in South Carolina. ''The Tiger'' publishes local and university-related news pieces. Additionally, the paper publishes opinion articles on general and national issues, and lifestyle articles on topics such as food, sex, and music. With sports being a major part of Clemson University's culture and events, ''The Tiger'' also contains a large sports section focusing on football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. ''The Tiger'' is printed biweekly, on Thursdays, and maintains a staff of over 30 senior members and numerous contributing staff.
''The Tiger Town Observer'' is a conservative news magazine that focuses on university politics. The magazine identifies itself as a "traditionally conservative" news source and lists its political values as liberty, transparency, lifelong learning, free market, and charity.
Tigervision, Clemson's student-run TV station, broadcasts on channel 88 on the university's campus cable network. The station was created in 1994 under the name Clemson Cable Network by students at WSBF-FM who were interested in television production. The station aired a variety of student-created content as well as recently released movies via a licensing agreement. By 2006, after experiencing a decline in membership and viewers, CCN was no longer consistently producing content and fell into relative obscurity. However, in 2007, CCN was reorganized into Clemson Television and began to produce student comedy shows as well as airing public domain films. As content quality began to increase, so did membership. In 2014, CTV was renamed Tigervision to coincide with its switch to high-definition broadcasting.
''TAPS Yearbook'' was established in 1907 after members of the Clemson College Chronicle, the literary arts magazine at the time, wanted to publish a new book printed annually. It is named after the song "Taps", which was played each night when cadets went to bed during the college's time as a military school. Each edition of ''TAPS'' contains student portraits, information on student organizations, and reviews of the past year's events. In 2017, ''TAPS'' announced the end of the 2017–18 academic year would mark the final edition of the yearbook. Its student media group will replace it with a quarterly interest magazine beginning in fall 2018.
WSBF-FM was founded in 1958 and made its first broadcast on April 1, 1960. In the beginning, WSBF's content was mostly agriculture education shows and classical music. By the mid-1960s, the station began to air sports programs such as ''The Frank Howard Show'' along with the news. The station would eventually shift to a "progressive" format where it focused on new, up-and-coming contemporary music groups. During the 1980s, the format would shift gradually changed to the station's current "alternative" format. WSBF plays a variety of genres including jazz, rap, punk, rock, and folk focusing on independent artists. The station broadcasts to the Clemson area and upstate South Carolina on 88.1 FM as well as online.
''The Chronicle'' is a literary art magazine that publishes biannually. It was founded in 1897 and prints student-created content ranging from poetry, short stories, photography, and drawings.
''The Pendulum'' is a student-run international affairs magazine. It was established in 2014 and officially joined Tiger Media the following year. It publishes twice a year during the fall and focuses on international politics, economics, and global affairs. ''The Pendulum'' often takes these topics and discusses how they affect students and the Clemson community.
''The Sensible Tiger'' is a student-run weekly newsletter established in 2018 which provides students with brief, non-partisan news in an effort ease political divides on campus. The Sensible Tiger has interviewed 2019 Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke and Washington Post contributor Josh Dawsey, and produces a biweekly Spotify podcast entitled "The Watercooler."
Traditions
Tiger Paw
The Tiger paw became the official logo for Clemson University in 1970, in place of the previous tiger logo. The change was inspired by President Robert Edwards to "upgrade the image of the university." The Tiger Paw logo was introduced at a press conference on July 21, 1970. It was created by John Antonio and developed by Helen Weaver of Henderson Advertising in Greenville, South Carolina, from a mold of a Bengal tiger sent to the agency by the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The paw is now used on all athletic teams and collegiate documents. The tiger paw is also painted on surfaces throughout campus and on highways leading to the campus.
Homecoming and Tigerama
Every year Clemson students have the opportunity to attend Homecoming and Tigerama. The Clemson Homecoming tradition began in 1914 and has been held annually at Clemson University ever since. During homecoming week, various student organizations design and build Homecoming floats on Bowman Field. The floats are then revealed on the Saturday of the football game and judged by a select panel. Since 1957, Clemson has held "Tigerama" on the Friday night of homecoming week. Tigerama is one of the nation's largest student-run-pep rallies, averaging about 40,000 people. This Clemson event includes the crowning of Miss Homecoming, skits by various academic organizations, as well as a fireworks show.
