"One motivation for my service to Sewanee is the fact that we have so much potential as a university and as a place."
Jim Folds, C'86Sewanee Athletics has a milestone ahead: the 2023-2024 academic year will mark the 100th anniversary of the men’s basketball team. Jim Folds, C’86, who currently chairs the University’s Board of Regents, notes that basketball was integral in bringing him to Sewanee. “I didn’t get to tour the campus much in high school,” he says, “but I came to a basketball game.”
As an enthusiastic, young athlete, Folds saw an opportunity to sharpen his skills on Sewanee’s Division III team. Despite growing up in Chapel Hill, NC, home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Folds elected against becoming a UNC Tar Heel—legendary UNC basketball head coach Dean Smith reached out to him when Folds was a 9th grader, but ultimately didn't invite him to play. Instead, Folds chose to cast his lot on the Mountain. It’s a decision he’s glad he made: “My best friends in the world today are friends from Sewanee—many from my basketball experience,” he says.
As Folds describes, basketball wasn’t Sewanee’s only draw. “I grew up in the Episcopal Church,” he says, “and I was familiar with the University of the South through that connection.” In Chapel Hill, his family attended Chapel of the Cross, where the associate rector was the Rev. Dr. Robert C. Gregg, C’60, a respected scholar of early Christianity who later became Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University. Folds’ parents championed Sewanee’s strong academics and encouraged their children to explore beyond familiar towns and cities for college. In short, “Everything about Sewanee was intriguing,” Folds shares.
Though Folds arrived at the University knowing no one, he quickly settled into campus life. “Sewanee is a school that allows you to get involved,” he says. Along with playing basketball, he served as a proctor and a student trustee, and worked in dining services. He also spent plenty of time hitting the books. “My academic experience was great—very challenging,” he recalls. “I remember early on, in my first year of college, relating to my dad how many hours a day I was studying.” Folds says that his father, who taught at UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine, “didn’t sound surprised. He said, ‘Well, that’s why you’re there!’”
Folds soaked up his time on Sewanee’s basketball court, even if the experience didn’t go exactly as he anticipated. “I had three different coaches in four years, which is not ideal,” he notes. During his senior year, he was coached by Bill Fenlon, who later earned acclaim as head basketball coach at DePauw University in Indiana. Fenlon came to the Mountain early in his career, bringing his wife and two young children. “Ultimately, he couldn’t afford to stay at Sewanee,” Folds says, adding that Fenlon racked up almost 600 Division III wins before retiring last year. As Folds explains, this situation illustrates how philanthropic support can be critical. “We need to not only attract talented faculty, staff, and coaches, but also retain them. That’s where donors’ gifts can make a real difference—in ensuring Sewanee is in the best possible financial position,” he shares.
Folds says he’s eager for Sewanee’s athletic program to grow and thrive, given the formative role it played in his college journey. Recently, he contributed $250,000 toward comprehensive updates to the Fowler Center, which will include renovation of the basketball court, Juhan Gymnasium, and other key spaces, as well as enhanced Sewanee branding throughout the facility. “I want to help current and future students have the same enriching athletic experience I did,” he says.
In paying it forward to other Sewanee Tigers, Folds exemplifies a core University value, as Vice President for University Relations Deborah S. Vaughn, P’20, notes. “Sewanee is unique in our focus on EQB—living together in unity and truly caring about each member of our community,” she says. “Chair Folds’ generous giving is a manifestation of EQB. It’s clear he’s a leader who wants our students to achieve their tremendous potential.”
As an additional mechanism for supporting students, Folds has joined his brother, David Folds, C’89, in establishing an endowed scholarship. Named for Jim and David’s parents, the James and Carolyn Folds Endowed Scholarship Fund is designated for high-achieving high school students, with a preference for North Carolina public school attendees. “There are many educators in my family, and in my wife’s family,” Jim shares, noting that his wife’s father and grandfather both taught at Davidson College in Davidson, NC. “Every Christmas, my in-laws write a check to the endowed scholarship as a gift to me.”
Folds now lives in Davidson, where he is an investor and advisor with a private equity firm. He acknowledges that, during his time at Sewanee, “institutional access to the business world was hard.” As he explains, few financial corporations recruited at the University in the 1980s, and he had to enroll in accounting courses after graduation in order to prepare for business school. Fortunately, he notes, times have changed. “I think Sewanee has dramatically improved access to a broad range of professions through our Career Readiness services,” he says.
With his double major in political science and French, Folds adds, he has been well equipped to communicate with diverse colleagues and clients. “Sewanee gave me an awareness of the importance of working with others, an awareness of the larger world, and appreciation for different perspectives,” he says. Recalling his French coursework and his summer abroad in Paris, he notes he’s particularly grateful for the University’s cross-cultural study requirements. “In the late 1980s, there was preference in the marketplace for being fluent in a second language. Business was becoming more global,” he explains.
Folds’ responsibilities on the Board of Regents bring him to the Mountain often, granting him the opportunity to see the benefits of his philanthropy. Describing the strategy behind his giving, he says, “Rather than being involved in many—or too many—things, I’m trying to devote myself to a few and aim for a bigger impact.” In sharing his time and financial resources with the University, he notes, he’s also investing in Sewanee’s bright future. “One motivation for my service to Sewanee is the fact that we have such incredible potential as a university and as a place,” he shares. “I want to help us realize that potential and help those new to Sewanee realize how special it is.”
