Winthrop University president visits Darlington Kiwanis
Darlington High School Key Club members (left to right) Katy Sivule, Damian Porter, Molly Thrower, Laura Mahony, and Winthrop University president Dan Mahony.
Photo by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The Darlington Kiwanis Club welcomed Winthrop University president Dan Mahony as a special guest speaker at their January 19 meeting.
Mahony took the Winthrop posting in March of 2015. Previously, he worked as a sports management professor and academic dean at West Virginia University, University of Cincinnati, University of Louisville, and Kent State University. He has over 20 years experience in collegiate education.
Kiwanis members asked Mahony a number of questions about the university’s current status and future plans. Mahony ran through a number of queries, ranging from student-teacher classroom ratios (about 14 to 1), to strong sports team performance (the Winthrop Eagles men’s basketball team was 14-4 after defeating UNC Asheville that evening), and Winthrop’s efforts to keep tuition affordable through fundraising rather than passing costs along to students.
Mahony said priority goals for the school include strengthening its faculty, growing crucial classroom facilities, keeping pace with cutting edge technology, and increasing diversity among the student body of over 5,000 undergraduates. He noted that while African-American student representation is strong, Winthrop wants to increase the number of international and Latino students to better reflect the world beyond campus.
“We think that will help prepare all of our students for the work environment they’ll be heading into,” said Mahony.
Mahoney said Winthrop also aims to continue developing programs that make the school “distinct, and raise our national profile,” such as courses designed to encourage critical thinking and independent inquiry.
“We want to continually be innovative and develop new programs that will distinguish us from other places,” said Mahony, adding that these initiatives attract sharp students and quality faculty alike.
Members of the Darlington High School Key Club attended the luncheon, and one student – Damian Porter – asked Mahony what, in his opinion, would make Winthrop the right choice for a high school senior preparing for college.
Mahony replied that, in his view, Winthrop University students benefit from remarkably strong connections with their professors and advisors, often resulting in friendships that last long after graduation.
“It’s different that anything I’ve experienced in the seven or eight places I’ve been as a student and a teacher…no other place has had that kind of connection with the faculty, which really helps prepare students for jobs, graduate school, whatever it is that they want to do,” said Mahony.
