Kitty Sutton did not set out to become a college instructor.
She began her professional life as an attorney and thinks the lawyerly ability to hear a person’s story without passing judgment is part of what makes her successful as a University 101 instructor.
In fact, her students were so impressed with Sutton’s skills that she is the 2024 recipient of the M. Stuart Hunter Award for Outstanding Teaching in University 101.
“Kitty has been the most enthusiastic and kind professor I have had so far at Carolina,” business freshman Dominic Boblooch wrote in nominating Sutton for the award. “She made an 8:30 a.m. class the highlight of my semester. She loves her students and wants all of us to succeed. Her passion for teaching is what made this class so enjoyable for me.”
Sutton knows very well what her young charges are going through. As she tells her students, she is a “triple Gamecock,” earning her undergraduate degree in English (1984), her law degree (1989) and completing all the coursework for a Ph.D. in English here at USC. She also has a master’s in English from the University of South Alabama.
She initially got into teaching after she interviewed for a job that would have focused on her legal training.
“I interviewed for a job at the College of Charleston in their planned giving department, and the chair of the English department was in the interview. Afterward, she said, ‘I don't think you want this job — the planned giving,’ which is not what you want to hear in an interview.”
“It’s important to get a community developed, and U101 provides that community — that space to share your thoughts or to ask questions."
What the department chair had in mind was hiring Sutton to teach freshman English.
“It really was a dream come true,” Sutton says.
A few years later, Sutton returned to her hometown of Columbia to get back into the practice of law and began taking classes at USC for a Ph.D. in English. About 11 years ago, she began teaching at USC. At the encouragement of her childhood friend Stacey Calvert, she taught a dance history class.
“I used to dance growing up,” Sutton says. “I could teach dance history with my eyes closed.”
It was while she was working and studying at USC that Sutton met English professor Nina Levine, who encouraged her to teach U101 and English classes here.
“She guided me and mentored me into teaching freshmen here,” Sutton says. “I've been really lucky this past year: They let me teach two Honors classes, which is special because I was in the Honors College when I was a student here.”
Sutton says she has discovered that she really likes working with freshmen.
“They’re so inquisitive and they’re so eager and they’re so open to new ideas,” she says.
Connecting with students is her strong suit and one her classes seem to appreciate the most.
“She made it a point to meet with me individually and always listened when I was having problems or just needed someone,” student Caroline Moran wrote in nominating Sutton for the U101 teaching award. “She went out of her way so that my class had a relationship with one another, and she made class enjoyable and a break from the stress of college.”
Building those connections makes the transition to college easier, Sutton says.
“We are a large school, and I can see how it could be overwhelming,” she says. “It’s important to get a community developed, and U101 provides that community — that space to share your thoughts or to ask questions. I’m very non-judgmental, and if I can’t answer it, I know somebody who can.”
Sutton says she is grateful for the support she receives from the U101 team.
“Dan Friedman from U101 is a tremendous support, and he is my teacher,” she says. “The whole staff there is such a resource. I guess the best analogy is he is my U101 teacher, and all the staff are like our peer leaders.”