USCB Fall 2007 Magazine

Connecting with Alumni and Friends

CREATE YOUR Legacy

uscb MAGAZINE

THE USCB ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PROVIDES A LIFELONG CONNECTION BETWEEN GRADUATES AND THEIR UNIVERSITY.

Greetings from the USCB Alumni Association!

I welcome our alumni to e-mail me with any questions or suggestions regarding our Alumni Association as it takes form.We would love to know what you have been doing since graduating. Having started in January, I look forward to meeting and working with you.

MJ Luby, Alumni Coordinator • (843) 208-8257 • luby@gwm.sc.edu

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORT One University Boulevard • Bluffton, SC 29909

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE

PAI D Columbia, SC PERMIT #560

Our HeRITAGE Our Legacy Our FUTURE

OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR

Our Heritage, Our Legacy, Our Future

USCB MAGAZINE Building Connections. Serving USCB.

FALL 2007 • VOLUME V NUMBER 1I

Dear USCB Alumni, Friends and Supporters: Welcome to the second issue of USCB Magazine.

The theme of this issue is Our Heritage, Our Legacy, Our Future. It is drawn from a significant quality-enhancement program under way at University of South Carolina Beaufort. Created and led by the faculty, it represents a thoughtful interpretation of how USCB can continuously, reflectively, make a difference in the lives of our students.

The qualityenhancement process is an alluniversity effort, led by the faculty.

The plan will evolve during this academic year.

It is being facilitated by Dr. J. Herman Blake, a nationally recognized sociologist, USCB scholar-inresidence and director of the Sea Islands Institute. Dr. Blake’s lifetime of leadership in the classroom, in his field of sociology and in academic administration is an asset to USCB at this phase of our growth as a four-year institution.

This issue of USCB Magazine supports our efforts to include you – our friends and supporters – in defining our role in the community. As a university that serves our region of the South Carolina and Georgia coasts, we have deep roots in a distinctive and very special area. The Lowcountry has a rich history of distinct groups of people who have contributed to its culture: the indigenous people, the Spanish, French, Huguenots, British, Africans, Haitians, and now,

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Latinos. Each of these cultures and each of these voices has formed – and continues to shape – the community we share today.

Our goal is to reflect on our history and select the strengths and values that will define our heritage. That heritage will help us shape our future and determine the legacy we leave to future generations. How shall we, building upon this heritage, create a university to serve the immediate and future needs of a rapidly growing and changing region? These are the types of questions USCB’s faculty and leadership are asking as they design this quality-enhancement program.

USCB Magazine picks up the theme of Our Heritage, Our Legacy, Our Future first by tracing the history of our university back to its founding in 1795. The next article offers a glimpse into a distinctive academic major that enables native Spanish speakers to earn a degree that acknowledges their language abilities. These graduates will be equipped to engage and enrich our region. Lastly, the magazine looks at the future of our university in light of the progress USCB has made toward becoming the university leader our region needs and deserves.

Contents “The University of South Carolina Beaufort has a deep heritage and a complex, rich legacy that can propel us into a boundless future. We will study the experiences of many peoples, ‘listen eloquently’ to many voices, and creatively pursue new knowledge in many disciplines. We will prepare our students to be leaders in a global society.’’

-- J. Herman Blake, Ph.D., Scholar in Residence Director, Sea Islands Institute University of South Carolina Beaufort

FEATURES

PROFILES

This magazine’s mission is to strengthen the connection between USCB’s friends and supporters and the university.

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The magazine seeks to present thoughtful in-depth articles on teaching, research, student life and community outreach. It also shares insights into the extended community of alumni, friends and supporters of USCB.

OUR HERITAGE Serving the educational needs of the Lowcountry since 1795

FACULTY Roy Darby, a singular distinction, a career of service

PUBLISHER

Lynn W. McGee, Ph.D.

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I hope you enjoy USCB Magazine. Your suggestions regarding future issues will be valued.

OUR LEGACY Meeting the growing demand for Spanish-speaking professionals

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STUDENT

WRITER/EDITOR

Alex Sanchez, the Pied Piper of USCB

Richard Gorman CONTRIBUTORS

Lynn McGee Deborah Reynolds ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Jane T. Upshaw

Chancellor University of South Carolina Beaufort

OUR FUTURE

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Preparing the next generation of reflective citizens

GENEROSITY

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Joan and Bob Horning, selfless commitment to their adopted university

Ron Casas ART DIRECTION/DESIGN

Marlys West A semiannual publication produced by the USCB Office of University Advancement.

