AHA! Winter 2017-18

AHA!

SOUTH CAROLINA HONORS COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA / WINTER 2017–18

The International Issue ROBERT VIOLETTE: MAKING IT NEW

plus GOING GLOBAL SMALL TOWN TO BIG CITY

Contents p. 4

Woodford Folk Festival in Australia “I got to work at a few festivals, and stage-managed at Woodford Folk Festival where I got to see nearly 100,000

WINTER 2017-18 South Carolina Honors College Dean / Steven Lynn Managing Editor / Writer / Aïda Rogers Director of Communications / Anna Redwine

people join us to celebrate New Year’s. In all, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat.” —Cory Alpert, SCHC ’17

Honors College Partnership Board Marshall Winn Catherine Heigel Chairman Vice Chairwoman Roger Barnette Anita Hood, M.D. Jay Cain Eddie Jones Dan D’Alberto Ben Rex Bill Duncan Thomas Scott Lori Clos Fisher Jacob Shuford Kevin Hall Sherri Timmons Steve Hibbard Jeff Vinzani

Stay Connected University Home Page: sc.edu SCHC Home Page: sc.edu/HonorsCollege Facebook: facebook.com/SCHonorsCollege Twitter: twitter.com/SCHonorsCollege LinkedIn: “South Carolina Honors College Alumni” Instagram: schonorscollege Communications and Public Affairs / The Writers Group The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, genetics, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status. The University of South Carolina has designated as the ADA Title II, Section 504 and Title IX coordinator the Executive Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity Programs. The Office of the Executive Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity Programs is located at 1600 Hampton Street, Suite 805, Columbia, SC; telephone 803-777-3854. 17-10344 11/17

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In this issue 4/

Going Global More than 2,225 SCHC students have crossed an ocean or a border for study abroad since 2009 — and the experiences have been well worth it.

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‘This Big Blue Ball’ From Scotland to Singapore and Germany to New Zealand, SCHC alumni make their homes abroad.

8 / ON THE COVER Making it New Robert Violette, ’87 BARSC, has made his home in London since 1988 as a visual artist, publisher and musician.

10 / Small Town to Big City The Washington Semester Program has special meaning for Mandy Young and Patrick Norton, SCHC alumni and former fellows of the program who are now supporting it for future students.

On the cover: Robert Violette in front of his Untitled Wall Piece at a 2016 installation in London.

Photograph by Mariell Lind Hansen.

Dear Alumni and Friends, What do Antarctica and Tunisia, Moscow and Madrid, New Zealand and Oxford have in common? They are, of course, study abroad destinations for our Honors College students, and since more than 70 percent of them do study abroad, those are just a few of the places they go. Wherever students study — Costa Rica, Vienna, Beijing, Paris, Edinburgh (it’s a vast list of possibilities) — they return with knowledge, experience and confidence they probably couldn’t have gotten any other way. When I ask them to describe their study away experience, they usually say some variation on “life-changing.”

Many are often savvy and experienced travelers already, with well-decorated passports, while others have scarcely left their home ZIP code. Regardless, they all benefit from study away, we believe, and we want to make that experience

DEAN STEVEN LYNN

possible for every student who desires it. We simply cannot do this without the support of our alumni and friends.

And so I’m especially pleased to announce that Victoria and Jeff Vinzani and their family have created an endowed fund for our Study Abroad program in honor of Jeff’s father, Ted, and in memory of his mother, Gladys. The son of Italian immigrants, Ted Vinzani was the first in his family to graduate from college. He chose Carolina. So did his three sons, and now Jeff’s son, Michael, has continued the Honors College tradition.

I also want to celebrate another testimony to true philanthropy: the endowed Study Abroad Fund created by Bob Hill, who graduated in 1963, when the Honors College was just a glimmering in a few faculty members’ neurons. Bob created the fund in memory of his mother, Catherine Finley Hill, and to honor his longtime partner, Frank Romanowicz, who ran the Study Abroad program at the University of Alabama.

These gifts complement one made by Catherine Heigel, ’92, in memory of her mother Deborah Y. Edwards, which assists with passport funding.

We will continue to grow this program, watching it enrich the lives of our students — with the help of our generous donors, alumni and friends. We appreciate your support in this and every other endeavor more than we can possibly say.

Cordially,

Steven Lynn Photos, right: (top) Some of the Vinzani clan: Ted, ’52; Jack, 5th grade; Jeff, ’83; Michael, class of 2019; (bottom) Dean Lynn with Bob Hill

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Going global STUDY ABROAD OFFERS VALUABLE LESSONS, PRICELESS EXPERIENCES There’s no telling what can happen when you’re studying abroad.

If you’re Cory Alpert, ’17 sociology, you take a road trip up the east coast of Australia and wake up in your car one morning to see kangaroos jumping across the beach.

If you’re Kelley Kennedy, ’17 international business/ economics, you make friends from all over Europe at a Christ­mas market in Edinburgh, and sample real Scotch together. What’s likely is that no matter where SCHC students go, their minds get stretched, their perspectives forever altered. There’s nothing like going there, doing that and being better for the experience.

