Phase 5 Construction: What Wofford has in store

The lawn behind the Michael S. Brown Village Center is a hotspot for many events on campus. The Wofford Activities Council, WAC has historically held campus-wide events in that space, most notably Black and Gold, and a Fall semester favorite, Sliding and Shagging.

WAC holds Sliding and Shagging every year. Typically, the event is held behind the Galleria in Phase Five.

WAC holds events for the campus year-round. Leaders of the Special Events subcommittee of WAC are responsible for planning these events. This year, Meredith Cook ‘26 and Caroline Kirk ‘25 are co-chairs of the subcommittee.

The two co-chairs are aware of WAC’s purpose of bringing all-encompassing events to campus.

“I think that there are a lot of groups on campus that focus on putting together fun events and the unique part about what we do is that it’s for everybody,” said Kirk.

The co-chairs were notified a month before the event that there was construction on the Phase V area of the Michael S. Brown Village Center and that it would not be finished in time for the annual Sliding and Shagging event. They were surprised but willing to roll with the punches.

“We were really excited about sliding and shagging because we got to welcome the class of 2027 with the first event back,” Cook .

This year, the WAC held Sliding and Shagging on Sept. 2 in the horseshoe. Compared to last year, this year’s event had 100 more attendants.

The space behind Phase V was first closed off this summer because the college needed to investigate the cause of some leaking in apartments. There have been issues in the parapets, which are low protective walls on the edge of the roof of the building that have resulted in leaking when it rains.

During the college’s investigation of the building, they noticed a slight inward angle of the parapets. The college is working with architects and contractors to understand the best way to handle the issue.

Wofford College President Nayef Samhat has stated that the construction going on the back of the MSBVC is not dealing with structural issues but more design related. No problems with the parapets threaten the integrity of the building.

The Michael S. Brown Village Center was originally built in 2011, prior to Samhat’s tenure as the College’s president. The building was originally constructed by Trehel Corporation.

“We want to make sure we get them in there by taking a look at the wall and units themselves so we can develop a plan of action to rebuild it on the inside,” Samhat said.

As a safety precaution, there are not currently any students living in the center apartment of Phase V. When construction completes, there are no students that need to relocate.

According to Samhat, the scaffolding will be there around Christmas time. This way, the college can keep the patio area open.

The College’s Chief Financial Officer, Chris Gardner, is the key contact for contractors addressing the issues.

“We are currently working with H General Contractors to assess the Michael S. Brown Village Center and complete renovation work on the exterior of the building,” Gardner said. “We do not plan to reconfigure existing spaces or add any new spaces in the building.  We will likely look to combine some of this work with a larger planned renovation of the Senior Village this coming summer.”

Despite the inconvenience that the construction has caused for campus-wide events, student leaders and members of the college’s administration have worked diligently to ensure that the issue with the parapets is solved and that campus is back to normal.

Wofford’s Office of Marketing and Communications has even put up banners around the scaffolding to add some decorative photo backdrops to the construction zone.