DATE: March 07, 2008
CONTACT:
Keith Barber, (864) 656-2877
kbarber@clemson.edu
CONTACT:
Kirby Player, (864) 656-3662
kplayer@clemson.edu
WRITER:
Angela Nixon, (864) 656-0382
anixon@clemson.edu
$500,000 gift helps College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences student services center
CLEMSON – The student services center for the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences (CAFLS) at Clemson University has a new home and a new name, thanks to alumnus William Bookhart and SCANA Corp.
Bookhart, who died in 2005, was a member of SCANA’s board of directors and a farmer. Through its Directors Endowment Fund, SCANA has donated $500,000 to Clemson in Bookhart’s memory. Bookhart had designated that funding through the SCANA Directors Endowment Plan be donated to agricultural programs at Clemson University. His family decided a donation to the student services center would be a fitting way to honor his memory.
“College students need help and guidance, and this center is a place that will take good care of them from the time they are in high school right through to graduation and beyond,” said Bookhart’s wife, Eleanor Faye Bookhart. “They have so many good programs, such as the S.C. Commissioner’s School for Agriculture over the summer, that giving the money to student services seemed like what Bill would have wanted.”
The center, located on the first floor of the Poole Agricultural Center, was dedicated as the William B. Bookhart Jr. Student Services Center Friday, March 7. The center was previously located in Barre Hall, an administrative building, and was moved to Poole Hall to better serve students.
The center serves as a collaborative and comprehensive office supporting the career development and academic success of students in CAFLS. The center provides recruiting, advising, career planning, information about study abroad programs and alumni services for the college.
“We aspire to be a premier student services center among land-grant universities in holistically preparing our students to be society-ready graduates,” said center director Kim Erwin. “This gift allows us to not only accomplish our goals while maintaining our standards and philosophy, but also to honor Mr. Bookhart’s dedication and support to the college, to Clemson and to agriculture.”
Bookhart graduated from Clemson in 1964 with a degree in animal science. He was owner and operator of the 200-year-old Bookhart Farms, which grows cotton, soybeans, peanuts, wheat and corn. His wife and two sons – W.B. Bookhart III and James Hunt Bookhart, both Clemson alumni – continue to operate the farm. He served his hometown of Elloree as a town council member and mayor, and under his leadership Elloree received the GREAT town designation from Gov. Richard Riley. He was the youngest person ever elected to SCANA’s board of directors and at the time of his death was its longest serving member.
As a farmer, Bookhart knew the value of a good education in agriculture, which is why he designated the money for CAFLS, his wife said.
“Clemson University was founded on agricultural education and he wanted to see that continue,” she said.
Headquartered in Columbia, SCANA is a $10 billion, Fortune 500, energy-based holding company. SCANA’s subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation and sale of electricity, as well as in the purchase, sale and transportation of natural gas to wholesale and retail customers in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. South Carolina Electric & Gas, SCANA’s principal subsidiary, serves 26 counties covering approximately 15,000 square miles in South Carolina. It has 620,000 electric customers and almost 297,000 natural gas customers. SCANA subsidiaries, including SCE&G, PSNC Energy and SCANA Energy, provide natural gas services to a total of more than one million customers in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. SCANA also engages in other energy-related businesses and provides fiber-optic communication.