SWU News:

January 14, 2004

College's growth fuels building boom

By Anna Simon
The Greenville News
CLEMSON BUREAU

Students at Southern Wesleyan University’s main campus in Central began spring semester classes Jan. 13. Southern Wesleyan students between classes are, from left, Kyle Woodworth of Fredricton, Canada, chemistry major; Holly Covington of Iva, business administration; Robert Furr of Pickens, Internet computing; Lindsey Carver of Easley, pre-med, dentistry; Melissa Wilcox of Liberty, elementary education; Autumn Staggs of Denton, N.C., pre-med, dentistry; and Cassondra Finley of Ellenburg Depot, N.Y., Internet computing. Enrollment at the university continues to increase, with initial reports for this semester marking more than a 6 percent increase from last year’s student population. Photo by - Conrad LaRosa

CENTRAL — Freshman Jason Evans, of Easley, stands alone centerstage in Southern Wesleyan University's Folger auditorium playing trumpet to an empty room, but his practice session penetrates the fine arts building's walls to reach the ears of passers by.Jane Dill, chairman of the university's Fine Arts division, doesn't need to see who's on stage to know who was playing. She knows the student's name, she even knows the young musician's father graduated from Southern Wesleyan's Adult and Graduate Studies program.

Evans, 18, is one of a growing number of students drawn by the school's Christian commitment and personal atmosphere.

"It's an upstanding Christian college. I really like those values," said Evans, a music education major, who was also drawn by the school's growing music program.

Across the nation, Christian colleges are seeing growth, and Southern Wesleyan is part of the trend, said David Spittal, Southern Wesleyan's president.

Southern Wesleyan's enrollment has increased 38 percent since the fall of 2000 and 176 percent in the past decade, according to university figures

Preliminary enrollment for spring semester, which started Tuesday, shows 2,475 students in both the traditional undergraduate and adult undergraduate and graduate classes — 158 more students than second semester last year. Final numbers will come after adult studies enrollment and the close of traditional student enrollment next week.

"There seems to be a desire on the part of parents and on the part of students to seek a value based, faith based environment," Spittal said. "In addition to an education, students are seeking something more. It goes back to the idea of community."

Students who tend to choose Christian colleges tend to be "very committed to being significant in the world but are not necessarily concerned about being successful in the old sense of the word," Spittal said. "They seem to want their lives and their education to be of value to the world in a global sense."

Southern Wesleyan students who worked on missionary teams as summer camp counselors influenced sophomore Casey Finley's college decision.

"Those are the kind of people I want to be around for four years while I was at college," said Finley, 20, an Internet computing major from Upstate New York.

While most students at Southern Wesleyan tend to be of the Wesleyan or Baptist denominations, anyone is welcome regardless of religious affiliation, although all students are required to attend chapel twice weekly, Spittal said.

Sophomore Damario Pendergrass, 20, a former cheerleader at Greenville's Eastside High, didn't realize the school was a Christian college when recruiters targeted him to help cheer on the Southern Wesleyan Warriors.

"I fell in love with the campus," said Pendergrass, who is majoring in health education. "The people make it special."

Faculty who "go over and above their call of duty," was the calling card for Eddie Allgood, 47, of Pickens, who "had to learn how to study all over again" after decades away from school. A sophomore music major by day and a machinist by night, Allgood returned to school to become a music minister.

As a result of growth, Southern Wesleyan has $16 million worth of building plans on the drawing board to serve more students.

A $4 million residence hall will house 200 students in suites or "hotel-style" rooms, said university spokeswoman Janelle Beamer. The facility, funded by a tax-exempt municipal bond, will also offer housing for summer conferences at the university and is scheduled to be complete by the 2005-2006 school year.

About 600 students live on campus. Traditional students under age 23 must live on campus unless they live at home with parents in the immediate area or are married. The newest campus housing, an apartment style residence hall built four years ago, is full, and Spittal said new housing is needed to avoid limits on enrollment.

By 2006, when the university celebrates it's centennial, a $4 million chapel and fine arts building with a 1,000-seat auditorium and a new $4 million dining commons should be built or under construction.

A 10-year master plan for the 210-acre main campus also includes construction of a $4 million physical education and events center that will seat up to 2,500 people.

University plans also include a regional learning center expansion to serve working adult students around the state. Southern Wesleyan currently has regional learning centers in Greenville, Spartanburg, Charleston, North Augusta and Columbia, in addition to its main campus.

"It's exciting to see our role expanding in the Southeast. We're really becoming a major university," Spittal said. "If you do good things for young men and women, then you'll be rewarded with growth."