ALUMNI COVER

Lawrence S. Rowland, Ph.D., distinguished professor emeritus, University of South Carolina Beaufort; on the portico of the Beaufort College Building in Beaufort, SC

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Kate Hogan, from USCB to the stone canyons of Manhattan

Lynn W. McGee, Ph.D. Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Colleen Callahan Director of Development University of South Carolina Beaufort One University Boulevard Bluffton, SC 29909 magazine@uscb.edu

www.uscb.edu

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OUR HERITAGE: BEAUFORT COLLEGE HISTORY

Witnessing Two Centuries of Education ‘...few institutions of higher education in America can claim a continuous, unbroken, 200-year tradition of commitment to education. ...almost no institutions can reflect the profound social revolution this building represents...’

-- Lawrence S. Rowland, Ph.D.

For more than 150 years, it has stood as a silent sentinel, bearing witness to the history unfolding beneath its sturdy columns, beyond its front door and even within its quiet halls. With its back to the Beaufort River and its white-columned portico facing the city, the Beaufort College Building has witnessed educational advancement, elitism, innovation, academic excellence, abandonment and, finally, rebirth.

No single structure better defines the history of the University of South Carolina Beaufort than the Beaufort College Building at 803 Carteret Street in Beaufort.

And no scholar is more familiar with the building and its legacy to the university than Lawrence S. Rowland, Ph.D., distinguished professor emeritus of USCB. A popular speaker on Lowcountry history and an author of The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Vol. I, 1514-1861, Dr. Rowland is writing its sequel, The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Vol. II, 1861-2006. As a member of the Board of Trustees of the College of Beaufort, Rowland has researched the institution – even reading its original 1795 charter.

The curricula for the three elements of this nascent educational system were intended to educate certain classes of people through the primary school, educate other classes of people through the grammar school, and reserve the highereducation experience for the upper class of people. “It was quite elitist in its point of view, as most education was in those days,” Rowland says, “but they hoped to provide a system of education available…to all levels of society.”

ELITE PRIVATE SCHOOL ERA Beaufort College was chartered in 1795 to provide a formal education to the sons of the planter class in the Lowcountry and the children of the cotton and sugar planters in the West Indies and Bahamas. The West Indian and Bahamian planters were mostly Tory refugees who had fled South Carolina when the Revolutionary War ended.

Stephen Elliott, one of the great natural scientists of early South Carolina history, was called upon to create the first curriculum for the Beaufort College. It was, as might be expected, heavy on theoretical science or what was called “natural philosophy” at the time.

The founding members of the Beaufort College Board of Trustees envisioned a system of education encompassing a primary school (elementary school) to teach the rudiments of education, a grammar school (high school) for more advanced study, and, of course, Beaufort College.

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The Beaufort College Building, when serving as a public school, at the turn of the 20th century

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When the original college building was constructed on Bay Street in 1802, the trustees approved the motto that was chiseled onto the cornerstone. Beaufort College was “dedicated to Virtue, Liberty and Science.”

“This institution, and that motto, both came out of the 18th century Enlightenment,” Rowland says. “The gentlemen who started this institution, the trustees and the educated people of Beaufort, were children of the Enlightenment. This was not a religious institution. It was a secular, enlightened institution in the best 18th century tradition. That’s reflected in the expectations of the trustees, it’s reflected in the design of the early curriculum, it’s reflected in the library that was collected to serve this college, and it’s reflected in the subsequent careers of its alumni.”

Lawrence S. Rowland, Ph.D., distinguished professor emeritus of USCB UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORT

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OUR HERITAGE: BEAUFORT COLLEGE HISTORY

HIGH ACADEMIC STANDING “Historically, Beaufort College had a very high academic standing,” Rowland says.

“It was designed for people of great wealth. Before the Civil War, this town was, for white persons, one of the wealthiest towns in America and their educational expectations were very high. Although it never achieved four-year baccalaureate college status, it was a very highly ranked junior college.”

Beaufort College produced a disproportionately large number of valedictorians when its graduates went on to complete their education at America’s finest universities. “Four valedictorians of the South Carolina College (University of South Carolina) and two valedictorians at Harvard before the Civil War came out of Beaufort College,” Rowland says. “It really had an excellent academic reputation.”

Beaufort College opened in January 1804. The sons of the wealthy planters continued to take classes in the original college building until 1817 when a yellow fever epidemic swept the Lowcountry, claiming one of every five Beaufort residents. Suspecting the epidemic to have originated in the college building, which housed dorms as well as classrooms, townspeople razed the building. So, from 1817 until 1852, when the Beaufort College Building was constructed on Carteret Street, the university conducted classes in church buildings, the library on Craven Street, and other locations. In 1852, classes moved to the new building.

