ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - The Winthrop University Board of Trustees voted Dec. 1 to establish the Morgan-Holcombe Alumni Center in the Stewart House on Eden Terrace.
For the past few years, the university worked to renovate Joynes Hall for the center. Board members heard there were several compelling reasons for this change in location, including the recent procurement failure for the Joynes Hall renovation which gave the team an opportunity to reconsider options.
President Edward Serna said that establishing the Morgan-Holcombe Alumni Center in the Stewart House will return to a concept the donors supported some years ago and have recently endorsed once again. “Stewart House is a visible, historic, major campus asset for Winthrop, and it provides easier access for all alumni and donors, and offers additional naming opportunities. Opening the center also will honor a gift obligation to alumna and donor Betty Morgan Holcombe ’56 and her husband Milton,” Serna explained in a campus-wide e-mail on Dec. 5.
The Alumni Association and other advancement offices will move from Tillman Hall into the space.
In other action, the board voted:
*To proceed with recent bids for fire alarm replacement projects for Thurmond Building and McBryde Hall. State funds were designated for this purpose and already have made possible the similar work in Johnson Hall that is wrapping up. The next building to have its fire alarm system replaced will be Bancroft Hall, which is currently in the later phases of design.
*To give permission to the Winthrop administration to proceed with negotiations with two bidders, via the State Real Property Division, for approximately 8,000 square feet of office space to house the growing esports team. Two bids were received from local property owners, and those bids need to be further refined so that equitable comparison between the two spaces can be made.
*To approve 63 course fee changes for the Spring 2023 semester. Many of these were to reflect increasing costs for software, equipment or supplies used in courses due to inflation. Others were fees applied to new courses, and in a few cases, fees were lowered due to procurement of lower cost supplies.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
