Romaine Sargent ’85, Pamela Bishop ’87 and Kevin Bishop ’85 strike the now familiar Deshaun (Watson) TD pose on top of Elk Knob (elevation 5538′) outside of Boone, NC on Saturday Dec. 31 prior to the victory over OSU in the Fiesta Bowl!
After high school, I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as an infantryman and served with 3rd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment in Camp Lejeune, N.C.
After four years, three continents and 13 countries, I wanted to give back on a larger scale, and I knew I needed a formal education. One thing I didn’t cultivate in high school or by crawling through swamps, though, was my academic skills.
When I applied to Clemson, it was a total Hail Mary based on my dismal high school GPA and SAT scores. The only thing I had going for me was four years of service in the Marines. To someone in admissions, that stood for something, and Clemson let me in. That sent a message to me that serving this country meant something to people at Clemson. And if they were going to take a gamble on me, I surely could not disappoint them.
With unwavering support from my future wife, Amy, I worked relentlessly and graduated cum laude in mechanical engineering and was in three different honor societies. A degree from Clemson has opened so many doors for me. I really do bleed orange because of the chance they gave me.
My second act at Clemson is to help more of our veterans come back to the workforce and bring the intangibles and leadership they honed while serving. Amy and I want to help them further their education at Clemson. We know firsthand how wonderful everyone here was when I was a struggling veteran getting re-immersed in 1999. The Veteran Resource Center is a clear display of the commitment Clemson has to veterans, and we couldn’t be more proud to support it.
I am Brian Burger, and this is My Clemson.
Brian Burger is co-owner of Fathom 4, a veteran-owned small business in Charleston that provides engineering services.
Travelers are Bill and Ann McCrary (79), Rob and Nancy Holmes (78) and Rick and Suzanne McLeod (78) in Paris.
Clemson Alumni and affinity groups have been busy welcoming students to the Clemson Family, hosting events, holding networking events for students and alumni, and watching football. Here’s just a sampling of the recent activities around the country:
The ARIZONA CLEMSON CLUB and N.C. State Wolfpack Alumni held a joint football party to watch the Tigers take on the Wolfpack and used the event to provide service to the local community by asking alumni to bring a donation to the St. Mary’s Food Bank. Approximately 30 Clemson alumni attended; the two clubs collected a total of 114 pounds of food.
The HOUSTON CLEMSON CLUB hosted a luncheon in October featuring President Jim Clements and his wife Beth. Approximately 75 alumni, supporters and parents of current students attended the luncheon. The Houston Club also hosted a Student Send-Off in August.
Every year, the GREATER ORLANDO CLEMSON CLUB participates in an alumni event called Feast on the 50 at Camping World Stadium, where active alumni groups from a variety of colleges compete for the most spirited tent. This year, the Orlando Club won the competition, reports President Thomas Harvell. He credits the hard work of Meg Ramis, Christie Hyde DeNave, Cheryl Mellin and others. The Orlando Club also hosted a Student Send-Off in August.
During Homecoming weekend, the CLEMSON BLACK ALUMNI COUNCIL (CBAC) hosted the Minority Student Success Initiative. During a panel discussion, alumni shared stories, tips and advice with more than 90 students on how to succeed both within the University and in the workforce. A networking event provided opportunities for students, alumni and employers to make valuable connections. The annual CBAC Homecoming tailgate at Carillon Gardens rounded out the weekend, welcoming more than 600 alumni back to campus.
The YORK COUNTY CLEMSON CLUB hosted a Student Send-Off for more than 100 students, hosted by Roger and Cathy Troutman. About 90 alumni, parents and students were in attendance at the SPARTANBURG CLEMSON CLUB’S Student Send-Off, the largest send-off for the club in recent years. Clemson Clubs hosted a record number of more than 35 Student Send-Offs across the country to welcome new students to the Clemson Family.
They may not have graduated from Clemson, but you wouldn’t know it from the orange in their wardrobe and the generosity they exhibit. David and Lynette Snow of Darien, Connecticut, who donated $2.4 million toward the intramural field complex on Hartwell Lake, have pledged an additional $1 million in matching funds to complete the project.
The Snows, whose daughter Ashley graduated from Clemson in 2015, became the most generous non-alumni Clemson parents in University history with their original gift. This fundraising challenge money will go toward adding new playing fields, facilities and educational areas to the recreation center.
“Lynette, our whole family and I continue to see how a world-class outdoor wellness and fitness center at Clemson will transform not only intramural activity on campus but have a daily impact on the lives of Clemson students and the surrounding community,” said David Snow. “We hope our gift doesn’t just raise awareness of this campaign, but inspires everyone to support Clemson. No gift is too small when we are working to enhance and transform the lives of Clemson students.”
