Posted on: November 14, 2024; Updated on: November 14, 2024 By Valerie Weingart, weingarv@mailbox.sc.edu
Frances Fawcett was not planning to move to Columbia, South Carolina. Born in Lake City, S.C., in
1922, as a young woman she had her heart set on attending Furman University. As she
writes in her self-published memoir, however, a conversation with her father changed
those plans.
“On the night before I was to go to Furman, at the supper table my Daddy announced
that I would not be going to Greenville but would be going to Columbia to Draughon’s
Business School,” Fawcett writes. “I had never heard of the school and didn’t know
anyone in Columbia.”
She needn’t have worried. More than 80 years after this dinnertime directive, when
asked about her favorite memories from her time in Columbia — a city that Fawcett
called home for over 70 years — Fawcett has a swift reply: “Well, I suppose it’s the
people that I met there.”
One of the people she met was William Harvey, whom she first encountered at the bank
in 1941. “Do you realize you’re going to marry me?” she asked him. “I left the bank
knowing I had just met my future husband,” she writes in her memoir, and the premonition
would prove to be correct. The two were married in 1942, and their marriage would
last for 40 years.
Throughout her memoir, Fawcett mentions her affinity for predicting the future. But
could she have had any idea of the impact that she would have on generations of University
of South Carolina students?
A lifetime of service
Following her husband’s passing in 1982, Fawcett continued to be engaged with the
Columbia community. She volunteered at Washington Street Methodist and Trinity Episcopal
churches specifically working on projects to assist unhoused people and offer grief
support. Fawcett would also remarry three times, and each of her husbands shared her
dedication to service.
“My four wonderful husbands had a lot in common,” she writes. “They all had character.
You could always depend on their word. They were intelligent, ambitious, successful
and generous.”
Fawcett made her first donation to the Honors College in 1999 to establish the James
A. Morris Carolina Scholar Fund, named in honor of her third husband. Later that year,
another of her donations created the A.T. & Frances Chalk Carolina Scholarship, the
name of which recognizes her second husband. Her gifts to the Honors College total
over $500,000, and many of the students who have received these awards share Fawcett’s
passion for community engagement.
“I felt that it was the one program that I was truly interested in,” says Fawcett,
speaking of the Honors College. She’d long admired the University of South Carolina,
noting that she was “impressed with all of the classes and all the teachers.”
This is an opinion shared by Chuck Redmond, a Carolina scholar whom Fawcett impacted. “My Honors College classes were by far
my favorite classes,” says the 2008 international business and finance graduate. “They
allowed me to explore my interest in music and music history without declaring a music
minor or taking all of the basics. I was able to do a class on the history of jazz
and a jazz improvisation class that are still my most memorable courses at USC.”
For Redmond, receiving the James A. Morris Carolina Scholarship was an integral part
of his decision to attend USC. He had been planning to attend college out of state,
but the Carolina Scholarship “made the decision easy.”
Throughout his time at USC, Redmond made sure to explore every opportunity — and even
create a few. He founded a Black Honors student group, participated in the mock trial
team, and “kept an open mind and went to whatever piqued my interest.” Redmond’s involvement
did not go unnoticed by the student population, which elected him Homecoming King
in 2006.
During his time as a Carolina scholar, Redmond had the opportunity to meet Fawcett.
He recalls feeling “a great sense of gratitude and surprise that it was an individual
donor that sponsored my scholarship. I had always thought it was a large pool of donors,
but it was humbling to meet an individual who really single-handedly changed my life
before she even met me.”
Redmond now serves as BCAP Alliance leader for Amazon Web Services. He credits his
Darla Moore School of Business coursework for providing an educational foundation
that has served him throughout his career. “While I attended Harvard Law School, all
of my jobs have been related to business, finance and other topics I learned at USC,”
he says. “I have spent time in both the social sector and private sector. In general,
I like to find ways to use my career to improve the lives of others. When I am able
to do that, I'm happy.”
Funding enriching opportunities
Sophomore A.T. & Frances Chalk Carolina scholar Carlynn Rychener is ready to engage with the USC community, as well. “I was drawn by the supportive
and collaborative community, as well as the funding to participate in enriching opportunities
such as study abroad and research,” she says.
In only her second year on campus, the biochemistry and molecular biology major has
made it a point to become involved with undergraduate research, a Maymester opportunity
in England, sports and several student organizations. She currently researches in
professor Susan Richardson’s lab, investigating the formation of drinking water disinfection
byproducts.
“Thanks to (Fawcett’s) contribution, I have (had) the opportunity to study abroad
more than once and immerse myself in other languages and cultures, which has been
one of my biggest dreams since I was young. I also have the flexibility to explore
my academic interests without feeling rushed to finish college early. It is hard to
find the words to express how grateful I am for everything Ms. Fawcett has made possible
for me,” Rychener reflects.
Outside of the lab and the classroom, Rychener says that she has formed meaningful
relationships, stepped into leadership roles and sought out new experiences. But the
engagement doesn’t stop there. Rychener already has her eye on starting an independent
research project with another Top Scholar, as well as two more study abroad programs.
As she tackles these new initiatives, she says that she not only plans “to remain
involved with the various organizations I am a part of, but to deepen my connection
and role in the clubs.”
Throughout her remaining time at USC, Rychener wants to continue exploring all that
the university has to offer. It’s difficult for her to pinpoint one specific career:
“I have so many interests that I am trying to gain experience in all of them to narrow
down my future career path.” She has a promising lead, though. “One of my main areas
of interest is ecotoxicology,” she says, “which is a combination of health, chemical
and environmental research.”
Investing in the future
It would have been difficult for Frances Fawcett to imagine, sitting at her dinner
table in 1939, that her moving to Columbia would impact students who would pursue
a career in internet business or engage in ecotoxicology research. Could she have
predicted that, though she did not yet know anyone in Columbia, one day, she would
be known and appreciated by so many? That her impact would span generations and turn
students’ aspirations into realities?
She knows that now. Fawcett has had the opportunity to meet some of her scholarship
recipients, and in her words: “Well, I was impressed.”
For these students, Fawcett hopes that they will continue to flourish and contribute
to their communities in a positive way. “I hope they will do something that’s really
outstanding,” she says, “use their education to do something that’s outstanding for
them as well as for the university.”
No doubt they will continue to do just that. Frances Fawcett has a knack for premonitions,
after all.
Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.