Alumni, family and friends will return to campus this weekend as Wofford College celebrates Homecoming.
Five Terriers will be honored for leadership and service during the annual Alumni Association Awards at 9:30 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 29) at the Burwell Building’s Players’ Corner.
The schedule is packed with events such as the BIPOC brunch, the Alumni Board meeting, the Black Alumni Summit, a Women’s Leadership luncheon, football vs. East Tennessee State, class reunions and the All Alumni party.
Five Terriers will be honored for leadership and service during the annual Alumni Association Awards Saturday (Oct. 29) morning at the Burwell Building’s Players’ Corner:
The Charles H. Gray ’72 Distinguished Service Award is presented to a member of the Wofford College Alumni Association who has distinguished himself or herself through dedicated service and commitment to the college. Two recipients were chosen this year.
Robert D. Mickle Jr. ’85 is co-founder of Paragon Inc. and has enjoyed a diverse and distinguished business career in the areas of housing, development, construction, finance and design. He was appointed to the board of commissioners of the state Housing Finance and Development Authority, where he served as chairman. He starred in basketball at Wofford and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. He also served on Campus Union and was president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Mickle is chair of the Black Alumni Association, a board member of the National Alumni Association and on the President’s Advisory Council.
Vickie Rosalind Muller ’83, the associate director of financial services at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina, is passionate about enhancing the experiences of Wofford College students, especially African-American alumni. She was a founder of the Black Alumni Summit, now in its eighth year. Following her 30th class reunion, she engaged the college’s administration, faculty, staff, students and graduates to seek positive change. Muller was instrumental in raising funds for the Meadors Multicultural House. She is past president of the Wofford College National Alumni Association and is vice chair of the Wofford College Black Alumni Association. She has served on several boards and is actively involved in her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
The Distinguished Citizen Award is presented to a member of the community who has served a distinguished career and has contributed extraordinary service to humanity, reflecting honor upon both the recipient and Wofford College.
The Rev. Tom Brittain ’47 was a first-generation college student who graduated from Wofford in three years. He taught school for a year before he felt called to be a minister. He graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 1951. Later that year, he joined the South Carolina Annual Conference and was ordained an elder in 1953. He served the following appointments during his career: Swansea Charge, St. Andrews Triune, Buford Street, Conway, Trinity (Spartanburg), Myrtle Beach, Charleston District and Epworth Children’s Home. Known as “Big Tom” to his family and church members, Brittain served on the Wofford Board of Trustees for eight years.
The Pride of Wofford Award is presented to a member of the Wofford College Alumni Association who has brought honor and distinction to Wofford College through outstanding professional achievement.
Murrell Smith Jr. ’90 was unanimously elected the 61st speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives on April 28, 2022. He has represented his hometown of Sumter in the state legislature since 2000 and also served as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. After graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law, he entered private practice and served as a part-time assistant public defender. He is a co-founding partner of the Smith Robinson law firm, and was named to the 2022 list of The Best Lawyers in America.
The Rising Star Award is presented to a member of the Wofford College Alumni Association who has demonstrated professional accomplishment and continued growth as an emerging leader in their community.
Vanessa Lauber ’09 is a judicial clerk at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. After graduating from the Harvard School of Law and passing the bar exam in 2020, she worked for a Washington, D.C., law firm for several months. She then returned to Spartanburg, where she served as a judicial clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for about a year. Lauber promotes social justice through litigation and advocacy, focusing on civil rights in the context of new technologies, voting and gender equality.