The Daily Gamecock: February 2024

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEBRUARY 2024 NEWS MAGAZINE

03 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Editor-in-chief Kate Robins shares how the newsroom has impacted her college experience at USC.

17 NEW AND CREATIVE MEDIA Social media team uses fun videos to help recruit athletes.

05 MEDICAL SCHOOL BUILDING USC carries on plans for a new $300 million building in the BullStreet District that will help bridge education and research.

30 FACING PUSHBACK Columbia female business owners discuss how poor treatment from others has motivated them to excel in their industry.

18 FEMALE BASEBALL PLAYER Bullpen catcher Meredith McFadden becomes first woman in a Power Five school to take the position.

6 POTENTIAL STUDENT UNION USC administrators say campus needs a new student union, but some students wish USC would prioritze other concerns.

10 WORKSHOP CLOSED The College of Engineering and Computing closes its Makerspace, despite a student petition to save it.

13 INTEGRATING AI New USC courses use AI to help build students’ skills in technology.

20 FEATURED PHOTOS OF THE MONTH The Daily Gamecock highlights key men’s basketball photos from January.

21 FIRST BASEMAN ON SEASON AHEAD South Carolina baseball player Gavin Casas prepares for his return with the help of his brother and teammates.

22 GARNET TRUST AND NIL

32 MAYMESTER FUN Students should consider studying abroad in May if they are looking to spend a shorter time away from USC.

33 NOT ENOUGH CLASSES USC’s growing population causes students to not be able to take required courses.

33 SNOOZING RESOLUTIONS Comic portrays how quickly some people can give up on the goals they set in the new year.

University-affiliated collective bridges gap between companies and student-athletes.

25 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VERTERAN Junior guard Bree Hall finds her rhythm within the team to help lead them to an undefeated start.

26 ARTS AS AN OUTLET

14 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON REVIVAL The Center for Civil Rights and Research to renovate the old high school to showcase the building’s history.

Students use musical intruments and digital animations to help them unwind.

34 NOT ENOUGH HOUSING

28 ACCESSIBLE ART EXHIBIT

The university is not considering upperclassmen when it overadmits students.

The Columbia Museum of Art holds tours to help the visually impaired interact with artwork.

29 GET TO KNOW US Editorial staffers share their favorite stories from The Daily Gamecock.

COVER CREDITS COVER DESIGN BY:

COVER PHOTO BY:

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Callie Hribar

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:

THE NEWSROOM EXISTS BEYOND 4 WALLS Kate Robins| Editor-in-chief We have this spot on the ceiling of the newsroom.

It’s a collection of papers that carry messages from former writers, editors and photographers — all leaving a parting message to those that come after them.

At the start of every semester, I’ve taken the time to lay on the newsroom floor and stare at each message.

Some make me emotional, seeing the friends I’ve made that have gone on to graduate, but others cause me to reflect on my time in the newsroom.

There are photos that take me back to staff hangouts, coloring pages that make me reminisce on our print editions and random objects that often make me wonder, “How did that even get here?”

But given recent events, I’ve been focusing more on what the newsroom means to me as a whole rather than the specific objects that inhabit it.

USC proposed a new student union to the board of trustees in January, with a possible timeline showing that reconstruction for Russell House could start by summer 2025.

Nothing is set in stone, but one model showed the potential student union being rebuilt from the ground up.

This means that the newsroom I have come to love and spent so much time in most likely wouldn’t exist as it does now.

And that thought terrifies me.

Sure, it will be relocated somewhere, but right now, it’s hard to imagine not having a place where I know some of my closest friends will be or a place where I find calmness amidst chaos.

I imagine this is how journalists across the world felt amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not seeing the people you collaborate with and talk to daily, well, it makes you realize you should start appreciating the time you have together more.

No matter your role in the university, I’m sure some of you are feeling the same way.

It’s not that these places — whether it be a student union or a newsroom — are special to us because we just need a place to sit or to quickly grab a snack.

They’re meaningful because we recognize the human connections we’ll be able to form within them.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to the newsroom. And I can’t even say that I know what’s going to happen to the student union.

But what I do know is that in times of uncertainty, it’s important to cling to and appreciate what is familiar.

The newsroom is more than just four walls, a few tables and unlimited pieces of paper.

It exists every time I see one of our staffers off campus. It exists in random Slack messages. And it exists in every newsletter you receive from The Daily Gamecock in your inbox.

So just remember, as we enter this period where there are still many questions to be answered and decisions to be made, you will never lose those powerful relationships or memories you have created in the spaces you call home.

And you never know, it may even force you to forge new ones.

That’s the exciting part.

Forever to thee,

Kate Robins

PHOTOs: kate robins

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USC to help bridge education, research with new $300 million medical school building in BullStreet District EMMA DAVISSON | infrastructure beat writer

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he University of South Carolina is advancing plans for a new $300 million medical school building, which is expected to be completed by the fall of 2027. The 320,000-square-foot facility will house research and classroom spaces in the BullStreet District.

The new building, touted as the “first phase” of a larger health science campus, intends to combine research and education into one collaborative space. USC’s board of trustees approved plans for the medical school during its December meeting.

USC’s School of Medicine is focused on neurological research and announced the Rural Brain Health initiative in 2023. The initiative, aimed to improve care across the state, features six rural locations with Columbia as the center of the network.

The new medical school building will continue to research brain health but will also include more interdisciplinary research that ranges from nursing to pharmacy, university spokesperson Jeff Stensland said during the December meeting.

The current medical school is located on the Department of Veterans Affairs campus off of Garners Ferry Road. But the university’s lease of that area expires in 2030, pushing USC to consider other options for a future location.

The BullStreet District site was chosen for the new building because of its proximity to Prisma Health — one of USC’s partners — and other medical park buildings that the university independently owns, university architect Derek Gruner said.

Built out of brick and limestone, the new medical school’s design is intended to mimic the architecture of USC’s main campus, Gruner said. The design includes a cafe, large glass spaces and rooftop terraces.

The plans originally included two separate areas but moved to one building to help promote collaboration between education and

research, said Heather Mitchell, the president of BOUDREAUX architectural firm. The idea of collaboration then became central to the project, Gruner said.

“The buildings did merge, and I think that will be one of the characteristics that really distinguishes the University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine, is its close relationships, its inseparable relationship between the academic experience and research,” Gruner said.

The new building will help provide more access to research opportunities for students, said Chris Marshall, a fourthyear medical student.

“With the new medical school campus, there’s going to be a lot more support from a research perspective,” Marshall said.

“Just with state-of-the-art facilities, you’re going to have a much more enriching learning environment. And it’s just going to attract a lot of more opportunities to the area.”

The research areas of the building are designed to be innovative and highly technological. The space is laid out to be modular and allow for research growth, Mitchell said.

“What’s innovative and forwardlooking about the building is how the building is being planned to foster the interconnections so that research is not being done off in a dark wing by themselves,” Mitchell said. “It’s really kind of on display.”

First-year medical student Abigail Chase said the move will help establish more of a community.

“It’s interesting because we’re kind of in our own little world,” Chase said. “It’s easy to forget that main campus has so many facilities for us to use. So I think being downtown will kind of bring us back into not just our own little tiny student body but back into the student body of South Carolina.”

The added space will allow an increase in annual class sizes from 100 to 130 students, Gruner said.

“Collaborative and intensive programming process began to try and define what needed to be accommodated within the building,” Gruner said. “The intention was to be able to expand that class size.”

Increased class sizes can help meet the demand for more physicians and healthcare professionals within the state, university spokesperson Collyn Taylor said in an email to The Daily Gamecock.

USC plans to use both campuses once the new medical school becomes operational, Taylor said. But the Department of Veterans Affairs campus will continue in research and use of its Simulation and Interactive Learning Center.

The medical school building will also serve as an anchor for additional health science buildings and help establish a sense of cohesiveness throughout the campus, Gruner said.

Four new buildings are planned around the medical school, but dates are not set on those developments. Those buildings will most likely be used for graduate programs and clinical research, Gruner said.

The plans will now move to the Commission on Higher Education, then on to the Joint Bond Review Committee and the State Fiscal Accountability Authority before future plans can proceed. The project is fully expected to continue through the next round of approvals, Gruner said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOUDREAUX ARCHITECTURAL FIRM A rendered image of the future building for South Carolina’s School of Medicine. The building is set to be located in the BullStreet District and is slated to be completed by the fall of 2027. The original plan included two separate buildings but was amended to include only one to reflect collaboration between education and research.

Administration says Russell House is too small, can’t fulfill students’ needs Emmy Ribero | News Editor

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ussell House Director Kim McMahon has been working at USC for more than 15 years.

When she started, there were around 26,000 to 27,000 students at USC. Now, there’s nearly 36,378 students.

McMahon has been a part of conversations for a new student union for two-thirds of her tenure. She said the university has known it has needed a new union for 20 to 25 years.

“Our students deserve a better union because this one was built with half the number of enrolled students that we have currently,” McMahon said. “Our infrastructure hasn’t kept up with that.”

An idea for a new student union was proposed to the board of trustees on Jan. 20. The proposal for the Russell House project comes from the need to accommodate the university’s growth.

The intent of the project would be to leave room for the university to continue to grow to create a better overall experience for students, said Rex Tolliver, the vice president for Student Affairs and Academic Support.

“You have to look at where you are and be looking at where you will be in the next five to 10 years,” Tolliver said.

McMahon said the university has not kept up with its enrollment growth.

There has been an increase in student

organizations due to the uptick in the student population, requiring more space for these groups to meet.

The project had been advancing in recent years but was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Russell House Advisory Board is made up of stakeholders and representatives of people working in Russell, including staff, Carolina Dining and a member of Student Government.

The board gives recommendations and feedback to McMahon.

There is a new committee formed to talk specifically about the Russell House proposal. The new Student Union Committee’s purpose is to look at ways to keep student experience intact during the union’s construction.

