This month in the University Spotlight: Lander University. Lander University was founded in 1872 and is located in Greenwood, South Carolina. A beautiful location with lots of sunshine!
Lander University counts approximately 4500 students and has a lot of ambition to grow. The school is very sports oriented and has 26 athletic teams. Their newest addition since Fall 2022: Field Hockey! Head coach Robbert Schenk started a brand new field hockey program at Lander, and it’s been a great success! The team has won several games and are still in the running of making it to the Conference Tournament. Five Slamstox field hockey student athletes found their way to Lander from The Netherlands last year: Lauren Punt, Sophie Schmitz, Isabel Elenga, Aniek Vreeken and Lieke Toma!
Location
Lander University is located approximately one half-mile from uptown Greenwood, South Carolina. Greenwood is a small Southern city in the state of South Carolina. It’s known for its beautiful hills and tall green trees. In the surroundings, there are a lot of beautiful lakes and spots to hang out. The Field Hockey team did some amazing team building at the lake during preseason.
The Lander campus is beautiful and has a very practical design. Everything is within walking distance. There are several dining locations for students, and they are able to buy their Lander gear at the Bookstore.
The nearest bigger cities are Greenville and Columbia in South Carolina, and Augusta in Georgia. The beach is about four hours away. Great for road tripping! Did you know that South Carolina has a very gentle climate? During winters it generally doesn’t get colder than 10 degrees celsius! By March you’re often already able to go sunbathing and walk around in shorts and a t-shirt. Isn’t that amazing?
Athletics
Lander University has 22 varsity sports teams: 8 men’s teams and 14 women’s teams. The athletics teams from Lander University play in the NCAA Division II. Their mascot is the Bearcat. Some of their teams have been National Champions before, such as men’s tennis. Because of the smaller size of the school, athletics plays a really important role in the daily lives of the students at Lander.
Most Lander varsity teams are members of the Peach Belt Conference. Regular opponents are Flagler College, Clayton State University, and University of North Georgia. The Field Hockey team is a member of the Southern Athletic Conference and plays against teams such as Converse University, Limestone University and Coker University.
Lander offers a couple really interesting club teams as well: such as rugby, Esports, equestrian, bass fishing and water skiing.
Academics
Also academics play an important role in the lives of the students at Lander University. Lander offers more than 90 different graduate and undergraduate studies! The school is known for its Nursing Program and has great connections with hospitals nearby.
Additional fields of study are Business, Government, Criminology, Sociology, Design, Communication, Biology, Mathematics and many more.
Also good to know: Lander University has great opportunities for academic scholarships.
Do you also want to become a student-athlete at an American university or do you just want to know more about sports and studying in America? Then contact us!
