However, this is not the location of the first telescope or observatory owned and run by USC. The first observatory on campus was actually constructed on the roof of one of the university’s oldest buildings.

USC Bucket List: #39. Stargaze from the Melton Observatory.

Trivia Tuesday:
Be the first to answer this week’s trivia question correctly in the comments to receive a No Limits t-shirt. What building now sits at the location of the first USC observatory?

Send your memories and high-resolution photos to Liz McCarthy at lizmccarthy@sc.edu for consideration or post photos to Instagram using the hashtag #UofSCwq by April 23. Please include your name, graduation year and a memory or photo caption.

Browse Garnet and Black yearbooks from 1899 to 1982 and historic photos of USC buildings online in the USC Archives.

A Timeline of the Women’s Quad

Wade Hampton – 1924
The original Wade Hampton residence hall was constructed in 1924 and was the first women’s dormitory at the University of South Carolina. Its construction ended a long debate over whether or not a women’s dorm should be built at all, since coeducation was still unpopular in some circles. Female students were first admitted to the University in 1895, but were not allowed to live on campus until World War I, and that was a temporary arrangement due to the loss of male students to the armed services. It is named for Wade Hampton III, a Confederate general, South Carolina governor and United States senator.

Sims – 1939
Sims College was part of an extensive building program at the University in the late 1930s as part of the New Deal. The women’s residence hall was constructed in 1939 and named for South Carolina College alumnus James Marion Sims, an internationally known physician who was instrumental in the formation of gynecology as a medical specialty.

McClintock – 1955
This women’s residence hall, constructed in 1955, was the first building on USC’s campus named for a woman. It is named for Euphemia McClintock, who headed the College of Women in Columbia, S.C.

Wade Hampton – 1959
The original Wade Hampton College was destroyed in 1959 and a new building with the same name was constructed in its place.

The USC Ring Ceremony has become a milestone at the University of South Carolina, second only to commencement. At the very core of USC’s shared values is an intangible link between past and future. These shared values and traditions, along with Carolina’s unique characteristics, are passed on with each graduating class like a ring that comes full circle.

The official ring stands as a symbol of our eternal affiliation with the university. It carries the seal of the University of South Carolina and is inscribed with the university’s motto which, translated from Latin, states, “Learning humanizes character and does not permit it to be cruel.”

Trivia Tuesday:
Be the first to answer this week’s trivia question correctly in the comments to receive a No Limits t-shirt. When was the first USC ring ceremony held?

Brittany Walter has always been interested in death. “Actually, it goes beyond interest and fascination,” says or said the USC doctoral student. “I’ve always had an understanding of death.

“It started when I was in seventh grade,” she explains. “I read mostly forensic crime novels, like ‘Death du Jour,’ ‘Break No Bones’ and ‘Bones to Ashes.’ I would say that I was definitely an oddball in middle school.”

By the time she entered college, there was no question that the Florida native would major in anthropology and focus her studies on the secrets of human remains. Her curiosity led to conducting undergraduate research in a medical examiner’s office, where she compared cranial shapes and thicknesses.

She remembers the first time she saw an autopsy. “The smell is like no other,” she said. “It’s sharp, pungent and sweet all at the same time. And you instinctively know it’s a dead person and not an animal, even without seeing the body.”

As a graduate student at the University of Central Florida, Brittany conducted further research, this time utilizing global positioning systems and ground penetrating radar for mapping and locating body parts. She also had the opportunity to work a very high profile crime case.

“My advisor was the forensic recovery expert during the Casey Anthony trail,” Brittany said. “We assisted the medical examiner, and he testified at the trial.”

Currently working toward a Ph.D. in anthropology at USC, Brittany has refocused her area of specialization, moving away from crime scenes to ancient burial sites and causes of death. Her research has taken her to an early Egyptian cemetery and an ancient Mediterranean gravesite in which King Midas is believed to have been buried. There she analyzed ancient skeletal remains to diagnose breast cancer and other deadly diseases.

