Furman's Connection to the First Amendment
Our namesake should inspire us to be ardent advocates of free speech.
Announcements:
It is February, but it does not look like we are in for an early spring. Furman, like much of the country, remains covered in ice and snow.
Furman is set to host its Opening Bicentennial Convocation on February 12.
Furman is also collecting stories from alumni and friends about moments that have shaped the university over the last two centuries. If you have a memory from your time at Furman, we encourage you to submit it through the university’s bicentennial story portal.
Furman recently celebrated Joseph Vaughn Day, which honors the legacy of Furman’s first black undergraduate, who enrolled 61 years ago on January 29, 1965.
At the ceremony, the Idella Goodson Glenn Outstanding Black Alumni Award went to the Rev. Regenald Garrett ’98, senior pastor at the historic Jubilee Baptist Church and president of Furman’s Black Alumni Association.
Finally, congrats to the women’s basketball team, who beat Wofford on a buzzer-beater last Friday and claimed their fifth straight victory, giving the Paladins their best start in conference play since the 2004-05 season!
Furman Trivia:
Joseph Vaughn was the first black student to attend Furman in January 1965. But who was the first black student to apply to Furman, and what year did he or she first apply?
A) 1962
B) 1957
C) 1961
D) 1964
*Find the answer at the bottom of the newsletter!*
Furman’s Connection to the First Amendment
On January 29, the Post & Courier published an excellent piece examining the role that Furman University’s namesake, Richard Furman, played in America’s founding era.
Written by Courtney Tollison Hartness ’99, a Distinguished University Public Historian and scholar at Furman, alongside Emily Anne Harris ’25, the article offers a fair assessment of Furman’s life and makes a compelling case that his legacy deserves greater appreciation than it receives today.
As a free speech organization, we were especially interested to learn that Richard Furman was a “staunch advocate of religious freedom.” And as it turns out, Furman and his fellow Baptists played a central role in advancing First Amendment protections.
After rising to prominence through rousing anti-British speeches during the Revolutionary period, Furman eventually became pastor of Charleston’s First Baptist Church in 1787. From this position, he served as a delegate to South Carolina’s 1790 constitutional convention, where he pressed for the disestablishment of the Church of England and for the incorporation rights of all religious denominations in South Carolina.
At around the same time, Baptists in Virginia were facing fines, whippings, and imprisonment for “unlicensed” preaching. More than thirty ministers were punished. This unfair treatment elicited the ire of men like James Madison, who would go on to become the “Father of the Constitution.”
During the ratification debates of the late 1780s, Baptist leaders, including the preacher John Leland, expressed serious concerns to Madison about the protection of religious liberty under the new Constitution. Madison reassured them that he would seek constitutional amendments safeguarding religious freedom. With these assurances, Baptists supported Madison’s election to the First Congress, after which he played a leading role in drafting the First Amendment.
While there is no record of direct correspondence between Richard Furman and Madison during this period, their paths did cross later. During Madison’s presidency in the 1810s, he invited Furman to address his cabinet. The encounter underscores Furman’s national stature and the seriousness with which his views were regarded.
The bottom line is that without Baptist advocates like Richard Furman, the First Amendment might have settled for mere “toleration” — a fragile, government-granted allowance — rather than the strong guarantee of “free exercise” that we have today.
For us at the Furman Free Speech Alliance, this legacy is both instructive and motivating. It reinforces our commitment to ensuring that Furman University does more than tolerate different opinions. We want a school that actively encourages robust, principled debate across lines of disagreement.
A university named for Richard Furman should aspire to nothing less.
We look forward to learning more about Furman’s history in Courtney Tollison Hartness’s recently announced bicentennial history of the university. Notably, it will be the institution’s first official history since 1976, published at the time of its 150th anniversary.
CLPs of the Month:
Furman students must attend 32 Cultural Life Programs (CLPs) to graduate. CLPs are university-approved events meant to “enrich” and “build community.”
Here are some interesting CLPs from February:
On Tuesday, February 3, “Uncivil Resistance and Queer Activism” will offer students the opportunity to learn about “the kinds of resistance that the queer liberation movement has mobilized against the silencing and stigmatization of gender and sexual minorities.”
On Wednesday, February 11, an “Afrofuturism Fireside Chat” will allow students to use “a critical lens for understanding how Black communities have imagined alternative futures in response to historical exclusion from dominant narratives of progress, technology, and modernity.”
On Monday, February 23, “Swiftynomics: Women and Our Economy” will explore “the life and work of economic force and global icon Taylor Swift to examine the hidden contributions and aspirations of women—spotlighting the unmeasured value they create by pursuing their own ambitions.”
Trivia Answer:
D — 1964 is the year that LaBarbara Powell Sampson became the first black student to apply to Furman.
Thank you for the brief history on Richard Furmans legacy . I am hopeful the Christian and Baptist influence will be given the historical contribution to Furmans founding.