Proud Heritage, Strong Future Campaign

“
TWC is not only a
structural highlight of our city,
but more importantly, it employs
our citizens and prepares minds to
lead local businesses, educate our
youth, pastor our churches, nurse
our ill and protect our streets.
“
Jeff Cunningham, President and CEO of
Athens Federal Community Bank
A CAMPAIGN TO ADVANCE TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLEGE

a letter
from the Co-chairs
As school starts each year, we are reminded of new beginnings. New beginnings are exciting because
they offer hope for the best that’s yet to come. That is why we’re inviting our community to
get to know Tennessee Wesleyan a little better this year. We’ve launched a plan that will not only
transform the college, but also our community. We’re calling it the Proud Heritage, Strong Future
Campaign. The following pages will tell more in detail, but we want to share with you directly
why we’re confident in the future of our community because of the work of Tennessee Wesleyan.
Because TWC is here, $50 to $60 million is brought into this community each year. Could you
imagine what it would mean if enrollment was doubled? We’ll tell you. $100-$130 million changes
the landscape of our local economy. It means businesses grow, new businesses want to come
here, our schools are better, and our community is transformed into a place where people want to
stay and families can afford a quality of life they never imagined.
Doubling enrollment isn’t something we’re just hoping for; it’s something we’re planning for.
Through the leadership of Dr. Knowles, our faculty, staff, and coaches, we’re moving this ship in
the right direction, not just for the college, but for the benefit of everyone who lives here. The
people who helped us determine what we could raise for this campaign never believed we could be
this far in our goals before we even announced our plans to the public, but our progress is proof
of our potential for greatness.
The potential for the Athens community is directly related to the success of Tennessee Wesleyan.
The potential of our businesses is tied to Tennessee Wesleyan—we employ several graduates of the
college, and we can tell you they are some of the brightest people we know. They’re prepared and
talented people who want to make a difference. They embody the spirit of a servant leader, and
those are the kind of people we want on our team, to be our neighbors, and to stay here in this
community.
Tennessee Wesleyan’s potential is tied to the people in this community who want to do their part
for a better future. How many times does a person get the opportunity in their lifetime to transform
a life, to transform a community, to give to a cause that will have lasting impact for generations?
Greatness is waiting. Will you join us?
Your Neighbors,
Shirley S. Woodcock, ‘78
Co-Chair, Proud Heritage, Strong Future Campaign
Executive Vice President, Sweetwater Valley Oil Co.
Allen F. Carter
Co-Chair, Proud Heritage, Strong Future Campaign
Owner, Athens Insurance

CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP
Dr. Burkett Witt '14H
Honorary Chair
Athens, TN
Allen Carter
Co-Chair
Athens, TN
Shirley Woodcock '78
Co-Chair
Athens, TN
Angie Green Griffin '92
Tracy, CA
Dr. Danny Hays '54
Cleveland, TN
Becky Jaquish '66
Athens, TN
C. "Buddy" Liner '58
Athens, TN
Hugh Queener '77
Brentwood, TN
Claire Tucker '75
Brentwood, TN
4
Larry Wallace
Athens, TN
Mintie Willson
Niota, TN
STAFF MEMBERS
Dr. Harley Knowles
President
Randy L. Nelson '93
V.P. for Advancement

