From These Roots

Generations of students have enjoyed various student centers throughout the school’s history. Affectionately called “The Stud”, the student centers have provided a place for students to fellowship, play, eat, and study. The first student center at North Greenville was in a house that had once belonged to Benjamin F. Neves, one of the North Greenville founders. The house sat on the corner of Chinquapin and Tigerville Road across from where Tigerville Baptist Church is today.  The house was purchased from Rev. Bill Billingsley by North Greenville in the summer of 1952 and offered to the Baptist Student Union (B.S.U.) to use as a student center by Dr. M.C. Donnan, the school president. Dr. W.C. Lamm, the B.S.U faculty advisor came together with the students that fall to clean, paint, furnish, and make repairs to their new space. The grand opening of the B.S.U. Student Center was held on February 14, 1953. The building included a kitchen, a dining and game room, and a council and prayer room. A library was also added later.

                The B.S.U. Student Center stayed in the old Neves house until March 5, 1956, when the student center was relocated to the basement of the old auditorium. The old auditorium was located between the Donnan Administration Building and Neves Hall. The new basement student center included a ping pong table, a lounge area with a TV, the B.S.U. library, and a canteen. The old Neves house was torn down shortly after due to the high costs it would take to make repairs. The wood from the house was used to build sheds at the athletic fields and lake.

                When Turner Auditorium was completed in 1958, the student center took over the old auditorium space on the main floor. The old auditorium would remain the student center until 1965 when the construction of a new student center was approved. The architect for the new building was M.C. McGarrity, Jr. and the contractor was Robert G. Sherman. President Emeritus Dr. M.C. Donnan attended the groundbreaking in the spring of 1965. Construction was set to be completed by the fall semester of that year. The student response to the new building was mixed. Joe Nesbitt told The Skyliner, “I do not think a new Student Center will affect the social life or the activity of the students unless they withdraw some of the restrictions (study, signing out) from the girls and put a piccolo and some more games of activity such as carroms and miniature bowling.” In contrast, student Judy Guerry stated, “I think it will be a great asset for we need a Student Center in good condition and a place to go for students on campus for weekends.”

                The new student center was opened for use on October 1, 1965. The first floor had a Cafe, school store, post office, lockers for day students, a study lounge, and two offices for members of the administration including Dean Dewey Calvert. The Café, later called The Mountie Grill, served hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, and a soda fountain. It also included indoor and outdoor seating. The study lounge provided students with couches, tables, and chairs. The lower floor included a quiet game room, an active game room, and a conference room. The quiet game room had tables for Chess and board games. The active game room had ping pong and billiard tables. The conference room provided space for organizational meetings and film shows. On this floor, there were offices for The Skyliner and The Aurora and a dark room.

                Despite rainy conditions, the dedication was held on January 5, 1966. The new building was named “Foster Student Center” in honor of Lida Cecil Foster. Mrs. Foster and her husband, A.J. Foster, grew up poor and met while attending Carson Newman College. They married just before moving to Louisville, Kentucky where Mr. Foster attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Mrs. Foster attended the WMU Training School. Once their education was complete, the couple moved to South Carolina where Mr. Foster served as a pastor and later as the manager of the Baptist Bookstore in Columbia. Mrs. Foster served as a field worker for the Sunday School Department of the S.C. Baptist Convention for 24 years. The couple never made much money, but they lived very frugally. Mrs. Foster lived off 10% of her salary and gave the other 90% to the Lord. She never considered herself financially able to own a television or a car. The couple lived in a modest home that Mrs. Foster gave away shortly before her death. However, through the years, Mr. Foster made some modest investments that proved fruitful. These investments and their frugal living enabled the couple to give away roughly one-half million dollars to Southern Baptist causes including $85,000 to North Greenville during Mrs. Foster’s lifetime and another $32,128.03 from her estate. Several of the cottages for married students were funded by the Fosters and Foster Circle was named in honor of the couple. Mrs. Foster was able to attend the dedication and participated in the plaque unveiling with student body president Stan Gainey.  Inside the Foster Student Center, a second plaque was unveiled that day. This plaque memorialized the Dean’s office in honor of V.C. Lyda and his wife as a gift from their children.

                Various changes happened in the Foster Student Center over the years. In the late 1960s, both the Admissions and Alumni offices were in Foster. The idea was that it was the student building from start to finish. These offices relocated to White Hall in 1971 after White Hall was no longer needed for dorm space. In 1973, the post office and campus store were moved out of Foster and into the middle floor of Neves Hall. At this time, the Foster Student Center housed the Office of Student Services including the campus chaplain and the Counseling Center.

                Small changes to the Foster Student Center continued throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. In 1990, a movie theater area was created on the bottom floor with a large-screen TV and chairs. A TV was also added upstairs to provide students with entertainment while they ate at the Mountie Grill. More entertainment upgrades were completed in 1997 when a stereo system was installed throughout the building for music and upgrades were made to the movie theater room including surround sound and curtains to darken the room. The theater space was converted again in 1999 and named “The Fall Out Shelter”. The new lounge included couches, a TV, chairs, and a VCR. With the selection of a new mascot came changes to the grill. The name was changed to “Crusader Grill” in 2001 and updates were made to the theme and menu. In 2004, the Fall Out Shelter was divided to make room for a campus television station.

                Foster Student Center served as “The Stud” until 2005. That year, the new Tingle Student Center opened on the other side of campus. The Tingle Student Center was located on the lower floor of a new building while the Todd Dining Hall was located upstairs. Tingle included space for a larger campus post office named the Helen R. Wood Post Office and a bookstore named the Ward Family Bookstore. The ‘63-‘64 Grill opened in the new Stud with more options, including grab-and-go items. There was also a large seating area with tables, a small stage area, and a game room. Also included in Tingle were the George Bomar Mass Communication Department, and the Neb Cline Office Suite for Campus Ministry and Student Services Departments, and the Patt McCaskill Fero Music and Conference Room.

                Foster was no longer needed as a student center so a new purpose was put in place for the building. The name was changed to the Foster Education Center and the building became the new home for the Education Department of North Greenville. Classrooms and faculty offices are now housed in Foster and hundreds of teachers are trained there to educate future generations.

                Since its opening in 2005, Tingle Student Center has also undergone changes. In 2018, the ’63-’64 Grill was closed and in its place, a Chick-fil-A was opened. A few years later, the bookstore and post office were moved from Tingle to the Wood Store building. The space where the bookstore once was became The 1892 Place in 2022. The 1892 Place includes a coffee bar, drinks, snacks, and a seating area.