Photo courtesy of Jeremy Powers
Students congratulate one of the participants for an award. The Special Olympics took place on Oct. 11.

The Special Olympics is one of the most recognized and largest sporting events in the world, incorporating those with intellectual and physical disabilities. It began in Chicago in 1968 with a little over a thousand participants and today boasts over 5 million participants in over 172 countries.
Special Olympic events happen every day throughout the country, and recently Wofford Panhellenic, as well as the Interfraternity Council, hosted their very own games in the Stewart H. Johnson Greek Village.
Local athletes in Spartanburg County special olympics came over for events put on by all Greek organizations on campus.
The current IFC President Camp Williams ’23 and President of Panhellenic Anna Brown ’23 alongside Ashley Owen, assistant dean of students for leadership programs and fraternity and sorority life and dean of the senior class, are credited for this event.
“We were thrilled to be able to reestablish our connection with the Special Olympics of the Upstate and welcome 200 athletes from Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union counties to host the fall carnival,” Owen said. “It was such a beautiful day to be able
to enjoy the fall weather and connect with these fun and enthusiastic (students). It’s always a treat when we are able to bring the (Greek) community together for a shared service opportunity. This has truly been the highlight of the year so far.
“I’m not sure who had more fun, our selfless organization members
or the incredible students!”
“I thought the turnout was great. It was awesome to see all of our Panhellenic and IFC organizations come together and work towards a common goal of giving a good time to the middle school athletes who participated,” Williams said.
“I heard from many teachers at the event that the athletes were having such a great time,” Brown said. “My favorite part was seeing my classmates have so much fun with the students. It made me so proud to be a part of Greek Life at Wofford.
“This event is so meaningful to Wofford, and it is a good way for students to get involved with our community. Hopefully, bringing the Special Olympics back to campus is the start of more community-based philanthropies for FSL.”
Vice president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Heyward McPhail ’23 was in charge of the event planning on their behalf. “I found that our brothers really enjoyed the Special Olympics,” McPhail said. “It was great because we had people who had never done
volunteer work like this before and some who had, which allowed for this experience to be even more meaningful.
“It was engaging for all of us, and all of us came together with the one goal of making sure the kids had a good time by competing. Our event was the ring toss, which they excelled at.”
As for the athletes, many had a fantastic time participating, and they all had smiles on their faces for the whole afternoon.

Woods Wooten, staff writer