The 2025-26 school year started off strong with more than two dozen Carolina Welcome events. From First Night Carolina to the Student Organization Fair and beyond, our people made August memorable.

After welcoming more than 9,000 students to University Housing during move-in on Aug. 8 and Aug. 16, the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support orchestrated two full weeks of programming to welcome students back to campus and jumpstart a great year for the Gamecock community.

WIth work from key SAAS units, including Gamecock Entertainment, Residence Life, the Student Success Center, Campus Recreation and so many more as well as key student groups, USC students took full advantage of Carolina Welcome 2025.

First week of class

• 8,000+ student engagements during First Night Carolina on Aug. 18
• Nearly 30 years USC has been hosting Carolina Welcome to begin the fall semester, adopting the current model in 2018
• 9,000+ 2025-26 planners given out by the Student Success Center and 185 staff and student volunteers on the first day of class
• 867 first day of class photos taken at the Thomas Cooper Fountain on Aug. 19 & 20
• Nearly 20,000 visits to Russell House on Aug. 18 & nearly 1000 more daily visits to the building compared to this time in 2024
• About 15,000 Carolina Welcome calendars given out during the month of August
• 1,256 students attended RecFlix 'N Chill — a partnership between Gamecock Entertainment and Campus Recreation since 2019 — on  Aug. 20
• 2,481 combined engagements at Let's Glow Gamecocks and Campus Crawl — held in partnership with the Residence Hall Association — on Aug. 16 & 17
• 521 students engaged in GamecAUX Battle presented by Carolina Productions with the Association of African American Students on Aug. 21

Going Greek

• 2,281 bids distributed during Panhellenic Recruitment
• 908 bids accepted to IFC fraternities
• 515 combined student attendance at the FSL Block Party, CGC Showcase and NPHC Meet the Greeks events

Keeping the ball rolling

• 1st time that College Colors Day has been added to Carolina Welcome, engaging 650+ students on Aug. 29
• 450+ students watched the South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech football game at The Spur and The Pavilion in partnership with Carolina Food Co. on Aug. 31
• 367 organizations participated in the Student Organization Fair on Aug. 27, held on the USC Horseshoe for the first time
• 39th year of the Student Organization Fair, dating back to 1987, when 60 organizations took part