dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 109, NO. 25 ● SINCE 1908
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes The 8th annual fundraiser raised money for sexual assault survivors
Courtesy of Jennifer Bess
Students selected as leadership fellows Grace McKenna
@THEGAMECOCK
Second-year USC st udents R eb ek a h Pa r r i s a nd Ol i v i a Reszcz y nsk i were chosen as M o u nt Ve r no n L e a d e r s h ip Fellows, an opport unit y that allows them to spend the summer i n a n i m mer sive leader sh ip development program. Parris and Reszczynski were among 16 total fellows selected from a pool of 950 applicants from across the nation. Beginning in June, fellows will take part in a six-week program inspired by the leadership of George Washington and today’s modern leaders. They attend prog ra m m i ng on leadersh ip development, meet with military, c o r p o r at e a nd g o v e r n me nt leaders and develop a capstone project. T he goa l of t he c ap stone project is to take a personal passion of each student and turn it into a guide for action that they can bring back and implement in their home communities. Reszczynsk i, a second-year biochemist r y and economics student in the Honors College, took t he i nspirat ion for her capstone project from her work in a free medical clinic. She hopes to develop a program for growing fruits and vegetables on campus to donate to low-income communities. “After volunteering at the free medical clinic last year, when I was a freshman, a lot of what they told me was that a lot of the people who come in who can’t afford healt h care have chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and stuff like t hat,” Reszcz y nsk i said. “So I thought it might be an interesting way of, on the front end, to k ind of combat those chronic conditions.” Parris, a second-year SEEVERNONPAGE2
Valencia Abraham / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Emily Pierce
@THEGAMECOCK
Wo m e n , m e n a n d c h i l d r e n i n outrageous high heels of all colors and kinds, as well as some dogs with shoes of their own, took on the challenge of walking a mile in less-than-comfortable shoes to raise awareness and funds to fight sexual assault. Walk A Mile In Their Shoes raises money for Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands, an organization providing no-cost services for sexual assault victims in the Midlands area. “A ny step along t he way of t heir process, whether their assault happened
yesterday or 10 years ago, we’re here to help.” Mary Dell Hayes, the executive director of STSM, said. The funds raised at the event are vital in order for the organization to provide services like a 24-hour hotline, counseling sessions and assistance in pursuing their case in the criminal justice system to over 2,000 survivors in the community every year. “If someone were to seek these services from a private practitioner, one of these therapy sessions would cost approximately $120. It can really be a burden and obstacle for somebody to seek healing,” Hayes said. It’s a cause many people can and do get
behind. This year’s Walk a Mile event had a total of 1,500 people in attendance. USC School of Medicine professor Erika Blanck participated in the event as a part of the team called Hot Heels that has won the top fundraising team for the past three years. She works to increase awareness and involvement for the event on campus and has many of her graduate students walk alongside her. “Usually one or two students in each class put it on their Facebook and they sign up because one, they think it’s awesome and hilarious to walk in heels, but then to support a cause that is very meaningful, SEEWALKPAGE2
MAIN STREET SWARMED FOR CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE Mike Woodel
@GETHISDOGONETOO
A sea of garnet and black packed the Statehouse grounds and the sidewalks of Main Street Sunday afternoon to commemorate USC’s first national championship in the sport of women’s basketball. Thousands were in attendance for the parade down Main Street. The speeches made from the Statehouse steps mixed with the scores of USC students who turned up at the Statehouse for the ceremony. A sizable number of alumni came to celebrate as well. Though more than half a decade separated from his days as USC student, John Gibbs arrived well before the parade began to fly a pair of garnet-andblack block C flags at the corner of Gervais and Main streets. “I’m the biggest Gamecock fan there is,” Gibbs said. “I think [the championship] means the world because even though we don’t have a whole lot of them, every time we get one it shows who we really are.” Luke Baker / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
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