Samuel J. Cadden Chapel.
Courtesy photo
Members of the Cadden family, University leadership, supporters and students cut the ribbon to officially welcome the chapel to Clemson’s main campus.
Courtesy photo
PICKENS COUNTY — Clemson University has officially welcomed its first campus chapel. President Jim Clements joined family, friends, supporters and other University leaders in a special dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Samuel J. Cadden Chapel.
The venue — nestled between the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts and Strom Thurmond Institute — is named in memory of former Clemson student Sam Cadden, whose life was tragically cut short in the summer of 2015 when the 21-year-old was killed in an automobile crash.
“A young man full of spirit, he was intimately involved in a number of activities on Clemson’s campus during his undergraduate experience,” the chapel’s story reads. “Sam was a financial management major and member of the finance council at a local church in Clemson. He was employed at M.H. Frank Men’s Shop and had interned for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and at the Terminus Group at Morgan Stanley. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and also active with the Knights of Columbus.”
“While going through his personal belongings, Sam’s parents — Ken and Mary — discovered a list of goals he had written,” it continues. “One item on the list stated Sam wanted to have a building on Clemson’s campus named after him someday.”
Also on the list was his desire to express his faith in a way that would make a difference for others, it said.
“This day was literally decades in the making, and I’m happy we were finally able to dedicate the Samuel J. Cadden Chapel,” Clements said. “This building will bring people together … and that’s part of Sam’s legacy.”
Building a chapel on Clemson’s campus quickly became a reality following a lead $1.5 million gift from Cadden’s parents, Ken and Mary Cadden. Over the past few years, fundraising efforts were boosted through the naming of a memorial and reflection garden from Ashley Johnson and pillar donations from Charles and Susan Barker, Roy McCall and Melvin Younts.
The chapel’s dedication concluded with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, social hour and self-guided tours.
“This was a bittersweet day,” Ken Cadden said. “We’re thankful for family, thankful for friends, thankful for a beautiful new campus chapel — and thankful for Sam.”
The ceremony also included remarks from two students who were members of the chapel committee during their time at Clemson — Davis Banks and Reynolds McLeod, a senior construction science and management major.
“Sam’s passing illuminated a void on Clemson’s campus,” Banks said. “We are so appreciative of the Cadden family’s tireless efforts to fill that void.”
Samuel J. Cadden Chapel will open to affiliated student and campus organizations in Spring 2022.