“I had a fantasy of Paris as this romantic, fanciful city filled with ornate old buildings, little cafes and, of course, the looming Eiffel Tower,” confesses Rebecca Steptoe, an English/history junior from Irmo. “And in one sense, Paris really is all those things.”

But taking photos atop the Galeries Lafayette department store, her fantasy dissolved. From there, the Eiffel Tower was tiny in the far distance. And with tour buses and celebrity ads crowding her view, Steptoe learned something valuable.

“Paris is as much a product of modernity as any other large city,” she observes. “Just because they speak French and drink a lot of espresso doesn’t mean Parisians are somehow stuck in a romantic, pre-modern vision. Going to Paris helped me see it as a real city, a city filled with real people who have way more in common with me than I originally imagined.”

Steptoe entered one of those photos in the SCHC’s study abroad photo contest. As with other entries, it crystalizes lessons learned and triggers memories of adventures had. That so many life lessons happen during travel is no surprise to Megan Tone Campbell, ’10, SCHC study abroad coordinator, who points out the practicality of the program.

“A global perspective is essential for a successful professional in today’s globalized world,” Campbell says. “Many employers look for a study abroad experience on resumes, and having it

4 / S O UTH C A R O L IN A HONORS COLLEGE

shows you are open-minded and able to appreciate the differences in culture and people.”

Eighty countries, from Argentina to Zambia, have accepted SCHC students into their classrooms, labs and field studies. Since 2009, more than 2,225 SCHC students have crossed an ocean or a border to study. Besides countries in Western Europe, the most popular destinations are Chile, China, Costa Rica and Hong Kong. Students in the sciences, languages, history, international studies, business, and biomedical engineering are most likely to study abroad, Campbell’s records show.

More programs started this year. In addition to a partnership with the Honors College at the American College of Greece in Athens, four Global Classrooms are studying British Literature in London and the Surrounding Countryside, Tracing the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, and examining Social Capital in Rome and Art and Culture in Japan. A popular Honors College course is a language exchange with a university in France in which SCHC students host Parisian students for a week at USC before traveling to Paris for spring break. There also is a partnership with the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications in Malawi.

Students soak up more than beauty. For Brooke Troxell,’17 biological sciences, nothing could surpass the Hamelin Pool stromatolites in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The first conclusive fossil evidence of life on earth, stromatolites pumped the first bits of oxygen into the atmosphere, and are rarely found on earth today.

“Lots of people marvel at sharks and crocodiles, how they have remained relatively unchanged for even millions of years,” Troxell reflects. “But when I stepped onto the boardwalk at Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay, I was transported to a world even more ancient. I could see the Earth over three billion years ago — hot and salty with almost no atmosphere. It was surreal to translate a picture in a textbook to a real-life experience.”

Where do our Honors College students study abroad?

Argentina • Aruba • Australia • Austria • Belgium • Belize • Bermuda • Bhutan • Brazil • Canada • Chile • China • Colombia • Costa Rica • Croatia Cuba • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Dominican Republic • Ecuador • Egypt • England • Fiji • France • Germany • Ghana • Greece • Honduras Hong Kong • Hungary • Iceland • India • Ireland • Israel • Italy • Jamaica • Japan • Jordan • Kenya • Mali • Mexico • Morocco • Mozambique • Nepal New Zealand • Nicaragua • Norway • Palestinian Territory • Peru • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia • Rwanda • Saint Lucia • Scotland • Senegal Slovakia • South Africa • South Korea • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Taiwan • Tajikistan • Tanzania • Thailand • The Netherlands • Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia • Turkey • Uganda • United Arab Emirates • United Kingdom • Uruguay • Virgin Islands • Wales • Zambia

From left, clockwise Abigail Hardee ’17, international business “Huangshan (the Yellow Mountains) are a World Historic Site, and the view moved most of our group to tears at being able to witness such beauty and clear air after being accustomed to the polluted, urban atmosphere that surrounds Shanghai.”

Sidney Cutter, Class of 2018, French “The name ‘Senegal’ comes from Wolof sunu gal, meaning ‘our boat,’ a reminder that we — the people of the world — are all in the same boat together and should constantly be helping each other.”

Rebecca Steptoe, Class of 2019, English “I love in this picture how small the Eiffel Tower looks. It seems like every picture or conception of Paris is centered on that tower, so seeing it offset and cast in a diminutive light helped me appreciate the many other architectural beauties of Paris.”

Jessica McMinn, Class of 2019, international business “Despite my inability to speak Hindi and my friend’s family’s limited English, they embraced me with open arms and endless love.”

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D

‘THIS BIG BLUE BALL’ From Scotland to Singapore and Germany to New Zealand, SCHC alumni make their homes abroad.

For the past 15 years Ron Edwards, ’02 anthropology, has lived in Bangkok. That’s more than 80 percent of his adult life, he points out. So when he says “It’s a small world,” he’s confident about his reasoning.

“You’re never more than a day or so from almost anywhere,” he observes. “I’ve come across USC alumni in cities from Bangkok to Paris.”

