The history of the University of South Carolina Upstate is a chronicle of remarkable development. In 1967, the university was founded in response to efforts undertaken by G.B. Hodge, M.D., together with fellow members of the Spartanburg County Commission on Higher Education, and a remarkably strong founding faculty, primarily to avert a serious health care labor shortage crisis when Spartanburg General Hospital announced plans to eliminate its diploma program for registered nurses. A citizen's committee investigated the situation and ultimately requested that Spartanburg be included in the University of South Carolina system. The Spartanburg Regional Campus, as it was first known, opened its doors in the fall of 1967 to 177 students on the first floor of the Spartanburg General Hospital nursing residence.