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COMMEMORATING THE FIRST GRADUATING CLASS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN DECEMBER OF 1807, ALL FIVE MEMBERS OF WHICH WERE FROM NEWBERRY COUNTY, AND RECOGNIZING THE UNIVERSITY'S TWO HUNDRED YEARS AS GATEKEEPER TO EDUCATIONAL AND ECONOMIC SUCCESS FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINIANS.
Whereas, on December 13, 1801, the General Assembly chartered The University of South Carolina as South Carolina College; and
Whereas, that charter provided for governance by its Board of Trustees, land for a campus and funding for operations, the employment of a president and faculty, and recruitment of students; and
Whereas, only six years later, in December of 1807, the first graduating class was recognized with much pomp and circumstance by a proud crowd of citizens including members of the General Assembly and the Governor; and
Whereas, all five of the students who received degrees at that first South Carolina College commencement were residents of Newberry County: John Caldwell, Anderson Crenshaw, Walter Crenshaw, George W. Glenn, and John W. Harper; and
Whereas, in realizing the General Assembly's dream of a statewide institution dedicated to the educational enlightenment and economic prosperity of its citizens, these five graduates distinguished themselves in public service and in their private and professional lives; and
Whereas, more than two hundred years after its founding, The University of South Carolina continues to fulfill its charter -- now on a larger scale, but still faithful to the General Assembly's ambitions for it to improve this State and the lives of its citizens; and
Whereas, on December 17, 2007, The University of South Carolina will honor and recognize its first commencement exercises and the crucial role that education plays in the prosperity of this State. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the Senate of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, commemorate the first graduating class of The University of South Carolina in December of 1807, all five members of which were from Newberry County, and recognize the University's two hundred years as gatekeeper to educational and economic success for hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians.
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