And indeed, the SCHC has many Gamecocks living abroad. They’re working in finance in Beijing, Panama and Toronto and teaching school and coaching cricket in Dusseldorf. In Ansbach, Germany, Kyle Applegate is an Army helicopter pilot, his 2014 classmate and wife, Emily Padget, by his side. An hour and a half northeast of them in Grafenwoehr are Ryan and Bethany Griffith, both 2010 graduates. Ryan is an Army dentist.

There are others in Scotland and Singapore, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Only the continents of Antarctica and Africa appear to be bereft of SCHC alumni (but if we’re wrong about that, please let us know).

Edwards, an Irmo, S.C., native, visited Thailand on his way home from India, where he spent his junior year. Besides exploring Buddhist ruins there, he took in “the technicolor streets of Hong Kong” and a village in Nepal where his anthropology professor Laura Ahearn did her fieldwork. He returned to Thailand after graduation, planning to stay only a year or two. Fifteen years on, he’s head of content for Minor Hotels, a Bangkok-headquartered company that owns or manages 150-plus hotels across the world. His partner and many of his friends are Thai, and that’s the language he slips in and out of throughout the day.

“Despite all of that, some of my absolute best friends in the world are those I bonded with at the Honors College,” he reflects.

How is he different having lived so far from home for so long? “That’s hard to say, but getting to know people from all corners of the world and all walks of life helps build bonds of empathy and an understanding of our shared humanity,” he says. “Looking back across the ocean, it seems like there’s a lot of pain and discord now that could be helped if everyone understood that all of us on this big blue ball, no matter who we are, are in this together.”

Ron Edwards visiting Cambodia, near his home in Bangkok

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L

S

C B

R

M F

O

H G

J E I

T

P

Q N

A K

A. Australia 2 alumni; New South Wales, West Melbourne B. Bolivia 2 alumni; Cochabamba, La Paz C. Brazil 1 alumnus; Rio D. Canada 9 alumni; 3 in Toronto, Waterloo Ontario, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Montreal, Burnaby, Sarnia Ontario

E. China 5 alumni; 2 in Shanghai, Beijing, Kowloon, Quarry Bay F. England 6 alumni; 2 in London, Middlesex, Oxford, Croydon, Virginia Water (near Surrey) G. France 3 alumni; Chateauneufsur-Charente, Paris, Sagy H. Germany 5 alumni; 1 in Dusseldorf, 2 in Ansbach, 2 in Grafenwoehr

I. Hong Kong 1 alumnus

P. Taiwan 1 alumnus in Taipei

J. Kosovo 1 alumnus in Pristina

Q. Thailand 1 alumnus in Bangkok

K. New Zealand 1 alumnus in Wellington

R. The Netherlands 1 alumnus in Haarlem

L. Panama 1 alumnus in Colon

S. Trinidad & Tobago 1 alumnus

M. Scotland 2 alumni in Edinburgh

T. United Arab Emirates 1 alumnus in Dubai

N. Singapore 1 alumnus O. Slovakia 1 alumnus in Zilina

We know this is just a sampling of our alumni living across the globe. If you or a classmate are missing from our map, please email us at alumni@schc.sc.edu.

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MAKING IT NEW ARTIST/PUBLISHER COLLABORATES AND GOES SOLO TO CREATE ORIGINAL WORKS Here’s a challenge: adequately describing Robert Violette in 650 words. Ink on paper can’t capture him — the visual artist, the publisher, the musician, the fundraiser for victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster in London, where he’s made his home since 1988.

A personality profile is simply insufficient. Thankfully, he’s aware of that frustration, having spent 29 years creating, editing and producing dozens of art books and magazines, first as a publications director at a contemporary art gallery, then on his own since 1995 with Violette Editions, his independent publishing company.

Collaborating with leading contemporary artists and designers — among them Louise Bourgeois, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Tom Dixon and Sir Paul Smith — Violette has helped bring new work into the world, much of it at the cutting edge. To that end, he is also a founding adviser of the London-based Block Universe performance art festival, now in its fourth year. Besides focusing on the talents of fashion and furniture designers, photographers and architects, Violette Editions mixes things up editorially. Collaborating with French conceptual artist Sophie Calle, he added the fiction of Paul Auster based on or inspired by her work. Double Game remains in print 18 years later and will soon enter its fifth edition.

“When I undertake to publish a book with an artist for Violette Editions, it is always driven by the desire to work with that specific artist and to make a book that has never been created before,” Violette observes. “For me, it’s about the experience of working with another artist, not about the business of publishing.”

A 1987 BARSC graduate from Lowell, Mass., Violette abandoned an offer from Boston College to enter the SCHC. Finding an encouraging spirit in Dean Bill Mould, Violette also did an independent study with acclaimed printmaker Boyd Saunders in the USC art department, and spent a year at the University of Warwick in England, where he met his future wife, Sandy. He also was introduced, through his thesis director Bill Matalene, to the works of philosopher Morse Peckham, a Carolina professor who died in 1993. Though Violette never met Peckham, Peckham’s transdisciplinary theory of language and human behavior resonated. When Violette restructured his company in 2015 to focus again on his own art, he found Peckham’s scholarship still inspired and intrigued.