This committee is co-chaired by Emmie Thompson, the student body president, and D’Asia White, who has also served on the Russell House Advisory Board. Student representatives from many groups, including all four Greek councils, Homecoming committee, the Association of African American Students and the Association of Transfer Students, are on the student committee. “(We’re) looking at where student organizations would meet and how dining would function, how textbook

PHOTOS Courtesy of Garvin Design Group A computer-generated design of the inside of the proposed new student union. The project for the new building is estimated to cost $240 million if approved.

pickup would function, all the basic necessities and functions that the Russell House supplies. And so we went to a couple of different models with that,” Thompson said.

The proposal includes a $240 million reconstruction of the building which would expand its size on the site.

Along with it, there is a proposed $60 million freestanding dining hall that would be incorporated

into the Thomson building before the Russell House construction begins.

Tolliver said this plan came later, after concerns about where food services would be during construction.

One potential timeline for the project showed that if it was approved, construction could begin by summer 2025, and the dining hall could be completed in the

summer of 2026. The union itself could be completed between 2028 and 2030.

“When we first started this and went through the first iterations, there wasn’t a plan to have a separate dining hall,” Tolliver said. “That part came through much discussion and iteration where people were saying, ‘Well, what are we going to do about food?’”

Besides the freestanding dining structure, the committee also suggested to make sure students could use other spaces on campus for club meetings.

“Those are definitely needs that we said were essential functions of Russell House,” Thompson said. “And so there’s no definitive plans of where those things would be shifted to, but I know they will prioritize making sure they have a place and that those students that utilize

A computer-generated design of proposed plans for a new student union. The university presented the project and other campus renovations to the board of trustees on Jan. 20.

those spaces still feel like they have a home somewhere.”

USC administration is still considering a few different options for funding, Tolliver said. Student Government and the Student Union Committee are working to have a proposal concerning this finished in February, he said.

Speaker of the student senate Cameron Eubanks said the project could potentially be financed by a raise in the student activity fee from $87 to $100. It is unclear when this would go into effect, depending on whether or not it is approved.

But some students are concerned that the university is focusing on what it believes to be an issue rather than what the students consider to be more pressing issues, such as parking and student housing.

Molly Asher, a second-year environmental science student, said she would much rather see more housing options added for upperclassmen as well as renovations to existing dorms, such as South Tower and McBryde.

“I just feel like it’s not the best use of the money, that if USC has extra money, then there’s a lot of things that should be renovated or added to campus rather than the Russell House,” Asher said.

Caroline Finch, a second-year political science student, said reconstructing Russell House should not be on the list of priorities at all, and that it is perfectly fine as it is.

“The university could use the money on so many other things that are much more important than a new student union, such as more parking,” Finch said.

“As you know, next year, we’re supposed to have an even bigger freshman class than this year. And parking this year has been absolutely horrific.”

Ryan Peak, a second-year psychology student, said he thinks that the growth in student population could be addressed in a different way.

“I think (Russell House is) big enough to house the student population that we have,” Peak said. “But I think a very simple solution is not letting 7,500 new students in every year and working with what we’ve got.”

But McMahon said a new student union would fulfill “the mission” of USC. “As an educational institution, we center around growth, we center around discovery, we center around

being in environments that lift you up,” McMahon said.

Thompson said she believes the construction of a new student union is important and a priority for many students.

“I think when I talk to students and from surveys — from just discussing with students in class and even outside the class, off campus — the biggest things I always hear are Wi-Fi, parking and typically (a) new student union,” Thompson said.

White, co-chair of the Student Union Committee and former member of the Russell House Advisory Board, said she heard concerns from the board about space in Russell House.

“More and more student organizations would like to use Russell House to host their student meetings or student events,” White said. “But the student bookings are many times booked all the way to the brim and not every student organization is able to be accommodated the way they would like to.”

Complaints about restaurant wait times and limited dietary options in Russell House were present but not among the top concerns reported in a study from Student Government last semester. The Food for Thought initiative’s purpose was to gauge student concerns.

A computer-generated map of campus with the proposed new student union. The plans also include renovating the Thomson building into a dining facility.

Approximately 33 of the 552 students surveyed in this project mentioned dining on campus or other aspects of a student union.

Many of the concerns found in the study were parking, Wi-Fi and housing. The issues combined make up about 36% of the sample taken on Greene Street, while most others dealt with academics.

President Michael Amiridis said Thompson presented Russell House as a main concern to students, which encouraged him to pursue it.

“The student body president made it very clear that the Russell House is a priority for the students,” Amiridis said.

“So that’s for me. If it is the priority for the students, it’s a priority for me.”

Amiridis said the new student union project is a major one because the

building is used by most students. A student union impacts everyone at the university, as opposed to dorms and academic buildings that are specific to certain groups of students, he said.

Within the next few months, more could be developed with the proposal in terms of financing and further discussions about the project to see if this will best serve the Gamecock community.

Tolliver said he will do more advocacy for the project and listen to student responses to the proposal over the next few weeks. “(I will) start trying to work and educate individuals about the need and the process and how we go about it,” Tolliver said. “Do a lot of educating and informing and soliciting additional feedback.”

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Short-lived Makerspace engineering workshop closed by university in December despite student petition to save it gracie wilkerson | news writer

A

creativity workshop for students within the College of Engineering and Computing, known as the Makerspace, shut down in December, leaving some students without a space to foster their engineering imagination.

The Makerspace, a short-lived project that opened in 2021, was an extracurricular activity room equipped with 3D printers, sewing machines, robotics-related equipment and other materials. Students used the room to develop personal projects and expand their classroom skills.

Student surveys conducted by the university revealed that interest in the Makerspace has declined since 2021, according to Collyn Taylor, a university spokesperson.

“It never gained the traction we hoped,” Taylor said. “There was some student use,

but the room was mostly being used by the students paid to work there.”

Second-year mechanical engineering student Rori Pumphrey was a Maker Mentor, a paid student worker in the Makerspace who taught other students how to use the equipment. She said the space had become a symbol of diversity and inclusion in engineering, with Maker Mentors hosting workshops that fostered minority community building.

A team began efforts to create the Makerspace in 2019, which included Jed Lyons, the senior associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering and Computing. Lyons organized some of the first workshops to get more students familiar with the space after it opened.

He said he wanted to help expose students to a particular manufacturing process called rapid prototyping through an extracurricular activity, but very few people visited the Makerspace.

“Rather than trying to use an extracurricular activity to encourage student knowledge of additive manufacturing, we decided we’re going to integrate it into some of the curriculum,” Lyons said.

Anusha Ghosh, a third-year public health and Spanish student, started a petition to save the Makerspace on behalf of the Maker Mentors, despite not being involved in the Makerspace herself. She said she wanted to help those involved fight back.

The petition had received about 200 signatures when Ghosh brought it to the

PHOTO: monica duffy The front of the John E. Swearingen Engineering Center sits at 301 Main St. on USC’s campus on Jan. 12, 2024. The building was home to the Makerspace, which closed in December.

attention of the College of Engineering and Computing administrators in December.

She said she emailed the petition to the full list of administrators twice in hopes of discussing a solution that would satisfy the concerns about the Makerspace and of the students who used it, but she never received a response.

College of Engineering and Computing Dean Hossein Haj-Hariri was not available for comment.

“Although it doesn’t impact me, I feel like it’s my responsibility to make sure that other students’ voices are heard to a capacity,” Ghosh said.

Before the Makerspace closed, Lyons offered the Maker Mentors other jobs in the college that involve the same equipment from the Makerspace and carry out similar work.

Sowmya Raghu, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student and the former director of the Makerspace, had been wanting to develop a Makerspace since 2016. After it opened, she implemented ideas to make it more collaborative.

“I considered that to be one of my personal successes, and it was running my professional career,” Raghu said.

Some of the equipment from the Makerspace, such as the 3D printers, have been redistributed around the college and integrated into mechanical and aerospace engineering courses to provide students better access to it.

Pumphrey said that the closure “doesn’t make sense,” because she sees engineering schools at other universities continuing to develop their Makerspaces.

“We just have not been given the resources in order to be successful,” Pumphrey said. “There are so many other ways that a Makerspace can (be) incorporated and utilized that haven’t really been acknowledged.”

Raghu said that watching attendance in the Makerspace decline was saddening, but the closure is the best move going forward. “(I’ve) pondered over what I should have done differently, what I should have done better,” Raghu said. “But I tried to rethink, I gave it my all, and that’s all I can say.”

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UPCOMING CAREER CENTER EVENTS Be Career Ready! To Get There — Start Here.

Career Workshops for All Students February 20 Internship/Job Search: How To Find & Create Opportunities 4:30 p.m. | Career Center Classroom

March 6 Interviewing: Answering Some of the

Pre-Professional Workshops February 20 Medical School Application Overview 7 p.m. | Virtual

22 Medical School Application Overview 6 p.m. | Virtual

27 Physician Assistant Application Overview 7 p.m. | Virtual

14 STEM Fair Prep with Gulfstream, Fast Enterprises, RE Mason Company and Schaeffler 10 a.m. | CEC-Swearingen

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12 p.m. | Close-Hipp 204 & Virtual

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13 STEM Fair Prep with Nucor Building Group

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28 Building Your Personal/Professional Brand

Make a Great Impression 4:05 p.m. | Career Center Classroom

10 a.m. | Greene Street

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27 Interview Skills

11 Interviewing: How to Prepare to

February 12 STEM Fair Prep with USC Career Center

February 12 Demystifying the Academic Job Search

12 p.m. | Close-Hipp 204 & Virtual

Most Common Questions 4:05 p.m. | Career Center Classroom

STEM-focused Opportunities

Graduate Student Workshops

March 5 Resume/CV Development 12 p.m. | Virtual

USC STEM

Career and Internship Fair

FEBRUARY 15 12 - 4 P.M. CAROLINA COLISEUM

6 Interview Skills 12 p.m. | Virtual

7 Salary Negotiation 12 p.m. | Virtual

11 Networking for Graduate Students 12 p.m. | Close-Hipp 204 & Virtual

To register for these & other events, visit the events page on sc.joinhandshake.com.

