Leaving His Mark at Clemson

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Jerry Dempsey Legacy Leaf2019 Legacy Day honors the late Jerry Dempsey

Fort Hill is the historic home of the University’s founders, Thomas and Anna Clemson. It has also become a place to honor those who followed their legacy of generosity and giving that made this University what it is today. Since 2009, the Clemson Family has gathered each fall to memorialize donors who have given more than $1 million to Clemson, inducting them into the Fort Hill Legacy Society through the placement of a bronze leaf on the grounds in their memory. Last year, a leaf was placed in memory of the late Jerry Dempsey.
Jerry Dempsey was a 1954 mechanical engineering graduate who went on to a successful business career and distinguished civic leadership. After retirement, he returned home to the Upstate and helped his alma mater with some of its most strategically important projects. He established scholarships and served on numerous boards and committees, including the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences Advisory Board. In 2017, he created the Harriet and Jerry Dempsey Research Conference, an annual partnership between Clemson and Prisma Health-Upstate that draws more than 150 engineers, medical doctors, faculty members and students to hear talks by some of the nation’s leading health researchers.

The Ultimate Field Trip

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Gift provides students with opportunities for education abroad

Hendrix FamilyTHE LATE PAM HENDRIX was an international traveler who understood the incredible learning experiences that studying abroad could provide. In fact, for many years she instilled her passion for travel in her own children so that they might learn and grow through the shared experience of traveling the world together.
As part of the adventure, the Hendrix family saved money in a “Dream Jar” that they all contributed to. In 2015, that jar became the inspiration behind the Pamela Maddex Hendrix Dream Jar Travel Endowment, established by her children and their spouses. Since that fund was created, more than 38 Clemson students have been able to study abroad thanks to the Dream Jar Endowment.
When Pam Hendrix passed away in 2018, her family could think of no better way to honor her memory than to expand upon the Dream Jar Endowment and create a center at Clemson dedicated to preparing students who want to pursue international education. Research has shown that preparation is a key factor for a successful study abroad experience. The Pam Hendrix Center for Education Abroad will provide students with the opportunity to apply for a planning scholarship during their freshman year. During the interim, scholarship recipients will take part in the “Dream Jar Curriculum,” working alongside academic advisers and receiving financial aid to plan a study abroad experience that aligns with their professional and financial goals.
Through the Hendrix family’s gift, Clemson will be able to help students learn, study and research in other countries. “Pam’s story of encouraging her family to travel while ensuring they planned and prepared for their adventures was the inspiration behind the center,” said Sharon Nagy, associate provost for Global Engagement. “We hope to honor her legacy by inspiring students to follow their dreams while also helping plan for them.”
Study abroad and other global engagement opportunities expand the learning environment beyond the classroom into unique and often challenging cultural contexts. The Pam Hendrix Center for Education Abroad will provide operational support to international student engagement programs that align with the University’s goals and emphasis areas. The center will support the development of activities, programs, exchanges and events that foster global and intercultural aware-ness, knowledge and understanding among faculty, staff and students.
The Hendrix family’s impact at Clemson has been far-reaching, throughout both academics and athletics, for many years. Pam’s husband of 50 years, Bill Hendrix ’63, M ’68, was student body president while he was a Clemson undergraduate and has been on the Clemson board of trustees since 1995. He served as board chair for three terms from 2003 to 2009. The Hendrix family’s leadership, service and philanthropy have touched almost every aspect of Clemson University, including the Hendrix Student Center, which provides students with invaluable resources and opportunities. With this latest gift inspired by their adventurous matriarch, the Hendrix family is ensuring that future generations of Clemson students will have access to quality study abroad opportunities and, by extension, life-changing experiences.

The Resilient Clemson Family

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AS I WRITE THIS, OUR CAMPUSES ARE QUIET, as they have been since late March when all classes first moved online as result of the coronavirus pandemic. Summer classes remain online, and events have been canceled as we continue to deal with the broad and deep impact of this crisis.
But don’t mistake the quiet for a lack of energy and activity on the part of the University. In fact, never in my 31 years in higher education have I been part of a more dedicated or focused effort to deliver on our commitment to provide a world-class education and to be of service to our state and the nation.
Across the University, our faculty and staff have been tireless in their work to return to on-campus instruction in the fall. Not only are we focused on returning to the type of residential college experience that sets Clemson apart but also on doing it in a way that provides the safest environment possible for our students, employees and communities.
The University, and the Clemson Family, are a resilient bunch, and that resiliency was instrumental in getting us through the spring semester. I am confident that we can — and will — continue to make the adjustments necessary so that Clemson emerges from the pandemic strong and ready to tackle the future.
This issue of Clemson World provides a few examples of the very best aspects of the Clemson spirit at work during these unprecedented times.
There’s the inspiring message from May 2020 graduate Thomas Marshall III to his classmates; a story on the innovation of engineering faculty member Fadi Abdeljawad, who turned a kitchen wall into a giant whiteboard as an online teaching tool; and stories about Clemson alumni stepping up to help others in this time of great need.
As members of the Clemson Family, you know that there really is something special in these hills. Part of it is an undefinable but very real sense of belonging to something larger than any one of us.
A large part of it, I am convinced, rests in the shared core values that we try to live every day: honesty, integrity and respect. They’re not just words at Clemson, as our continued response to the coronavirus pandemic has proven time and again in recent months.
Thanks to each of you for helping keep Clemson strong. I can’t wait until the time comes when we can all be together again.

James P. Clements
President, Clemson University

Softball Opens at Clemson

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 Team experiences abbreviated first season in new stadium

New Clemson Softball team takes fieldCLEMSON KICKED OFF ITS INAUGURAL SOFTBALL season this spring, with a 6-2 win in its opening game against St. John’s at UCF’s Black & Gold tournament in Orlando, Florida. Freshman righthanded pitcher Logan Caymol earned the program’s first-ever win in the circle and posted a game-high eight strikeouts. Freshman shortstop Hannah Goodwin belted an opposite-field three-run home run over the right-field wall to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning, which gave Clemson a 4-1 lead.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Clemson Head Coach John Rittman after the game. “As coaches, we’ve been here since late 2017. It’s all coming to reality. Today was a great effort by our team. I felt that we had some great performances today, starting in the circle with Logan Caymol. The battery with [her] and JoJo Hyatt was terrific. We had some clutch hits — Hannah Goodwin breaking the game open with a big home run [and] Cammy Pereira providing a lot of spark offensively.”
A sold-out crowd cheered on the team in its home opener on Feb. 12 against Western Carolina. Clemson dropped the first game of the double header 0-2 but roared back in the second game. Caymol did not allow a single hit and struck out 11 batters as the Tigers defeated Western Carolina 8-0 in five innings. Valerie Cagle hit a 252-foot home run to left-center in the first inning of the nightcap, and Clemson never looked back.
The new stadium was completed in January and features 1,000 fixed chairback seats, in addition to berm seating. The facility also includes a team clubhouse with over 12,000 square feet of conditioned space that houses a team lounge, locker room, sports medicine room, equipment room and coaches’ offices. The facility also features locker rooms for the coaches, umpires and visiting team.
With the shutdown of NCAA sports in March due to the novel coronavirus, the team experienced an abbreviated first season, finishing 19-8 overall and 5-1 in the ACC.