8 / S O UTH C A R O LIN A HONORS COLLEGE

A view of works by Robert Violette from December 2016. Photo by Mariell Lind Hansen

Violette’s West London studio stands next to Grenfell Tower, the apartment building that burned June 17, killing 80 and leaving hundreds homeless. Violette joined other artists in donating work to be auctioned for the victims, raising a total of almost £40,000. Here, a diptych of the tower and the artist, taken specially for AHA! by distinguished photographer Norbert Schoerner, whose book Third Life was published by Violette Editions in 2012. “The sadness and trauma here have been inescapable, and the suffering of the families unimaginable,” Violette notes. Donations are accepted at the London Evening Standard’s Dispossessed Fund (http://www.dispossessedfund.org.uk/). Photos by Norbert Schoerner

“Like life and language, and our interaction with people and the world and art, when you throw a ball against a wall it always bounces back, one way or another. It’s forever a continuous cycle of infinite variations,” he explains about an untitled installation from 2016, pictured on the cover. “What happens when it doesn’t bounce back? That relates to Peckham, but there are also nuances relating to theories of play, psychoanalysis and to the puzzling behavior of quantum particles. Simple, eh?” Violette’s work has gained notice. In 2001 he was the first illustrated book publisher selected as a fellow for the Jerusalem International Book Fair. In 2005 he was one of four finalists for the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award; the September 2011 anniversary issue of Wallpaper* magazine named him “one of 150 international movers, shakers and makers of the last 15 years.” An occasional leader of creative

A shelf of titles from Violette Editions; courtesy of Violette Editions

workshops — he’s conducted them at the Royal College of Art, the BBC and the University of the Arts in London, among others — his “editorial lecture performance” at the London College of Fashion’s Centenary Conference no doubt was entirely unexpected. Starting at the lectern in the usual way, Violette discussed editorial strategies and showed slide images. Then while he spoke the floor-to-ceiling wall behind him was unfolded to reveal 30 creatives and editors working in full view of the audience for a ‘live’ publication based on the content of the conference.

“The only boundaries we face are the ones we create for ourselves” is one lesson Violette learned from Mould, and one he’d pass on to SCHC students today. He’d add a few others, including “Follow your drives and desires even if they’re unpopular. If some path or opportunity doesn’t exist for you, try to make it new.”

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SMALL TOWN TO BIG CITY Life-changing experiences in D.C. inspire couple to give back to Washington Semester Program Mandy Young and Patrick Norton aren’t afraid to live in big cities, travel to remote places, or keep going to school. Nor are they afraid to give back to the SCHC. For them, the Washington Semester Program has special meaning. As Fellows of the program — Young in 2006, Norton in 2004 — they recognize the opportunities a semester in D.C. can provide.

“I hadn’t even received my I.D. badge before I was participating in meetings with a delegation from Bulgaria and constituents from the district,” says Young, ’08 political science/Russian. A Chapin, S.C., native, Young worked for Congressman Joe Wilson during her semester.

For Norton, ’05 political science, ’08 I.M.B.A., watching Iztak Perlman from the president’s box at the Kennedy Center was an unforgettable moment. Norton, from Lugoff, S.C., worked for Congressman John Spratt.

They can even thank the WSP — and Norton’s senior-year-roommate and fellow Carolina Scholar Thomas Scott — for bringing them together. When Scott introduced them, Young, a Boren Scholar, realized she’d clipped news articles quoting Norton, then working

Young and Norton visited Antarctica in early 2017

for the Democratic National Committee, while she worked for Wilson.

Washington, D.C. is even where they started their careers and lived for six years. Norton is a quantitative financial analyst with the Division of Trading and Markets at the Securities and Exchange Commission; Young is a financial analyst. Both earned master’s degrees in real estate, concentrating in finance, from Georgetown University. Though they’ve recently moved to Boston, where Young is working on an M.B.A. in financial technology from MIT Sloan, they know Washington, D.C., is a stimulating city that can redirect futures. That’s why they’ve made a gift that will support students like them.

“The Washington Semester Program was an important part of our experience and we wanted to help provide more opportunities for students to participate,” Norton explains. “We want students who have stayed in state to have an opportunity to live, work, and study in a different region as part of their university experience.”

The Norton-Young Washington Semester Program Endowed Scholarship Fund stipulates that recipients be graduates of a South Carolina public high school. For Norton, who had never traveled beyond the Southeast before his semester in D.C., the program proved the world beyond your back yard is there to be explored.

Living in a big city gives you confidence, he says. They like not needing a car, and the “conveniences and energy” cities offer. Adventurous travelers, they’ve visited six continents, “camping in Africa for a few months or doing a jungle trek in Southeast Asia to disconnect.” Next on their list are the countries of Oceania, and then — space, they say.

Until then, they’ve got advice for today’s SC Honors College students. “Embrace your weaknesses and find a way to turn them into strengths,” Norton says. From his wife: “I’ll recycle the advice Dean Peter Sederberg gave my incoming class — ‘Be a barracuda!’ His meaning is we should be aggressive in going after what we want. It inspired me to apply myself even when I thought I might fail.”

