We have had many reasons to celebrate here at Clemson this fall. A lot of great things have been happening, and I am pleased to share a few of these highlights with you:

Clemson University held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the $21.5 million Zucker Family Graduate Education Center. The 70,000 square foot facility is located at the Clemson University Restoration Institute in North Charleston.

Core Campus opened this fall! The 260,000 square foot, mixed-use facility features student housing, retail and residential dining, and is the new home for the Calhoun Honors College. Click here to view a video showcasing the space after its opening.

We are also excited about the Barnes Center now set to open spring 2017. Check out our video on the progress of its construction.

Clemson's first-ever Graduate Student Center (GSC) held an open house Oct. 24. This was developed through a partnership between the Division of Student Affairs, the Graduate School and Graduate Student Government.

Clemson University students Marissa Brock, Meredith McSwain and Aditya Aswani were selected to represent the University at the 2017 National Conference on Ethics in America, which will be held Jan. 24–25, 2017 at the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. We are very proud to have these students represent Clemson! Click here for more information about the conference.

We are so excited about the Snow Family Challenge, which kicked off in September! The Snow family has generously agreed to match every gift to The Snow Family Outdoor Fitness and Wellness Center up to $1 million.

Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Office of Advocacy and Success, Dr. Kimberly Poole, was selected to participate in the inaugural year of the President's Leadership Institute. Read more here about the President's Leadership Institute.

Football Season has been a huge success for our Tigers so far. We had two great tailgates where many of you joined us. Please see the links below to view pictures from the SC State and NC State tailgates with Student Affairs:

SC STATE/SNOW FAMILY CHALLENGE TAILGATE

NC STATE/CADDEN CHAPEL TAILGATE

Associate Dean of Students and Director of New Student and Family Programs, Jeff Brown, became the first Staff Person of the Game at the Clemson vs. SC State game.

Associate Director for Analytics and Initiatives for the Center for Career and Professional Development and a 2015 graduate of the Ph.D. in Educational Leadership Higher Education program, Dr. Kristin Walker, has been awarded the Richard McKaig Outstanding Doctoral Research Award for her dissertation entitled, "How Sorority Alumnae Remember Acquiring the Skills Necessary to Navigate their Careers: A Narrative Inquiry."

Please join us on Feb. 18, 2016 for the 2017 Night of the Stars Gala! Formal invitations are coming soon. We hope you can join us as we honor all our generous donors to Student Affairs.

The Division of Student Affairs is in the process of reviewing our strategic plan to further align it with ClemsonForward. All of our Student Affairs staff are involved in the reviewing process to ensure each component of our strategic plan conveys the outcomes we want to achieve and how we will work together to get there. Look for more updates soon.

Sincerely,

Almeda R. Jacks, Ph.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs