2025 has been good to us!
We’re approaching the last event of the year – Commencement – and I’m looking forward to celebrating our newest graduates on Saturday. I hope you can join me at 11 a.m. at the Coliseum to welcome them into our alumni ranks. It’s a great way to cap off such a fantastic semester and year.
Before we officially close out 2025 I’d like to share with you a brief recap of some of the highlights that Winthrop has experienced this year. Consider the following:
In the first half of the year we received a $6 million teacher retention grant and a $1.5 million gift from Founders Federal Credit Union for baseball facility upgrades; announced new, market-driven academic programs, including our first doctoral program; launched the Student-Made collaboration with the Rock Hill Economic Development Corporation; reopened our beloved Byrnes Auditorium; welcomed home actress Shanola Hampton ’98 for events surrounding her spring Commencement address; signed new transfer partnerships; and celebrated our cornhole team’s first national titles as well as several esports titles.
This semester, we announced one of our most successful fiscal years of fundraising with nearly $8 million raised; successfully onboarded our new dining services partner, Chartwells; dove into phase 2 of our strategic plan, Winthrop: United in Excellence; began a new tradition, “Lighting the Winthrop Way,” at Convocation in Byrnes; with the Winthrop Foundation’s support, dedicated and opened the J. Robert Bazemore Design Center at The Thread; recorded our highest enrollment numbers since 2019; exceeded our goal of 200 trained faculty on the Association of College and University Educators' (ACUE) Career Concentration training as part of our QEP; offered the “Let Your Voice Be Heard” Employee Engagement Survey; hosted a fantastic Family Day and an engaging Homecoming and Reunion weekend; played – and won – the first nationally televised basketball game in the country; secured our part of the Big South Conference volleyball regular season title; continued work to ensure our long-term financial resilience; held a ribbon-cutting to announce our new partnership with A.C.E.S. Flight School for our new aviation degree that takes flight next fall; and began the transition to a new partner, SSC, for our facilities operations, custodial and grounds services.
These achievements – and many others made possible by our outstanding faculty, staff and students – remind me of just how special the Winthrop family is…our collective efforts and love for this place yield some pretty cool results. Please know that I am always grateful for the good work that happens here each and every day, and I never take for granted the privilege of leading Winthrop into a very bright future.
Now let’s gear up for an even more exciting 2026! Please enjoy a restful winter break and let’s greet the New Year refreshed and renewed, ready to take on a wonderful spring semester. Happy Holidays!
Edward
Edward A. Serna
President
