Dave Odom, head coach of the men’s basketball team, coordinated the fund-raising efforts. The money went directly to S.C. Cares, a private nonprofit organization working to aid the victims from Hurricane Katrina who relocated to the Midlands. The check donation was the first official donation to S.C. Cares.

"This is a worthy cause and a chance for USC to show the evacuees they are truly part of the Gamecock Family," Odom said.

At the USC-Alabama foot ball game Sept. 17, the University collected $33,000 for Katrina relief. Half of the donations went to S.C. Cares, and half went to the American Red Cross for its local efforts. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) contributed $1 million to help the recovery process.

S.C. Cares organized and staffed a processing center for Hurricanes Katrina and, later, Rita evacuees at a University building on Pickens Street. The center processed more than 1,900 evacuees, excluding students, in about six weeks. The center remained open until mid-October.

“Everyone came together for one common purpose with a great deal of dedication and enthusiasm,” Sorensen said. “I find it very touching and enormously inspiring.”

The president also sponsored a breakfast for students displaced from universities in Louisiana who enrolled at USC. “They are very appreciative,” he said. “Many have sent me e-mails about their deep appreciation about the way they’ve been accommodated by our faculty and staff. I want to thank all of you for the warm and open way in which you are receiving them.”

Sorensen recently sponsored a fuel cell conference. Half of the state’s Congressional delegation and several state representatives attended the meeting.

“We are the nation’s leading university with respect to fuel cell research or one of the leading universities in the nation,” the president said. “The dramatic rise in the price of fuel and the devastation of oil rigs in the Gulf and refineries along the shore of the coast and inland have commanded the attention of politicians across the country.”

During a Bow Tie Bus Tour to Clemson, Sorensen spoke to the Clemson Rotary Club. He also played his trumpet with the Clemson University Tiger Band but declined to play “Tiger Rag,” Clemson’s fight song. USC doctoral candidate in music Reginald Houze is assistant director of the band.

Joel Smith, dean of the Moore School of Business, will chair the search committee for a new vice president of University Advancement. Other committee members will be named later, Sorensen said. Hudson Akin, the current vice president of University Advancement, submitted his resignation effective Nov. 30.

During his comments, Provost Mark Becker said the law school has elected its members for the search committee for a new dean of the School of Law. The provost will appoint the remaining members. The search committee for dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology is reviewing applications. Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health science, reported that the position for the Columbia campus dean of the new S.C. College of Pharmacy will be re-advertised.

Becker recently attended the first meeting of the SEC Academic Consortium (SECAC) at the University of Georgia in Athens. “SECAC is a network of provosts and deans from institutions that compete on the playing field to also work in collaborative ways on matters academic and of mutual interest,” he said.

Collaborating with the 11 other universities in the SEC on travel abroad opportunities is one of SECAC’s first priorities.

“We can share resources, share information, and perhaps without having to spend a lot more money, add new opportunities for our students by partnering and creating new additional opportunities that we may have not have but may be available through a partner institution,” Becker said. “For example, the University of Georgia has a program in Costa Rica, which we might be available to avail ourselves of.”

The second SECAC meeting will be at USC in spring 2006.

Eric Hyman, director of athletics, will speak at the next Faculty Senate meeting at 3 p.m. Nov. 2 in the School of Law Auditorium.

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