December 18, 2020
It’s been a year — but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty to celebrate, recognize and honor at the University of South Carolina in 2020. UofSC rose to each and every challenge this year and raised the bar for the year to come.
December 10, 2020, Rebecca Janzen
Each year, as many as 10 million people travel to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, in what is believed to be the largest Catholic pilgrimage in the Americas. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the pilgrimage will instead be held online this year. Rebecca Janzen, assistant professor of Spanish and comparative literature, explains the significance of the pilgrimage for The Conversation.
December 03, 2020, Nicole S. Maskiell
As COVID-19 affects frontline workers and communities of color far more than other demographic groups, and protesters agitate for racial justice, American society is wrestling with its racial memory and judging which monuments and memorials deserve a place. In The Conversation, history professor Nicole S. Maskiell looks back at how a few marginalized and oppressed people who served on the front lines of prior epidemics have been treated and remembered.
September 15, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
Students with intellectual disabilities face an array of challenges as they navigate their way through high school and transition to adulthood. Anthony Plotner, an assistant professor of special education in the College of Education, is working to ease that transition in practice and research.
September 10, 2020, Caleigh McDaniel
Student Health Services’ weekly podcast, “Hear Me Out,” has just begun its third season with new student hosts who are highlighting diverse perspectives on mental health topics.
September 10, 2020, Page Ivey
As women reach new heights in the political arena, a third-wave of feminism begins to take on persistent inequities beyond gender.
September 08, 2020, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina welcomed almost 7,800 new students to the Columbia campus this fall and the incoming freshman class is more diverse and has more in-state students than any previous class.
August 20, 2020, Megan Sexton
A podcast-a-thon Aug. 28 will highlight Black excellence at UofSC through conversations with students, alumni and faculty. The live-streamed event will raise money for the One Creed, One Carolina campaign.
August 20, 2020, Caleigh McDaniel
Whether you are a first year student or nearing the end of your college career, now is the perfect time to explore the virtual or safer in-person events UofSC has to offer this week and find community on campus.
August 18, 2020, Christian Anderson
This is a time when there is an intensified movement – particularly at America’s colleges and universities – to remove statues and names from buildings or organizations that pay homage to Confederate leaders and others with racist views. In The Conversation, education professor Christian Anderson examines the question of what – if anything – should be put up in their place.
August 17, 2020, Carol J.G. Ward
A summer camp for fifth- and sixth grade-students in South Carolina’s Gullah/Geechee community will introduce Gullah/Geechee students to STEM content from their own community and provide opportunities to interact with professionals who look like them, working in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
July 30, 2020, Carol J.G. Ward
Rodrianna Gaddy took her love of learning about different cultures, combined it with her passion to help people and channeled both into her academic path at the University of South Carolina with a double major in international business and human resources management with a minor in Japanese. Gaddy was scheduled to study abroad in Japan this spring. Then COVID-19 hit.
July 22, 2020, Anna Swartwood House
No one knows exactly what Jesus looked like, and there are no known images of him from his lifetime. Art history professor Anna Swartwood House writes in The Conversation that the portrayal of Jesus as a white, European man has come under renewed scrutiny during this period of introspection over the legacy of racism in society.
July 09, 2020, Annika Dahlgren
This fall, the College of Arts and Sciences begins its new themed semester initiative that encourages faculty and students from across the university to explore ideas related to the core subject of justice. The theme is meant to combine work from the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural and mathematical sciences to bear on today's challenging issues and problems.
July 07, 2020, Dan Cook
Julian Williams is the University of South Carolina’s first vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion. He comes to UofSC from Virginia’s George Mason University, where he served as vice president of inclusion and diversity. UofSC Today asked Williams about the challenges and opportunities of this moment.
April 29, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
Since completing his political science degree in 2015, James Anderson has been working on his resume. He was also instrumental in starting the Alumni Association’s Veterans Alumni Council, which became the association’s newest affinity group in 2016.
April 09, 2020, Carol J.G. Ward
The university will continue rehabilitation and preservation of the Booker T. Washington Auditorium Building to create a permanent space for the Center for Civil Rights History and Research’s exhibit “Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement.” Funded with a $500,000 grant from the National Park Service, the restoration will advance efforts to create a destination for people to learn the history of Columbia and of the school.
March 31, 2020, Chris Horn
The history of enslaved people at South Carolina College — the precursor of today's University of South Carolina — is a difficult one to tell. But research has brought to light the names of many of those individuals, and the university is acknowledging the vital role they played in the college's early days. Here's the story of one of those enslaved workers — a man named Jack.
March 06, 2020, Jeff Stensland
William F. "Bill" Tate IV, the dean of the graduate school and vice provost for graduate education at Washington University in St. Louis, was selected as the new executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina on Friday (March 6).
February 21, 2020, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina announced Julian R. Williams will serve as its first Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Williams, who most recently served as Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity at Virginia’s George Mason University, was selected by President Bob Caslen following a national search process. His appointment was formally approved by the university’s Board of Trustees on Feb. 21.
February 03, 2020, Allen Wallace
A year after Coach Harold White passed away, his memory lives on, thanks in part to a scholarship created in his name.
January 30, 2020, Kathryn McPhail
Later this month, a new center called Bilingualism Matters at UofSC is opening under the direction of education professor Eurydice Bauer. The center is partnering with two Midlands area school districts to research how multilingual education benefits students and how schools can implement education programs.
January 14, 2020, Kathryn McPhail
More than 5,300 teachers left South Carolina public schools at the end of the 2018-19 school year. That seems like a staggering number, but it’s not an anomaly. It puts students at risk of missing out on the quality instruction they need and deserve, and the University of South Carolina’s College of Education is stepping in to help with a new initiative aimed at recruiting and retaining teachers.
January 09, 2020, Page Ivey
A community organizer and equity scholar, a three-degree alumna, an education student leader and a professor with a strong record of mentoring younger colleagues are the recipients of the University of South Carolina’s 2020 Social Justice Awards and will be honored at the annual MLK Commemorative Breakfast Jan. 17 in the Russell House Ballroom.
January 06, 2020, Megan Sexton
In 1986, an archivist and a university professor brought posthumous fame to African American photographer Richard Samuel Roberts. In 2019, the University of South Carolina Press reissued their landmark book celebrating his work.