Every one of Wofford College’s graduating classes since the Class of 2017 has known the Samhats as their president, first lady and first dog(s) during all four years of their undergraduate experience.
When Nayef Samhat and his family first moved into the President’s Home in July of 2013, they were a family of six.
It was himself and his wife, Prema Samhat, with their three grown daughters, Alia Samhat, Jehan Samhat and Leila Samhat, who do not live in the home but visit often.
Completing the family was their dog, Zoe.
Although their three daughters were adults by the time their father achieved presidency and never lived on campus with the family, Prema expressed how important it was for their house to feel like a home to their daughters.
“I can honestly say that neither Nayef nor I think of ourselves as ‘the president and his wife,’” Prema Samhat said. “We think of ourselves as just regular people who have the good fortune of being in this role. Being accessible, real and authentic is the most important thing professionally and personally.”
“Our job and responsibilities may be different, but we all put our pants on the same way, one leg at a time. Nobody should get a big head about being anything, (we’re just people) who are lucky enough to get this gig. It’s a huge responsibility and privilege to be in this role. We live in a gorgeous campus in a historic home, and life is good. Life cannot get better than this.”
Since move-in day, they have lost one of their beloved dogs, Zoe, and gained their second dog, Ava, a couple of sons-in-law, three grandsons and a granddaughter on the way.
“For me, this happened in the best decade possible because I was in my early 50s when we first moved here. I had children and raised them, (and) had a great working life,” Prema Samhat said. “Now, I get the opportunity to be in this role where I am working but not working, and it’s just wonderful.”
Nayef Samhat remembers his first walk around campus and the feelings that he had that the campus was beautiful but could use improvements and renovations.
“I remember seeing Marsh Hall when it was the ‘hall of legend,’” Nayef Samhat said. “You see all of these things as you walk around and think ‘how are we going to do this?’ And through the hard work and generosity of lots of people, we are able to do these things one step at a time.”
Greene Hall was the first project under his presidency, renovated in the summer of 2014.
Since then, he has been able to witness the fruition of the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts, Steward H. Johnson Greek Village and many more large-scale projects.
“I always said that the day that we opened the Greek Village was the happiest day of my life,” Nayef Samhat said.
Although students may agree with this sentiment for more liquified reasons that accompany “the row,” Nayef Samhat believes this to be the case because of the opening of the Greek Village being one of the three hardest moments he remembers at Wofford College thus far.
“The hardest thing has been feeling like you’re doing the best thing for the institution and its well-being over the long-term, and people get mad – that happens, I understand – and I think of three tumultuous points in our tenure (when these occurred),” Nayef Samhat said. “In ten years, it isn’t bad – the problem is they lasted a while.”
When they first announced that they were demolishing the old fraternity houses to use that space for the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts, there was a large uproar. This was furthered by the announcement that they were shifting fraternity and sorority recruitment from the fall semester to the spring semester.
“This is best practice for a small college like ours,” Nayef Samhat said. “(Tearing down the houses and moving recruitment) created some unhappiness, and it went on as long as it took to build the Greek Village. When we were finally able to open it, I remember thinking, ‘having kids was great, but man (is this great too.)’”
He thought that this was better for the long-term of the college because of the ways in which it reimagined and supported Greek Life on campus. In fact, it was the first time that Wofford had sorority houses and an NPHC/Multicultural house. After the transition was fully implemented, though, people seemed to become happier with the decision.
Another difficulty that he faced during his presidency thus far was when Donald J. Trump was elected as the 45th U.S. President and started to implement foreign policy.
“We joined (many) colleges and universities to ask for reconsideration of or removal of the initial version of the immigration ban. It was problematic from my perspective because we potentially had a faculty, staff, or student member overseas that would (have difficulty coming back),” Nayef Samhat said.
“We put out a statement that I thought was good and balanced, and there was some unhappiness about it. I try very much to keep personal views out of our policy decisions and work with colleagues around the table on things like this, but there was some unhappiness about it. But I think it was the right thing to do to protect the interests and well-being of faculty, students, and staff.”
He reiterated that this statement did not make any comments about Trump, but rather the policy that would potentially affect members of the Wofford community.
The last difficulty was the combined COVID-19 pandemic and diversity, equity and inclusion movement after the death of George Floyd.
“There were people out there who were unhappy about the college’s position (in this situation), but I think there were more people who were supportive of this position,” Nayef Samhat said. “I thought this was a thoughtful, inclusive approach to asking questions and addressing issues on our campus in a civil manner.”
“The institution has to recognize the world in which it is functioning. No student should leave this college surprised by what the world looks like. We should try to mirror that world as much as possible and give experiences to students, so they can engage in it.”
Of course, these challenges were accompanied with many good times and successes for the Samhat family and their position in the college in the past decade.
“I think in life, I always break things down where there was a third of the population (that was accepting of Nayef Samhat as president), a third who were indifferent and a third were skeptical,” Prema Samhat said. “It was important and very heartwarming when the third that was skeptical recognizes the great things that have happened in the past 10 years. Not all of the third are converts, but a lot of them are.”
“A true test of making a difference is making an impact on the group that is unsure of you, so I think it was a good reaction (when they started to come around).”
Prema Samhat believes that her and Nayef’s actions of remaining true to themselves has been a large part of their sustainability in this position. They did not enter Wofford believing that they had to fit a certain mold or behave in a specific manner, allowing them to show their true personalities in every way that they represent the college.
She believes that the best part of her job as the “first lady” is getting to represent the college and connect with the community.
She also serves as a board member for several organizations around Spartanburg County, including the Spartanburg Regional Hospital Foundation Board and the Group of 100 Advisory Board. She has also worked on the board at the Chapman Cultural Center, the South Carolina Museum Foundation, Iron Yard and United Way.
The couple also enjoys student dinners, commencement, move-in day, honors convocation and any chance to celebrate the successes of the student body.
What she would say was one of the happiest memories during their first ten years at Wofford was the flash mob at the all-campus party that Wofford held when Nayef Samhat was installed as president in April 2014.
She said that a student group came up with the choreography to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.”
“Students, staff, faculty, friends of ours (all contributed to the performance),” Prema Samhat said. “That was a fun memory because it involved everybody and was a great celebration.”
She says that there is a running theme with alumni on the connection that Wofford College provides between faculty, staff and alumni. It is these relationships and the connections that Wofford provides its students that makes Wofford stand out to the Samhats.
