SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A talk by former N.Y. Gov. George Pataki and several holiday events highlight the Wofford College calendar for December.

These events are open to the public and are free of charge unless otherwise noted. Please check the online calendar at calendar.wofford.edu for frequent updates. For athletic events, please go to athletics.wofford.edu.

For more information, contact Laura Corbin at WoffordNews@Wofford.edu or 864-596-4180.

Wofford students will be in final exams the week of Dec. 8 through 12, with the holiday break beginning immediately afterward on Dec. 12.

Wofford administrative offices will be closed Wednesday, Dec. 24, through Thursday, Jan. 1.

Wofford’s January Interim term begins on Monday, Jan. 5.

Monday, Dec. 1
7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Hipp Lecture Series on International Affairs and National Security
Speaker: Former N.Y. Gov. George Pataki
Former N.Y. Gov. George Pataki will speak on “The Challenge of Leadership” as part of the Hipp Lecture Series on International Affairs and National Security. He was governor of New York during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has become an expert on the rise of terrorism, energy security and the unfolding unrest in Eastern Europe.


Tuesday, Dec. 2
7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Candlelight Carols and Winter Lighting
Candlelight Carols will be held in Leonard Auditorium, preceding the Winter Lighting in front of Main Building.

Thursday, Dec. 4
3-9 p.m., Morgan Square, downtown Spartanburg
Skating on the Square College Night
Students can take a break from studying and go ice skating. A student ID will get half off the admission price.

Saturday, Dec. 6
10 a.m.-noon, front of Main Building
Jingle Bell Jog
Jingle Bell Jog, a 5k and 1-mile fun run, will benefit the Amanda Riley Foundation. The race begins at 10 a.m. in front of Main Building and will wind around Wofford’s campus. Food and drinks will be provided after the race. There will be an award for the best holiday costume.

Saturday, Dec. 6
7-8:30 p.m., Twichell Auditorium, Converse College
Wofford Singers with Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Wofford Singers will sing Christmas Section choruses from Handel’s “Messiah” with the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Tickets are $30, $20 and $15 and may be purchased through the Twichell Auditorium Box Office. For more information, contact Gary McCraw at 864-597-4597 or Christi Sellars at 864-597-4604.

GALLERY EXHIBITIONS:

Through Saturday, Jan. 3
Sandor Teszler Library Gallery
Haiku: A Collaborative Exhibition, Photographs by Peter Schmunk and Poetry by Deno Trakas
Haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry is characterized by a strict and economical form of three phrases consisting of five, seven and five syllables. In this exhibition, haiku are paired with photographic images largely abstract in nature. The photographs themselves may be seen as a kind of visual haiku in their close focus on a particular pattern or motif. The relationship between poem and image in this exhibition is like the juxtaposition of ideas that occurs within haiku. One adds resonance and depth to the other. Their combination may be variously mysterious, startling, illuminating or bewildering. Dr. Peter L. Schmunk is the Mr. and Mrs. T.R. Garrison Professor of the Humanities and teaches in the Department of Art and Art History, and Dr. Deno P. Trakas is the Hoy Professor of Literature and teaches in the Department of English.


Through Friday, Dec. 5
Martha Cloud Chapman Gallery, Campus Life Building
Common Threads: Sarah Baldwin, 2014 winner of the Thomas Daniel Whetsell Memorial Fellowship for the Visual Arts
Dr. William O. Whetsell established a fellowship in memory of his brother, Dan Whetsell, to enable a Wofford student to study some aspect of the visual arts, with the summer’s study leading to an exhibition on the campus during the next school year. The 2014 Whetsell Fellow, Sarah Baldwin, spent the summer working with Nancy Corbin exploring and developing her interest in fashion and art. “Common Threads” combines found fabrics and pieces of her own clothes to recreate and allude to various works of fine art.