March 11, 2025, Alexis Watts
First-generation, low-income students frequently face the difficult choice between earning a paycheck and advancing their careers. The University of South Carolina Press Internship Program is changing this narrative through a paid stipend initiative so that no student misses out on a valuable internship experience because of financial constraints.
February 26, 2025, Carol J.G. Ward
Renee Shaw’s journey is a testament to courage and perseverance. Now a social worker, she draws from her own experiences with homelessness and hardship to uplift others and to make a meaningful impact in her community.
February 21, 2025, Gregory Hardy
The University of South Carolina broke ground on a facility that will redefine the future of health care education and research during a ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the site of its new School of Medicine Columbia. This cutting-edge, 300,000-square-foot-plus medical education and research facility will be part of USC’s transformative $300 million Health Sciences Campus, amid 16 acres in Columbia’s reimagined BullStreet District.
February 17, 2025, Lawson Estridge
A 12-foot bronze statue in front of McKissick Museum on the historic Horseshoe was inspired by a photo taken Sept. 11, 1963, when three African American students exited the Osborne Administration Building after enrolling at the University of South Carolina. We take a look behind the scenes of the creation of the monument dedicated to those brave pioneers who led the desegregation of USC.
February 12, 2025, Megan Sexton
The Future Leaders in Medicine, a student organization at the USC School of Medicine Columbia, has teamed with Curing Kids Cancer to raise awareness – and funds— for the fight against childhood cancer.
February 07, 2025, Page Ivey
Sumner Bender credits a movie with inspiring her first true career choice. It seems only fitting, then, that the 2007 public relations graduate now leads Columbia’s art house cinema, The Nickelodeon Theatre. Her journey from PR to nonprofit executive has woven through Columbia’s arts scene for most of her adult life.
January 21, 2025, Megan Sexton
For the fifth straight year, USC's College of Nursing is ranked No. 1 in the country for its online master’s in nursing program, according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual online program rankings released Tuesday (Jan. 21).
January 16, 2025, Megan Sexton
University of South Carolina alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corporal (retired) Kyle Carpenter will be recognized during Monday’s national championship college football game.
January 16, 2025, Video by Hadley McCollester. Intro text by Laura Erskine.
From communities in the Southeast submerged by floodwaters to neighborhoods on the California coast battling raging wildfires, natural disasters are on the rise. Hear from geographer Susan Cutter, Carolina Distinguished Professor, and alumni working in emergency management across the state and nation about how tools like the Social Vulnerability Index can lead to better outcomes for the future.
January 15, 2025, Anna Francis
Natasha Hastings came to the University of South Carolina with dreams of excelling as an athlete. Although her talent eventually would propel her to an NCAA championship, multiple world championships and two Olympic gold medals, her initial start on the Gamecock track and field team was less than stellar. Her body was sound, but she had psychological demons to slay.
January 14, 2025, Rebekah Friedman
The University of South Carolina wasn’t on Dave Bollinger’s radar until his daughter, Ruth, enrolled in CarolinaLIFE. Now both Bollingers are giving back to support the next generation of USC students with intellectual disabilities.
January 13, 2025, Page Ivey
The University of South Carolina has recognized students, faculty and staff members for their work on campus and in the larger community with 2025 Social Justice Awards.
January 10, 2025, Megan Sexton/Photo by Kim Truett
A first-generation college student at USC, James Bennett now strengthens community engagement as executive director of external affairs at First Citizens Bank.
January 06, 2025, Craig Brandhorst
Onetime marching band trumpet player, former drum major and Gamecock football season ticket holder Matt McCord, ’95, is committed to supporting the Carolina Band and future music majors. He’s also a father of three — and he’s determined to pass along his outsized Carolina pride.
January 06, 2025, Rebekah Friedman
When Cathy Knox, ’72, started her career as an elementary school teacher, her principal played a critical role as a mentor. Now retired, she is helping the next generation of educators get the coaching and support they need by supporting the Carolina Teacher Induction Program.
January 03, 2025, Thom Harman / photos by Kim Truett
Garrison Gist played fullback for the Gamecocks. Now the School of Visual Art and Design graduate is scoring big as a muralist and painter.
December 18, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photo by Kim Truett
Sharita Sims may not live in New York, but as manager of the New York Public Library’s community wellness programs, she couldn’t be more committed to the city and its people.