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University Career Center (Thomas Cooper Library, Level 5) College of Engineering & Computing (Swearingen, 1A03) Graduate Student Resources Hub (Close-Hipp, 204) Pre-Professional & Graduate School Advising (Sumwalt, 208)

New courses integrate AI tech into arts, sciences

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OLIVIA HIPP | NEWS WRITER

ight faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences received grants from the McCausland Innovation Fund to develop new courses and redesign existing ones to incorporate artificial intelligence between spring 2024 and the following 2024-25 academic year.

The fund supports innovative teaching and research projects from the College of Arts and Sciences that enhance student experience. The fund issued a special proposal for projects that engage with artificial intelligence.

Provost Donna Arnett spoke on the importance of AI during a discussion about hiring new faculty at the Dec. 6 faculty senate meeting.

“We also had requests for fields like AI because AI ... is going to transform how we teach, what we teach and how students learn,” Arnett said. “We’re already doing some of that. Arts and Science is ahead of the game.”

Psychology professor Rutvik Harshad is developing a course called “Minds, Brains, and Artificial Intelligence,” which applies elements of psychology and philosophy to AI. Students will learn about large language models and conduct different tests to determine whether a system or person can be considered intelligent. The course will be offered in the spring of 2025.

Instructor Megan McKay and Professor Peter Binev from the Department of Mathematics are collaborating to develop McKay’s course, “Mathematical Concepts for Data Analysis,” for the new data analytics major that will be made available in the fall of 2024.

The course, designed for students who have taken an entry level course in calculus or statistics, will integrate examples of AI into its curriculum.

Students will learn the mathematical foundations behind data science and AI as well as how those concepts are used in AI applications.

Associate Professor Michael Gavin said the Department of English Language and Literature is modifying pre-existing English courses to explore AI as well.

Courses will cover topics such as writing with AI, the history of AI and ethical considerations of AI. The classes

will be effective for studying how computer and information science overlaps with linguistics, Gavin said.

Assistant Professor Tad Dallas from the Department of Biological Sciences will look to revise the course “Ecoinformatics,” which teaches students how to analyze data and think programmatically.

Under Dallas’ revision, the course will include a module that distinguishes AI from machine learning concepts and teaches students how to train

to teach students about design solutions that use AI. Students enrolled in the class will learn to become familiar with training models and data visualization as well as consider questions of ethics, Khalili said. The updated course will be made available in the spring of 2025.

Professor Leah McClimans from the Department of Philosophy will redesign the course “Ethics in Science and Technology” into “AI Ethics,”

models. The course will be taught in fall 2024.

“I want to teach people that you can get inference from these models, and they can be super duper useful in ecology and evolution and outside,” Dallas said. “It’s also just something I’ve been pushing for is more computational literacy among biologists.”

Associate Professor Meena Khalili from the School of Visual Art and Design is updating the course “Processes and Systems” to integrate new technologies and platforms such as Stable Diffusion

where students will examine ethical considerations of different technologies.

Charles Andy Schumpert, a lab coordinator from the Department of Biological Sciences, will revise four biology courses to teach students how to use AI ethically to increase access and opportunity. And Michael Stoeltzner, a professor from the Department of Philosophy, will restructure the “Engineering Ethics” course to engage with ethical challenges of AI in engineering.

Multiple faculty members who received the McCausland Innovation Fund said it is important for students

ILLUSTRATION: ALLIE DUNLAP

to understand how to use AI for various reasons.

Khalili wants to make sure students understand AI because it will play a major role in their professional lives, she said. “(We hope) to make sure that this is an accessible technology and a technology that these students feel comfortable commanding because it will be a part of their daily careers as we move forward,” Khalili said.

Desai said AI’s increasingly prominent role in society makes it important for students to understand how the technology works.

Collaboration between disciplines can create new connections, he said.

“Within one discipline we sometimes tend to get boxed in with certain kind of views or certain opinions. And when you look at somebody from a different discipline, we might disagree, but (it might) give us completely fresh ideas, fresh perspectives that we had not thought about in a single discipline,” Desai said.

Chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering Homayoun Valafar said communication between departments can help to develop true interdisciplinary courses.

“Obviously, it’s a great idea to actually cross the boundaries of normally separated disciplines, and that’s where all the interesting stuff happens,” Valafar said. “But I feel like it’s too much for a person to just come take one class for example, where they grasp the basics of neuroscience and artificial intelligence and computer science, to put it to a good use.”

The university’s budgeting system “fosters a more competitive environment,” which can often hold back collaboration, Valafar said.

McKay and Binev said students can benefit from taking courses from other disciplines to become more well-rounded.

“I would love to have the mathematicians taking some courses outside of the department,” Binev said. “But usually, the interests are always around mathematics, and if we have interdisciplinary majors, it would be fantastic.”

The full list of projects sponsored by the McCausland Innovation Fund are available on USC’s website.

Renovations to historic Booker T. Washington showcase civil rights history of the city, state EMMA DAVISSON | infrastructure beat writer

photos: taylor kitchens

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alk down the middle of the Horseshoe, and look at the bricks.

Lined with names and graduation years, they tell the stories of people from years past.

But they’re more than just pathways to walk on.

More than 100 years old, those bricks are from Booker T. Washington High School, which was torn down in 1974 to make way for the construction of East Quad.

The school, built in 1916, was one of South Carolina’s largest public high schools for Black students. It

A composite photo of the Booker T. Washington High School class of 1949 is displayed as part of a history exhibit located inside the school’s auditorium on Jan. 26, 2024. The high school was open from 1916 until 1974.

consisted of a five-acre campus at the corner of Blossom Street that included a cafeteria, gymnasium and laboratories.

Now the Booker T. Washington auditorium is being renovated to tell the stories of its former students.

The university used to only exist between Blossom and Main streets and did not have the sprawling campus that it does now. Across Blossom, there were primarily Black neighborhoods.

It became a trend in the 1950s and ‘60s to conduct “urban renewal campaigns,” where federal support was given to cities to revamp rundown communities. More

than 900,000 homes across the country were destroyed through federal slum clearance projects, according to university podcast host Chris Horn.

Through these campaigns, USC expanded an otherwise enclosed campus, and certain Black neighborhoods were displaced to make room for the growth.

The additions of Capstone and Columbia Hall to campus in the 1960s encroached on historically white neighborhoods, prompting pushback from residents in the Five Points area who were negatively impacted, Waites said.

Ward One, a Black neighborhood bound by Gervais, Main and Huger Streets, was located where Darla Moore School of Business and Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center now are.

Ward One didn’t deliver the same sort of pushback that other neighborhoods had, said Robin Waites, the director of Historic Columbia.

“They didn’t have the same sort of positions of power to stop it,” Waites said.

Those residents sold their homes to the city, and renters moved away.

Chairs inside Booker T. Washington Auditorium sit empty on Jan. 26, 2024. The auditorium is home to USC’s TRIO programs and the Department of Theatre and Dance.

This has contributed to what Bobby Donaldson, the exectuvie director of The Center for Civil Rights History and Research, calls a “tension between the University of South Carolina and Black citizens of Columbia.”

For years, the only way a Black American could enter the campus was in a work capacity, whether that be part of landscaping, custodial or dining, It wasn’t until 1965 — 164 years after USC’s founding — that the first Black student graduated from the University of South Carolina.

Wheeler Hill was another predominantly Black area displaced in the ‘70s and ‘80s to make way for the university.

Located on Pickens Street, USC bought the land to make room for student housing. When the plan never occurred, the land was sold to developers. By then, it was too expensive for its former residents to move back.

Right now, the center lacks a physical location and instead exists as a series of collections spread between the South

Caroliniana Library and Hollings Special Collections Library.

Moving into Booker T. Washington will provide a more permanent home for the center’s displays and collections, Donaldson said.

More classrooms, exhibits and historical displays will be added when The Center for Civil Rights History and Research, part of the African American studies program at USC, moves into the space.

There are plans in the works for a new building next to the auditorium to provide a set location for the center beyond the displays in Booker T. Washington, but dates on the project are undetermined.

The center, first envisioned in 2014, started as a collaboration between former Dean of Libraries Tom McNally, former university President Harris Pastides and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).

Clyburn prompted the creation of the center, Donaldson said.

The main entrance of the old Booker T. Washington High School stands on the University of South Carolina campus on Jan. 26, 2024. The school was the largest Black high school in South Carolina before closing in 1974.

In 2014, the university approached Clyburn about obtaining papers that document his rise in congressional leadership and his legislative work.

Clyburn committed the papers with the caveat of displaying them. They were included with other documents for civil rights history, and thus the Center for Civil Rights was born.

Beginning with Clyburn’s papers, the center has been able to evolve and obtain more collections. These collections are used to advance research and scholarship among the faculty, provide resources for educational purposes and use collections for public engagement throughout South Carolina.

Since its founding, the center has been focused on telling the civil rights stories of the university and state. It’s important to make sure the telling of local history is equitable, Waites said.

“It’s not unusual for universities to have that sort of story nationally,” Waites said.

“As they grow, they kind of eat up the communities around them.”

Donaldson said he hopes the reimagining of Booker T. Washington will help reconstruct relationships between Black Columbia residents and the university as well as contribute to forming new connections.

“The university was known as a place that was the epitome of segregation. Here was a gated, brick wall community. It was a campus in the heart of the city,” Donaldson said. “There are people who are now in their 70s and 80s who have very clear memories of this campus being unwelcoming, and so the demolition and destruction of the leading Black high school did not make matters any better.”

