The new event acknowledges incoming music students and welcomes them as Gamecocks

Thanks to a new event, incoming music scholarship students at the University of South Carolina School of Music got to experience a little of the glamor of the big-time college athletes' signing day.

New School of Music scholarship students were invited to sign their USC scholarship commitment paperwork at USC's Williams-Brice Stadium, in the same area where head football coach Steve Spurrier gives his press conferences. Cameras clicked as music students signed their scholarship paperwork joined by their parents and School of Music Dean Tayloe Harding. The new Gamecocks visited the Gamecocks' football stadium and signed their paperwork on May 1, the national commitment day for music scholarships. After the signing event, USC School of Music faculty, staff and students congratulated the new students and their parents at a reception at the School of Music.

USC Director of Music Admissions Jennifer Jablonski created the signing day festivities after watching college athletes garner attention from local and national media on their own signing days.

"We feel that music scholarship students deserve the same kind of attention and praise as student-athletes, so we wanted to do our best to honor our students and acknowledge the time and dedication it takes to become a music scholarship student at USC. My plan is for this to become an annual event to celebrate our incoming scholarship students. We're grateful that Athletics helped us make this idea reality." --Jennifer Jablonski, director of music admissions

Photo: Incoming student Daniel Rhu, trumpet, with his parents and Dean Harding.