December 18, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photo by Kim Truett
Chris Rosa is high energy. Talks fast, writes faster. As a senior editor at NBC Entertainment whose job is to drive web traffic with a steady diet of pop culture candy, he doesn’t have a choice. As a lifelong pop culture junkie, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
December 16, 2024, Craig Brandhorst / Photos by Kim Truett
At 39, Monica Wyche was a high school drama teacher in Blythewood, South Carolina. At 40, she was newly married, renting a garden apartment on 75th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, ready to take the acting world by storm.
December 11, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett
This fall, Clay Owen, ‘82, received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the highest honor awarded by the University of South Carolina Alumni Association, for his work raising money for childhood cancer research. Owen was one of seven USC alumni honored during Homecoming.
December 06, 2024, Hadley McCollester
In South Carolina, 97 percent of newborn infants are screened for hearing ability — and 3.1 percent do not pass. At the Arnold School of Public Health, there’s a clinic that can help.
December 05, 2024, Collyn Taylor
James L. Solomon Jr., a trailblazer at USC and a distinguished civil servant, passed away at the age 94. He was one of three students who desegregated the university over 60 years ago.
November 26, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
Charleston native Keith Heyward Jr. was a restless third-grader when he realized his career goal was to teach. He knew that young Black boys craved a teacher they could relate to. Today, the University of South Carolina alumnus teaches kindergarten at James Island Elementary School. He makes sure the youngsters who step into his classroom feel safe and empowered.
November 20, 2024, Megan Sexton
As the December Class of 2024 prepares to walk across the commencement stage, graduates leave the University of South Carolina with memories of enduring friendships, newfound passions, supportive mentors and life-changing experiences.
November 14, 2024, Chris Horn
Students rarely end up later in life teaching the same undergraduate course they took in college, but that’s what Heather Dreano and Lesley Smith are doing now, thanks to an assist from their former University of South Carolina professor.
November 12, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
Long before she was traveling the world as senior director of business development and operations at CNN Sports, Amy Jordan was an Honors College student sending news releases around the world as a press intern for the late U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings. To date, Jordan has covered four different Olympic games, numerous Super Bowls, the U.S. Open and more.
November 12, 2024, Brandon Pugh
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded USC one of its largest-ever grants — $35 million — for the College of Education's GEAR UP SC program to help disadvantaged students overcome barriers to college and career opportunities.
November 11, 2024
More than a quarter of South Carolinians call a rural area home, but these populations have a higher incidence of medical emergencies and are at greater risk of death because of barriers to access to timely medical care. USC researchers and alumni are working to change that, both for the state’s communities and at the national level.
November 08, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett
This spring, actor Stan Brown made his Broadway debut at the age of 61. The theatre double alumnus, ’84, ’89 MFA, calls the role as Camel in the musical ‘Water for Elephants’ “a dream deferred,” but it’s not as if he has been waiting in the wings all these years. The Great White Way is just the latest chapter in a long and gratifying career.
November 08, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
University of South Carolina alumnus Robert Chambers LeHeup is a Marine Corps infantry veteran with two combat tours under his belt when he left the service in 2004. In 2012, he founded Bullets and Bandaids to heal and support vets through storytelling and artwork.
November 08, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett
You’ve seen Eva Pilgrim in the co-host seat on ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘GMA3,’ but the broadcast journalism alumna has a rich life beyond TV. And while she’s been living, working and enjoying her career in New York City for nearly a decade, she remains true to her South Carolina roots. In fact, they’re a big part of her success.
November 08, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett
As division president for London Times, a subsidiary of dressmaker Maggy London, Sara Bako is living two of her biggest dreams at once: She and her family live in New York City, and she works in the retail industry. But the ’04 retail management graduate is far from finished.
October 23, 2024, Craig Brandhorst
The first in his family to attend college, Bill Bloking’s engineering degree prepared him for careers at Exxon and BHP — and for boardrooms around the globe. His William F. Bloking First-Generation Scholars Fund will support Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing students and programs.
October 23, 2024, Dan Cook
Retired physician Eddie Floyd, the longest-serving member of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees, has resigned. A former heart surgeon and chairman of the board from 1992 to 1996, Floyd earned a bachelor’s degree in business from USC in 1956, and he had served on the USC board since 1982.
