DATE: April 02, 2007

CONTACT: Katherine Davis, (803) 331-9454
katherd@gmail.com

WRITER: Angela Nixon, (864) 656-0382
angela.nixon@clemsonews.clemson.edu

Founder’s day to celebrate ‘renaissance man’

CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Founder’s Day, which marks the death of the school’s founder Thomas Green Clemson, will focus on celebrating the many aspects of his life for the bicentennial anniversary of his birth this year.

Tiger Brotherhood service fraternity will hold a Founder’s Day program Monday, April 9, at 5:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Pendleton, where Clemson is buried. Founder’s Day 19th-century-style church services have been held there since 1976. In honor of the bicentennial, this year’s service will celebrate Clemson’s life as a “renaissance man,” and will pay tribute to his artistic accomplishments.

Students and faculty will read Clemson’s poetry, perform his music and speak about his art. Clemson President James F. Barker will conclude the service with a traditional wreath-laying at the graves of Clemson and his wife, Anna Calhoun Clemson.

Founder’s Day program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served following the one-hour service.

For more information about Thomas Green Clemson and the bicentennial celebration, visit www.clemson.edu/tgc200.