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Donor Honor Roll Thank you to the 442 alumni, businesses, and friends who contributed

$1,000 to $1,800

Terry and Anthony Ng

$525,400 to the Honors College and to the Carolina Scholars Program.

Paul Anderson

Pat Conroy Literary Center

Your faithful generosity is vitally important in providing the scholarships, research stipends, course enhancements, and personal attention that give our students an exceptional educational experience.

Bold indicates Dean’s Circle members.

$25,000 and above

Christopher Bardi

Joan and Al Lopez

Bill and Connie Timmons Foundation

Miriam and Duncan Breckenridge

Courtney Hopkins Mann

Chi Omega

Faye and Bill McAnulty Laura and Matt McGinley

Estate of William B. Douglas

Sona Shah Arora Evelyn and Eldon Bailey

Julia Royall

Beth and Jimmy Bailey

Lea and Barry Saunders

Lee Royall

Brooke Barnett

Thomas Scott

Niki and Bob Barr Stephen Brown

Jan Love and Peter Sederberg

Carolyn and Bill Burns

Keri Shull

Lisa and John Courson

Daniel Silvester

Mary and Francis Dannerbeck

Saundra and Andy Smoak

The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc.

Janet and Rick Sullivan

Lucille Mould

The David W. & Susan G. Robinson Foundation

Amanda Young and Patrick Norton

Margaret and Lee Dixon

$10,000 to $24,999

Lisa and Thomas Engoren

Yu Hui Zhou-McGovern and John McGovern

Ernst & Young Foun­ dation

Deedra and Brian Nunnally

Pat and Tom Fortson

Ellis Pearce

Alana and Bob Griffin

Dorothy A. Poston

Jamie and Kevin Hall

Sidney and Ben Rex

Jack S. Graybill

Candice and Aaron Hark

Susan and John Shimp

Jodie W. McLean

Catherine Heigel

Cathy and Jacob Shuford

R.C. McEntire & Company, Inc.

Mary and Steve Hibbard

Andrea and Jerre Sumter

Allen Klump

Jeannette and Marshall Winn

Judie and Tom Hoffman

Kathi and Bill Tangney

Lawrence Laddaga

Leslie and John Brunelli

$1,801 to $9,999

Michelle and Michael Hogue

Marilyn and Charles Tatum

Annette and Steve Lynn

Patty and Edward Campbell

Victoria and Jeff Vinzani

Laura Anne and John McElwaine

Emily and Eric Carlisle

Flora C. Hopkins

Christy and Thad Westbrook

Kathy McKinless

Lorraine Dustan

Beth Benko and James Atkinson

Debbie and Mark Husband

Julia and Joe Moore

Tracy and Eddie Jones

Marcella and Albert Fedalei

Bank of America

Carrie and Whit Lanier

Melissa and James Whittingham

Robert H. Hill

Anonymous Charles Timmons Foundation Lori Clos Fisher and Edmond Fisher Kim and Gus Dixon

Clara and Jim Addison Allison and Paul Aitchison

Rhonda and Lincoln McGinnis

Elizabeth Endler and Gary Wells

Carolyn and John Taylor Mahesh Thiagarajah

Carol and Don Fowler

Roger Ward

Alison and Kenneth Franklin

Patricia and John Watkins

Jennifer Gohlke Anne Gregg Holly and John Hoey

$500 to $999 Arthur L. Davis Publishing Agency, Inc.

Ben Iseman

Todd Bailey

Lynn and Jim Karegeannes

Jim and Claire Banks

Aaron Knowlton

Joseph Muller

Gretchen Van Der Veer and Steve Beckham

Pamela Cobb

Bold indicates Dean’s Circle members, who have given $1,000 or more to the Honors College this fiscal year, 7/1/16 - 6/30/17. For a complete list of donors, visit sc.edu/honorscollege

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Stacey and Christopher Field Susan McBurney and Michael Gadd Sarah Gluek and Gregory Smith

Elizabeth and Brian Wieber $100 to $499 Jenn Aiosa Dorcas Alexander

Cox and Cole, LLC

Thomas Holmes

Bill Norton

Pamela and Richard Davenport

Elke and William Hood Victoria and Fritz Hood

Betsy and Bob Oakman

James Davis

Kathryn Hope

Mark Openshaw

Deloitte & Touche

TJ Horan

Maja Osterman

Terrell P. Dolbier

Matt Hutchins

Susan and Paul Dominick

Beth Hutchison

Elizabeth and Liam Palmer

Barbara and Jim Guignard

Judy and Alan Alexander

Jamie Hammill

Susan Alexander

Christy Hancock

American Nurses Foundation

James Duckett

Lorraine Aun

Jean and Mike Dumiak

Meghan and Wesley Hickman

Mary Gordon Baker

Stefanie and Gregory Eaves

Jenny and Marc Horne

Rebecca Bandy

Teresa MacPherson and Brad Hutto

Kay Banks Catherine Barall

Julia Hunt and Matthew Jochim

Nancy and Daniel Barnes

Colleen Jones P.K. Kamath

Yisi and Curtis Barrineau

Theresa Knoepp

Stephanie Bedard

Deanna Leamon and Davis Baird

Mary and Bobby Bernstein

Paula Herrmann and Stuart Olson

Jacqueline Lewis Pamela and Richard Litwin Lorrie and Michael Moran Deepti and Rajinder Parmar Timothy Perrin Denise and Tom Pulte Julie and Brad Reback Alicia Sikes Misty and Jonathan Skvoretz Lynette and Larry Slovensky Melody and Brian Smith South Carolina Nurses Assn.