October 18, 2024, Communications and Marketing
There is also no doubt that nurses — an integral part of the nation's health care system — are in short supply. From opening a new building at Lexington Medical Center to being the home of the top-ranked online graduate program in nursing education, the University of South Carolina College of Nursing is committed to addressing the need.
October 17, 2024, Carol J.G. Ward
LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Deflection), a partnership between the West Columbia Police Department and the S.C. Department of Mental Health, is a community-based alternative to prosecution. Developed and staffed by two College of Social Work alumni, the program offers deflection and resources to people accused of nonviolent low-level offenses whose behavior stems from substance use, mental health challenges or poverty.
October 11, 2024, Carol E. Harrison
At the current Vatican synod, whose purpose is to address “communion, participation, and mission” in the church, women’s role is on the agenda. History professor Carol Harrison writes for The Conversation on how Catholic women have historically found ways to speak to and about their church leadership, even when they have been excluded from its proceedings.
October 07, 2024, Cary Mock
Some hurricanes are remembered for their wind damage or rainfall. Others for their coastal flooding. Hurricane Helene was a stew of all of that and more. Its near-record-breaking size, storm surge, winds and rainfall together turned Helene into an almost unimaginable disaster that stretched more than 500 miles inland from the Florida coast. Geography professor Cary Mock writes about the hurricane for The Conversation.
September 25, 2024, Carol J. G. Ward
As the USC School of Music celebrates its centennial, the revitalized, internationally recognized jazz program Dean Tayloe Harding envisioned more than a decade ago has become a reality.
September 10, 2024, Craig Brandhorst
Civil engineering graduate Deepal Eliatamby left Sri Lanka to find opportunity and freedom. He found it at USC and is now paying it forward.
September 10, 2024, Chris Horn
Anna Hoppmann is a pediatric oncologist with Prisma Health and a clinical assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia where she graduated nine years ago. She also chairs the S.C. Childhood Cancer Taskforce, which recently released a 25-year trend report on childhood cancer incidence, survival and mortality in South Carolina.
September 04, 2024, Craig Brandhorst / photos by Kim Truett
Attorney Joe Rice capped an illustrious career last fall with a record gift to the law school that bears his name, but the self-styled cowboy is hardly ready to ride into the sunset.
September 04, 2024, Carol J.G. Ward
The Centennial Celebration Concert joins more than 500 student musicians in the first of a series of events showcasing School of Music programs, students and faculty.
September 04, 2024, Rebekah Friedman / photos by Kim Truett
The Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing is named after a family, not a single person. Brothers Alex, Carl and Ray Molinaroli showed us why.
August 28, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
Soon all of us will experience an arts immersion like no other — autumn. We will marvel at breathtaking color — yellows, russets, reds and browns — brilliantly lighting up the landscape. The University of South Carolina similarly offers a wide spectrum of arts experiences to ignite your imagination this fall. Here is a sampling.
August 26, 2024
The Columbia Fireflies will be celebrating University of South Carolina Night at their game against the Charleston RiverDogs on Thursday, September 5 at Segra Park.
August 23, 2024, Gregory Hardy
As Betty Wilson begins this fall as an assistant professor at the College of Social Work, she sees it as a return to her community. The research interests of the two-time USC graduate and South Carolina native cover community-police relations, criminal justice reform, historical and racial trauma, and family and community resilience.
August 15, 2024, Rebekah Friedman
Thanks to the Washington Media Scholars Foundation, students pursuing careers in media and policy have a little less to worry about and a lot more within their reach. Founded by University of South Carolina alumnus Robin Roberts in 2009, the foundation supports undergraduates from USC and other institutions around the country through two very specific initiatives.
August 15, 2024, Craig Brandhorst
When Carolinian magazine was looking for a scenic Low Country location for an interview and photo session with University of South Carolina alumnus and donor Alex Molinaroli and his brothers for the fall 2024 issue, Bowens Island was top of the list.
July 24, 2024, Page Ivey
Kitty Sutton began her professional life as an attorney and thinks the lawyerly ability to hear a person’s story without passing judgment is part of what makes her successful as a University 101 instructor. In fact, her students were so impressed with Sutton’s skills that she is the 2024 recipient of the M. Stuart Hunter Award for Outstanding Teaching in University 101.