Office of Students Affairs: Vice President Walter Thompson Cox Records
Collection
Identifier: Series-0105
These records are from the office of Walter Thompson Cox, Vice President for Student Affairs at Clemson University 1955-1985. They contain a variety of records which have been arranged according to the following subjects: athletics, buildings/land use at Clemson University, correspondence, daybooks, legal, nominations, remarks, reports, student affairs, ticket office returns, and photographs. It must be noted that many of these files were transferred from the offices of Enoch Walter Sikes and Robert Franklin Poole. Several files, specifically legal, continue into Cox's time as President of Clemson University. The records span the time period 1929-1986.
The athletics related records include minutes and financial statements from the Athletics Council; bowl game miscellanea, including ticket stubs; contract information regarding football coaches Josh Cody and Danny Ford; correspondence to Enoch Walter Sikes, Robert Franklin Poole, Robert Cook Edwards, and R. W. (Bobby) Robinson which reflect fan and alumni thoughts and concerns about the athletics program; general correspondence files include items related to television and broadcasting agreements as well as the annual Clemson vs. South Carolina football game which was held at the Fairgrounds in Columbia, SC; material related to the NCAA investigation of the football program in the early 1980s; and records concerning the Southern Conference circa 1930-1953.
Of note in the buildings/land use subject files are reports regarding finance of general construction projects at Clemson circa 1935-1955, as well as additions to Memorial Stadium from the 1950s through the early 1980s.
Correspondence and daybooks covering the years 1954-1986 follow day-to-day events during Walter Thompson Cox's time as Dean of Students while at Clemson University.
There are several files concerning legal issues. Access to the material has been restricted because it involves Clemson personnel and students. For more information regarding these files, researchers should see the detailed description in the finding aid.
The reports files include annual reports to the president from the Office of Public Relations and Alumni Affairs at Clemson, as well as a report from the State Board of Health of South Carolina which provides insight regarding facilities ratings and operations at Clemson College circa 1930.
Walter Thompson Cox was for a time a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is an accreditation committee. Several reports from this group have been filed within this collection. They reflect everyday operations of several area institutes in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
A set of files dedicated to student affairs at Clemson offers insight into various issues regarding student life at the institution from the 1930s through the early 1980s including fraternities, student parking, and protest actions.
Files from the ticket office at Clemson reflect distribution of tickets to South Carolina political figures, 1962-1975; financial statements from the concert series at Clemson, 1940-1955); and football game returns, 1957-1982.
Access to certain files is restricted. Restricted are those files dealing with students and personnel. The restrictions are provided for in the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, S.C. Code Ann. §30-4-40 (a) (2) and §30-4-40 (a) (4).
Walter Thompson Cox was born on September 19, 1918 in Belton, South Carolina, the son of Walter T. and Grace Campbell Cox. He entered Clemson College in the fall of 1935, graduating with a degree in General Science in 1939. Returning in 1940 during a year of post graduate study, Cox anchored the offensive line while playing for the football team. The season was a success, as Clemson defeated Boston College 6-3 in the Cotton Bowl. It was the Tigers' first post-season appearance.
After serving in the United States Army during the years 1942-1943, Cox returned to Clemson. During the 1940s he served in a variety of athletic positions including assistant football coach, ticket manager, baseball coach, and IPTAY promoter. In 1951, he assumed dual responsibilities as Director of Public Relations and Alumni Affairs as well as assistant to President Robert F. Poole. In 1955 Cox was named Dean of Students (later Vice President for Student Affairs), a position at which he served until 1985. At the request of the Board of Trustees, he left the student affairs post in July 1985 to become Clemson's tenth president. He was the third Clemson graduate to assume the school's presidency, serving until Max Lennon took the position in March 1986. Cox officially retired in 1987, though he continued to be involved in development activities on behalf of Clemson University until his death in 2006.
After World War II, attendance at Clemson began to steadily decline. It became clear that in order for the institution to remain viable and effective, changes in Clemson's administrative structure were needed. In 1954, the New York consulting firm known as Cresap, McCormick, and Paget were brought in to conduct a comprehensive and objective study of Clemson's policies, procedures, and governance. In their five-volume report published in 1955, it was suggested that Clemson's administrative structure should be reorganized, four-year compulsory military service be should be dropped, and women should be admitted. It was as part of the administrative reorganization that the Office of Student Affairs was formed. Walter Thompson Cox was named the first Dean of Students (later Vice President for Student Affairs), a position at which he remained for 30 years.
3.4 Cubic Feet
English
This series contains records from the office of Walter Thompson Cox, Vice President of Student Affairs at Clemson University 1955-1985.
By series.
Received from Walter T. Cox on February 6, 1998. Accessioned as 98-8.
Removed to Artifacts:
The photographs from this collection have been moved to Series 100-Clemson University Photographs. Photocopies are in Box 7.
This collection was processed by Carl Redd, Project Archivist in the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007.
The conversion of this finding aid to Encoded Archival Description format was made possible with a grant from the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board in 2009-2010. The finding aid was prepared for encoding by Carl Redd.
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository