March 24, 2023, Megan Sexton
The struggle to find recruits who can meet physical fitness and weight requirements to begin military training is a costly dilemma – in terms of national security, military readiness and dollars needed to treat injured trainees.
March 24, 2023, Rose Cisneros
McCausland Fellow Besim Dragovic has a favorite mineral —it’s garnet, of course. Garnet is a mineral that carries a wealth of information about unique locations on Earth and their history as well as element-containing rocks hold several possibilities for sustainability.
March 24, 2023, Reagin von Lehe
From editor-in-chief of Garnet and Black magazine to interviewing Martin Scorsese, Erika Ryan has left an impression on every newsroom in her career path. The mass communications alumna has explored almost all forms of news media.
March 23, 2023, Page Ivey
Many of the fans following the South Carolina women's basketball team through the NCAA Tournament have been with the Gamecocks since the beginning — some quite literally since that first women’s team played in 1974 — sitting in mostly empty arenas, cheering on their team in good years and bad. Now South Carolina is No. 1 not just on the court, but also in filling arenas with average attendance at women’s games over 12,000 and frequent sellouts of all 18,000 seats.
March 22, 2023, Grace Farrar
An estimated 450,000 South Carolinians lack internet access, but the University of South Carolina is teaming up with the state Broadband Office to bridge that gap. Researchers from across the university have developed a survey to gauge broadband need statewide, a key step towards accessing federal broadband investments.
March 22, 2023
Cultural anthropologist Monica Barra studies how racial inequalities are shaped by scientific practices, racial histories and climate change in the U.S. South.
March 21, 2023, Grace Farrar
Assistant professor of sociology Jaclyn Wong's book "Equal Partners?" dives into relationship inequality within dual-professional couples.
March 21, 2023, Cassandra Jones Havard
Professor of law Cassandra Jones Havard writes for The Conversation on the risks of the goverment saving failing banks.
March 21, 2023, Page Ivey
DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, ’97 law, is only the second woman of color to serve on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Benjamin sat down with USC Today after her recent confirmation to the federal bench to talk about life choices and how her experiences in law school have guided her career.
March 21, 2023, Dana Woodward
Michael Sagas will take the helm at the university’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management on June 15.
March 17, 2023, Allen Wallace
Through its ongoing support of Prisma Health Children’s Hospital, Dance Marathon helps support children and families of children who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses.
March 17, 2023, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina’s Board of Trustees approved a two-year contract extension for Athletics Director Ray Tanner during its March meeting Friday (March 17). Also on Friday, USC’s Board of trustees received updated on student parking and mental health initiatives.
March 16, 2023, Emily Miles
Described as a visionary leader and a passionate educator, Meera Narasimhan, M.D., has been at the forefront of telehealth in South Carolina. Her passion for addressing disparities in health care delivery and her advocacy for mental health awareness have led Narasimhan to a leadership role in medicine in the state.
March 16, 2023, Reagin von Lehe and Cecilia Dore
Former student body presidents share their accomplishments since graduating and reflect on the notable role.
March 15, 2023, Alexis Watts
The Columbia-Richland Fire Department is now equipped with unexpected tools to battle blazes: maps, graphs and statistics. A University of South Carolina geography graduate lead the way in bringing these tools that calculate and cut off many fire risks before they even occur.
March 14, 2023, Rebekah Friedman
As a tribute to the Black alumnae featured in the student-produced documentary The Backbone, USC’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion installed 18 personalized bricks on the Horseshoe. The honorees' stories span seven decades of university history.
March 13, 2023, Chris Horn
In the past 100 years, USC has been a member of four athletics conferences. Here's a quick primer on the whens and whys of each affiliation and a look back at the university's 21-year stretch as a football independent.
March 13, 2023, Derek W. Black
Constitutional law expert and professor of law Derek W. Black writes for The Conversation on the limitations of presidential student loan forgiveness.
March 08, 2023, Michaela Taylor
Poetry has been ingrained in Jennifer Bartell Boykin’s life since she was young, and it’s followed her through adventures as a student, journalist, teacher, advisor and more. Now, it’s empowering her as Columbia’s new poet laureate.
March 08, 2023, Téa Smith
Since its inception, the Artificial Intelligence Institute of South Carolina has fostered multiple partnerships to infuse artificial intelligence expertise into the framework of research at USC. Founding director Amit Sheth and the five new faculty he helped recruit have secured funding for a growing team of over 40 researchers.
March 03, 2023, Hannah Cambre
Jahleel Johnson gains confidence and insight as part of a prestigious youth exchange program between the U.S. State Department and the German congress.
March 03, 2023, Hannah Cambre
Recent graduates Brett Nilsen and Sean Powers came to the McNair Institute with a dream. They left USC with the opportunity to participate in one of the world’s largest startup investor programs.
March 03, 2023, Chris Horn
The state of South Carolina has a surprisingly rich history of Jewish presence dating back more than three centuries. It's not surprising, then, that the University of South Carolina would have its own history of Jewish life on campus.
March 01, 2023, Alexis Watts
David Banush took the helm as dean of University of South Carolina Libraries in November. He has seen his career come full circle from shelving books as a 17-year-old to leading the libraries into a new era.
March 01, 2023, Reagin von Lehe
From building the city’s canal to founding St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Irish immigrants and their descendants have a rich history in Columbia dating back to the 19th century. Eric Friendly, research coordinator for Historic Columbia, the community from the first wave of immigrants that arrived in the 1820s.
February 27, 2023, Dan Cook
Former Columbia mayor Steve Benjamin, a two-time alumnus of the University of South Carolina, has been named as a senior advisor to the White House and director of the Office of Public Engagement.
February 25, 2023, Reagin von Lehe
Through her marketing major, Jala Lewis is learning how to manage her cosmetology business that she started in high school. Jala’s Extensions became a reality for Lewis when she posted her progress in learning how to braid on social media — her peers in school were impressed. Now, she has braided Zia Cooke’s, Bree Hall’s, and Chico Carter Jr.’s hair in USC athletics.
February 24, 2023, Allen Wallace
As a partner and vice chairman of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, Sheila Johnson is the only African American woman with ownership in three professional sports teams. Students in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management are gaining unique insights from Johnson as she returns for a second semester to co-teach a class on leadership.
February 24, 2023, Dana Woodward
The university’s trustees welcomed three new members at their meeting Friday (Feb. 24). The board also approved 10 new academic programs and a variety of program modifications.
February 23, 2023, Reagin von Lehe
Chance and Mackenzie Edwards packed a lot of life into a short time period: They got married, went on a honeymoon; he got laid off and they started a business — all during a pandemic. But for the College of Information and Communications graduates, the struggles led to something they’re now thankful for.
February 22, 2023, Carol J.G. Ward
As a respected scholar of Southern history and African American culture, Bobby Donaldson has served as a consultant for museum exhibitions, archival collections, oral history initiatives, documentary films and historic preservation projects. He also has been recognized for his teaching and community outreach. He credits his parents and educators — from his elementary school librarian to a “drill sergeant” professor at Wesleyan University to his mentors and colleagues at USC — for inspiring his career.
February 22, 2023, Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti
Professors of pathology, microbiology and immunology Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti write for The Conversation on endocannabinoids, compounds found in humans that are similar to those found in marijuana.
February 21, 2023
Lexington Medical Center and the University of South Carolina broke ground on a new building to train nurses on the hospital campus in West Columbia. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
February 20, 2023, Page Ivey
Business professor Luv Sharma’s research focus on process management and improvement may sound like an unlikely match for helping kidney transplant patients, but his experience and expertise were the perfect combination for creating an intervention for a major U.S. hospital over three years (2013-16).
February 17, 2023, Megan Sexton
Researchers from the College of Engineering and Computing and the Arnold School of Public Health are studying how a person’s walking speed affects health and well being.
February 17, 2023, Page Ivey
Tourism is the main driver of South Carolina’s economy, accounting for about 10 percent of jobs in the state and an estimated annual impact of $29 billion. The University of South Carolina helps keep this economic engine humming by preparing graduates of the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management to take on key roles in a variety of businesses and by helping those businesses adapt and grow.
February 16, 2023, Chris Horn
USC students in 1977 buried an eclectic assortment of items for a time capsule that was unearthed in 2001 as part of the university's bicentennial celebration. That same year, another time capsule was buried on the Horseshoe — with its own treasure trove of items — with an opening scheduled for 2051.
February 14, 2023
The University of South Carolina is focused on the brain. From autism and aphasia to Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, university researchers are working across several academic disciplines to better understand how the brain works and to develop solutions that will improve people’s health.
February 14, 2023, Téa Smith
New interim bachelor of social work program coordinator Bree Alexander is eager to give students more opportunities to pursue their research interests — on their own or working with a faulty member.
February 14, 2023, Alexis Watts
New age treasure hunters, part of the South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program, are saving crucial historical information buried in old publications that are being preserved and presented online. The newspapers reveal stories from the state’s Black residents and rural communities, often overlooked by larger news outlets.
February 13, 2023, Carol J.G. Ward
The University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collections in a partnership with the History Division of the Marine Corps is digitizing films shot by more than 50 Marine combat cameramen during the Battle of Iwo Jima, which began Feb. 19, 1945. The goal is to provide public access to the video and expand historical understanding.
February 13, 2023, Cecilia Dore
Succeeding academically can be difficult if you are struggling financially. The Money Management program is here to help prepare you for any financial challenges you might face while in college and learn more about managing your finances.
February 10, 2023, Page Ivey
CarolinaTIP focuses on teachers in their first three years as they transition from learning how to teach to leading their own classrooms. About half of all South Carolina teachers who leave their jobs each year are in their first five years of working in the classroom. The Carolina Teacher Induction Program has reduced the number of new teachers leaving the profession by offering them coaching support from more experienced classroom leaders — most of whom are retired instructors who want to give back to the profession.
February 10, 2023, Communications and Marketing staff
On Tuesday (Feb. 14), University of South Carolina alumni and advocates will come together in support of the university’s efforts to build a stronger, healthier state. The Valentine’s Day event is a perfect opportunity for supporters to show their love for USC and thank state legislators who have helped the university fulfill its mission to provide an affordable, accessible education.
February 10, 2023, Communications and Marketing
The Veterans Legal Clinic provides free legal services to low-income veterans living in South Carolina who are facing issues with credit and related financial matters, housing, government benefits and family law. It was established in 2018 by a grant from the South Carolina Bar Foundation. Thanks to continued support from Boeing — $450,000 to date — the clinic has been able to serve more than 70 veterans since opening.
February 09, 2023, Dan Cook
The U.S. Senate voted 53-44 to confirm DeAndrea G. Benjamin to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Benjamin is a 1997 alumna of USC’s School of Law.
February 09, 2023, Nicole Meares
Gayenell Magwood focuses on community research and engagement, cardiometabolic risk and prevention, and cancer control and prevention. She is an endowed professor of nursing and is also passionate about her involvement with the American Heart Association and raising awareness for heart disease and stroke.
February 09, 2023, Chris Horn
Peden McLeod, a 1967 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law believed in public service. Founder, chairman and CEO of the Bank of Walterboro as well as a state legislator, McLeod worked tirelessly to establish and support the USC Salkehatchie campus. It’s fitting, then, that the only building named for an individual on the campus in Walterboro honors McLeod: the Peden McLeod Library, which was dedicated in 1998.
February 09, 2023, Reagin von Lehe
Growing up, USC alumna Kimberly Elchlepp religiously watched sports TV when she wasn’t playing volleyball or softball. The public relations graduate went on to make her women’s sports enthusiasm into a career at ESPN as a senior publicist on the college sports team.
February 08, 2023, Dana Woodward
The Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Analytics is the home for much the university’s broad array of institutional data. It’s where staff and faculty can go to find all kinds of key information: number of faculty, staff and students; enrollment data for each college and school; how many degrees are awarded in each area, and much more.
February 07, 2023, Ian T. Adams
Assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice Ian T. Adams and others write for The Conversation on staffing issues on the Memphis police force.
February 07, 2023, Rebecca Janzen
Associate professor of Spanish and comparative literature Rebecca Janzen writes for The Conversation on persistent crime trends in Mexico despite criminal justice reform.
February 07, 2023, Communications and Marketing
Virtual care is playing a bigger and bigger role in health care. Lorie Donelle, Emily Myrtle Smith Endowed Professor of Nursing, wants to make sure it’s not just efficient but also effective and ethical. The goal? To help people avoid misinformation and disinformation that can have negative impacts on their health care decisions.
February 06, 2023, Ian T. Adams and Seth W. Stoughton
Assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice Ian T. Adams and professor of law Seth W. Stoughton write for The Conversation on the issues surrounding specialized police units.
February 03, 2023, Alexis Watts, Grace Farrar
With only a few short months until summer, it’s time for parents to find summer activities for their children. USC offers a wide variety of summer camps for all interests from music to soccer and dance to engineering.
February 03, 2023, Chris Horn
For more than 110 years, USC alumni and students have been singing the university alma mater — 'We hail theee, Carolina!' But what, exactly, is an alma mater and how did USC end up with one?
January 31, 2023, Alexis Watts
The School of Music is bolstering the state’s jazz scene thanks to a dedicated space to train jazz educators and artists, outreach programs to seed the state’s jazz pipeline from the Upstate to the Lowcountry and energetic faculty eager to connect students with top musicians.
January 31, 2023, Alexis Watts, Brandie Perron
School of Music students are using music as a way to connect new mothers at Camille Graham Correctional Institution and their babies through a program called The Lullaby Project, which is a project of Carnegie Hall and their Weill Music Institute.
January 30, 2023, Megan Sexton
Hope Rivers, a first-generation college student who earned three degrees from USC, is inspiring a new generation of students as the president of Piedmont Technical College.
January 27, 2023, Craig Brandhorst
Physics Professor Timir Datta was recently named a 2022 American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow for his research on “high-temperature” superconductors. But it’s the puzzling nature of electromagnetism that has pulled at his imagination for the last half a century.
January 26, 2023, Reagin von Lehe
The first month of the new year is rapidly coming to an end, and the initial burst of energy students may put toward resolutions can be difficult to maintain. However, USC has resources to ease the stress of classes along with trying to keep up with those personal goals.
January 26, 2023, Dan Cook
Achieving a performance career as a professional musician is notoriously difficult. But Mak Grgic, a new assistant professor of guitar at the School of Music, has done just that — playing 80-100 concerts a year, commissioning new pieces and earning two Grammy nominations.
January 26, 2023, Kyndel Lee
Miss USA Morgan Romano knows all too well that only 28% of the STEM workforce is made up of women, and she's using her platform to spark interests in young girls and help create a pipeline for more women to purse careers in the STEM fields.
January 26, 2023, Dan Cook
The Murdaugh saga is the most talked-about case in the country, inspiring sustained national media attention and an entire podcast devoted to the subject. Right at the center of it is Jay Bender, a former University of South Carolina media law professor who retired in 2016. Bender has been appointed by S.C. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman to serve as a liaison between the court and the media for the high-profile case.
January 25, 2023, Eva V. Monsma
Developmental sport psychology professor Eva V. Monsma writes for The Conversation on the negative effects of pressuring young athletes.
January 24, 2023, Grace Farrar
International business graduate students took part in an immersive experience from the university’s Rule of Law Collaborative, a whodunnit game designed to help in federal anti-corruption training efforts.
January 23, 2023, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina recently examined how the Columbia campus’ administrative costs compare with other institutions. Utilizing publicly available data, the analysis compared per-student administrative costs at USC with those of other public universities in our state, schools within the Southeast Conference (SEC), and public member institutions of the American Association of Universities (AAU).
January 20, 2023, Megan Sexton
For the third straight year, the University of South Carolina’s College of Nursing is ranked No. 1 nationally for its online graduate nursing program, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual online programs rankings released Jan. 24.
January 20, 2023, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina is celebrating a new era of leadership with the investiture ceremony of President Michael D. Amiridis, held on Friday, Jan. 20, at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia.
January 18, 2023, Page Ivey
As many as 10 percent of U.S. workers want more work hours than their companies are offering — a condition known as underemployment. College of Social Work professor Jaeseung Kim is investigating the economic and personal fallout of underemployment, including the consequences of erratic weekends, shift cancellations or lack of control over hours.
January 18, 2023, Craig Brandhorst
First Lady Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis holds two graduate degrees from USC — a master’s in art history and a Ph.D. in philosophy. Her intellectual curiosity is how she makes sense of the world.
January 17, 2023, Rebekah Friedman
Indigo is tightly woven into South Carolina history, but few have worked with the rich natural dye since it fell out of favor nearly 150 years ago. Alumna Caroline Harper is bringing it back.
January 13, 2023, Craig Brandhorst
English professor and heirloom foodways expert David Shields introduces us to South Carolina seed saver Carold Wicker, whose Newberry County freezer chest is the stuff of legend among farmers, gardeners and heirloom produce detectives like Shields.
January 13, 2023, Hannah Cambre
The Office of the Provost remains a source of mystery for many, but its reach extends to every aspect of academic activity on USC’s campus. Here is a look at just three of the offices that are advancing the provost’s mission of academic excellence at the university.
January 12, 2023, Megan Sexton
From policy-making surrounding cleaner energy technologies to researching better ways to make and store electricity to studying advanced nuclear materials for interplanetary space travel, University of South Carolina researchers are advancing the transition to a changing energy landscape.
January 10, 2023, Chris Horn
Amy Taylor-Perry discovered her knack for teaching while earning a Ph.D. in chemistry at UofSC. The university recognized Taylor-Perry’s teaching prowess and recruited her immediately.
January 10, 2023, Rebekah Friedman
Health care workers are in the midst of a burnout crisis. As director of field education for the College of Social Work, Melissa Reitmeier has seen it first-hand when placing students in clinical sites across the state. She and her colleagues hope their new online training series will help.
January 09, 2023, Page Ivey
Four faculty members and a student have been recognized for their work on campus and in the larger community with 2023 Social Justice Awards. The University of South Carolina created the Social Justice Awards to recognize individuals who have exemplified the philosophies of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through acts of community service, social justice or racial reconciliation.
January 09, 2023, Jabari M. Evans
Assistant professor of race and media Jabari M. Evans writes for The Conversation on the increasing role of fame and money in college sports.
January 09, 2023, Barry Markovsky
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of sociology Barry Markovsky writes for The Conversation about the superstition around the number 13.
January 06, 2023, Page Ivey
James Cook took a circuitous route to being a doctor — one that included stops as a commercial fisherman, shoe salesman and high school biology teacher before going to medical school. His experiences helped inform his practice as an OB/GYN and as a clinical professor.
January 05, 2023, Page Ivey
Basketball-wise, Dawn Staley has done it all. As a player, she won MVP trophies and gold medals. As a coach, she has won national titles, coach of the year honors and more gold medals. As a mentor, she has watched Gamecock power forward turned WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson win season MVP and a WNBA championship. But Staley also transcends the sport, raising awareness for issues she cares about and money for causes she believes in. At her core, she is an advocate — for her players, first, but also for people whose voices might not be heard.
January 04, 2023, Rose Cisneros
Archaeologists with the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at USC have studied the Camden Battlefield for decades, but their most recent finding is the discovery of a lifetime.
January 04, 2023, Craig Brandhorst
It’s no secret: public school teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. “How Did We Get Here? The Decay of the Teaching Profession” (Information Age Publishing, 2022), edited by University of South Carolina associate professor of education Henry Tran and Iowa State University associate professor Douglas A. Smith, explores the causes and consequences of teacher attrition in South Carolina as a way to shed light on the larger crisis affecting America’s schools.
