Dear Clemson:
In the months since we announced our Labor Day football game with Florida State University, “One Clemson” has evolved from a philosophy to our standard operating procedure. Hosting a sell-out game on a Monday night without disrupting the University’s academic focus and our path to the Top 20 took the combined efforts of hundreds of dedicated people from throughout campus and the community.
This dedication and thoughtful planning will allow us to showcase Clemson to a primetime television audience and to welcome more than 80,000 fans to campus for our special version of Monday Night Football. Thousands more will join us for a parade, two concerts, three soccer games and a pep rally that will surround this marquee event.
To make this weekend of activities possible, Clemson chose to celebrate Labor Day as a University holiday. Offices will be closed and classes will not be held; however, Clemson did not cancel classes. After discussions with faculty and students, we determined that shifting one day of the students’ two-day Fall Break to Labor Day would allow us to accommodate the game without disrupting the academic schedule. The one-day Fall Break for non-teaching personnel was also moved to Sept. 3. I appreciate your flexibility and acceptance of this decision.
Another decision we made was to rally all available forces to restore the campus environment to its usual first-rate condition by Tuesday morning’s classes. The athletic department and facilities staff, with ample help from housing, student volunteers and Clemson’s Solid Green Committee, will ensure this is done.
We want to make Clemson’s Game Day Experience the best in America for our campus guests and ourselves. One quality contributing to that outcome is the way we treat people – visitors and each other.
When greeted with “Directions and Donuts” on the first day of class this year, a new student offered this assessment, “This is a nice place with really nice people.” Let’s send all our visitors from Florida State home with that same feeling.
If we show good sportsmanship on and off the playing field … If we encourage all tailgating fans to stash their trash and recycle their bottles and cans … If we support the idea of One Clemson and put it into practice, the results will help reinforce what I know to be true: Clemson is a remarkable place with an even brighter future ahead.
Sincerely,
James F. Barker, FAIA
President