When he was growing up, there was no real question that Colin Hungerpiller would be a Gamecock. Sure, he toured a few other schools as a student at Hartsville High School. But really, with an interest in history, a desire to be a pharmacist and a love of his home state, it wasn’t hard to predict his college choice.
He would go where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him went — to the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
“Going to Carolina meant something to me my entire life,” Hungerpiller says. “I went to my first Carolina game at Williams-Brice Stadium when I was in diapers. Carolina is what I knew. It’s what I loved.”
Those roots run deep in the Hungerpiller family.
Starting a Gamecock tradition
The tradition started with Colin Hungerpiller’s great-grandfather, John C. “JC” Hungerpiller, who arrived on campus in 1905 at age 22 from Elloree, South Carolina. He lived on the Horseshoe, and his education was made possible by a $40 scholarship and his savings of $30.
At South Carolina, JC Hungerpiller earned his degree in education, was a member of the Clariosophic Literary Society and won the Bennett Medal for writing the best essay on the principles of free government. He kept that award on his watch chain for the rest of his life.
While a student at Carolina “he absolutely fell in love with learning, with literature, and really in so many ways, just service,” his great-grandson says. “And he dedicated the rest of his life to education and building up the next generations. His family was part of that legacy.”
When he earned his master’s degree in 1917 from the University of Chicago, JC Hungerpiller wrote his thesis on the life and character of Jonathan Maxcy, USC’s first president. An educator and author, he went on to be the principal of Hartsville High School from 1922 to 1944, and the John C. Hungerpiller papers are housed at the South Caroliniana Library on campus. His daughter, Gladys Hungerpiller Ingram, later established an endowment in the College of Education in his honor.
The roots spread: More generations of Gamecocks
Needless to say, JC Hungerpiller’s son John Kenton “Kent” Hungerpiller followed in his footsteps and arrived at Carolina in the late 1930s. His education was interrupted by the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the U.S. entry into World War II. Kent Hungerpiller left school and joined the Navy, serving in the Pacific on the USS Clarion.
He intended to finish his degree after the war. But after he returned home to his wife, whom he had married just before shipping out, he instead went into business, opening KENTCO Heating and Cooling in Hartsville in the 1950s. Still, his connection to Carolina remained — he became the family’s first member of the Gamecock Club, a tradition that has continued for almost 60 years.
Kent Hungerpiller’s sister, Sloan (’43) also attended USC, where she met her husband Deward Brittain (’42). He was the editor-in-chief of The Gamecock student newspaper; she was a reporter. Their connection to the university is cemented at the Deward Brittain and Sloan Hungerpiller Brittain Gallery in USC’s Hollings library.
“They all absolutely loved Carolina,” Colin Hungerpiller says.
College in the Vietnam era
Those aren’t the only Hungerpillers who preceded Colin at USC. This list includes his uncles Kent and David, cousins Kenton and Dupre and, of course, his father, James Colin Hungerpiller, who arrived on campus in 1969.
“I was a born and bred Gamecock,” James Colin Hungerpiller says. “But it was so different when my dad took me to college; I had a footlocker and I had a suitcase. He put me out at the Honeycombs and he said, ‘The first semester’s on your mother and I. Do well, because we may not be able to send you back the next semester.’ I did a lot of enjoying my social life at the University of South Carolina my freshman year.”
It was during the Vietnam War era, and he says he saw the writing on the wall when the draft lottery came around. He took a semester off and went through basic training for the Army National Guard, where he continued to serve for six years. He also turned summer jobs working along the coast into a position running beach services, and eventually moved into the mechanical contracting business. Family ties brought him back to Hartsville, where he and his brother Kent took over and expanded the KENTCO Heating and Air business.
“When I go to Carolina, whether it’s a football game or standing out on the Horseshoe, it’s like coming home.”
Finding his own path at USC
When it came time for Colin Hungerpiller to follow the Gamecock path, he found another connection with his father when he moved into Preston Residential College.
“We get to my room and we’re unpacking boxes and dad goes, ‘You know, this was a lot simpler back when I moved in here.’ Not only was I in the same building, but I was living on the same hall that my dad did when he was at Carolina in the ‘70s.”
At USC, Colin immersed himself into all sorts of activities and academic pursuits. He grew up enjoying science and history, but saw healthcare a possible career. He took an IB chemistry class in high school, and the unit on drug chemistry and pharmacology inspired him. After talking with a friend’s mother who was a pharmacist, doing some research and shadowing a few pharmacists, he decided it was the route for him. He also thought he’d want to pursue an MBA at some point, so he jumped at the chance to earn a dual degree through the College of Pharmacy and the Darla Moore School of Business. He graduated with a bachelor’s in pharmaceutical science (’19), a Pharm.D. degree (’21) and an MBA (’22).
He remains thankful for the opportunities he had at USC, along with the family connections he’s learned more about.
“I’ve always loved history and genealogy and learning about who you are, where you come from,” Colin Hungerpiller says. “And it’s incredible to me that over 100 years ago, the experience of one man instilled a love for the same institution and same sports teams that are around today. It’s just incredible to me. I’m sure he’d be over the moon if he knew that I had three degrees from Carolina.”
And that medal JC Hungerpiller won at USC for an essay about free government? His great-grandson is living that ideal. Colin Hungerpiller was elected to the Hartsville City Council in 2023 when he was 26 years old. He also works as a pharmacist in Hartsville and is one of the 2026 honorees of the Gamecock35, a cohort of outstanding alumni under age 35 chosen by the Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Council.
“Upholding that legacy is important to me,” he says. “When I go to Carolina, whether it’s a football game or standing out on the Horseshoe, it’s like coming home. It’s where I feel connected to family that I didn’t even know. But I know they loved that place as much as I do. It is a special, special place. And had it not been for my family and had it not been for the University of South Carolina, I don’t know that I would have had the success that I’ve had. It’s very humbling.”