
A 180-year-old private South Carolina university is closing after a $6M fundraising drive fails
Limestone University officials said that after two weeks of furious fundraising and other actions, they collected just a little over $2 million and had no choice but to close its campus in Gaffney and its online programs.
'Our Limestone spirit will endure through the lives of our students and alumni who carry it forward into the world,' said Randall Richardson, chair of Limestone University's trustees. 'Though our doors may close, the impact of Limestone University will live on.'
The university stunned its students, alumni and community when it announced earlier in April without warning that it was in such bad financial shape that without an immediate infusion of $6 million it would have to close.
More than 200 people gave a total of about $2.1 million, but it was not enough. The university said the donations will be returned.
South Carolina lawmakers decided not to step in because Limestone University is a private institution.
Private colleges and universities like Limestone have been closing at a rate of about two per month, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
More colleges around the country have been closing as they cope with steep declines in enrollment, a consequence of both changing demographics and the effects of the pandemic.
Tens of thousands of students suddenly find their college careers in limbo and a number of them never return to school. Limestone University promised to help all its students transfer to other schools.
The closure will also leave several hundred professors and support staff without jobs in Gaffney, a city of about 12,500 people on Interstate 85 between Charlotte. North Carolina, and Spartanburg.
About 50 students gathered outside where trustees met Tuesday night and hugged as they got the email announcing the university was closing.
Daniel Deneen Jr. of Myrtle Beach played football for Limestone and was jarred that he had to change his plans for his education.
'When we found out the school had $30 million in debt, we all wondered how they were going to get out of it. The last two weeks have been very stressful with finals coming up this week.,' Deneen told The Post and Courier.
Limestone University, founded in 1845, will hold its final commencement Saturday.
Limestone isn't the only college in the region to announce it is closing this month.
St. Andrews University about 150 miles away in Laurinburg, North Carolina, will close on Sunday after the spring semester. The school is a branch campus of Webber International University.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
New haul road to Peak District quarry near Wirksworth approved
Planners have granted permission for a new access road to be built to a quarry in the Peak County Council approved a plan by applicant Ben Bennett Jr Ltd, for a new haul road on 0.84 hectares of land east of Grange Mill Quarry, near Wirksworth. The quarry, located off the B5056 just south of the Peak District National Park, produces high-quality limestone used in products including pharmaceuticals, plastics, rubber, glass, and sealants.A spokesperson for the council said the existing haul road was "likely to become increasingly unsafe over time", so the new road would replace that. The proposed road would only be used for haulage operations and a one-metre high stone wall would be erected, with planted hedgerow along the route of an adjacent public bridleway, according to the council. "The creation of a new haul road would allow HGVs to continue to access the south-east extension area of the quarry safely for the purposes of the extraction of high-purity limestone," the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Derbyshire Dales District Council - which raised no objections to the development - said "due regard" should be given to the adjacent right of a public consultation, one person raised concerns about potential dust, noise pollution, and the impact on the enjoyment of public rights of way. However, the council had to consider concerns that without the proposed haul road, a sufficient supply of minerals from the quarry could not be established for its expected authority said there was no clear viable alternative. The council's planning committee approved planning permission for the scheme during a meeting earlier in July, subject to conditions including dust monitoring, noise and usage time restrictions.


