Walter Merritt Riggs (January 24, 1873 – January 22, 1924) was the president of

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

from 1910 to 1924 and the "father of Clemson football" coaching the first

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team for what was then Clemson College. Riggs was president of Clemson during one of its most challenging times, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when enrollment dropped due to students joining the military or going home to help on family farms. Riggs graduated from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University) with a Bachelor of Science in engineering in 1892 and was a member of Auburn's first football team. He was also president of his class, director of the

glee club A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...

, and a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

fraternity while at Auburn. Riggs was the second president of the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

, taking over for William Lofland Dudley in 1912. Riggs Hall, which is the home of Clemson's College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, is named in his honor.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1873 births 1924 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football ends Auburn Tigers baseball players Auburn Tigers football players Clemson Tigers athletic directors Clemson Tigers football coaches Presidents of Clemson University Sportspeople from Orangeburg, South Carolina Phi Delta Theta members {{1890s-collegefootball-coach-stub