Wofford College Senior Ben Walsh Places First in Advanced Level Competition

SPARTANBURG, SC (03/01/2011)(readMedia)-- Three students in Wofford College's Chinese Language and Studies program recently swept the beginning level of Chinese proficiency in speech in the second Palmetto Chinese Star Language Contest hosted in Columbia, S.C., by the Confucius Institute at Presbyterian College and the University of South Carolina. Another won first place in the advanced level of Chinese proficiency in the competition.

Ben Walsh, a senior and a student in the Chinese 402 course, took first place in the advanced level competition. Walsh is the son of Dr. Thomas Walsh and Dr. Bobbi Farber of Columbus, Ga., 31904.

The Palmetto Chinese Star is an annual event for Chinese language students from across South Carolina to come together and demonstrate their language proficiency. This year's event was held Feb. 19 at USC, with 45 contestants competing from Wofford College, Furman University, Bob Jones University, the University of South Carolina, Presbyterian College and Columbia High School. Seventeen students from the Wofford program participated.

Participants were divided into beginner and advanced levels and competed in language proficiency and cultural performance categories. The presentations include monologue and poem recitals, skits, Chinese folk songs and calligraphy.

The Confucius Institute at Presbyterian College for the Upstate is the result of a successful partnership effort between Presbyterian College and partner institutions Converse College, Wofford College, Furman University and Clemson University. Aided by a grant from the Office of Chinese Language Council International (HANBAN), the Confucius Institute strengthens Chinese language and culture programs at the participating colleges and universities while broadening and facilitating community outreach programs and commercial exchanges between the Upstate business community and China. Of equal importance, the Confucius Institute helps to prepare our students by integrating Chinese language programs into the K-12 curriculum, in collaboration with the S.C. State Department of Education.

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Wofford College, established in 1854, is an independent liberal arts college of 1,500 students in Spartanburg, S.C. Wofford ranks 9th nationally in the percentage of undergraduates receiving credit for study abroad. Home to one of the nation's 280 Phi Beta Kappa chapters, Wofford's historic 170-acre campus is recognized as a national arboretum. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the college is committed to quintessential undergraduate education within the context of values-based inquiry.