Glasgow Times
23-07-2025
- Glasgow Times
Tom Hayes: Winning Supreme Court challenge is an incredible feeling
On Wednesday the Supreme Court quashed the convictions of former Citigroup and UBS trader Tom Hayes. In 2015 he was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud over manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2006 and 2010. Speaking after his convictions were overturned, Mr Hayes, who arrived at court wearing a Kenny Rogers The Gambler t-shirt, said he was not 'bitter' about his experience. He told a press conference: 'I always believed that it would happen. I always had confidence it would happen.' Mr Hayes added: 'This wasn't a gamble for me. My trial judge called me a gambler. 'So I decided today I would wear a T-shirt, a Kenny Rogers Gambler T-shirt.' Mr Hayes added: 'I'm really very grateful to the Supreme Court. We've had a consistent set of decisions from every other tribunal, and they were all to lose, and I got asked at my last appeal how I felt after we lost, and I said: 'Well, ask me when we've won.' 'Because I knew how it feels to lose, and today I'm learning how it feels to have won, and it's an incredible feeling.' Carlo Palombo and Tom Hayes were backed by Sir David Davis (Jordan Pettitt/PA) He added that going to prison, losing all his money, and missing out on five years of his son's life has taught him not to value 'things'. Mr Hayes also said he became a Christian in prison, where he used to have the 'angry test, because the people who were angry, were innocent, because they were so annoyed about and frustrated with the miscarriage of justice they'd gone through'. He said: 'I'm a better person today than when I went into prison. My faith really helps me overcome a lot of the anger to see myself through that sentence. 'I had a lot of stuff. Money enables you to buy more stuff and more stuff on top of that and your goal is to require more stuff again. Mr Hayes was convicted of interest rate benchmark manipulation in 2015 and 2019 respectively (Jordan Pettitt/PA) 'But when all your stuff is taken away from you, and then your liberty is taken away from you, and your dignity gets taken away from you, and your family gets taken away from you and your children get taken away from you, what are you left with, and do you miss the stuff? 'When I got to my open prison, being able to walk on the grass barefoot and see the stars in the sky was such an amazing thing. 'Going on a train, crossing the road, and then when I got released after five-and-a-half years into Covid, walking around Regent's Park in the snow and hearing a lion's roar, those were just amazing things for me, it was so powerful. 'I've really learned what you should value in your life as a result of what's happened to me. I'm not chasing stuff anymore.' Mr Hayes said he did not know what he would do next, but that suddenly the 'vista of freedom and choice' had opened up to him, and he would like to go and live near a large body of water.

Leader Live
23-07-2025
- Leader Live
Tom Hayes: Winning Supreme Court challenge is an incredible feeling
On Wednesday the Supreme Court quashed the convictions of former Citigroup and UBS trader Tom Hayes. In 2015 he was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud over manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2006 and 2010. Speaking after his convictions were overturned, Mr Hayes, who arrived at court wearing a Kenny Rogers The Gambler t-shirt, said he was not 'bitter' about his experience. He told a press conference: 'I always believed that it would happen. I always had confidence it would happen.' Mr Hayes added: 'This wasn't a gamble for me. My trial judge called me a gambler. 'So I decided today I would wear a T-shirt, a Kenny Rogers Gambler T-shirt.' Mr Hayes added: 'I'm really very grateful to the Supreme Court. We've had a consistent set of decisions from every other tribunal, and they were all to lose, and I got asked at my last appeal how I felt after we lost, and I said: 'Well, ask me when we've won.' 'Because I knew how it feels to lose, and today I'm learning how it feels to have won, and it's an incredible feeling.' He added that going to prison, losing all his money, and missing out on five years of his son's life has taught him not to value 'things'. Mr Hayes also said he became a Christian in prison, where he used to have the 'angry test, because the people who were angry, were innocent, because they were so annoyed about and frustrated with the miscarriage of justice they'd gone through'. He said: 'I'm a better person today than when I went into prison. My faith really helps me overcome a lot of the anger to see myself through that sentence. 'I had a lot of stuff. Money enables you to buy more stuff and more stuff on top of that and your goal is to require more stuff again. 'But when all your stuff is taken away from you, and then your liberty is taken away from you, and your dignity gets taken away from you, and your family gets taken away from you and your children get taken away from you, what are you left with, and do you miss the stuff? 'When I got to my open prison, being able to walk on the grass barefoot and see the stars in the sky was such an amazing thing. 'Going on a train, crossing the road, and then when I got released after five-and-a-half years into Covid, walking around Regent's Park in the snow and hearing a lion's roar, those were just amazing things for me, it was so powerful. 'I've really learned what you should value in your life as a result of what's happened to me. I'm not chasing stuff anymore.' Mr Hayes said he did not know what he would do next, but that suddenly the 'vista of freedom and choice' had opened up to him, and he would like to go and live near a large body of water.