Looking back at the Year 2000

Erskine College entered the new millennium by advancing its national academic reputation with the science program leading the way. Biology Professor David Ritland was named 2000 South Carolina Professor of the Year and physics major Brandon Martin was named a Barry Goldwater Scholar.

"We may be small in size at Erskine, but we’re big on commitment to our students and to providing the best educational environment we can for them," Ritland said. "This environment includes not only fine facilities and individually tailored learning programs, but also a tremendous degree of interaction and camaraderie among students and faculty."

Martin, also an E.B. Kennedy Scholar at Erskine, spent his summer doing high-energy physics research at Cornell University. He has written email programs for Erskine students and has been called "one of the best students I have ever taught," by Erskine Physics Professor Dr. Bill Junkin, the 1995 South Carolina Governor's Profeesor of the Year.

While Erskine has been recognized for more than 160 years for outstanding academics, Erskine President Dr. John Carson said the one word that captures Erskine's uniqueness is balance.

The only national Christian liberal arts college in the South, Erskine is the only school located in the South with a national academic ranking from the Carnegie Foundation that is also a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

Balance can be seen at Erskine in its academic successes and success in the arts and athletics.

Erskine athletics was honored by the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC), when it was named winner of the Messick Sportsmanship Award for the fourth consecutive year. The conference also named Erskine soccer player Dhoud Samba CVAC Player of the Year and men's soccer coach Garth Pollonais, a four-time NAIA All-American at Erskine, Coach of the Year.

In the arts, junior David Coleman, who is majoring in piano and organ performance, won first prize in the South Carolina collegiate piano division competition of the Music Teachers National Association in November and is slated to represent the state of South Carolina in January as one of nine contestants from southern states at the Southern Division competition in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

"Excellence in learning, Christian commitment, and sportsmanship are not mere slogans at Erskine–they are realities verified externally by those who know educational quality," Carson said.

Also at Erskine this year, plans are in progress for the renovation of several dormitories, the historic music building Memorial Hall, and the campus signature facility, the Erskine Building, crowned by the famous Erskine twin towers.

Erskine alumni have continued faithful support of their alma mater, with alumni giving at an all-time high. Annual giving surpassed the $10 million mark, and the college's annual fund campaign, the Living Endowment, has set records the past two years, as has the Flying Fleet campaign, the school's athletic fund-raising campaign.

Erskine's endowment has increased substantially in the last year and now stands at approximately $40 million.

Erskine had the fewest campus crimes of any school in the state of South Carolina, according to the latest analysis of crime statistics compiled by the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the FBI. A separate study has ranked Erskine as one of the safest schools in the nation.