A Dream Realized With West Center

Lois Rhame West ‘43, honored guests and members of the Winthrop community gathered today at the site of the new Lois Rhame West Health, Physical Education and Wellness Center for a cornerstone unveiling ceremony. West assisted with the unveiling of the cornerstone, which was fashioned from a white marble slab original to Peabody Gymnasium. President Anthony DiGiorgio; Board of Trustees Chair Mary Jean Martin; Council of Student Leaders Chair Rich Fowler; Education Dean Patricia Graham; Health and Physical Education Chair Stevie Chepko; and Vice President for University Advancement Kathryn Holten also participated in the ceremony to honor West.
“A Winthrop quality education must offer students opportunities for engaging in, appreciating and advancing in all aspects of	Lois Rhame West sits in a gift of refurbished seats from the old Peabody Gymnasium. Behind her are physical education majors, Michael Owens, from left, Subira Whipper and Dustin Bybee.
life: the aesthetic, the intellectual, and yes, the physical. We affirm all of those commitments here today,” said DiGiorgio.

The West Center will honor the legacy of Lois Rhame West who graduated with a bachelor of science degree in physical education. A year before she graduated, she married John West, a future governor of South Carolina.   

	“I am honored and humbled for Winthrop’s newest building to bear my name. I hope this environmentally-friendly center will bring out the best in everyone, just as the Winthrop experience has always brought out the best in all of its graduates,” West said. As First Lady in the 1970s, she attained national and international respect and recognition for her work on behalf of the people of the state. A tireless volunteer, she applied her
President Anthony DiGiorgio addresses a cornerstone ceremony crowd of more than 220 people, including former S.C. Gov. Dick Riley and his wife, Tunky.	leadership skills and compassion to many worthy causes over the years, most notably the national Muscular Dystrophy Association,
of which she served as the first woman president. West has remained a strong advocate for Winthrop through the years, most recently having served as co-chair of the university’s first capital campaign, “A Lasting Achievement: The Campaign for Winthrop.”

The West Center will contain a little bit of the building it will replace, Peabody Gymnasium. The marble cornerstone used for today’s ceremony was salvaged from a renovation years ago at Peabody. Board of Trustees member Polly Ford ‘48, who was a longtime chair of the Department of Physical Education, rescued the slab and recently donated it for the cornerstone.

On the cornerstone is inscribed a 1903 quote from founding President D.B. Johnson: “The great aim of our living and striving should be to become better men and women in heart and soul as well as in mind and body.”

Work on the West Center began in January by general contractor DeVere Construction Inc. The $24.9 million center will become the largest building on the main campus at 137,000 square feet.

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