Marion and James Stickle

Matt Ballard

Meg and Chris Dorsel

Anne and Ted Ellefson Timur Engin Jacquelyn and Philip Evatt ExxonMobil Foundation Ashley and Ryan Floyd The Fluor Foundation Jonathan Flynn Mary and Wade Franks

Randi Berry

Joan and Gary Gabel

Novella Fortner Beskid

Betty Jo and David Garner

IBM Corporation Matching Grants Program

Jamie and Louis Isganitis

Helen and Frederick Piellusch

Kathryn and Norman Jones

Angie and Carl Pierce

Susan and Gediminas Kalinauskas Angela and Fred Kingsmore

Maria and William Polleys

Wade Kolb

Jennifer Poon

Maribeth and Paul Kowalski

Bert Pooser

Sharon and John Larson Kathy Layden

Lee and William Rambo

Janis K. Leaphart

Marie-Louise Ramsdale

Lisa and Robert Lisson

Felicity and Sik Boen

Teresa deBorde Glenn and Terrell Glenn

Adair and Chris Locke

Kiri and Stephen Rawson

Stacy and Joel Brandon

Susan and Phil Goodman

Elizabeth Mack and Weston Rice

Karen and Gregory Breal

Ann and Michael Grace

Sara Mareno

Bethany and Ryan Griffith

Julie and Mark Mayson

Robert Regal

Bets McCurley

Judy Rehberg

Kathy McKinney

Carol and Ronald Reimer

Cameron Blazer The Boeing Company

Sherry and Joe Brockington Rebecca and DeWitt Brown

Katie and William Guerin

Raytheon Company Lucy Reep and Andrew Foster

Thomas Guilderson

Susan and Paul McLaughlin

Bonnie and Jim Byrd

Tracy and Charles Hardaway

Dale and Richard McMahan

Louisa and Bill Campbell

Amanda Harding

Marilu and James Metherell

France and Tola Roberts

Terri and Harry Miley

Daisy and Corwin Robison

Edie and Steven Burritt

Starr and Patrick Carr Susan Carstensen and Ed Munn Sanchez

Nicole and Adam Hark Cynthia and Glenn Heins Laura and Geoffrey Hendrick

Shirley and Eugene Mills

Heather and Britt Cooper

Virginia and John Herrick

Deborah and Glenn Cornwell

Rebecca and Edwin Hinds

Gladys and Wayne Cousar

Susan Hitchcock

Lauren and Theron Neese

Shannon and Kaz Holley

Eleanor and Herb Niestat

12 / S O UTH C A R O L IN A H ONORS COLLEGE

Lynn Pruitt-Timko and Joseph Timko

Kimberly and Raymond Gibson

Victoria Black

Terri and Steven Hendrickson

Megan and Jason Westmeyer

Barbara and Tom Pietras Caroline and John Plyler

Christanne Coffey

Krystal Webber

Maria and Edsel Pena

Robyn Kelly

Dianne and Bradley Thiergartner

Dorothy and Wesley Walker

Beverly Pascoe Kacie and Bryan Payne

Ann and John Catalano

Mary and Chris Vlahoplus

Tracie and Hud Paschal

Lynn and David Isenhower

Elva Stinson and Basil Garzia

Judy Thompson

Jackie Parnell

Alex Chapman

Mary and Hanson Cowan

Liz and Michael Reynolds Ellen and Tom Rippeto

Karen and Greg Rollins

Chase Mizzell

John Roszmann

Jamie Monogan

Korey Rothman

Linda and Vince Mooney

Julie Roughton

Mitzie Rothman

Thomas Moye

S.C. Nurses Foundation

Laura Musselman

Allie and Ramachellapp Sairam SCANA Services, Inc. Ann and John Schmitt

Lynn and Ken Seise

Robert Thompson

Brittany and Jay Shaffer

Sherri and Chuck Timmons

Harry Sharp

Christy Tinnes

Jennifer Shepard

Brian Turner

Carrie and Reid Sherard

Unum Corporation

Sharika Shropshire Rachel and Rick Silver Wendy and Al Simmons Melanie and Barry Slade

Deborah and Bruce Walker Laura Waring and Robert Gruber Pam and Patrick Warren

SCHC ANNOUNCES NEW DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Jennifer M. Shepard has joined the SCHC as senior director of development. She brings an impressive array of experiences with a variety of higher education and arts institutions. Most recently she was senior advancement officer for principal gifts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. She also has held several development positions over the past 23 years with the Philadelphia Orchestra, University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University, and Boston University.