Tennessee Wesleyan’s Economic Impact
Executive Director
of McMinn County
Economic Development
Authority and TWC
alumna Kathy Price
There’s several reasons [TWC is important
to Athens]. One, it brings so much
diversity to our community and it helps
in our recruiting to know that diversity
is here. It brings an educated workforce for the professional jobs
that are here. In addition to the student body, it also brings faculty
here that otherwise wouldn’t be here. [Tennessee Wesleyan] provides
a lot of the professional staff to our industry and our industrial base,
and we have a strong partnership with Tennessee Wesleyan. I think
the economic stimulus that the college brings to this community in
itself is tremendous.
I think Tennessee Wesleyan is very much at the forefront of our
economic development progress. A lot of people who have graduated
from here are employed here locally. I think if you look at
our community we are on a growth pattern. That demand and that
need is going to be further needed here in the community, as far as
having a place to go and to gather. I hope to see [the college] grow
and prosper. I hope more people find out about Tennessee Wesleyan
and have the great experience that I had here.
Athens City Mayor
Ann Davis, on the
importance of TWC in
Athens
Since the early days of Tennessee
Wesleyan College, it has served as an
anchor for higher education in our
area. Through the years it has become
much more than that to our community
through a variety of programs and initiatives. TWC produces
quality, well rounded students, many of whom have made Athens
their permanent home, raised their families here, and contributed
in various ways to the community.
TWC enhances the quality of life in Athens and the Colloms
Campus Center will add significantly to those efforts. The need for
meeting space for receptions, conferences, special events, and more
will be met not only for students but for our citizens, businesses,
and industries.
Charles Darwin said, “He is not the strongest of the species that
survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most open to
change.” I applaud the leadership of TWC for their vision and the
effort being made.
McMinn County Mayor John Gentry, on
the importance of TWC in McMinn County
McMinn County is truly fortunate to
be home to a quality provider of higher
learning like Tennessee Wesleyan College.
In addition to the obvious positive
impact the college has on the local
economy, TWC has provided quality
higher education to thousands of Mc-
Minn County citizens since its founding
in 1857. These citizens have utilized the
education provided by TWC to not only
build a better future for their families,
but also for the larger community. Many of our most successful
local professionals in the fields of education, business, law and medicine
are TWC graduates.
TWC produces quality, well-rounded students,
many of whom have made Athens their
permanent home, raised their families here, and
contributed in various ways to the community.

Partner With Us to Impact
Students and Our Community
These are exciting times at Tennessee Wesleyan College. Under the
leadership of President Dr. Harley Knowles the Board of Trustees
adopted a strategic plan that would boldly move the college
forward into the future while building upon our rich history and
tradition of providing an exemplary education to thousands of
students throughout the region and beyond.
In response to this bold plan, the Board of Trustees approved the
launch of a five-year $16 million comprehensive capital campaign
called the Proud Heritage, Strong Future Campaign.
The $16 million goal of the Proud Heritage, Strong Future Campaign
is broken into four main funding goals: facility enhancements,
faculty and instructional support, scholarships, and the
TWC annual fund. Each priority encompasses specific projects
designed to enhance TWC’s campus, community and to help
solidify TWC’s future as a college of choice.
provided
Please take some time to reflect upon the importance of the college
in our community, carefully review our top priorities and then
prayerfully consider how you might partner with the college to
impact the lives of our students and community.
“TWC is important to the community in many
different ways, but for me the greatest impact
is economic. Being a local business owner I
see it firsthand. I hope this is a message the
community understands and realizes how
important it is for everyone living here to support
TWC in any way they can. I deeply believe
TWC is vital to Athens and the surrounding
communities.”
Shirley S. Woodcock, ‘78
Executive Vice President of Sweetwater Valley Oil Co.
making a

A CAMPAIGN TO ADVANCE TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLEGE
renderings as of April 20, 2015
Second Floor Hall
Student Success Center

1 Facility
enhancements
and Colloms
Campus Center
The flagship project of the facility
enhancements priority is a new 30,000
square ft. campus center for the main
Tennessee Wesleyan College campus in
Athens, TN. Located on the corner of
Green and College Streets, the campus
center will house a café and grill, a gaming
lounge, study spaces, a ballroom,
the academic success center, the career
center, and the student life offices.
The building will become the hub for
campus life, providing necessary student
services in one convenient location.
In addition to providing services for
students, faculty and staff, the Colloms
Campus Center will provide benefits,
such as new meeting spaces, to the Athens
community.
COLLOMS CAMPUS CENTER: FIRST FLOOR PLAN
Additional funds will be used for the
modernization and further enhancement
of classrooms and facilities on the
TWC campus. These funds will provide
new furniture, campus technology, and
renovate classrooms and labs across
campus.
There are many naming recognition
opportunities within the Colloms
Campus Center to honor a loved one
or to carry on your family’s legacy for
generations to come. Pledges of support
may be spread over multiple years. Visit
our website at www.twcnet.edu to learn
more.
COLLOMS CAMPUS CENTER: SECOND FLOOR PLAN

