Posted February 17, 2017
By Rebekah Friedman, development coordinator
Photo: Dr. Jeff Ranta, Tracy Moore and USC student Julian Rachele.
For the third year in a row, The Carolina Agency in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications has won the Donate Life Duel trophy for registering the most organ, eye and tissue donors during its annual drive.
The Donate Life Duel is part of a partnership among Donate Life South Carolina, We Are Sharing Hope (formerly LifePoint), and the Heather Trew Foundation’s student group, Trew Friends. The contest started as a way to raise awareness about organ, tissue and eye donation at colleges and universities.
The colossal trophy is passed between the University of South Carolina and Clemson University each year in a tradition that recognizes the school that registers the most donors during the Clemson-Carolina Blood Drive in November. The 2016 duel netted nearly 1,487 new donors — 683 from Clemson and 804 from USC.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work our TCA team did last semester to win the donate life duel for the third year in a row,” said class faculty advisor, Dr. Jeff Ranta. “It was a big effort by a lot of our students and involved planning, logistics, publicity and persuasive communications. TCA teamed up with those student members of Trew Friends and the group did not let up.”
Donate Life South Carolina CEO and executive director Tracy Moore traveled to Columbia from Greenville to present the trophy to The Carolina Agency in a February 15 ceremony.
“We appreciate USC’s support and participation in this annual event and look forward to our continued partnership in the years to come,” Moore said.
While bragging rights are nice, Ranta says the duel is about more than just winning.
“The really compelling message is how many people both universities signed up to become organ donors during the duel last year,” Ranta said. “That speaks highly of the Palmetto state’s students’ altruism and compassion.”