“My office overlooks the Horseshoe, which couldn’t be

Leigh Watson

a better view for someone new to the University of South

Kathy and Emerson Smith

Ingrid and Larry Watson

Carolina and Columbia,” Shepard said. “It’s great inspiration

Cindy and Phillip Smith

Mary Watzin

Erin and Adam Snyder

Travis Weatherford

Martha and Benjamin Spawr

Tracey and Gregg Welborn

Allyson and Chris Speaks

Jennifer and Mack Whittle

Sarah Spruill

Adam Wilson

Tara and Chadwick Stamper

Chappell and Marty Wilson

Lynne and Milt Stombler

Jeannette and Marshall Winn

Randy Stowe

Melissa Wuthier

Kerry Stubbs

Virginia Youngblood and Thomas Yoke

Dipu and Sanjay Swami Susan Tarnower Elaine and Ernie Thompson

Kathy and Frank Zanin Pamela and Gunnar Zorn

for me to build on the programs at the Honors College and create a few of my own.”

Shepard is a native of Dalton, Mass., which is nestled in the Berkshire Hills.

“I am really enjoying the true southern hospitality of all my colleagues at USC and Honors. It is a great pleasure to join the team.”

An avid swimmer and gardener, Shepard is spending her free time at the Strom Thurmond Wellness Center and learning about local flora and foliage. She holds a B.A. in art history from Westfield State University in Westfield, Mass.

SEDERBERG HONORED AS ‘EXEMPLAR IN HONORS EDUCATION’ The Spring/Summer 2017 issue of the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Coun-

This list includes donors of $100 or more for

cil was dedicated to Peter C. Sederberg, dean of the South Carolina Honors College

the 2017 fiscal year (July 1, 2016 - June 30,

from 1994 to 2005. Described by the JNCHC editorial staff as “an exemplar in the field

2017.) Every effort has been made to ensure

of honors education,” Sederberg came to Carolina in 1971 as an assistant professor of

accuracy. For a complete list of donors, visit

political science. In 1976, he began his long involvement with the SCHC.

the Donor Honor Roll on the Honors College website.

“The merger of ambitious scholarship and administration has been the hallmark of his career,” the JNCHC states in its dedication, lauding Sederberg for his scholarly work and publishing output: six books, 20 referred journal articles and 12 book chapters, and many speeches, conference papers and reviews.

Now living in Atlanta, where he worked for three years at Emory University as special assistant to the provost for undergraduate initiatives, Sederberg is retired and writing his memoirs.

THANK YOU!

After 11 years captaining one of the country’s top public honors colleges and

A special thank you to the Robert and Janice

almost 30 years helping it reach its potential, Sederberg naturally is giving the SCHC

McNair Foundation and the Stamps Family

plenty of print — about 27,000 words, he reports. “Helping to establish and then lead-

Charitable Foundation for their substantial

ing the South Carolina Honors College,” he says, “was the most creative and rewarding

support of scholarships at USC.

professional experience of my life.”

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O LIN A

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Alumni News

“AT LEAST 10 OF US TOOK THAT TRAVEL THING TO HEART”

1970

1990

John Jamrogowicz, ’77, retired in 2016 after 26 years of service at Trident Technical College, where he spent the past 13 years as dean of enrollment management. John lives in Goose Creek, S.C.

University College of Law in DeKalb, Ill. Clanitra received the 2017 Minority Leadership Development Award from the American Association of Law Libraries.

1980

Michelle Schohn, ’89, is a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State.

She recently returned from a two-year assignment in Pristina, Kosovo, where she headed the public affairs section at the U.S. Embassy. Michelle is director of the Office of Policy Planning and Public Diplomacy in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

Matt Jochim, ’92, moved to London in 2014, where he is a partner at McKinsey and Co. He and his wife, Julia Hunt, and children Ava and Bobby enjoy the diversity of friends and amazing travel opportunities in Europe and the Middle East.

Jeff Davis, ’93, has joined Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group as a marketing strategist. He lives in Columbia.

Clanitra Stewart Nejdl, ’97, is a reference and instructional services librarian at the David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library at Northern Illinois

We would like to include you in the Alumni News section. Please send us your news or update your contact information at sc.edu/honorscollege.

Search “Keep In Touch.”

14 / S O UTH C A R O L IN A H ONORS COLLEGE

Lori Oxford, ’98, is head of the Department of World Languages at Western Carolina University as well as coordinator of the Spanish B.A. program and an associate professor of Spanish. This year Lori celebrated a milestone: She’s taken 100-plus students to study abroad with her in Spain and Cuba.

Mitch Boatwright, ’99, is completing an assignment in

Europe with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and has been privileged to plan or participate in six different international training exercises focused on increasing the inter-operable capacity among various NATO allies.

Mitch’s most recent assignment was Troop Commander for the Regimental Signal Troop. He has relocated to Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga., as a small group leader for the U.S. Army Signal School.

J.D. from Boston University School of Law, where he served as an editor of the Boston University Law Review and as a law clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He and his wife, Sarah, live in Mount Pleasant.

Beth Monahan Brown, ’02, lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she works as a senior planning and reporting manager for Tesco Bank. She had her first child in July 2017, a boy named Ruairidh.