Second Floor Ballroom
Game Lounge
Dr. Scott Mashburn
Vice President for Student Life
I’m excited about the campus center and thankful
to TWC alum Judge Carl Colloms for his lead gift
to the campus center project. His gift is going to
be transformational. I’m excited to see how it’s going
to transform our students and give them that
place to hang out, how it will allow the community
to come in and have conferences and workshops,
and to see the camps that it will allow us to
have over the summer. It really creates a situation
where Tennessee Wesleyan becomes the college of
the community.
This building is really going to serve Tennessee
Wesleyan’s faculty, staff, students, and all of our
other constituents and our friends. It’s not just a
student center; it will be that central hub for our
campus to come together as well the community
to be able to utilize our services and resources.
The campus center gives them that place to be: a
place away from the residence hall, a place away
from their home, a place away from the athletic
field or the classroom, just a place to hang out
with one another. A place to cut up and joke, a
place to study, to grab that quick cup of coffee, to
talk with administrators, to talk with faculty, and
just to develop and foster those relationships with
their peers and classmates.

uilding a new campus center,
we are finally going to be able to
give them a place that they can
call home where they can connect
with one another as well as
residential students and campus
faculty and staff, and really have
a place for them.
“We are finally going to be able to
give them a place that they can call
home where they can connect with
one another.”
Kerrie Lynn
Associate Dean of Students
When I first heard about the
campus center, I was really excited.
About 2/3 of our student
population is commuter students,
and they have regularly
indicated they are not as connected
to campus life as some of
our residential students are. By
Dr. Grant Willhite
TWC associate professor of biology
I hope the students
gain in their time
at TWC, through
their interactions
with me and with
other faculty, a
deeper appreciation
for learning.
We are going to be given an
opportunity to really increase
some of our success on campus
programs, invite the community
in for events, and truly show
how TWC stands out in this
community.
I think it’s important to build
the campus center now to help
show students that we understand
there is need for growth
and change and improvement
and we hear them. I can’t tell
you how excited students are for
a new campus center.
I’m looking forward to the
campus center mostly because
I think it is long overdue. Our
students deserve a place to
interact with each other, a place
where they can come as groups
and study, a place where we can
provide facilities for faculty to
meet with students, and where
we can provide the services that
students have come to expect at
a small liberal arts college like
Tennessee Wesleyan College.
Dr. Chris Dover
TWC Chaplain
One of the things that I think
we often forget is that small
groups matter, whether it be a
Bible study or a study group
or an athletic study hall. Small
groups really matter. Our
campus is designed so that you
will have classrooms with no
more than 40 people. One of
the things that we don’t have
a lot of is small group meeting
spaces. The campus center
will provide lots of those small
group meeting spaces, so that
you can carry on those conversations
and not worry about
being interrupted or someone
else needing the space. I really
think that opportunity to have
that small group meeting space
is really important.
I’m really hoping that the new
center will provide community
for both commuters and residents.
It’s not intentional that
there’s a separation. We’re all in
classes together, but oftentimes,
the community of residents is
seen in the cafeteria and the
community of commuters is
seen in the SAC, and I think
what this will offer is an opportunity
to be in community
together so you don’t have that
separation between residents
and commuters.

2 Scholarships
Everyday at Tennessee Wesleyan College, young men
and women are pursuing their dreams of a college education.
Nothing is more important to the college than the success
of our students. Since its founding in 1857, Tennessee
Wesleyan has been committed to providing academic
excellence to undergraduate and graduate students from
the Appalachian Region, the United States, and around
the world.
This commitment continues today with emphasis on
providing the next generation of students the intellectual
resources they will need to compete in a fastpaced
global society and the financial resources needed
to achieve their educational goals. For many of our
students, finances can become the sole factor in determining
whether they will attend college and pursue an
advanced degree.
In 2014-15 academic year, Tennessee Wesleyan provided
more than $9.4 million in institutional scholarship aid
to keep the cost of tuition within reach for our students
and their families. Currently, endowed scholarship
earnings and annual scholarship gifts fund less than five
percent of this necessary aid for our students.
Your partnership investment, through the establishment
of endowed and annual scholarship funds, will help ensure
the dreams of a college education are within reach
of our students.
Joseph Horton, class of 2016
I understand where I currently am now is
where I need to be. It’s where I belong. This
is my stepping stone, and this is exactly
where I need to be at the exact moment,
and this is the first time I can honestly say
that I’ve had that feeling: that I’m exactly
where I need to be, exactly when I need to
be there. Now I finally have my own wings
and my own legs to take me where I need
to be to prosper.
The reason I am where I am and the reason
I feel so confident is because of the people
that have helped me get here. I want to
help other young people find themselves
and understand that they have the potential
to be whatever they want to be.