First Friday Parade
The First Friday Parade has been held on the Friday before the first home football game every year since 1974. The parade includes fraternities, sororities, the Clemson marching band, the university President, as well as many other student organizations. The parade route travels through portions of Highway 93 and Main Street and concludes at the university's amphitheater, where the first pep rally of the year is held. In 1985, the parade had its highest attendance, when accompanying CBS commentators were the Grand Marshalls.
Alma mater
The Clemson University alma mater originated in the 1910s after a group of Clemson ROTC cadets in May 1918 was asked to sing the school's song at a gathering of ROTC cadets in Plattsburgh, New York; they 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 University's alma mater, as well as many others. The words were later officially accepted by the then-named Clemson Agricultural College as the alma mater and were 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, the university should compose its own. As a result, the Tiger Brotherhood sponsored a contest to have Clemson students compose a unique melody. On May 5, 1947, Clemson University's school newspaper "The Tiger" announced Robert E. Farmer of Anderson, South Carolina, a member of the glee club at the time, as the winner. Farmer's melody was slightly altered in 1970 but was restored to its original tune in 2009.
Fight song
The university's fight song is the jazz standard, the "Tiger Rag".
Memorial Stadium traditions
Athletics
Clemson University teams are known as the Tigers. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (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 Clemson Tigers baseball, baseball, basketball, cross country, Clemson Tigers football, football, golf, soccer, tennis, and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, diving, tennis, track & field, softball, and volleyball.
The most-prominent athletics facilities on campus are Memorial Stadium, Clemson, Memorial Stadium, Littlejohn Coliseum, Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Historic Riggs Field
Riggs Field is a 6,500-capacity soccer-specific stadium located in Clemson, South Carolina. The stadium is home to the Clemson Tigers men's and women's soccer teams. It has also hosted the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship in 1987. The stadium open ...
, and Fike Recreation Center. Clemson has won 7 national championships including 3 in football (1981, 2016, and 2018), 3 in men's soccer (1984, 1987, and 2021), and men's golf (2003).
In 2020, university officials decided to dissolve its Men's Track and Field and Cross Country teams at the end of the academic year. Despite pressure from student activists, the university did not reverse its decision until a class-action Title IX lawsuit was formed. Following pressure from state officials, the university reversed its decision on April 22, 2021. The university followed this by announcing the additions of women's lacrosse and gymnastics.
File:MemorialStadiumSept2006.jpg, Memorial Stadium, Clemson, Memorial Stadium
File:Littlejohn_Coliseum_Nov_11_2016.jpg, Littlejohn Coliseum
File:Clemson baseball panoramic 1.jpg, Doug Kingsmore Stadium
File:Riggs Field At Clemson university.JPG, Riggs Field
Riggs Field is a 6,500-capacity soccer-specific stadium located in Clemson, South Carolina. The stadium is home to the Clemson Tigers men's and women's soccer teams. It has also hosted the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship in 1987. The stadium open ...
File:CU Fike Recreation Center Aug2010.jpg, Fike Recreation Center
File:CU Jervey Gym Aug2010.jpg, Jervey Athletic Center
Public safety
Clemson University operates with the Clemson University Police Department and the Clemson University Fire & EMS for public safety needs. Both departments are staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Clemson University Fire & EMS has one station, at 1521 Perimeter Road. The Police Department is located at 124 Ravenel Center Place, Seneca.
Notable alumni
* Rudolf Anderson, Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. Class of 1948, was the only person killed by enemy fire during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
* David Beasley, South Carolina governor (1995–1999).
* Kris Benson, professional baseball player
* Jay Berger (born 1966), professional tennis player.
* Tajh Boyd (born 1990), Clemson football player.
* Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters, Hooters of America, Inc.
* Jonathan Byrd (golfer), Jonathan Byrd, professional 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.
* Dwight Clark, professional football player.
* Wynn Coggins, acting Secretary of Commerce under Joe Biden.
* Chad Connelly, Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party
* Brian Dawkins, professional football player.
* Dave Dondero, singer-songwriter andguitarist.
* Steven Duggar (born 1993), professional baseball player.
* Jimmie Dyess, Lt. Col. Jimmie Dyess, of the United States Marine Corps, the only person to earn both the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Carnegie Medal of Honor.
* Ekwee Ethuro, Speaker of the Kenyan Kenyan Senate, Senate.