2010

2000 William Norton, ’01, has been selected to join the membership of Motley Rice LLC, one of the nation’s largest plaintiffs litigation firms, headquartered in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Bill has worked with Motley Rice since 2008, representing indi­viduals and institutions in securities fraud, corporate governance and other complex class action and commercial litigations.

Previously, he practiced securities and commercial litigation in the New York office of an international law firm. He received his

Priscilla Larkin Harris, ’05, lives northwest of Paris with husband Trevor Harris, ’12, and son William Trevor Nathanael, who was born in 2015. Priscilla is teaching English part-time at ESSEC Business School in Cergy, France, while Trevor pastors a French-speaking Baptist church.

Ryan Griffith, ’10, serves as a general dentist in the United State Army. He married fellow SCHC alumna Bethany McKinney Griffith, ’10, in 2012. In 2014, he graduated with his doctor of dental medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina and was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps.

The Griffiths are stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany, until 2019.

Both are enjoying living abroad and traveling throughout Europe.

Daniel Peach, ’10, began the MBA program at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, in fall 2017.

Caitlin Musgrave Mardis, 11, joined the faculty of the College of Pharmacy at USC in September 2017 as director of continuing education and assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences.

Cathy Hardin Gonsalves, ’12, graduated from the University of Florida’s College of Medicine in Gainesville in May 2017.

She graduated with several honors, including a Distinction in the Medical Humanities Discovery Pathway, the Dr. Sigurd J.

Normann Excellence in Pathology Award, the Office of Student Counseling and Development Outstanding Service Award, and was honored for her research. She and her husband, Drew Gonsalves, a USC alumnus, will live in Gainesville, Fla., while Cathy completes a five-year residency in pathology.

Caroline Crouch Ruder, ’12, married Heath Ruder in October 2016. In January 2017 the couple moved to Seattle to work for Amazon, Caroline as a senior program manager and Heath as a senior operations manager.

Charissa Ruth, ’12, is an education officer aboard the Joides Resolution, a scientific drilling vessel. She and her fellow crew members are conducting research off the coast of Australia during the ship’s Expedition 369. For the past two years Charissa was a freelance educator in various museums and nonprofits in Brooklyn and New York City.

Daniel Anthony, ’13, left Eastman Chemical Company this summer to pursue his MBA at EDHEC Business

School in Nice, France, starting fall 2017.

Justin Jensen, ’13, moved to the United Kingdom after graduation to pursue a master’s in development studies at the University of Cambridge. After completing his master’s, he moved to Dubai to work as a management consultant for Oliver Wyman. Since then, he has relocated to the Stockholm branch to work more closely with European clients. He specializes in financial services, but has also consulted aviation, telecommunications, retail and public sector clients.

Taylor Jones, ’13, married Perrin Thompson in April 2017. Director of digital marketing for Soft-Tex International, Taylor graduated with an MBA in leadership from Queens University of Charlotte in 2016.

Katie James Ray, ’13, graduated from the University of Houston Law Center and is now practicing with Davis Law Group in Houston.

Jennifer Leaphart, ’14, graduated from Tulane Law School in May 2017. During law school, she served as senior managing editor for Volume 91 of Tulane Law Review and published her comments on taxing the sharing economy.

Jennifer joined the Tax Group at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York City in September 2017.

Marie Morrissette, ’14, graduated in May 2017 with her doctorate in physical therapy from East Carolina University, where she held a research position in the Human Movement Analysis Lab. Haley Carpenter, ’15, is working in Textron’s integrated supply chain Leadership Development Program in Wichita, Kan. As a member of the company’s training program, Haley will move to a new Textron facility every six months.

Antwon Dallas, ’15, lives in Greenville, S.C., and works in sales at UPS.

Delaney Horel, ’15, just finished her twoyear commitment with the Teach for America New York City Corps.

In September, Delaney graduated with an M.A.T. in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education and started her third year of teaching 8th grade math at her placement school in the Bronx.

Natalie Swift, ’15, is working on her master’s of mass communication at USC. Natalie has interned in corporate communications at Textron and BMW and is interning with Chernoff Newman.

Katie LaWall, ’16, is a senior program assistant in the health and medicine division at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Wash­ ington, D.C.

Phillip Key, ’17, and Lauren Strzyzewski, ’17, are engaged to be married. They are medical students at the Homer J. Stryker School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, Mich.

KEEPING IT ALL ‘IN THE FAMILY’ Did you meet your spouse in the South Carolina Honors College?

Do you have a child in the SCHC? Let us know. We’re trying to make connections. Contact the director of alumni engagement, at alumni@schc.sc.edu

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We make South Carolina stronger.

Being consumer-owned drives South Carolina’s 20 electric cooperatives to provide more than electricity to the communities they serve in the state’s 46 counties. Mike Couick sees the co-ops building stronger communities through the arts, education and better health, knowing that affordable and reliable power is only one part of a better future.

CAROLINA CHANGES EVERYTHING SOUTHCAROLINA.EDU/IMPACT

MIKE COUICK, SCHC, ’81 ENGLISH, ’84 LAW PRESIDENT AND CEO ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES OF SOUTH CAROLINA

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