Thomas University celebrates Woodlands Campus expansion, opening with ribbon cutting

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... THOMASVILLE — Thomas University began a new chapter in its storied 75-year history on Thursday evening as it cut the ribbon and officially opened its new campus location at The Woodlands. A conversation that began four years ago about housing baseball players transformed into more than TU President Kurt Stringfellow ever could have imagined. With record on-campus enrollment, credit hours, and athletes, Thomas University's future has never looked brighter, and it all begins at The Woodlands. 'This has been a work in progress for a long time,' Stringfellow said. 'Thomas University added 77 new dormitory beds on this campus alone.' Additionally, 33 new beds were added to the Magnolia campus, with approximately 100 new rooms total for students. 'Last year we had about 360 on-campus students,' Stringfellow said. 'This year, 519 students are on campus. It's a record here.' Email newsletter signup Stringfellow went on to share the record-breaking credit hours, which were broken for the spring semester. They went on to break it again for the summer semester, which has been historically low for TU. They topped it off, breaking both records for this fall semester with 14,800 hours. 'The work starts now,' Stringfellow said. 'People are believing what we are saying we are going to do. Now there's a responsibility that comes with saying we have a great school and a great community that's caring and compassionate. We have all the tools to be successful.' TU's success comes at the helm of a renewed focus on academics. Since 2023, more than 50 TU graduates have earned Teacher of the Year awards at their schools across the United States. TU graduates have also gone on to further their education at top institutions including FSU, FAMU, Morehouse, Baylor, and UNF. 'Just last week, one of our students in Biology, Ben Honey, who went to Yale, just got hired at Archbold as a PA,' Stringfellow said. 'Isn't that something?' Stringfellow said all of these success stories tap into their initiative of workforce development. Thomas University is geared toward growing the innovators and business leaders who will need the workforce. 'That's what we are doing at TU,' Stringfellow said. 'We want thought leaders. We want to push people beyond their critical thinking skills and their beliefs, so they know that when they earn a degree from Thomas University, that their degree will compete with anyone from anywhere with a similar degree.' He noted that TU is currently ranked as the 4th best private college in the state by Niche, a premier college ranking site. 'Thomasville and South Georgia deserve a premier private institution every bit as much as Savannah, Macon, and Atlanta, and we are damn near on the way,' he concluded before welcoming TU Board of Trustees Chairman Ray Thompson, who thanked Stringfellow for his leadership, which has transcended the campus. Rep. Darlene Taylor also applauded Stringfellow for continuing to build on such a storied legacy, as she recounted some of TU's early history. 'Thomas University was founded in the 1950s to provide a quality higher education and opportunities for the people in this community,' Taylor said. 'Over the decades it has evolved, expanding its academic offerings and infrastructure to meet the ever-changing needs of its students, who now include students not just from our region and state, but internationally.' Taylor continued to say that several years ago TU transitioned from a two-year institution to a four-year university, marking a significant milestone in the development of the Thomasville community. 'This expansion allowed the university to broaden its curriculum and enroll a more diverse student population,' Taylor said. 'Throughout its history, Thomas University has emphasized a personalized education and a close faculty-student engagement, and that is so needed in our education system today.' Taylor said she has been grateful to watch the way Thomas University has trained its students, adapting to meet their demands. 'Today, we celebrate a new phase in this journey,' Taylor said. 'I offer my congratulations.' Faculty members, students, and board members were then gathered to cut the celebratory ribbon, as Chamber President Esther-Marie Lawrence explained the significance of the gold ribbon. 'We use gold ribbon because in 2021, the Chamber celebrated 100 years of history of celebrating the Thomasville business community,' she explained. 'So, we now use gold ribbon as a way of wishing that forward to all the businesses we celebrate that they will also reach that anniversary.' Lawrence concluded by sharing that, after seeing Thursday night's events, she had no doubt TU would celebrate 100 years.