Placing the center at Booker T. Washington helps those relationships by recognizing the past, Waites said.

Much of what is known about Ward One and similar communities comes from research that Donaldson and his students have done. This has contributed to much of the signage and other markers that point out that history across campus.

While this history has started to be discussed in recent years, there is still more work to be done, Donaldson said.

A shift in the mindsets of universities across the country has prompted more documentation and recognition of civil rights history.

“Several years ago, there was a reluctance to even talk about enslavement, to talk about enslaved people on the campus,” Donaldson said. “We’ve now tried to correct that.”

Much of that recognition came after a collaboration between the city and Historic Columbia in 2012. The university developed markers as well, with the center placing them around campus.

The signs were mainly due to work done

by Donaldson and former mayor Stephen Benjamin, who recognized a need for higher profile civil rights history in the city.

Now, the Center for Civil Rights History and Research hopes to bring this awareness to the rest of the state through tourism and education, Donaldson said.

The center has received more than $6 million in funding from the National Parks Service due to its status on the National History Registry. The Booker T. Washington auditorium will now be renovated to include new classrooms, exhibits and a meeting space for the general public.

“Booker T. Washington, this historic space, (will have) a whole new life, educating a new generation of people.

That’s the goal,” Donaldson said. “We’ll bring in speakers, we’ll have performances all of which will help tell the story of the school and its people but also tell the story of civil rights in this state.”

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South Carolina’s New and Creative Media team uses social media, personal videos to recruit Gen Z EMMA EDWARDS | OFF-SEASON SPORTS BEAT WRITER

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here’s a video on X, formally known as Twitter, of South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer sprinting down a street with the 2023 season players, a parody of a cold open from the hit sitcom “The Office.”

Then there’s a video from the 2022 season before posted on YouTube of Beamer and his coaching staff cruising in a red convertible to recreate the opening of the ‘90s sitcom “Full House.”

These are just two of the many viral videos the USC Athletics New and Creative Media team has produced for Gamecock football. The collection of videos has generated more than two million views on X. But not many have seen the video of Beamer running around the football facility with a Nerf gun or the one of him doodling with a pack of crayons.

Those videos didn’t go viral. They only had a few views. And it’s because those videos were not produced for public consumption.

They were made for recruits.

The New and Creative Media team uses social media to draw the attention of the next generation of young recruits. Ethan Styll, the producer of New and Creative Media, said the team does this through personalization and representation.

The team works to advertise and sell the university in whatever way is most meaningful to athletes.

“Pretty much all these student-athletes believe in their own abilities on the field.

We’re not having to convince them of that,” Styll said. “We’re having to convince them how they fit in with our program and our culture and our opportunities we can get them here.”

Recruiting is an important element of building a strong class, according to Kevin Hull, sports media sequence head in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

“You win with good players, and so recruiting is really important,”

PHOTO: DELANY KRAL A photo illustration of a screen showing information posted by Gamecock football on X on Jan. 21, 2024. The New and Creative Media team is utilizing social media to recruit the next generation of Gamecocks.

Hull said. “Whatever advantage you can get, whether it’s through NIL, whether it’s through creative media, that stuff matters.”

USC’s recruiting ranked No. 19 nationally for the class of 2024 out of 184 ranked schools, according to On3.

The ranking means that South Carolina’s tactics are working. Its content is catching the eyes of young, talented recruits like safety Isaiah McClary.

McClary said the work of the recruiting team contributed to his decision to join the Gamecocks.

“To be honest, I think they have one of the best media groups in the country,” McClary said. “They’re doing a great job with that. It’s definitely attracting people, and it definitely attracts me a lot, just seeing the videos, pictures and all that. They do well on TikTok. So it’s pretty entertaining.”

The New and Creative Media team controls the narrative of their team’s culture

by using entertainment as a tool. While it may not be through direct communication with recruits, it shapes the national brand of the program, Styll said.

But the media team hasn’t won everyone over with its recruiting strategies.

Styll said Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops “threw some shade at Beamer” in 2022. Before a game against the Wildcats, Stoops said recruiting antics could only change the climate, not the entire culture of a program.

The New and Creative Media team took the opportunity to issue a response after the Gamecocks’ win against the Wildcats by posting a video of Beamer dancing in some “stupid sunglasses,” a phrase Styll said he believes was directed at Beamer.

“We are not doing that for recruits, but it goes into recruiting, because that’s something we take advantage of from a creative side,” Styll said. “That can then be that piece in recruits’ minds of like, ‘Oh yeah,

I saw that from South Carolina. That seems like a cool place to be,’ and then they can start building those relationships. And that’s where our work is done.”

The creativity and personalization of these videos are often at the forefront of young recruits’ minds, Hull said.

“We’re now possibly more connected to recruiting than we’ve ever been before, and it’s because of social media,” Hull said.

Styll said the team’s role in recruiting creates an opportunity to get all people, not just recruits, interested in Gamecock football.

“You can argue it’s all recruiting at the end of the day — recruiting fans, recruiting donors, recruiting players,” Styll said.

“We get to showcase why we want fans to be a part of this, why we want donors to make an impact where they can (and) why we want the best student-athletes in the country to have that ‘Carolina’ on the front of their jersey.”

South Carolina baseball bullpen catcher breaks barriers, supports players as 1st woman in position for Power Five team Annie Poteat | aSSISTANT Sports eDITOR

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hird-year exercise science student Meredith McFadden has always loved the culture and people in the baseball world.

Growing up, McFadden had always played the game, and as she got older, she didn’t want her time with the sport to end in high school.

At college, McFadden has been able to carry on her love of the game — ­ except now, it’s with the South Carolina baseball team.

McFadden is the first-ever woman to hold the position of bullpen catcher for a Power Five baseball team. Among those teams are schools that play in NCAA Division I athletics for the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference and Southeastern Conference.

McFadden started playing baseball when she was just 4 years old and immediately fell in love with it. She always knew it was what she wanted to do, she said.

It’s common for girls to switch over to softball when they get older. But McFadden was never interested in that, she said.

“I wasn’t really forced to switch by anybody,” McFadden said. “I was obviously told, ‘You’re going to have to switch sometime.

Boys are going to get bigger and stronger,’ but I knew that I wanted to keep playing baseball as long as I wanted to, so I was just going to make that happen.”

Her older brother practiced baseball with her growing up, and she stuck with it throughout her youth and high school years.

She attended Olympic High School in Charlotte, North

Carolina, and played on the boys team for all four years.

McFadden didn’t experience a lot of pushback while playing with the boys and was instantly welcomed, she said.

“I was definitely very lucky in high school because a lot of the guys that were on my high school team I’ve been playing with since I was 6 years

she didn’t want to go without it, she said.

McFadden grew up a South Carolina fan, influenced by her uncle, grandparents and extended family who all attended the school. She remembers sitting in her living room at home and watching the Gamecock baseball team when it went to the College World Series in 2010, she said. She knew it was her “dream school,” she said.

McFadden said she knew as a junior in high school that she would end up at South Carolina for college, and she decided to figure out a way to be involved with the baseball team.

She found South Carolina’s thenbullpen catcher from 2020 on Instagram and sent him a message to ask how he got the role. This led her to contacting head coach Mark Kingston and explaining her interest in finding a place somewhere within the team.

“At the time, he responded, and he was like, ‘Let’s kind of wait until you get here, whenever you get here as a freshman, and we’ll kind of reassess what our PHOTos courtesy of Meredith McFadden Meredith McFadden fields a ground ball in the infield. McFadden grew up playing baseball and continued with the sport despite it being common for girls to make the switch to softball.

old,” McFadden said.

“So they’ve always seen me as just a teammate, just another person on the field, another member of the team.”

McFadden’s junior year of high school, as well as her baseball season, were cut short in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time in her life that she couldn’t play baseball, and it made her realize

needs are at the time,’” McFadden said.

The rest of McFadden’s high school years passed, and she reached out again upon her arrival in Columbia as a freshman.

The team had two senior bullpen catchers at the time and wasn’t in need of another.

“I was able to be a student my freshman year, and I’m very grateful for that — just to be very connected with the school community and just, kind of, be a student,” McFadden said.

McFadden didn’t hear anything from the team until the summer before her sophomore year. She said the team’s director of baseball operations contacted her and asked if she was still interested.

She told him that she was and went to Founders Park to try out and have an interview.

“I went there, and the rest is history,” McFadden said. “(I’ve) been with the team ever since.”

McFadden goes into a squatting position as she prepares to receive a pitch from behind the plate. During her time at South Carolina, McFadden has served as a bullpen catcher for the Gamecock baseball team.

McFadden poses for a picture with her travel baseball team. She has been playing the sport ever since she was 6 years old.

This year is her second working with the team, and Kingston said she adds a number of valuable qualities.

“You want (a bullpen catcher) to be somebody that is trustworthy. You want it to be somebody that is talented enough to handle our type of pitching staff,” Kingston said. “You want it to be somebody that’s mature … somebody that you respect their opinion, and Meredith is all of those things.”

As a bullpen catcher, McFadden helps warm up the relief pitchers who are preparing to go into the game by calling pitches and catching their practice throws in the bullpen.

“Her role for us is important because every pitcher that she’s down there — every pitch she catches down there for us is one less that Cole

Messina has to catch, which keeps him fresher for the game,” Kingston said. “So that’s a really important role for a team.”

McFadden said she tries to make an impact on the team by “preparing the pitchers to perform at the SEC level.”

Some of her tasks include helping them with their throwing programs, getting their arms in pitching shape and giving them coaching advice and feedback.

“I usually just show up to the field and kind of wait for people to be like, ‘Hey, Meredith, I need you to do this,’” McFadden said. “I’m always there to help them, whatever they need, baseball-wise, personal-wise, anything.”

McFadden said she tries to bridge the gap between being a player and a coach for the team, and she sees herself as somewhere in the middle.

“I feel like the guys are comfortable enough coming to me about literally anything because they know their playing

time isn’t going to be dictated by me,” McFadden said. “So they can be very honest with me, and I really do appreciate it … I want them to have that ability to share those things because college sports is very stressful.”

Redshirt sophomore pitcher Roman Kimball was injured and had Tommy John surgery during the 2023 season, and McFadden was a part of his pitching recovery process. He said the team enjoys watching McFadden succeed in her role.

“We got guys who throw bullpens all the time, and she’s able to give us good feedback based on what she’s seeing, so that’s always a good thing to have,” Kimball said. “She’s always here supporting us, even for games and everything.

And she’s out there if we need her to catch some bullpens and stuff, so it’s always good to have her around.”

McFadden’s catching skills make her a valuable asset to the team, Kingston said.

“We’re happy to have her,” Kingston said. “She does a really nice job and, you

know, regardless of her gender, she does a great job.”

Even though McFadden is used to playing with boys, she’s been able to McFadden prepares to throw the ball back to the pitcher. McFadden also plays for the All-American Girls Baseball League.

enjoy the sport with other girls as well.

Playing with other girls gives her people to lean on and relate to, she said.

“I started playing baseball with other girls when I was about 11 years old through different girl’s baseball organizations and initiatives, and I’ve been very lucky for that,” McFadden said. “Those programs help me meet people from all across the country who have gone through the exact same things as me and understand my very unique challenges that I face.”

McFadden also plays for the All-American Girls Baseball League, which originates from World War II when women played baseball in place of the men who went to war.

Some of the original members of the league are still trying to revive women’s professional baseball, she said.

McFadden travels with the league and competes in its annual tournament.The teams are inspired by the original teams from the league.

“I played for the Rockford Peaches, which was one of the original teams, so that’s pretty cool being around

now the new age of women’s baseball and the younger generation,” McFadden said. “Some people that I used to look up to in the women’s baseball space are now teammates of mine during these events, it’s really cool.”

McFadden said she wants to continue working closely with baseball after college.

She has the option to go into an athletic training position with her exercise science major but is keeping her plans open, with hopes to become a bullpen catcher for a professional team after she completes her undergraduate degree.

What motivates her is seeing other women she looks up to make it in baseball, she said. She wants to be that person for girls who were like her growing up.

“Seeing the young girls that come out to baseball games, at Founders, and I see them, and I see that little — their love of baseball, and I want them to be able to see me just kind of making opportunities for myself and succeeding and thriving in a very competitive baseball environment,” McFadden said. “I want them to be able to see that representation of themselves.”

The Daily Gamecock’s featured photos of the month The Daily Gamecock’s sports photographers attend every home South Carolina men’s basketball game, capturing key moments of each season. In January, our photographers have gotten to follow a men’s team that was originally projected to finish last in the SEC and has now upset two top-10 teams. Here are some of the most captivating moments our photographers caught this month.

Men’s Basketball vs. Missouri

Men’s Basketball vs. kentucky

Men’s Basketball vs. kentucky

PHOTo: Zoe orechwa

PHOTo: Alicia Caracciolo

PHOTo: Alicia Caracciolo

Graduate student forward B.J. Mack celebrates during South Carolina’s matchup against Missouri at Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 27, 2024. Mack scored 21 points during the Gamecocks’ 72-64 victory over the Tigers.

The Gamecock men’s basketball bench celebrates after a teammate scored a 3-point shot during South Carolina’s victory over the then-No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats on Jan. 23, 2024.

South Carolina made 11 3-point shots in its 79-62 victory over Kentucky.

Gamecock fans rush onto the court at Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 23, 2024, after the South Carolina men’s basketball team defeated the then-No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats 79-62. The game broke the men’s basketball single-game student attendance record, with 5,000 students granted tickets.

Gamecock first baseman draws inspiration from brotherly mentorship, team support ahead of season EMMA EDWARDS | OFF-SEASON SPORTS BEAT WRITER

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he feeling of inferiority is not often associated with playing on the No. 1 team in the country.

But senior first baseman Gavin Casas knew this feeling all too well while playing for Vanderbilt’s first-rate baseball team during his first two years of college.

Casas said he found happiness in college baseball for the first time at the University of South Carolina after entering the transfer portal ahead of his junior year.

“A lot of people have a lot of different experiences (at Vanderbilt), and mine wasn’t too positive,” Casas said. “Coming to Carolina really opened up my mind, and it really allowed me to play baseball and be happy. And it was really the first time I was happy on a baseball field for the whole time that I was in college.”

In addition to rediscovering his passion at South Carolina, Casas found guidance and inspiration from someone who has played baseball at the highest level.

His brother, Triston Casas, has already made his debut in the MLB. After his rookie season with the Boston Red Sox in 2023, Triston served as a support system for his little brother, who looks to achieve the same success.

Casas said he once resented the pressure of success from his older brother. But as he got older, he realized it could be used to his advantage.

“Having him by my side and having him just a phone call or a text away is huge for me,” Casas said.

“He’s seen so much baseball, and he’s obviously at the highest level that you can get.”

Casas said developing a relationship with his brother has helped him continue to foster his growth at South Carolina. Gaining secondhand expertise from his brother is invaluable to him as he enters what could be his final year of college baseball, he said.

Casas faced a difficult choice after a breakthrough season with the Gamecocks. He could’ve either entered the MLB draft or stayed at South Carolina for another year.

Ultimately, he decided he was not ready to leave the place that gave him back his passion for the game.

“It really boils down to happiness and quality of life,” Casas said. “My quality of life here in Columbia is really second to none, and I couldn’t be happier with my situation.”

Casas said The supportive environment at South Carolina is exactly what prompted him to withdraw his name. The coaching staff’s ability to have peer-to-peer conversations with the athletes created a feeling of community within the team, he said.

“Showing up to a facility and dreading being there is honestly a really bad feeling,” Casas said. “Coming to Carolina, it’s allowed me to have fun again. It’s allowed me to see the joy and the beauty in this game.”

South Carolina supporters share his joy at being a part of the program.

Casas said that since his first day as a Gamecock, the fans have “treated (him) like gold.”

The fans aren’t the only people happy to see the return of one of South Carolina’s most offensively productive players. Head coach Mark Kingston and Casas’ teammates said his decision to stay will not only help his team but his own personal growth as well.

“He wanted to leave a more lasting legacy than just the one year here at South Carolina. He’s extremely happy here. He loves how we run things. He

loves the growth that he’s had here, so he just wasn’t ready to leave. And I think that will be a great decision for him,” Kingston said. “And I think it will be great for us because we’re getting the best first baseman in the country.”

Redshirt sophomore pitcher Roman Kimball said Casas made a significant contribution to the lineup last year, and with his return, the offense will maintain much of its talent.

His impact on the team reaches further than offense, though. Casas’ ability to drive in runs gives Kimball confidence that his work on the mound will be backed by offensive runs.

“As a pitcher, selfishly, you’re always looking for that long ball from some of the hitters,” Kimball said. “You can always rely on him for that, but having him in the lineup is really important for this year.”

Casas, along with his coaches and teammates, said his decision puts South Carolina baseball in a better position this season.

“In order to make it to that next level, you really have to live this game,” Casas said. “Everything that you do on and off the field has to be in order to better yourself and better yourself for this team and better yourself for the program. And I feel like if I did that, I would put (the team) in the best position to succeed, and I feel like I’ve done that to the best of my ability.”

PHOTO: EMMA WYATT Senior first baseman Gavin Casas adjusts his hat during the 9-8 Gamecock victory over the Missouri Tigers at Founders Park on March 24, 2023. Casas decided to return to Gamecock baseball for his senior season, foregoing the MLB draft.

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What Gamecock Athletics’ partnership with Garnet Trust means for student-athletes, fans

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Annie Poteat | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR t’s no secret that the landscape of college football has changed.

Nowadays, some athletes choose the school that pays the most or will transfer programs if they think their performance deserves more pay than their current program can afford.

The Washington Post reported that, following the conclusion of the 2023 regular football season, many college football coaches were asking fans for NIL donations to aid the program’s players.

The University of South Carolina is no exception.

Now, head coaches of Gamecock Athletics, such as head football coach Shane Beamer, can be seen on video screens at sporting events across campus asking people to donate money to the school’s name, image and likeness trust.

But some people might not know exactly what they’re being asked to donate to. That’s where NIL collectives come in.

These entities, such as Garnet Trust, attempt to bridge the gap between fans, companies and the student-athletes they want to support. They also work with athletes to build personal brands based on their success on and off the field.

Student-athletes were not previously allowed to profit from their name, image and likeness for as long as collegiate competition existed­— until a court case in 2021 made it to the Supreme Court.

Before NIL made its way onto the scene, student-athletes were students first. They could not monetize their athletic performance because the NCAA had laws restricting athletes from receiving money that was not related to academics.

The Supreme Court ruled in NCAA v.

Alston that prohibiting student-athletes from profiting off of themselves violated antitrust laws.

The NCAA then instituted a rule prohibiting athletic programs from taking NIL

donations directly, instead forcing them to create a trust. The NCAA ruled in October 2022 that the trust cannot be university-led but must be a partnership between the collective and the school’s athletic department.

Gamecock Athletics named Garnet Trust as the school’s official NIL partner on July 27, 2023.

“We are grateful for the commitment of the Garnet Trust to our student-athletes,” South Carolina Athletic Director Ray Tanner said in the announcement. “As the ‘Official NIL Partner of Gamecock Athletics,’ our studentathletes will be able to build on their positive impact in the community by leveraging their NIL opportunities through the Garnet Trust.”

Multiple collectives arose in Columbia with the introduction of NIL. Declaring Garnet Trust as the official partner lets fans become more familiar with how Gamecock student-athletes can make money from their name, image and likeness, Gamecock Athletics said in the announcement.

