Dave and Lynette Snow have donated $25 million to Clemson University to further the University’s Study of Capitalism and Lyceum Scholars program.
The program has been officially renamed the Snow Institute for the Study of Capitalism, a branch of the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business.
“The Lyceum Scholars I’ve worked with have been some of the best students I’ve had the pleasure to teach here at Clemson, and I anticipate the gift contributing to the size and quality of the program,” Brandon Turner, a Lyceum professor and associate professor of political science, told The Tiger in an email.
As for the effects of this gift, the Lyceum Scholars Program will be able to increase the number of participants from 40 to 80 students, and the scholarship for the students in the program will double from $20,000 to $40,000, according to GSA Business. These objectives aim to increase the number of students involved in the program.
The Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism was created in 2005, and its flagship program, the Lyceum Scholars, was founded in 2014. The institute is “America’s premier university-based teaching and research center dedicated to exploring the moral, political and economic foundations of capitalism,” according to Clemson News. It is also the only program in the country of its kind at a public university.
“The Snow gift will help the University by ensuring the preservation of the SISC and the study of free society. My experience as a Lyceum scholar has already deepened my critical thinking skills and understanding of the world around me, so I am excited to see the program grow and reach more students,” Gabrielle Unger, a Lyceum Scholar and freshman business management major from Summerville, South Carolina, told The Tiger in an interview.
The Snow family’s gift also allows for two new programs to be created: The American Founding Project and The Capitalism Unleashed Project. The first program will be the first and only program in the country to focus on “the history, principles, and institutions” of when America was founded. The second program relates to studying the global “moral underpinnings of capitalism,” Clemson News reports.
“We believe in everything that the institute stands for. Our country — and our world — needs the kind of critical thinking that the institute offers its students now more than ever,” Snow said during the donation announcement. “Our goal with this gift is to elevate the Snow Institute for the Study of Capitalism so that more students can make an impact on our world.”
Additionally, this donation will further the study of capitalism through research at the University. The program’s expansion plan will take place over 10 years, and the Snow family hopes to raise a total of $100 million in that time.
In 2014, the Snows gifted the University $2.4 million for the Snow Family Outdoor Fitness and Wellness Complex, later fundraised $2 million more in 2016 to finish the complex through a funds-matching initiative and were labeled honorary alumni in 2022.
