Dozens of students showed up to the College Republicans tabling event in partnership with Students for Life of America inside of the Digiorgio Student Union Center (DIGS) on Dec. 1st, 2022. The table displayed a sign bearing the words, “Abortion is not right.” Students for Life Action, “is a national organization that works with students to promote pro-life values on campus.” Winthrop’s College Republicans President, Wesley Thomas said. Thomas, a captain with Students for Life Action and Students For Life of America Southeast Regional Coordinator, Cori Woods were both in attendance. Many students expressed that they were particularly disturbed by comparisons featured on the posters. A poster titled, “Humans Deserve Human Rights” listed these points, “Slavery = Human beings are owned. Sex-trafficking = Human beings are treated as sexual objects.…
There is one thing you can count on at all of Winthrop’s home basketball games. The presence of Alex Bowers and Joshua Frye. Bowers is a sophomore Music Tech major from Indiana. He brings the passion he developed growing up there to all Winthrop’s home basketball games. “I always grew up hearing that in 49 other states, (basketball) is just a game,” Bowers said. “Basketball is like a religion in Indiana. Every kid by the age of two has picked up a basketball at some point,” he said. Frye on the other hand is more local to the area. He was born in Charlotte and grew up in Anderson, South Carolina. His love for basketball comes from a different place. “I was born in Charlotte (but I) I didn't live…
There is one thing you can count on at all of Winthrop’s home basketball games. The presence of Alex Bowers and Joshua Frye. Bowers is a sophomore Music Tech major from Indiana. He brings the passion he developed growing up there to all Winthrop’s home basketball games. “I always grew up hearing that in 49 other states, (basketball) is just a game,” Bowers said. “Basketball is like a religion in Indiana. Every kid by the age of two has picked up a basketball at some point,” he said. Frye on the other hand is more local to the area. He was born in Charlotte and grew up in Anderson, South Carolina. His love for basketball comes from a different place. “I was born in Charlotte (but I) I didn't live…
This past Sunday, the Big South conference hosted a Zoom meeting with the intention of ensuring that every Big South institution is a place where LGBTQ+ athletes feel comfortable being themselves. The Student Athlete Advisory Committees across the conference agreed that they’d like to see more done in this area. “SAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) leaders wanted to see more done on allyship and promoting inclusivity with our students,” assistant athletic director for academic and student success Claire Mooney-Melvin said. The 90 minute meeting was led by Shane Diamond, a gender equity consultant and former collegiate ice hockey player. Some points of emphasis he covered were relevant terms and definitions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, introduction to policies and laws that govern transgender inclusion in sports at the state…
Cynthia Roddey, class of 1967, was the first African American to attend Winthrop College. At the time, her attendance did not gain much attention from the media. “On the one hand, it was good not to be hounded by the media,” Roddey said. “On the other, the history made by the first four Black females at WC is not recognized along with the desegregation of others in the state.” Roddey graduated in 1960 from Johnson C. Smith University with degrees in English and religion with a minor in psychology. At Winthrop College, Roddey received her MAT with majors in library science and English. She later earned her Doctorate of Ministry from Mid-Atlantic Theological Seminary in church administration. Additionally, she is an ordained minister and has earned a certification in elementary…
It is undeniable that student policy has become stagnant at Winthrop University. While some efforts have been made to improve the campus, many of the so-called upgrades have led to more questions than answers. The solution to this issue would be to more thoroughly involve the students and faculty in policy-making decisions. This is not a controversial statement, and is in fact the basis for accountable student government. What efforts has the university engaged towards this goal? The pillar of Winthrop student government is the Council of Student Leaders (CSL) and the student body President, and it is through this organization that students are meant to affect policy. According to the CSL’s constitution its purpose is to “serve as the official student voice to the Winthrop University Board of Trustees…
Craig McPhail, an alumnus from the class of 1993, lived on the third floor of Bancroft during his freshman and sophomore year at Winthrop, which now houses the history and political science departments. “[My friends and I] did everything together and made incredible memories,” McPhail said. “We all went to eat dinner together, played basketball late at night in Peabody Gym, did road trips, went home with each other during holiday breaks, and still stay in touch with each other.” McPhail stated that some of the residents living in Bancroft ventured out into Hurricane Hugo. “Probably not our smartest decision,” McPhail said. A few of the friends he mentioned are Matt Short, Chad Caulder, Ron Schick, Troy Hodge, Andrew Getz, John Schmoll, Lee Thomas. Now, Bancroft Hall has been transformed…
The food services and facilities management company is partnered with a non-profit organization called Swipe Out Hunger, through which they donate a free meal swipe in exchange for each meal plan sold. The program was launched in 2019, but this is the first full year that it is active at Winthrop University. Swipe Out Hunger advocates for ending food insecurity among college students, and does so through several initiatives. According to their website, “The Sodexo and Swipe Out Hunger pilot program launched on 12 campuses across the U.S., including Seattle Pacific University and San Francisco State University. As a result of the pilot, 80 percent of participating students felt less stress and 44 percent performed better in their classes.” Dining Services hopes bringing the collaboration to Winthrop will promote similar…
Council of Student Leaders presidential candidate and current vice president Miguel Caldwell alongside running mate Karl Vogl II answered questions about their cabinet goals at a public candidate forum. The event was hosted as a part of the annual CSL election cycle and was attended by CSL members, students and faculty. Caldwell and Vogl spoke as the only ticket running at the time, introducing their campaign platform, “Engage, Enable, Empower.” “Our platform, ‘Engage. Enable. Empower,’ was created with the uplifting of Winthrop students in mind,” Caldwell wrote in the ticket platform statement. “As student body president and vice president, we recognize that we cannot properly uplift students if we don’t take the necessary steps. Therefore, we want to engage students in the Winthrop experience, enable students to tackle…
Courtesy of our reporting partners at the Palmetto Report. To read the full story, click here. Since the 2017-2018 year, student enrollment at Winthrop University is down by almost 500 students. Throughout the university, the effects of lower student enrollment, such as budget cuts, layoffs and smaller course sizes, have been felt by faculty, staff and students. Winthrop’s operating revenue, once $122.5M in fiscal year 2018, dropped by 7.8% to an estimated operating revenue of $113M in fiscal year 2022. Tuition makes up the majority of Winthrop’s revenue, making up 70% of the overall budget in fiscal year 2018 and estimated to be 67.5% of fiscal year 2022’s overall budget, according to Associate Vice President for Finance and Business Jeremy Whitaker. To offset the difference in revenue, the university has…