The goal of the collective is to compensate student-athletes for their work, which both the university and the media profit from, said Jeremy Smith, the director of operations for Garnet Trust.

“I think there’s a lot of misconceptions on both sides, whether it be from the athlete side or from the donor-contributor side, that we have to do a better job explaining and educating on,” Smith said.

Ph.D. student and graduate assistant Grace Davies specializes in collegiate athletics.

NIL corporations are like a “clearinghouse,” Davies said.

This means they connect players with opportunities to earn compensation through their name, image and likeness, she said.

Previously, many student-athletes did not have agents like professional athletes because of NCAA legislation that governed

how an agent might be in contact with an athlete.

When athletes are typically approached by brands to reach a sponsorship, Garnet Trust helps with negotiating those deals, Smith said.

NIL gave players the chance to hire an agent to connect them to brands and sponsorships.

An agent looking to represent a Gamecock must register with the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs and the Athletic Department.

“The collective, in theory, has more reach than an agent might,” Davies said. “They already have some sort of community established, and so it seems like the collectives have a broader reach and therefore can connect athletes to different companies and brands in a different way.”

The trust is split into two donor pools — the Garnet Trust and the Garnet Trust ­ Foundation, a nonprofit. The foundation can only be used to fund players’ appearances at events for charity, Smith said. While the players are there, they help raise money at events or spend time with the organization’s cause. “All the money that comes through the foundation has to be used for charitable work,” Smith said. “We actually put the athlete inside a charity’s brick-and-mortar and spend time with them.”

The group is wary of who it awards money to, keeping up with locker room issues that coaches think warrant a decrease in NIL involvement, Smith said.

“We take every dime that we receive very seriously, and we make sure that we only are putting it in the hands of the most deserving student-athletes,” Smith said. “We take a lot of pride in working closely with the coaches to help determine that.”

Freshman wide receiver Nyck Harbor partnered with Beats by Dre headphones before he even played in Williams-Brice Stadium, according to On3. Garnet Trust helped facilitate the deal.

“Up until recently, student-athletes who actually score the touchdowns, catch the passes (and) make the tackles have not

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

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25 GARNET TRUST CONTINUED gotten to see any of that,” Smith said. “So now there’s that opportunity for them to monetize.”

While student-athletes are monetizing from their personal brands, paying collegiate players might not be going according to plan. The NCAA stated it wants to avoid something called “pay-for-play” since it goes against its long standing recruitment rules, the NCAA

said in its first post-NIL interim policy.

“Pay-for-play” is the idea that a player attends a university simply because they can sign the biggest check there.

Whether it was intentional or not, Davies said NIL has progressed rapidly since it began. She said she believes “pay-for-play” has come to fruition since the introduction of NIL. “Coaches, especially in recruiting, are promising a

certain amount of money through NIL, and then it seems like it’s the collective’s job to go and find that money,” Davies said. “That’s kind of where we’re in this gray area where no one really knows what’s actually going on.”

No money is guaranteed to commits, Smith said. He doesn’t make contact with an athlete until they are enrolled or on campus, he said. Smith said he wants to work on educating people and clear

up misconceptions about the trust going forward.

“We have to continue to educate — not only the student-athlete but the donor, the contributor if you will be — on what it is we do, how we do it and how this really works,” Smith said.

Bree Hall uses veteran experience as guard to help lead Gamecock women’s basketball to undefeated start of season Jaydon Ford | ATHLETE FEATURES BEAT WRITER

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he South Carolina women’s basketball team is the one undefeated team in the country and has been ranked No. 1 since the second week of the 2023-24 season.

Junior guard Bree Hall’s shots weren’t finding the net in the early stages of the campaign, but as the season continued, she’s found her rhythm within the team and improved her on-court performance.

Up until the Gamecocks’ matchup against Presbyterian on Dec. 16, Hall had recorded double-digit points in only three of the team’s first nine games.

Hall has finally found her footing after a slow start to the season and has become a key part of South Carolina’s prolific offense.

“There have been some very upset moments in my career, just this year, and I’m just really proud of how well I’ve bounced back from it,” Hall said.

Hall, like a number of her teammates, has stepped into a bigger role this season after the departure of “The Freshies,” who were mainstays in the Gamecocks’ starting lineup over the past four years. Among those departing players was forward Aliyah Boston, who went on to be selected in the WNBA as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft and named an All-Star Game starter and the league’s Rookie of the Year.

Hall is averaging 10.1 points per game on 48.4% shooting from the field, including 46.8% from three as of Feb. 1 Not only has Hall doubled her points per game from

last year (5.0), but she has also developed into a more efficient shooter than she was last year (40.5% on field goals and 35.9% on 3-pointers).

She has kicked it into high gear especially during SEC play, where she has registered some of her highest-scoring performances of the season. Her best scoring display came against Missouri on Jan. 11. She totaled 21 points on 8-10 shooting from the field, including a perfect 4-4 from 3-point range, and added four rebounds and two blocks.

“She’s been playing extremely well on both sides of the basketball,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “She sat the bench a lot her first two years, and then she has an opportunity to start and to play an integral role on our team.”

Hall played behind former Gamecock guard Brea Beal, who had a brief stint with the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx last season. Hall appeared in 35 games last season, logging 486 total minutes.

She has surpassed that total this year, with 534 minutes played across 20 games.

Hall credits her recent success to being in a good mental place.

“This game is really a mental game, first, and I feel like from the start of the season to now, I’ve had a strong mental, and just fighting back and getting back to how I usually play,” Hall said.

Therapy specifically has helped her this year, she said. Hall was having doubts about her on-court performance not matching up with her personal goals of stepping up and leading the team.

“I’d say the biggest thing for me is that I see a therapist, if we’re being honest,” Hall said. “I said that in one of my TikToks and everybody loved it, but I do see the sports therapist quite often.”

Hall highly recommends that other athletes do the same. In addition to seeing a sports therapist, she said Staley has helped her manage her expectations.

“She’s definitely pulled me aside, had great conversations with me,” Hall said. “(She’s) really just helped me build my confidence.”

That confidence has translated into becoming a more vocal leader on and off the court, especially to younger teammates like freshman guard Tessa Johnson. Johnson said guards like Hall have helped her adjust to the college game.

“They tell me where to go. They tell me, ‘Keep my head up. Keep going,’ just in general,” Johnson said. “They’ve experienced it in their previous years, so they just give us their advice.”

Hall and the rest of the Gamecocks will be looking to continue their streak throughout the rest of the season as they chase after another national championship.

PHOTO: Jatin Patel Junior guard Bree Hall drives the ball down the court against Mississippi State’s defense. Hall has been a key player for South Carolina’s offense in the 2023-24 season.

USC student artists embrace arts as creative outlet CJ Leathers | ARTS & CULTURE WRITER

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oshua Campbell sits down every day to play the piano. The routine helps him improve his craft, but that’s not the only reason behind his desire to play.

Playing the piano helps him unwind after a long day.

Campbell is not alone. Students across USC are turning their artistic passion into a means of self-expression and a way to manage their academics.

From playing musical instruments to creating digital animations, there is lots of artistic presence on campus.

Campbell, a second-year chemical engineering student, has played the piano since he was little. But the piano hasn’t always been enjoyable, he said.

“My parents put me in piano lessons when I was 6 or 7, and I hated them at first,” Campbell said. “They were awful, but once I got a little better at the piano, I figured out I had a real passion for it.”

Playing the piano became a way to de-stress after a full day of classes, he said.

“I think that playing piano, specifically, is a very important emotional release for me because what I study in school is like the furthest thing from music,” Campbell said.

“My head’s full of numbers and math and chemistry all day. And that can lead to a lot of mental clutter because I’m having to think through things all day.”

Campbell said his passion for music can be attributed to his piano teacher, who allowed him to experiment with different types of music.

“My piano teacher all throughout elementary, middle and high school was a big influence because when I was younger, of course, I had to play whatever was put in front of me,” Campbell said. “But she encouraged me to explore specifically music that interested me. She wouldn’t beat me over the head with music I really didn’t want to play.”

Second-year music education student and clarinetist Quiara McBride also takes inspiration from her youth. She wants to make a difference in other musicians’ lives as a band director — similar to what her director did for her, she said.

“One person I’ve looked to is my lesson teacher I had in middle school.”

McBride said.

“He had such a great impact on me.

He taught me all things clarinet and just made me a better person. And then, in 12th grade, he became my band director.

So he really helped me decide where I

wanted to go, what I wanted to do. He’s one of the reasons why I’m here right now.”

McBride’s vision for her class rises above the typical classroom environment.

She wants to create a safe space to provide emotional release for her students from other classes, she said.

“I want my band class to be the class (where) they’re like, ‘Yay, I’m so excited.

This is going to be such a release from everything,’”McBride said. “I want that to be like an escape.”

Ellie Pruette, a second-year media arts student, had a similar sentiment.

Her high school art teacher helped inspire her passion for digital art and animation through individualized teaching methods, she said.

“We had very personalized lessons, so it’s like there were a lot of people who were doing very traditional art in the class, but (the teacher) was always very respectful for the kind of art I liked to do,” Pruette said.

Pruette said there is a lot of personal fulfillment and pride to be had when drawing and coming up with new ideas.

“It’s really nice — the feeling you get after you’ve spent all night working on a project, and you’re finally able to sit back and look at it and be proud of what you’ve made,” Pruette said.

Pruette is looking to merge her interests in animation and illustration to go into a media arts-related career path. She wants to utilize her digital art skills and apply them to a more profitable market, such as graphic designing, she said.

“Art has probably been one of the biggest influences in my life,” Pruette said. “I’ve had some really amazing artist friends over my life that have pushed me to be better. And I’ve learned so much from them.”

illustration: allie dunlap

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Columbia Museum of Art works to break down barriers between regular exhibits, visually impaired community Macaila Bogle | ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

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o many members of the visually impaired community, touch is imperative to the way they see the world. The “Do Not Touch” signs in museums can hinder their ability to experience art as a result.