In addition to the intramural fields, the center allows students to enjoy water and beach activities, and several student club sports are located there. It also offers the Clemson community amenities to enjoy year-round.
Join the Snow Family Challenge.
Prodding from a library colleague led Pam DeFanti Robinson on an adventure that’s put her at the heart of influencing young lives — just in a different classroom than originally planned.
Robinson currently serves as the director of the University of South Carolina School of Law pro bono program. Before law school, Robinson’s path was elementary education. The Rhode Island native came to South Carolina as a teen during her father’s relocation with DuPont. With no ties to Clemson, she applied because a summer program had piqued her interest. After teaching in Atlanta and outside Washington, D.C., life brought her back to South Carolina, where she settled in Camden as a children’s librarian. “I knew I needed to go back and get another degree,” said Robinson.
A colleague challenged her to try law school. Robinson stayed around USC’s law school after graduation to assist with projects. A conversation over a cup of coffee with her dean was how the pro bono program idea started — the first of its kind in the state and the nation. Now she’s opening doors for those who need legal aid and students who need guidance navigating careers. The program is open to all law students who are willing to volunteer to work on everything from filing taxes to translating documents to Spanish.
[pullquote]“[Pro bono] doesn’t mean for free. The phrase is part of a Latin phrase meaning ‘for the public good.’ Sometimes [services] are free or low cost for people who can’t afford an attorney for whatever reason,”[/pullquote] she said. “When you’re in law school [students] can’t practice law, or give legal advice, so we go right up to the line of what’s legal.”
Robinson says every class is different and offers a different skill set and potential for what they can accomplish that year, but the one-on-one experience the program offers showcases the breadth of the law and what a potential practice can entail.
And even though her students are bigger than first-graders, she still gets tickled when her students have “eureka” moments. “That’s such a good feeling to say, ‘Hang in there, you can do that,’” she said.
“We can’t, as law school and law students, solve all the problems of the community, but we can be there as part of the solution,” she said.
One, two, three — jump. One, two, three — jump. With a fierce face and a breakneck pace, former Clemson track standout Brianna Rollins lunged across the finish line. A time of 12.48 seconds earned Rollins a gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August. Right behind her were USA teammates Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin in second and third place. “It was awesome feeling to have to my teammates up there on the podium alongside me. We made history and I couldn’t have been happier to share it with Nia and Kristi. Kristi and I train together, and Nia is a really good friend of mine. [pullquote]It just goes to show you that if women can come together as one we can accomplish something huge.”[/pullquote]
After catching their breath, the women draped their bodies in three American flags and jumped for joy for the cameras and the television crowds back home. It was the first time three American women claimed all three medals in a track and field event in the Olympics.
Rollins isn’t new to claiming victories. In 2011 and 2013 she was the NCAA indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles, the 2014 NCAA outdoor champion in the 100-meter hurdles, and the 2013 IAAF world champion in the 100-meter hurdles while still a student at Clemson. But it wasn’t until her time at Clemson that she realized she could compete at an elite level. Rollins didn’t begin competing in the sport until she was in high school in her hometown of Miami. In 2012, as a sophomore at Clemson, she made the Olympic Trials. In the next months she earned a win at the NACAC Under-23 championships. From there she blossomed into the runner she is today.
“At the 2012 Olympic trials is when I realized I could compete on the professional level. I had the second fastest time coming back in the finals at the trials. I finished sixth in the finals but seeing that I was competing with the professional and running so close gave me the hope I needed,” she said. “Training as an elite-level athlete is a blessing; it comes with a lot of hard work, sacrifices, commitment, and focus but it is all worth it when the reward is being an Olympic champion and an inspiration to those who look up to me.”
Rollins is the second female from Clemson to win a gold in track and field and the first Clemson athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal since 2004. Kim Graham won a medal as a member of the 4×100- meter relay team in 1996 and Shaw Crawford won the 200-meter dash in 2004. Nine athletes from Clemson have gone on to win Olympic gold.
Rollins is currently training for the next 2017 World Championships in London and hopes defend her title in Tokyo in the 2020 Olympics.
Sue Brugnolie Stanzione was a first-generation American who emigrated to the U.S. from Italy. She moved to Hartsville in 1959 with her family. Only a few years later her husband died, leaving her the single parent of five children, two of whom, Bob and Dan, were students at Clemson.
Dan’s roommate at Clemson, Goz Segars, also from Hartsville, remembers how much respect everyone had for Sue and for how she held the family together in difficult times. Almost 50 years later, Sue Stanzione’s name now graces the Distinguished Professorship of ClemsonLIFE, held by its founder and executive director, Joe Ryan. That professorship, made possible thanks to a generous gift by Bob and Kaye Stanzione, will make a difference in the lives of countless generations of ClemsonLIFE students.