She’s working closely with USC professor Sharon Dewitte, a biological anthropologist. Dewitte investigates the mortality patterns, demographics and health consequences of medieval plague in Europe, including the Black Death of 1347-1351. What’s more, Brittany teaches in the anthropology’s osteology (bone) lab and is a Presidential Doctoral Fellow.

“Bones are full of information,” she said. “You can tell age and sex. You can tell ancestry. You can tell whether a person was right-handed or left-handed. Bones can reveal certain diseases and how a person might have died.”

By digging through the medical mysteries of the past, Brittany is not only discovering new and fascinating information from history, she is uncovering the diagnostic tools of tomorrow that may some day help solve some of our most challenging health problems.

Check another item off your USC Bucket List: Celebrate the holidays by attending USC’s Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Later this week enjoy a musical holiday tradition at USC, with two free Christmas concerts performed by the University of South Carolina School of Music’s premier choral ensemble. The USC Concert Choir, directed by Dr. Larry Wyatt, continues a much loved holiday tradition. The concert program includes a variety of sacred works and Christmas songs from early and Baroque works to works by contemporary composers of the 21st century and best-loved Christmas carols. The concerts are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30 at First Presbyterian Church (1324 Marion St.) and 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2 at Shandon United Methodist Church (3407 Devine St.). View a full list of USC concerts and events.

Trivia Tuesday:
Be the first to answer this week’s trivia question correctly in the comments to receive a No Limits t-shirt. What number is the tree lighting ceremony on the USC Bucket List?

It all began one year when the Carolina football team defeated a highly favored Clemson team 12-6. At the time, and for decades to come, the game was called Big Thursday and was just one of many events during the week the South Carolina State Fair was in town. After the big win, Carolina fans and players carried around a drawing of a gamecock crowing over a beaten tiger. Not too happy about it, Clemson students warned the Carolina students not to carry the banner in the big parade down Main Street the next day, or there would be consequences.

Naturally, the USC students ignored them. And when the Clemson students saw it at the parade, their cadet corps (Clemson was a military school at the time), about 300 strong and armed with rifles complete with bayonets, decided to march on campus and take the drawing away. About 40 USC students hunkered down behind the Horseshoe wall on Sumter Street, themselves armed with bricks, sticks, rocks and a few knives and pistols.

Fortunately, police and faculty intervened, and cooler heads prevailed. It was agreed that the drawing would be burned between the two student bodies while they cheered against each other.

Out of this almost dire situation, a fun celebration and long-standing tradition was born at both schools. In Columbia, that tradition is now known as Tigerburn. Each year a gigantic tiger is built by students, then burned at a pep rally the week of the big game.

My Carolina’s exclusive Carolina/Clemson t-shirt is becoming a tradition. For the fourth year in a row, they have teamed up with award-winning editorial cartoonist and member Robert Ariail to ride home with another victory this fall against the Tigers. Join My Carolina today and you’ll receive this limited-edition Carolina/Clemson illustrated t-shirt.

Trivia Tuesday:
Be the first to answer this week’s trivia question correctly in the comments to receive a No Limits t-shirt. In what year did Tigerburn begin?

The brick pathways on the Horseshoe date back to 1931, when students and faculty members decided to lay sidewalks to prevent having to walk muddy paths on rainy days. The project received donations of money, bricks and the assistance of brick masons.

Order your Horseshoe brick from My Carolina Alumni Association.

Today you’ll notice a blend of old and new bricks intermingled throughout. In an effort by My Carolina to restore the walkways, it has become a tradition to purchase bricks in honor of family members or as a graduation gift to leave a permanent legacy at Carolina. Most recently, a Horseshoe brick was the means of a unique marriage proposal. The special moment was captured and posted on YouTube.

Trivia Tuesday

Be the first to answer this week’s Trivia Tuesday question correctly in the comments section to receive a No Limits t-shirt. What do the white letters on the Horseshoe represent?

Trivia Tuesday: What do the white letters on the Horseshoe represent?