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?

The feel of the ball as it leaves her hands, the familiar spin of its flight and the swish as it goes through the net have been a part of Shelbretta “Brett” Ball’s life since she was five. The 5-foot 8-inch sophomore guard inherited her passion for the game from two aunts who played collegiate, international and professional basketball.

“Growing up, I was surrounded by basketball,” Brett says. “I saw my aunts play major college ball, play as members of Olympic teams and play professionally. They experienced so much through basketball. I wanted to do it, too.”

During those formative years, Brett developed a never-give-up attitude and an overwhelming desire to succeed. She trained endlessly and perfected her signature “in and out” move. Recruited by numerous schools, the Mississippi native selected USC in order to play under head coach Dawn Staley and to major in criminal justice and journalism.

However, soon after arriving in Columbia Brett was ruled medically ineligible to play. “It was a devastating blow,” she recalls. And for several months being around the game was painful. “It cut me like a knife just to walk into the gym.”

But Brett didn’t back down. Relying on the same fortitude she used to face down superior opponents, Brett discovered a new game — a new way to contribute to the team. “It was hard to figure out my role,” Brett says. “But with advice from Coach Staley, I’ve found my place on the team.”

Now, armed with a video camera, Brett produces “Ballin’ with Brett,” a video blog providing Carolina fans with behind-the-scenes access to the team. The blogs document the women’s team from practice sessions and postgame interviews to study hall and travel.

With her basketball career on hold for now, it’s no mystery how she stays on top of her game. Brett lives by the motto: “Its not how you start the game that counts. It’s how you finish.”

The program is a collaborative effort of USC student government and the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy, an outreach initiative of the School of Library and Information Science. Cocky and members of the USC community have visited elementary schools across South Carolina. The students read to the children, and Cocky helps the children understand the importance of life-long reading.

USC Bucket List: #20. Inspire a child to read with Cocky’s Reading Express.

Trivia Tuesday:
Be the first to answer this week’s trivia question correctly in the comments to receive a No Limits t-shirt. How many books have been distributed through Cocky’s Reading Express?

The university’s first commencement at Rutledge Chapel included an early tradition no longer in practice: requiring the valedictorian and salutatorian to give a commencement address in Latin. Emblematic traditions that remain include the University Mace and President’s Medallion, with the addition of the ceremonial presentation of gonfalons at the May 2012 commencement exercises. The tradition of a university president shaking the hand of every graduate has become rare. Not so at the University of South Carolina. The university president greets and shakes hands with every Carolina graduate, alongside the dean of each college or school.

In recent years new traditions have emerged. It has become increasingly popular to decorate graduation caps. So much so that we’ve already spotted one on Instagram. And this year, for the first time ever at USC, International students can wear graduation sashes representing their countries at commencement.

Have you decorated your cap for graduation? Tweet #UofSC12 and we might feature it here.

Trivia Tuesday:
Be the first to answer this week’s trivia question correctly in the comments to receive a No Limits t-shirt. One tradition surrounding commencement is a surprise that not every graduating class gets to see, involving USC’s beloved mascot, Cocky. How do you know if Cocky is in your graduating class?

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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?