The Columbia Museum of Art has worked alongside Able SC, a center for independent living, to provide an accessible artistic experience through Public Touch Tours. Touch Tours provide opportunities for visitors — specifically members of the visually impaired community — to touch and interact with various artworks that are on display.

The tour is designed to evoke as many senses as possible — the most prominent of which being touch.

All of the pieces on display have their dimensions, textures and stylistic features thoroughly explained to visitors by a tour guide who is educated in the arts. Visitors also have the opportunity to touch some of the items in the collection, including furniture and sculptures, without endangering their preservation.

The museum has been making an effort to listen to the community’s needs, said Glenna Barlow, the curator of education at the CMA. “(We are trying to) get in the habit of thinking through every time we have a program, how can we make this a little bit more accessible?” Barlow said.

People with visual impairments from Able SC took part in beta testing for the exhibit prior to the event.

Sarah Massengale, a community access specialist at Able SC and member of the visually impaired community, participated in the beta testing. She said that it is important for places like museums to make efforts to include people with disabilities so that they feel welcome. “(Engaging with the art) opens a whole new world where you realize art belongs to you too,” Massengale said.

“You are a part of the public, and art is accessible to you.”

Ann-Chadwell Humphries, a visually impaired poet and art

enthusiast in Columbia, often works with others, including USC’s Student Disability Resource Center, to create more accessible spaces for the visually impaired.

Humphries said that putting art behind a pane of glass can make it difficult for a blind person to have any understanding of the piece. If she can’t use her other senses to interact with the art, she can’t experience it, she said.

“It’s nothing. It feels like nothing,” Humphries said. “You can say ‘There’s a book in there,’ but it has no meaning.”

Art was never meant to be put behind glass, but to be experienced, Massengale said. For her, this means being able to physically interact with a piece of art.

“When you gatekeep art of any kind, from anyone, you’ve done the artist a disservice. And you’ve done the community a disservice,” Massengale said.

In order to welcome people of all walks of life, Massengale said galleries should work with members of the disabled community to learn how to best accommodate them.

“That’s another really strong statement to the visually impaired community of, ‘Hey, we want you here,’” Massengale said.

The Touch Tours do not occur on a regular basis. But Barlow said the museum hopes to hold more consistent events in the future and that private Touch Tours can be scheduled by calling the museum.

For more information, visit the Columbia Museum of Art’s website.

PHOTO Courtesy of Milena Engh Glenna Barlow, the curator of education at the Columbia Museum of Art, presents the Public Touch Tour to provide accessible art for the visually impaired. All the pieces on the tour were explained by a guide, and visitors had the opportunity to touch items in the collection.

Get to know us: What is your favorite article The Daily Gamecock has published?

RILEY EDENBECK MANAGING EDITOR

My favorite article that comes to mind from recent history covered the 60th anniversary of the university’s desegregation, when ground was broken to build a new monument dedicated to USC’s first three Black students. This article was my first event coverage back when I had first joined our senior staff, which I reported on alongside one of my closest friends.

This event was monumental in commemorating the university’s history, and I was honored to cover it.

BRIDGET TRACY COPY DESK CHIEF

As a copy editor, I am exposed to a wide range of content and have a hand in editing nearly all of the paper’s stories.

One in particular that stands out among the rest, though, is a sports feature from last semester covering the behind-thescenes care of the equestrian team’s horses. When thinking about Gamecock Athletics, equestrian may not be at the top of your mind, let alone the horses that play such a vital role in the team’s success. But from an editing standpoint, it was refreshing to step away from highly covered sports.

MARLEY BASSETT ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

My favorite article from The Daily Gamecock is the one that I wrote about the reopening of the South Caroliniana Library. It was just a lot of fun to write and to talk to so many people who were passionate about the preservation of the library. This article meant a lot to me because it was my first feature article for the newspaper. It was great to learn so much about our university and state’s history and to see the vast array of artifacts that the library holds.

Columbia female business owners find support from community, motherhood amid professional obstacles caroline nix & mollie naugle | ARTS & CULTURE WRITERS

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ast year was considered by many to be the summer of women, with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour empowering women all over the world.

But women excelling in their chosen field is nothing new. Small businesses across Columbia are being run by women, who are continuing to build their brand despite adversity from customers or peers they have worked with.

Facing pushback Angela Sellers has been operating Fit Columbia for 12 years.

She originally created her business so that anyone, no matter their income, would be able to attend a session with a personal trainer. This has attracted both younger and older audiences to her business, she said.

“Every single person should have an opportunity to be coached,” Sellers said.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing,

KATE ROBINS | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

having somebody say, ‘You’re doing a good job, let’s tweak this,’ it’s huge. It gives you direction. It gives you confidence.”

Even though she’s been accepted among her community as a business owner, Sellers said she has dealt with landlords or other business owners who don’t treat her equal to her male counterparts.

One landlord, she said, only addressed her contractor about building safety, rather than her — the person who pays rent. Sellers said that if she didn’t have the confidence she does now, she didn’t think she would be able to speak up — something she thinks women continue to struggle with today.

“I finally said, ‘I am the one doing this, please talk to me,’” Sellers said. “And you PHOTO: XAVIER MARTIN A Columbia resident passes by the entrance of the Spotted Salamander on Jan. 25, 2024.

Owner and chef Jessica Shillato opened the restaurant in 2014 and expanded to the building next door in 2016.

know, he laughed and made a joke and told me I was cute. I am not cute. I do fucking good work. And I’ve worked hard and my credentials back me.”

The Spotted Salamander, a catering business and cafe with two locations in downtown Columbia, is owned by chef Jessica Shillato.

Shillato said that being a womanowned business has attracted customers to her restaurant because they want to support a woman-owned establishment.

But she’s also faced pushback being a female in the food industry, she said.

“I’ve had suppliers and salespeople refuse to work for me because I’m a woman,” Shillato said. “I’ve had men tell me, ‘Well, women can’t be chefs.’ It’s gotten better, but it’s still like, ‘You’re just a girl’ or ‘You won that because

PHOTO: XAVIER MARTIN Servers and customers talk amongst themselves inside The Spotted Salamander on Jan. 25, 2024. The restaurant serves local cuisine, getting its ingredients fresh from South Carolina farmers.

you’re just a girl’ and ‘You really didn’t deserve your awards.’”

Other female business owners feel they would be more accepted if they were represented more in state politics.

Khristina Lawler, the owner of Shvaas Spa in downtown Columbia, said seeing laws being created without representation for female business owners has always been a struggle for her.

But most people, regardless of gender, never take the time to consider the cons when creating their own business, she said. Over the years, she said the toughest PHOTO: ALICIA CARACCIOLO A wall of hats for sale is on display at A Little Happy Place on Jan. 29, 2024. A Little Happy Place is a boutique in Five Points that sells jewelry, clothing, water bottles, stickers and more.

part has been trying to figure out how to navigate family schedules and work responsibilities.

“When we think of the American Dream, and we think of an entrepreneur and opening a business, we think of all the positive things that come with that,” Lawler said. “We never think about what the negative is that comes with that. And the negative of that is it will take away time.”

Some business owners, such as Aleka Selig — the owner of Ally & Eloise Bakeshop — haven’t faced any challenges that directly deal with them being a woman who owns a business.

It’s something she doesn’t really think about when working, Selig said.

“I think people get excited when women run businesses. It’s definitely not a negative thing,” Selig said. “I don’t think about it a lot. I just run my business the way I run my business.”

Finding support Despite attitudes of specific people in the industry, Sellers has always felt supported by locals in the community, she said.

Fundraisers, coverage in local news outlets and dedicated customers have helped her grow her business. For anyone attending USC, they should consider staying and opening a small business, Sellers said.

“Columbia is very receptive,” Sellers said. “It’s growing.

PHOTO: JATIN PATEL The owner of Ally & Eloise, Aleka Selig, poses for a photo inside the bakery. Selig opened the bakery in April of 2012.

It’s becoming more and more progressive. Columbia has supported me in ways that I can’t even demonstrate.”

Staying in touch with the community is an important part of how Ashley Lindler, the owner of A Little Happy gift shop on Saluda Avenue, runs her business.

Lindler began her business as a passion project after previously working in sales.

In her role, she was able build a customer base of mothers and daughters and grew to know each one, she said.

She noticed that there was not a significant market for tween girls like her two daughters at the time and opened up the shop in Five Points in March 2020.

Lindler said that her perspective as a woman and mother has helped her connect with the young employees at the store. Her relationship with her daughters has also allowed her to keep up with current trends among her teenage customers.

“When I have interns come into the store, I’m really able to relate to them in a way that I know what they’re going through. I’m able to communicate,” Lindler said. “I’m in a place where we can establish a relationship like that. I think it’s really cool. So sometimes I end up being a second mom to the girls who come through the shop to work, which is fun.

Interacting with the Columbia community

is one of the most rewarding parts of running a business, Selig said.

“I get to meet a lot of really neat people and interact in the community and (with) our customers,” Selig said.

“It’s really sweet, and the stories are amazing. And people are generally really awesome.”

Keeping their head up The adversity Shillato has faced in the restaurant industry has motivated and empowered her to continue proving herself, she said.

Likewise, Lawler didn’t give up when she first started her business. She instead created a vision board that would help remind her of the dream she was chasing.

And for Sellers, there will always be resources or other people to turn to whenever an owner’s new business is struggling to grow.

But no matter what, women should remain confident in who they are as business owners and should always stick with the facts over taking discouraging conversations personally, she said.

“Be clear on what you want and don’t let that person’s response alter you,” Sellers said. “How they look at you does not matter.”

Column: All students should study abroad. A Maymester is the perfect place to start Jenna Swenson | Assistant Opinion editor

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Maymester is the opportunity of a lifetime, and students should take advantage of it. The benefits of taking a Maymester range from travel exposure, an opportunity to build professional connections internationally and a chance to improve personally.

