Citadel alumnus honors former teacher with $2 million gift to The Citadel’s Student Success Center

Photo: The Lacys stand with Angela Williams and The Citadel’s President and Provost at the dedication ceremony for the Student Success Center. From left to right: Peter Lacy, ’92; Jill Lacy; Gen. Glenn Walters, USMC (Ret.), ’79; Angela Williams; Sally Selden, Ph.D., SPHR.

A transformational gift made by a grateful alumnus to name the Angela W. Williams Student Success Center on campus will ensure Citadel cadets and students continue to have a space to support and guide their academic success.

This $2 million dollar investment comes from Peter L. Lacy, Class of 1992, and his wife, Jill, to establish the Lacy Fund for the Student Success Center. This gift provides financial resources to support and endow the operations of The Citadel’s Student Success Center, or SSC, as well as unrestricted support for the college’s greatest needs through The Citadel Fund. The gift names the Student Success Center in honor of Angela W. Williams, former Director of The Citadel’s Writing Center and Lacy’s English teacher who provided guidance lasting well beyond his time on campus.

In 1988, Williams encouraged Peter Lacy, a freshman cadet, to visit the Writing Center to strengthen his communication skills. He continued to use the center throughout his time on campus, and he attributes it — and Williams — with having a meaningful impact on his life and making The Citadel a special place.

The SSC has been an educational cornerstone since its inception in the fall of 1984, when it began as a Writing Center offering cadets tutorials and guidance to improve their writing skills. Today, it offers a wide range of educational resources involving learning strategies across the entire college, including tutors in many subject areas with a writing-across-the-curriculum mindset. The SSC is available at no additional cost to all students. The Lacys’ gift enables the SSC to help students by covering operating expenses, professional development for the center’s faculty and staff, cadet-tutor compensation, enhanced web content and tutorial development. These offerings allow the center to grow with The Citadel by adopting emerging trends and expanding digital spaces.

“The Student Success Center serves as a vital tool for students; this gift creates new opportunities for the ever-changing technology and advances of resources,” said Peter Lacy. “As the first director of what is now the Student Success Center, Angela Williams made a profound impact on my life as a cadet, which helped me be successful in life. I am pleased to honor Angela and provide a lasting resource for The Citadel.”

Angela Williams, who devoted much of her career to education and helping students reach their potential, founded the original writing center in a small classroom in Capers Hall and helped to design the center’s current space in Thompson Hall. Her passion for teaching, the center, and the success of her clients evident even now. While she remains in contact with past colleagues and students, including Peter, the naming of the Student Success Center in her honor came as a shock.

“Peter and Jill Lacy’s dedication of the Student Success Center was a tremendous surprise and honor. Their generosity will impact cadet life immeasurably, both now and in the future,” Williams shared. “Students who choose education within a rigorous military system encounter multiple challenges. The Student Success Center is an academic lifeline. This gift ensures all cadets have an array of opportunities as they become principled leaders. My hope is that cadets and all Citadel students will be inspired to become leaders who give back — just as Peter Lacy has done.”

As a longstanding source of academic support on campus, this vital academic resource develops and shapes the lives of students. Thanks to the generosity of the Lacys, the Angela W. Williams Student Success Center extends through students’ academic careers and well into their professional lives.