Ultimately, Beaufort College became a “grammar school,” (the equivalent of a high school today), and a junior college for the sons of the Sea Island cotton planters. “By 1854, the trustees specified that students graduating from Beaufort College would have all the courses necessary for admission into the sophomore year at the South Carolina College in Columbia, which, of course, is now the University of South Carolina,” Rowland says.

THE FREEDMEN’S BUREAU ERA The legacy of Beaufort College is intertwined in the history of Beaufort. The city underwent a profound social revolution during the Civil War, giving rise to the college’s second legacy: serving as headquarters for the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Known formally as the United States Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, the Freedmen’s Bureau was the first social welfare agency ever established by the federal government. From 1865 to 1873, the Freedmen’s Bureau brought education to the new freedmen, the slaves who had tended Southern plantations.

‘Four valedictorians of the South Carolina College (University of South Carolina) and two valedictorians at Harvard before the Civil War came out of Beaufort College.’

“The first classes were offered to freedmen in the Beaufort College Building in 1865,” Rowland says, “so it has the legacy of bringing the first public education to Beaufort County.

Before there was a state public-education system, that building was being used to educate the children of freedmen through a federal agency, the Freedmen’s Bureau.

“This institution not only reflects the high expectations of the founders,” Rowland adds, “but it also reflects the profound social revolution that Beaufort experienced at the time of the Civil War. Because Union forces occupied the area so early in the war, Beaufort County was where the reconstruction of the American South began. This institution – this building – was the home of the first welfare agency of the federal government in the United States. The social experiments that were begun here by the federal government and by philanthropic missionary groups in the North led to a profound social revolution that eventually spread throughout the South. The Beaufort College Building is a symbol of the social revolution from slavery to freedom, from ignorance to education, from private

use to public use, from very elitist education to general education for everyone.”

THE GULLAH HERITAGE The freedmen who attended classes in the Beaufort College Building came from the region of Africa called “n’gullah,” which the Portuguese pronounced “Angola.” The original n’gullah people gave rise to what is today the Gullah culture.

“The Gullah culture was the general culture of the people who lived in the Sea Islands,” Rowland says. “The culture has its own language, its own religious traditions, its own diet, and a bevy of daily habits that trace their genesis to their African origin. In many cases, the people the public education system was designed to teach were bicultural. They knew the language of their family and the language of their community, but they had to learn the language of the wider society if they were to enter the white man’s world. And that’s exactly what the educational system of this college did after the Civil War.” In 1873, when the federal government closed the Freedmen’s Bureau, ownership of the Beaufort College Building reverted to its trustees. Seven years later, the building reopened as the Beaufort College Graded School, a combination grammar school and junior high school for white students.

Black students attended their own public school in a large frame building across the street at a site now occupied by the university’s Performing Arts Center.

At its peak in the 1890s, the Beaufort College Graded School had 150 students and was adding classes. By 1909, when education was extended to the ninth grade, the city constructed a two-story addition at the rear of the Beaufort College Building to enable it to serve as the city high school. When

Dr. Rowland in front of Beaufort College. The building was authentically renovated in 2000.

the city built a high school on Bay Street in 1925, the Beaufort College Building became a public elementary school. It continued to serve in that capacity until 1957.

BIRTHPLACE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE LOWCOUNTRY In 1959, the public school system closed the school and conveyed the building to the University of South Carolina. The Beaufort College Building became the second branch campus of the University of South Carolina system. From 1959 until 2004, when the South Campus was built in Bluffton, the Beaufort College Building served as the university administration building.

Given its storied legacy, what role should the Beaufort College Building play in the 21st century? “It was the birthplace of USC Beaufort,” Rowland says, “so it can serve as a monument. But it won’t survive as a monument unless it has a living function, an educational purpose.”

Rowland suggests possibly designating it for use as a center of upper-division courses in history, the fine arts and the liberal arts, all of which pay homage to its heritage.

“There are very few institutions of higher education in America that can claim a continuous, unbroken, 200-year tradition of commitment to education. And there are almost no institutions that can reflect the profound social revolution this building represents not only to the descendents of the planters and freedmen, but also to the university as it charts its course forward.” ■

Beaufort High School circa 1862

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OUR LEGACY: INTEGRATING NEW CULTURES INTO OUR COMMUNITY

“The county has been taken aback by this direct growth,” says Dr. Babet VillenaAlvarez, chair of the Department of Humanities and Fine Arts. “I say ‘taken aback’ because there are not enough service professionals in Beaufort County to respond to the needs of the Hispanic population.”

