Jim Clements timeline: 12 years at the helm of Clemson University By Anna B. Mitchell Dec 10, 2025 CLEMSON — Clemson President Jim Clements announced this week that he would be stepping down from the post he has held atop the South Carolina university for 12 years.
About the Education Lab The Post and Courier’s Education Lab focuses on issues and policies affecting South Carolina’s education system. It is supported by donations and grants to the nonprofit Public Service and Investigative Fund, whose contributors are subject to the same coverage we apply to everyone else. For more information and to donate, go to postandcourierfund.com.
University trustees praised his leadership, but his resignation came after a tough year for the university, marked by budget freezes, a real estate scandal and broad criticism from academia after the university fired two assistant professors in September. Here are some highlights of his tenure at the helm:
Dec. 31, 2013: Clements’ first day as president. He had led West Virginia University for five years before that.
Sept. 22, 2014: Student Tucker Hipps dies after falling into Hartwell Lake during an early-morning run with his fraternity brothers. Clements suspends fraternity activities and leads a campus vigil for the student two days later.
Jan. 10, 2017: Clemson University defeats Alabama for the 2016 college football national championship in Tampa. They would do it again two years later.
2020: Clemson enrollment continues to grow despite the coronavirus pandemic and a general decline among universities nationwide
October 2021: Under Clements’ fundraising leadership, Clemson University’s endowment surpasses $1 billion for the first time.
2023: With a $103 million boost from the state of South Carolina, Clemson University moves forward with construction of the state’s first veterinarian school.
October 2024: University trustees extend Clements’ contract through 2029, with a pay package valued at $1.5 million a year.
Sept 2025: Facing immense political and financial pressure, Clements fires two assistant professors over their’ online commentary about Charlie Kirk, a conservative commentator gunned down six days earlier.
Dec. 9, 2025: After 12 years at the helm, Clements announces he is stepping down as Clemson’s president effective Dec. 31.
| 
