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The University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy honored 80 new Doctor of Pharmacy graduates from the Class of 2026. Dean Stephen J. Cutler welcomed the new practitioners by reminding them of the responsibility they now carry with them.

"You are no longer a student pharmacist — you are a pharmacist," Cutler says. "You are no longer learning the profession. You are practicing it."

Outstanding Alumni Award recipient Tim Slone delivered the keynote address, drawing on 42 years of professional experience to urge graduates to embrace uncertainty as an asset.

"Some of the most meaningful moments in my career came when I said yes — before I felt ready, before I had all the answers, and before I was comfortable," Slone says.

Slone emphasizes that leadership transcends title, citing Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf on the challenge of doing the right thing under pressure — a principle he says applies directly to pharmacy practice.

"Science will evolve. Technology will advance. Organizations will change," Slone says, “but judgment endures."

Class speaker Arran Amick, selected by her peers to represent the graduating class, reflected on four years of shared sacrifice and growth, including 115 exams across the first three years of the program.

"We came in as strangers, and today we leave as trusted colleagues," Amick says. "My hope is that we never forget why we started this journey — to care for people, to serve our communities, and to use our knowledge to better the world around us."

In addition to the Doctor of Pharmacy degrees, three graduate students received Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences degrees.

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Topics: Pharm.D. Program, Student Experience