Spartanburg Reporter

Converse Celebrates the Grand Opening of the Valkyrie Supply

On Friday, February 3, 2023, the Converse community gathered together in Montgomery Student Center to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Valkyrie Supply– a newly renovated space on campus serving as a basic needs hub that offers supplemental support to students, free of charge. The space combines the university’s food pantry with personal hygiene products and a career closet, bringing together all items in the same location. 

President Boone Hopkins kicked off the Grand Opening by enthusiastically welcoming students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and campus visitors. President Hopkins expressed his excitement for this resource to serve students and his immense gratitude to the donors and community partners who provided support. 

University Chaplain Reverend Eliza Smith DeBevoise then spoke about the tremendous impact the Valkyrie Supply will have on Converse students’ success. She explained that at the start of this initiative, the Office of Spiritual Life sent out an anonymous survey to the campus in partnership with Swipe Out Hunger, a national organization that partners with college campuses to end student food insecurity, and discovered the need for an expanded food pantry to provide supplemental support to students. She brought to light the subject of food insecurity on college campuses, informing guests that it is an issue on campuses nationwide and that she felt the need to do something about it. 

DeBevoise thanked alumna Susie Cole Wean ’71 who provided a matching gift to help establish the Valkyrie Supply; she acknowledged and thanked her office’s student-workers for their hard work on the project. She recognized the hard work of Rebecca Parrish, Director of Institutional Grants, for her passion and tireless work on this initiative. 

Tori Good, Executive Director of Career Development, then spoke about how the Valkyrie Supply will provide professional clothing items to students for them to look and feel their best for class presentations, job interviews, and internships. 

The Valkyrie Supply was overflowing with excited visitors, and as the group of key players in the project officially cut the ribbon in partnership with OneSpartanburg, everyone clapped and cheered, and even a few tears were shed. Visitors and the Converse community continued to mingle and tour the space expressing excitement and gratitude, celebrating the Valkyrie Supply and all that it will provide for Converse students for many years to come. 

The inaugural donors and community partners who helped to make this goal a reality are listed on a plaque, which will permanently be displayed outside of the Office of Spiritual Life in the upstairs portion of Montgomery. Converse is grateful for their tremendous support.

Original source can be found here