* Harvey Gantt, first Black Mayor of Charlotte.
* Lucas Glover, professional golfer.
* Nikki Haley, former Governor of South Carolina and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations
* James M. Henderson, advertising executive in Greenville; Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina in 1970.
* Stuart Holden, professional soccer player.
* DeAndre Hopkins, professional football player.
* Rob Huebel, actor.
* Autar Kaw (born 1960), 2012 U.S. Professor of the Year, Professor University of South Florida
* Kristie A. Kenney, United States Ambassador to Thailand and former Ambassador to the Philippines.
* Trevor Lawrence, professional football player.
* Brad Miller (baseball), Brad Miller, professional baseball player.
* Rory "McAlister" Murray, WWE Wrestler and member of The Highlanders (professional wrestling), The Highlanders.
* Nancy O'Dell, television host and entertainment journalist.
* Oguchi Onyewu, professional soccer player.
* William Perry (football), William "Refrigerator" Perry, professional football player.
* John W. Raymond, Gen John W. Raymond, first Chief of Space Operations for the United States Space Force, former commander of the United States Space Command.
* Jane Robelot, American television host.
* Ben Robertson (journalist), Ben Robertson, war correspondent in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, author.
* Brianna Rollins, track and field athlete, 2016 Summer Olympics gold medalist.
* Phillip Sandifer, writer and recording artist.
* Jim Speros, formerly the majority owner of the Baltimore Stallions of the CFL, UFL Norfolk; youngest assistant coach in NFL history
* C. J. Spiller, professional football player.
* Elijah Thomas (born 1996), professional basketball player.
* Strom Thurmond, United States Senate, U.S. Senator from South Carolina who was the longest-serving Senator in U.S. history
* Sammy Watkins (American football), Sammy Watkins, professional football player.
* Deshaun Watson, professional football player.
* Shawn Weatherly, Miss Universe 1980.
* Jaw Shaw-kong, former member of the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan, founder of Taiwan's New Party (Taiwan), New Party.
* David H. Wilkins, former United States Ambassador to Canada, U.S. Ambassador to Canada; former Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, the first Republican Party (United States), Republican Speaker in the South since Reconstruction era of the United States, Reconstruction.
*Vanessa E. Wyche, Director of the Johnson Space Center.
Notable faculty
*Donald D. Clayton, Professor of Physics & Astronomy (1989-2007); known for his pioneering work in Nuclear Astrophysics.
*Thomas Hazlett, Hugh H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics (since 2014); co-author of "Public Policy Toward Cable Television"
*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).
*Jo Jorgensen, United States Libertarian Party candidate for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election and candidate for Vice President of the United States, vice-president in the 1996 United States presidential election, 1996 United States Presidential Election
*Donald Liebenberg, Adjunct Professor of Physics and Astronomy; known for his work related to solar eclipses
*Trudy Mackay, Self Family Chair in Human Genetics and Professor of Genetics and Biochemistry.
*Michael J. Padilla, former Director of the Eugene T. Moore School of Education
*June Pilcher, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology
*Ramakrishna Podila, Assistant Professor of Physics, director of the Clemson Nano-bio lab
*Apparao M Rao, Professor of Physics
*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
*C. Bradley Thompson, BB&T Research Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Executive Director of the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism
*Robert Tollison, Professor of Economics
*Antony Valentini, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy 2011–2018.
*Nicholas Vazsonyi, Dean of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities
*Victor J. Vitanza, Professor of Rhetoric
*Bruce Yandle, Dean Emeritus of Clemson University's College of Business and Behavioral Science and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus.
See also
* List of forestry universities and colleges
Notes
* A common pronunciation of ''Clemson'' is [klɛmpsən]. Because of the pin–pen merger in Southern American English, can be substituted for as the first vowel, as [klɪmpsən]. Those not familiar with the local pronunciation often say [klɛmzən] or [klɛmsən], as the spelling would suggest. See generall
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary English Pronunciation.
References
Notes
External links
*
Clemson Athletics website
{{Authority control
Clemson University,
Educational institutions established in 1889
Land-grant universities and colleges
Education in Pickens County, South Carolina
Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Public universities and colleges in South Carolina
Buildings and structures in Pickens County, South Carolina
Tourist attractions in Pickens County, South Carolina
Clemson, South Carolina
1889 establishments in South Carolina