Bill Clinton on my Alma Mater

Bill Clinton on my Alma Mater April 14, 2014

Last week President Bill Clinton spoke in Greenville, South Carolina at the Peace Center downtown.  During his speech where he spoke on a variety of topics he said the following about my Alma Mater, Furman University, located just north of Greenville:

“You could brand Furman if you will … as a place where problems are solved, potential is unleashed,” Clinton said. “People don’t care about politics. They care about the purpose of developing the human potential” in South Carolina and beyond.

President Clinton hit the nail on the head.

After attending Furman for two years, the university unleashed my potential to the extent that I was ready to take the next step in my life.  At the end of my sophomore year I was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Savannah and transferred to Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio to begin studying philosophy.

I believe that in two years Furman did in my life what it usually does for its students in four.

My professors pushed me and challenged me to reach my human potential.  The challenges were not only academic, but they challenged my inmost convictions as a human person.  They instilled in me a desire to engage the world, to give of myself in service to others, and to think critically.  A history professor during my sophomore year stated that if we left Furman the same way we entered it, the university would have failed us.  This professor would be proud to know that I left Furman a very different person from when I arrived.

Furman challenged my academic abilities, my leadership skills, my religious views and my political views, yet through the challenge came clarity and strength.

I am grateful to the many people I met at Furman who helped me find my life’s direction and vocation.  These are relationships and friendships I will treasure forever.

Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.

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