January 03, 2023, Page Ivey
Sheryl Wiskur knows how hard organic chemistry is. She has been teaching at the University of South Carolina for 15 years. But more importantly, she struggled with it herself as an undergraduate.
January 03, 2023, Rebekah Friedman
Art professor Sara Schneckloth found herself in uncharted territory when COVID-19 abruptly shut down in-person instruction and she faced the challgenge of connecting with students over the internet instead of in a studio classroom. But she put technology to work to help students in her drawing graduate seminar mimic the classroom experience and create "a network of satellite studios."
December 21, 2022, Alexis Watts
The Koger Center is well-known for hosting performances from Broadway in Columbia, Columbia Classical Ballet and the School of Music. The destination for theater, dance and music is now also a community venue for visual arts and more unique events.
December 15, 2022, Dana Woodward
The University of South Carolina’s Board of Trustees met on Tuesday (Dec. 13). Here’s what actions they took at the meeting.
December 15, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
Whenever possible, Andy Schumpert likes to start the workday with a loop around the Horseshoe. Strolling the historic campus grounds gives the biological sciences instructor and lab coordinator time to reflect. What’s he doing right? What could he do better?
December 14, 2022, Communications and Marketing
Did campus feel just a little bit livelier this year? A touch more spirited? A tad more optimistic? We thought so, too — and not only because we named a new president back in January. Yeah, that was one heck of a way to ring in the new year, and it set the tone for the months ahead, but in the end, 2022 was about all of us, from the President’s House to Russell House, from Colonial Life to Williams-Brice. It was about respecting tradition, rediscovering our identity, remembering our past and reimagining our future. In 2022, the University of South Carolina reminded us all what it means to be USC.
December 14, 2022, Rebekah Friedman
Garnet Apple award-winning professor Morgan Stefik uses an advertising trick — the memorable jingle — to help his students remember complex chemistry formulas.
December 13, 2022, Chris Horn
Francis Burns taught chemistry on a Navajo reservation in Arizona and at a Kurdish university in Iraq before bringing his considerable talents to USC Salkehatchie in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
December 13, 2022, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina will launch a first of its kind interdisciplinary certificate program in Digital Studies, giving students the opportunity to gain in-demand digital skills that prepare them for careers in every field.
December 13, 2022, Dan Cook
The University of South Carolina has selected Gilbane to lead the planning, design, development and construction of the university’s health sciences campus in the BullStreet District in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. The initial engagement with Gilbane was presented to the Board of Trustees at its Dec. 13 meeting.
December 09, 2022, Téa Smith
On his way to earning his Ph.D. in computer science, Manas Gaur has worked to integrate more "human knowledge" into artificial intelligence. His work has applications in a wide range of fields from mental health care to autonomous driving.
December 08, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
When tenor Johnnie Felder finished the master’s program in vocal performance at USC’s School of Music, he had no intention of staying on for a doctoral degree. Now, he’s got teaching assignments across the state, a calendar filled with upcoming performances and freshly-minted Ph.D.
December 08, 2022, Markie Gaddis
When it came time to choose the winning artwork in USC’s first Holiday Card Design Contest, President Michael Amiridis and First Lady Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis liked the idea of focusing on home.
December 07, 2022, Megan Sexton
Charlotte Grover has known since she was in high school that she wanted to pursue a career as a counselor or therapist. She will graduate this month with a degree in psychology and plans to attend graduate school to earn her master’s in social work.
December 07, 2022, Chris Horn
For two centuries, social dances have been knitted into the fabric of the campus social scene at Carolina. Waltzes, the One-step, shag and hip-hop—the style of dance changes but the beat goes on.
December 06, 2022, Page Ivey
Cory Schnell has always wanted to be a teacher, but he says his favorite part about teaching is just guiding his students through conversations that help them understand concepts of criminology and the criminal justice system.