3
Faculty and
instructional support
In each classroom at Tennessee Wesleyan,
students are being offered a call
to action to pursue something greater
than themselves, to lead through
innovation, and impact their communities.
Through the Proud Heritage,
Strong Future Campaign, the college
offers the same call to our alumni and
friends.
Faculty and instructional support
allows Tennessee Wesleyan to continue
its long tradition of providing an
excellent education to each and every
student.
With early gifts, TWC has had the
opportunity to introduce new academic
programs, expand our campus,
establish new projects, and more. The
college now offers two graduate programs:
an online MBA and the Master
of Science in Curriculum Leadership.
This fall TWC is offering an undergraduate
major in Communication
Studies, pending SACSOC approval.
In December, TWC purchased the
old post office building in downtown
Athens. This historic building will
become the home of our visual arts
and communication studies program.
It will also house a public art gallery
displaying various works by local and
student artist.
Continued support will allow the
college to establish endowed chairs and
professorships, enhance science labs,
expand library resources, complete renovations
in the old post office building
and more.

4
TWC
Annual Fund
At the heart of all we do are our students. Gifts made to the
Annual Fund are put to work immediately to advance the
mission of the college which is to provide the highest quality
transformational experience that gets students ready for the
world.
The Tennessee Wesleyan Annual Fund provides ongoing
operational support for the college. The Annual Fund is made
up of both restricted and unrestricted gifts that can be used to
benefit TWC students through the funding of scholarships,
new computer and laboratory equipment, course development,
student research projects, summer internship stipends, classroom
enhancements, athletic support, and more.
Gifts to the TWC Annual Fund can be designated for a specific
use, and a gift can be split between multiple areas. Gifts can
also be designated as general support, meaning the college will
apply the donation to the areas of greatest need.

FACILITY ENHANCEMENTS & COLLOMS CAMPUS CENTER
SCHOLARSHIPS
FACULTY & INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT
TWC ANNUAL FUND
$7,500,000
$4,000,000
$2,000,000
$2,500,000
Total: $16,000,000

A CAMPAIGN TO ADVANCE TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLEGE
PARTNER WITH TENNESSEE WESLEYAN TO IMPACT
STUDENTS AND OUR COMMUNITY.
We invite you to prayerfully consider how you might support the Proud Heritage, Strong Future Campaign. As a 501 (c)(3)
non-profit organization, we rely on monetary gifts to continue providing students with a high quality educational experience.
All gifts made to Tennessee Wesleyan during the Proud Heritage, Strong Future Campaign count towards the overall $16
million campaign goal. Gifts can be made in one payment or over several years.
We’re encouraging alumni and friends of the college to commit through a three part call to action:
Connect personally. Schedule a
time to visit with us. We would be
honored to explore with you how
you can best support the college.
In addition, help us connect with
others who can enhance the college
and help us achieve our campaign
goals.
If you have the means, please
consider a gift in the same measure
of how your life and our community
have been impacted by TWC. We
welcome matching gifts, gifts of stock
or other securities, real estate, and
other planned gifts.
A gift can be made:
1. Online at www.twcnet.edu
2. By Mail- Gifts and pledges may
be sent to: Office of Institutional
Advancement
Tennessee Wesleyan College
204 E. College Street,
Athens, TN 37303
Be ambassadors for our
campaign. Be an advocate for
the college. Encourage young
people to consider TWC as
their college of choice.
With your prayers and financial support, Tennessee Wesleyan will continue to impact students and our
community for the next 158 years.
For additional information
contact the Office of Advancement at (423) 746-5330 or email advancement@twcnet.edu.

“
“
The Campus Center will allow us to further
build this community of learners.
Grant Willhite, TWC associate professor of biology