Students have the option at USC to take a Maymester, which is a study abroad program in the month of May. Students complete a credited course in another country where they are able to delve into their field of study from an international perspective. In addition to academics, students will be able to interact with locals, try new foods, see new places and step outside of their comfort zone, all of which will round them out more as an individual.

There are various Maymester programs that differ in location and are offered to all majors. They also differ in length with some courses being three weeks long and others only 10 days. Some of the different programs include a Greece Maymester through the Capstone Scholars Program, a sustainability targeted Maymester in Germany under the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and a service learning and literacy

Maymester in Malawi, Africa, led by the College of Information and Communications.

These are just a few of the programs open to USC students.

And if students are not satisfied with their college’s Maymester options, they can look to the Darla Moore School of Business, which offers a multitude of study abroad courses in various countries. One of the programs offered allows student to study the business and culture of Morocco and Thailand. While many are offered through the business school, students do not need to be part of the business school to enroll, they must simply have taken any required prerequisites.

“We are open to everyone at USC, so as long as you have a 3.0 GPA and 30 credit hours, really anyone can take any of our classes,” said Amanda Birkenhauer, the director of study abroad in the school’s Office of International Services.

Within the business school’s Maymester courses specifically, students can expect to participate in

firsthand how different countries operate, both culturally and politically.

While the Darla Moore School of Business Maymesters are business-focused programs, students also have opportunities to immerse themselves in the culture of the country they are visiting. In the past, students have gone zorbing in New Zealand, attended sumo wrestling matches in Japan and participated in pasta making classes in Italy.

Having this opportunity in a foreign country is a great way to develop travel skills and gain experience with other cultures.

This shorter period of studying abroad is the perfect way to ease into the traveling experience. Maymesters conveniently take place before many students are set to start any internships for the summer, leaving ample time for professional endeavors as well as relaxation, family and friends. For students who are hesitant to commit to programs that last a semester or longer, Maymesters are the perfect chance to get a feel for what studying abroad looks like.

two to three visits to businesses per day along with the appropriate course content. Those students will be visiting top industries of the country they are studying in with the goal to gain insight into that country’s business culture.

These allow students to directly see how businesses operate internationally and give them an edge when competing for future jobs.

Those who travel appear more ambitious. Planning, budgeting and executing an international trip is no small feat. They also have more knowledge on the world from seeing

A common hinderance to students thinking about studying abroad is the language barrier, but this should be of no real concern, as students are not expected to have mastered the language of the country they wish to travel to.

“Usually, our faculty, or our staff or a course guide that is with us, they speak the language, so they can help navigate through some of those more difficult situations, like transportation or meals,” Birkenhauer said.

Illustration: Grant Richa

Column: Overpopulation of USC has deteriorated quality of education Morgan Dunn | Opinion writer

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tudents at the University of South Carolina continuously struggle with its growing population size. The school’s resources are becoming more limited as the student body grows larger, so the university must take action to accommodate the surge in population.

More than 46,600 students applied to the university in the fall of 2023, which is a significant increase from the 34,952 students that applied in 2019. At the beginning of this academic year, Scott Verzyl, the vice president of

enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions, said that, from year to year, enrollment is expected to increase by between 1.5% and 3%.

While this is a positive statistic for the school itself, students are concerned about how the population increase will have a negative effect on their quality of education.

The university’s increased enrollment is beginning to overwhelm the school’s current systems, including the class registration process.

Class registration days are hectic enough for students as they scramble to sign up for classes that are required for them to graduate. And students are having issues getting into the classes they need due to the seats filling up so quick. This forces many students to enroll in classes that aren’t even a requirement for their majors.

Third-year English student Tanna Walker said upperclassmen have a harder time registering now with the influx of underclassmen.

“It’s a lot harder for me to fill up my electives now, as a senior, because all of the freshmen and the underclassmen need those classes, so they get taken really quickly,” Walker said.

Students taking classes that are unnecessary for their majors is a waste of their time and tuition dollars. They should only have to enroll in courses that are meant to further them within their own majors.

Second-year computer information systems student Nhan Do had to replace a class that he needed for his major with an elective because all of the sections were full. Doing so set him back on his course to fulfilling his major, he said.

The university takes pride in its “worldclass education” being a primary factor attracting more students every year.

But the university needs to prove that it values students’ education by updating its registration process and adding more classrooms to fit the population.

Having enough adequate facilities to support students’ learning is crucial to

their success. USC has made efforts to accomplish this by building new dorms and classrooms for students as well as making plans to renovate Russell House. But it is also important to demand more of these facilities and encourage the school to continue to make these changes.

The university needs to continue expanding its academic resources by making more classroom sections available to accommodate the larger student body coming in. If so many students are having issues with signing up for classes, then it should be the university’s main priority to make classes more accessible.

This must be done before enrollment is increased anymore.

The university should also step back and reconsider its pride regarding the high enrollment. Quality education is the most important goal. If obtaining a higher quality of education means accepting less students to provide better accommodations to current students, then that is what USC needs to do.

Illustration: Ariana Herbas

Column: USC over-admitting freshmen is creating housing confusion, shortages for upperclassmen Kara Rottmann | OPINION WRITER

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or every single student looking to live on campus, housing is a necessity.

Finding on-campus housing as an upperclassman has become a much more difficult process due to a lack of planning and organization from from USC Housing.

As freshman class sizes are increasing, housing options for upperclassmen have diminished.

“It makes me feel very (insecure) about my housing situation,” said Allie Place, a second-year international business and operations and supply chain management student.

“Housing is a very important part of being a student.”

Place, an out-of-state student from Chicago, said she is waiting to hear back from the university through its new lottery-style application.

In past years, students who were enrolled in the university could select

on-campus housing options for the next year through the USC Housing Portal in October. But this year, the selection was pushed back nearly two months, and USC introduced a new system.

The new system only guarantees a place for those who were randomly selected instead of every applicant.

Yet, housing did not go into detail as to how this process would specifically work.

Rather than creating a housing solution for the large number of upperclassman students who are looking for campus housing, the university has resorted to chance. But University Housing hasn’t specified how the lottery system works when it comes to select students.

All students are able to fill out the initial part of the application, but only a select number will be able to fill out the second part, university spokesperson Collyn Taylor said in an email to The Daily Gamecock.

Housing is not guaranteed for all who apply. Only those applicants who were selected to fill out the second part will be getting a secured on-campus housing spot.

Some students, such as Place, find the lack of transparency from from University Housing frustrating.

Housing is an important aspect of the college experience, especially for out-of-state students, who are already paying tuition at a higher rate. Out-ofstate students make up 47% of the student population, according to a 2023 statement released by the university.

Moreover, in-state and out-ofstate students are facing equally slim options when it comes to on-campus living.

“We thought that our options would be Park Place or East Quad, but then after doing more research and talking to others, we discovered that East Quad is now going to be just freshman housing,” said Miranda Knowles, a second-year operations and supply chain management student.

Knowles said she is waiting to see if she will win a housing spot through the new

lottery system as housing choices become more exclusive.

All upperclassman students who want to live on campus and who are not in the Honors College or Capstone program have only one option as to where they can live during the next academic year — Park Place.

Upperclassmen are guaranteed more housing options if they apply and are accepted to be a resident assistant, an oncampus job that many students choose to pursue.

Park Place is one of the most expensive on-campus housing locations. East Quad, which is located on the main campus and used to be available to upperclassmen, will now be housing for only first-year students beginning next semester, according to the university’s housing website.

“We’re the No. 1 university for the freshman year experience,” Knowles said.

“Which is great, but then, as soon as we are upperclassmen, it feels like the university is not prioritizing us as much.”

University Housing continues to set its focus on first-year classes and accommodating more students.

“USC’s continued to see the size of its freshman class grow annually, including enrolling the largest in the university’s history this fall at over 7,300 freshmen,” Taylor said.

Admitting more students means that the university needs more beds to house such numbers. Upperclassmen have been increasingly pressured to move elsewhere due to a lack of available housing on campus. But this isn’t financially and logistically possible for every single student.

These large freshman class sizes are pushing upperclassmen off of campus and into houses and apartments in the nearby area.

Due to the high demand for these properties, rent continues to increase in nearby buildings.

As the freshman student population increases, the university must find ways to support a larger student population.

The shortage of on-campus housing due to the growth of freshmen stems from a lack of proper planning from the university.

In the last few years, changes have been made to housing, but they aren’t changes that support every single student.

“USC is trying to enhance housing options, creating over 2,600 beds in the last eight years in housing complexes at 650 Lincoln and Campus Village,” Taylor said.

By creating these housing spaces, the university has continued to exclude students of the general population.

“As the university, they are making the active choice to let in more

freshmen every year,” Place said. “While I understand why they are doing that — because they want to make more money — you can’t just do that and not address the issues that it’s going to cause.”

Campus Village is only available to freshmen, and 650 Lincoln is available for Honors College students and student-athletes. Both of these buildings are new and have been finished within the last eight years. The university is continuing to expand housing projects, but not for the average upperclassman. This leaves upperclassmen scrambling for a spot in Park Place next year.

“We try to accommodate as many upperclassmen as possible ... But, like most universities, we currently lack enough on-campus housing to meet the demand

of every upperclassman who would prefer living on campus,” Taylor said.

Of the record-breaking population of more than 36,300 students on campus in the fall of 2023, only 7,344 of those students are freshmen.

Upperclassmen make up a vast majority of the student population at this institution.

USC must build more housing for its upperclassman students in order to rectify the on-campus housing shortage that those students experience.

These housing solutions need to be affordable and accessible to all students, regardless of status in the Honors College and Capstone program. The university should be treating housing accommodations as a necessity and not a commodity.

illustration: anna ottinger

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kate Robins MANAGING EDITORS

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