Furman University – Furman, South Carolina

Furman University, founded in 1826, is one of our state’s oldest colleges. The school was named after Richard Furman, a prominent Baptist minister in Charleston, who was responsible for the initial groundwork and establishment of the college.

The university has had three different homes in South Carolina, its first being in Edgefield where it was founded as an academy and theological institute. In 1850, it became a university and moved its campus to Greenville. Furman’s theological institute broke away from the academy in 1858 and became the Southern Baptist Seminary, which is now located in Kentucky. Furman University merged with the Woman’s College of Furman University in 1961, and moved to a larger campus north of Greenville.

Furman severed its formal ties with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and became an independent university in 1992. Today, Furman offers a wide variety of majors, but it has always been a liberal arts college first and foremost.

This proud university has produced some of our most successful American citizens including two governors, two US Congressmen, 17 Truman Scholars, six Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel Laureate, and a Pulitzer Prize winner!

Furman University’s mascot is a knight on a horse. The athletic teams are called the Paladins, which is defined as a “paragon of chivalry; a heroic champion; a strong supporter or defender of a cause.” The nickname was first used by a Greenville sportswriter in the 1930s who used the word “paladin” to describe Furman’s basketball team. The student body voted in 1961 to make the nickname official.

Calvin Kelley, Sr of Mauldin took this picture late at night in June 2009. He says, “This tower has a story behind it that was recently told to me by my dentist. The story is, if you kiss your girl in the tower, she will become your bride.”

We have even received stories that have backed up this local legend!

Don Lloyd from Marion County remembers spending many nights strolling the Furman campus with his future wife during their high school years in Greenville. He writes: “The lake and bell tower was (and probably stillis) the best date spot in Greenville. The lake is incredibly beautiful and always seemed to impress a date. Of course, no visit would be complete without an excursion to the tower. I suppose that my attempts to be romantic were not the real reason she married me. I now know it was the power of the tower.”

Furman alumnae Laura Godfrey says that “in the spring of 2007, my senior year at Furman University, my boyfriend Mike kissed me in the belltower. I am so happy to tell you that we are getting married next summer in Furman’s Daniel Chapel. I guess the story is true!”

If you have a personal experience to back this local legend up, please write us and let us know!

See more pictures by Calvin Kelley.

See another beautiful photo of the Furman Bell Tower.