Student Veterans Have New, Expanded Space

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Army boots of a foot soldier worn in combat in Afghanistan

Clemson had more than 350 verified student veterans on campus during the 2018-19 academic year. They now have a new place to call home in Vickery Hall. At the Student Veteran Center, dedicated in November, veterans can connect with each other and access resources to assist them through their Clemson transition. Previously, the Student Veteran Center occupied a much smaller space in Tillman Hall.

The new center includes a lounge, a full kitchen, couches, lockers and a multimedia setup featuring a 65-inch “smart” TV and a video game console. Adjacent to it is a quiet space featuring seven workstations and three desktop computers.

Brennan Beck, assistant director for military and veteran engagement in student affairs, has already seen positive effects of the center in its first months of operation.

“Even with Clemson’s rich military history and growing veteran support programs, the first and often loudest statement of our friendliness to incoming and prospective veterans has been the physical space of the Student Veteran Center,” Beck said. “Now, we can proudly show our veterans that they are important to Clemson University with our larger, improved center.”

International Partnership Addresses Environmental and Cultural Issues

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International PartnershipOver the last several years, Charleston has experienced repeated flooding — a problem exacerbated by rising sea levels. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that the city will experience almost 180 days of tidal flooding annually by the year 2045.

In the spring term, 52 students and eight professors from Clemson, Ain Shams University of Egypt, and Huazhong Agricultural University of China tackled urban design, architecture and landscape architecture issues related to flooding and sea level rise on the east and west sides of the Charleston Peninsula. Working with the city of Charleston and its planners, they are creating design proposals that account for the effects of rising sea levels in the city.

The group is part of the first World Design Studio, a partnership of the three universities to address pressing environmental and cultural issues through design. While the universities have participated in joint design projects in the past, leaders from the three institutions met at Clemson in February to formalize their work together. A platform for international, multidisciplinary collaboration, the World Design Studio will allow architecture and landscape architecture students from the three institutions to sign up for a semester-long studio with projects across the three continents. The plan also envisions collaboration with disciplines such as transportation, robotics and environmental engineering.

“Through this partnership, our students will be able to go beyond what they thought possible while truly making an impact on the communities we work in,” said Hala Nassar, a landscape architecture professor at Clemson. “We are specifically focusing on areas in the peninsula that experience frequent flooding and road closures in conditions of heavy rain and tidal surge. We are eager to see what solutions the students create this semester and hope it can be used by other coastal towns along the East Coast.”

Nassar and colleague Robert Hewitt have spearheaded Clemson’s efforts with Ain Shams and Huazhong.

“Since we began working with Ain Shams University in 2007, we have been able to transform landscapes at some of the world’s most recognizable locations, like the city of Luxor and the pyramids of Giza Plateau,” said Hewitt, associate professor of landscape architecture; Huazhong joined the partnership in 2016. “We hope to continue building off these successes and incorporate new partners in the coming years to preserve, modify and strengthen existing locations for future generations.”

Cambodia: Tom Doss '71

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During a trip to Mainland Southeast Asia (including Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) in March 2019, Tom Doss ’71 and his wife, Joyce, visited Siem Reap/Angkor, Cambodia, to explore the temples of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Angkor Tom and Bayon built in the 12th and 13th centuries.
“The temple area was covered by jungle for many centuries until French naturalist Henri Mouhot discovered them around 1860,” writes Tom. “Since then, many countries around the world have been involved in their ongoing restoration.”

Seattle: Carrie Trebil '08

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Carrie Trebil ’08 joined other Main Street South Carolina directors in Seattle for the Main Street Now Conference. She was also able to visit the Olympic National Forest and got a panoramic view of the city from the iconic Space Needle.
No one noticed her holding the Tiger Rag during this group photo: Jonathan Irick, Molly Willard, William Freeman, Howie Owens, Lara Hudson, Katharine Spadacenta, Carrie Trebil ’08, Michael Lisle, Doug Polen, Suzy Moy, Jenny Boulware.

Colombia: Kayley Seawright '14, Kate Gasparro '14 and Brittany Pifer '14

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Kayley Seawright ’14, Kate Gasparro ’14 and Brittany Pifer ’14 visited Ciudad Perdida (“The Lost City”), a Colombian ruin in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region.
“The only way to get to the ruins is a trek. Ours lasted for four days, averaging 34,000 steps, 339 flights of stairs and 12.8 miles per day,” writes Kayley. “Imagining the stories within these ruins dating back to 800 CE, some 650 years prior to Machu Picchu, and interacting with the indigenous people was humbling. This was once home to as many as 8,000 people and wasn’t even discovered until the late 1970s!”