Limestone University’s closure is imminent unless we fight to save it | Opinion
As I stood under the lights Wednesday night, April 30, after the final whistle indicated the Limestone Saints men’s lacrosse team might have just played its last-ever game on campus, I could not help but wonder how we as a university community got to this point.
The last time the No. 2 nationally ranked squad faced Wingate, the Saints beat the Bulldogs 18-11, one of 15 wins in a stellar season. But Wednesday was a different day in many ways.
That day, the women’s lacrosse team advanced to the South Atlantic Conference championship game, but Wingate prevented the men’s team from reaching its conference final. Far worse, Limestone’s board of trustees had announced the night before that its efforts to save Limestone had been futile. After 180 years, the school will close.
Staff and faculty were told to clean out their offices and locked out of their emails. The last commencement ceremony was Saturday. The rumor mill is churning, the messages suggesting to “follow the money.”
The most recent Form 990 Limestone filed with the Internal Revenue Service tells a bleak story: years of unfettered growth led to a deficit of over $12 million in 2023, a year when the Office of Advancement brought in a meager $3.9 million in contributions. The math does not math.
Alumni were approached last spring by a member of the board of trustees who described the financial woes and asked for support. Despite glimmers of hope, nothing came to fruition, and President Nathan Copeland didn’t do enough to fulfill his duties as president of the university.
The administration failed in its role of running the school as the athletic department continued to recruit student athletes with hopes of playing for conference and national titles. Now, both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams are in their respective NCAA tournaments — the women play Thursday, the men Saturday — all while grappling with an age-old question: What’s next?
One finance staff person is one of a few still working at the university, tasked with answering difficult questions from students and parents about refunds and transcripts. President Copeland is nowhere to be found. In fact, when the board made its final decision late on Tuesday night to cease operations and sell the campus, not one trustee addressed a group of students waiting outside for answers. And President Copeland? He chose the coward’s move — a back exit.
As players prepare for what could be the last time anyone wears their uniforms, they are focused on winning the NCAA Division II national tournament. But then what?
The women’s team’s coach joked that with the win, he had secured health insurance for May, a weird “bonus.” Parents at Wednesday’s games cheered on the Saints while wiping away tears.
Limestone is a legacy school — multiple generations and siblings have walked the same paths on this campus. Even now, alumni are working to save Limestone from a fate that has afflicted too many small, private liberal arts colleges.
Limestone began as the first women’s college in South Carolina in 1845, and remains the third oldest college in the state. How is it that after 180 years of revenue generated in Gaffney for Cherokee County, no one is rushing to its aid?
A mere 36 hours after the trustees announced Limestone’s closure, the local school board voted unanimously to work to purchase at least some of the 125 acres Limestone sits on, which begs the question: Is this simply an opportunistic coincidence or a plan that’s been in the works for months?
A new housing development is promising to bring 2,000 families to the county, and all those children will need places to be educated. But that plan will not make up for a $150 million annual economic impact the county will lose due to Limestone shutting its doors…unless there is something deeper in the works that has yet to be discovered.
Fortunately, the Saints will still compete in two national lacrosse tournaments. The men will hopefully bring home their sixth national title as the women go for their first.
As they play, even their meals are in question as the dining staff was fired along with all other university employees.
Limestone needs your help. Please join the Saving Limestone Facebook group to learn how your time, talent or treasure can keep the doors open so future generations can continue to call themselves Limestone Saints.
Margaret Mead said that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Saving Limestone may not save the world as we know it, but it’s the only world current students know.