ClemsonLIFE (Learning is for Everyone) allows students with special needs the opportunity to attend Clemson and receive the full college experience while learning the skills to lead independent lives. As President Clements said, “What ClemsonLIFE does for its students is simply remarkable, and it is the embodiment of the very best nature of the Clemson family.”
Bob and Kaye Stanzione began their married life in campus housing, and all three of their children attended Clemson. A 1969 graduate, Bob is executive chair of ARRIS Group, a global communications technology leader. Kaye is an active volunteer and serves on the ClemsonLIFE advisory board.
Fabio Tambosi spent his childhood with a soccer ball rolling at his feet. Soccer came naturally to him, and he moved from playing in the streets of Brazil to playing in the youth academy of a professional club in São Paulo.
It was here that Tambosi received his first pair of cleats — two freshly worn Nike Tiempos from Zé Roberto, a living soccer legend. “I was walking out of the locker room after practice and [Zé Roberto] said, ‘Hey shorty, what’re you doing? Do you want some shoes?’” Tambosi said. “That pair lasted me another two years.”
These days, Tambosi isn’t bumming cleats off the most famous players in the world — he’s partnering with world-class athletes to sell them. As the director of global football brand marketing at Nike, Tambosi is a leading voice for an iconic brand.
[pullquote]It’s a dream job, but he took a long journey to attain it.[/pullquote] Early on, Tambosi played forward for the men’s soccer team at Clemson where he helped the team to an ACC Tournament championship in 2001. “The atmosphere at this school, it’s contagious,” Tambosi said. “You get there, and on a weekend when there are a lot of sports happening, you get a real sense of the community. You have the sense of being part of a family.”
Tambosi hasn’t left that family behind, despite his success. He stays involved as a board member at the Erwin Center for Brand Communications, where he helps students develop advertising and marketing skills. “There’s nothing better than being recognized by my alma mater and going back and giving back what Clemson has given to me,” Tambosi said.
Tambosi wants students to understand that it isn’t possible to fulfill one’s dreams without risking failure. He knows this to be true because he has risked it all. In 2012 he was working a stable, well-paying job in London for Nokia. But, Tambosi wasn’t satisfied — he had other ideas. “I wanted to go back to sports, and I wanted to have a role in the World Cup in Brazil. And I wanted to work for Nike,” Tambosi said.
So, he quit Nokia, and left for Brazil in January 2013. While he had no job offer on the table, he told everyone he was going to work at Nike. Once in Brazil, he spent his time networking with Nike employees, which eventually helped land him a job as Nike brand manager for the 2014 World Cup. “Growing up playing football at a very high level in Brazil, it was a dream to play in the World Cup,” Tambosi said. “I didn’t have the opportunity to do it as a player. But I had the opportunity to live the World Cup, to impact the World Cup, personally, in Brazil through my job.”
When the World Cup ended, Tambosi stayed on with Nike. Now Tambosi can stay in touch with the game he loves, the game for which he has crossed borders and risked professional failure. That passion, that commitment, is something he wants to impart to Clemson students and young people everywhere. “Know where you want to go,” Tambosi said. [pullquote]“Don’t be afraid to fail, and follow your dream.”[/pullquote]
— Glenn Bertram ’18
The Poes are one of the many spirited families that make up the sea of orange and purple at Clemson’s Death Valley during football season. Tailgating outside of the stadium and clapping along to the beat of “Tiger Rag” are traditions David and Jade have been participating in since they were students. But when the chips and dip are gone and the Cadence Count has ended, the couple’s alma mater is not forgotten. The Poes’ blood runs orange, and they take pride in supporting Clemson in numerous ways.
A 1994 graduate, David Poe found the University’s environment to be the perfect place for him to grow both intellectually and socially. He formed lifelong relationships through his involvement in many campus organizations including Greek life and Student Alumni Council.
For Jade Poe, a 2004 alumna, college was less of a certainty. “I was raised by a single mother, so I didn’t know if I would be able to afford college. Thanks to Clemson’s generous alumni, I received a scholarship and was the first in my family to graduate from college,” she said. “Clemson was more than the friendships I made and the football games. It was an opportunity I didn’t think I would have.”
It is important to the Poes that they do their part to provide future Tigers the same memorable experience they had as students. Not only does the couple support the Clemson Forever Fund annually, they have also included the University in their will. “Clemson was founded based on a gift from Thomas Green Clemson. I think it is neat that we can contribute to Clemson using the same method, and it is a great way to make Clemson part of our legacy,” said David Poe.
“I was able to attend Clemson because of the scholarships I received, and donating allows me to give that same opportunity to students who were in my position. Knowing that my donation can help students continue their education so they can have a successful career is very rewarding,” said Jade.