Giving at South Carolina

2019 Donor Stories

Alumni club endows scholarship for D.C.-area students

The DC Gamecocks are serious about celebrating their alma mater. They watch football games and participate in special events related to their days at the University of South Carolina. But, more recently, the alumni club, one of the larger ones outside of South Carolina, took on the goal of endowing a scholarship for students from the D.C. area, including Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Scholarship transforms heartbreak into hope

In 2002, 8-year-old Wanda Gibbs died after being hit by a car at her bus stop. After her tragic passing, the community came together and launched a fundraising initiative to ensure Wanda’s memory would live on. Their efforts established the Wanda Gibbs Scholarship at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia, which was awarded for the first time earlier this year.

Preserving a family tradition

The Williams family established a Lizard’s Thicket scholarship that supports future hospitality leaders.

Fellowship honors impact of longtime athletic trainer

Longtime athletic trainer Brainard Cooper was joined by family, friends, colleagues and Arnold School of Public Health faculty members as they unveiled the Brainard Cooper Athletic Training Fellowship on April 20 at Founders Park. The fellowship will include support for students and faculty in addition to equipment and other needs within the Arnold School’s renowned athletic training programs.

Blockbuster comics collection comes to UofSC

The 1963 comic book that started it all, Marvel’s Avengers #1, is one item in a massive collection recently donated to UofSC by lifelong collector Gary Lee Watson of Columbus, Ohio.

A watershed gift

The Justin A. Thornton Endowed Scholarship Fund in the School of Law was established in 2015, and it’s now grown dramatically larger, thanks to the ongoing generosity of its founder, Justin Thornton, law, ’77, of McLean, Virginia.

A future so bright

The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation made a new $18 million commitment that will increase the value of McNair Scholars awards from $15,000 to $22,000 per year and add $12,000 in academic-enrichment funds that each scholar can use over their four years at South Carolina.

Under 1 roof

Taking the new Cyndi and Kenneth Long Family Football Operations Center from concept to completion was a team effort that promises a big win. The 110,000-square-foot facility in Gamecock Park will transform the student-athlete experience for football players at the University of South Carolina, Athletics Director Ray Tanner says.

Moving on up

Allen Montgomery could do a fair impersonation of the Energizer bunny — he just keeps going and going. The 80-year-old audiology professor in the Arnold School of Public Health has run more than 100 marathons, the last one just a couple of years ago, and he has no immediate plans for retirement. He’s even figured out a creative way to help his academic department consolidate in one space on campus — something that’s never happened since communication sciences and disorders was created as an academic unit in 1972.

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.