Serving the Needs of the Emerging Latino Community

DUAL-TRACK BACHELOR OF ARTS IN SPANISH To meet the growing need for service professionals proficient in Spanish, Dr. Alvarez and USCB launched a Spanish certificate program seven years ago to enable students to gain professional proficiency in the language. Graduating students received a certificate signed

by USCB Chancellor Dr. Jane T. Upshaw and Dr. Alvarez verifying their proficiency in Spanish. USCB’s Spanish certificate program was the only certificate program in Spanish approved by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.

Now, the university has taken another bold step by offering an innovative dual-track Spanish program that presents a traditional course of study for those new to the language, and a second track designed specifically for students who are already fluent in the language and somewhat familiar with Hispanic literature and culture. Both tracks lead to a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish.

Spanish major Claudia Carmona chats with Dr. Alvarez

“In 2003, when I was asked to create a B.A. degree in Spanish, I decided to do a dual-track major,” Dr. Alvarez says. “We have a lot of Spanish speakers who do not have credentials. And, on the other side, we have local offices and businesses that need Spanish speakers, but they need people with credentials. So what’s the best way that one group can respond to the needs of the other group? By giving Spanish speakers a way of getting credentials so they can respond to the needs of the workplace and local offices.”

ONE STUDENT’S STORY Some dual-track Spanish majors are combining a Spanish major with another curriculum like business, education, hospitality management, English or human services. Students like Claudia Carmona, for example.

Dr. Babet Villena-Alvarez, chair, Department of Humanities and Fine Arts, interacting with her Spanish class.

The University of South Carolina Beaufort has been serving the educational needs of the community ever since it was chartered as Beaufort College in 1795. Over the decades, as the student body evolved from the sons of wealthy planters to the freedmen to today’s diverse cultural mix – the university adapted its educational focus to serve each new demographic group.

In 2006, the university adapted its curriculum once again, this time to accommodate the newest demographic wave – a burgeoning growth in the Hispanic population. Consider the numbers: in the mid-1990s, Beaufort County had virtually no measurable Hispanic population. And then, migrant farm workers, mostly from Mexico, began moving through the area following the crops. Some found permanent jobs and remained behind. Over time, their numbers grew. As a result, Hispanics accounted for 22 percent of the increased growth in the population

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of Beaufort County from 2000 to 2005. In neighboring Jasper County, Hispanics accounted for 128 percent of the increased growth in the population. Statewide, the latest census figures from 2005 place the Hispanic population at about 140,000. Consequently, USCB’s student body was 5.12% Hispanic in the past academic year. This compares with less than 2% at the three other USC system baccalaureate degree-granting institutions.

“Claudia is a Hispanic-heritage speaker from Mexico who has been in the country for about three years,” Dr. Alvarez says. She is completely fluent in Spanish, so when she took the placement exams, I put her straight into the 300 level. Parallel to that, she’s majoring in psychology, so when she graduates, she will have two degrees – Spanish and psychology.”

“People ask me why I’m a Spanish major when I speak Spanish so well,” Ms. Carmona says. “I’m learning not just the Spanish language and grammar, but also about the culture of Mexico and the countries of South America. I’m also learning how the economies of those countries affect the lives of people in Central and South America.”

Using her inherent language skills and her newly acquired knowledge of psychology and diverse cultures, Ms. Carmona plans to work as a family

therapist counseling abused women when she graduates next year.

Now entering its second year of operation, the dual-track B.A. in Spanish is gaining in popularity. In addition to students enrolled in the certificate program, and those seeking a Spanish minor, the program has 13 declared majors.

EXTRAORDINARY FACULTY A native of the Philippines, Dr. Alvarez earned a B.A. degree magna cum laude in European Languages at the University of the Philippines, then traveled to Spain where she earned a master’s degree in Spanish literature at the Instituto de CooperaciónIberamericana de Madrid. Following this, she traveled to Paris, where she earned a master’s degree mention bien in French Literature at the Université de Paris-Sorbonne. Arriving in the United States in the mid-1980s, she earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Romance Languages and Literature at the University of Cincinnati.

After teaching at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Dr. Alvarez joined USCB as an assistant professor of French and Spanish in 1994. Today, she is a full professor of French, Spanish and Global Studies, and chair of the Department of Humanities and Fine Arts.

“The heritage track not only opens professional careers to Hispanicheritage students, it also promotes understanding between cultures living together for the first time. By educating our constituents about the differences in cultures, we can prevent miscommunication. The university is leading with a creative solution to integrate another new cultural group into our region.” ■

For more information on the Spanish programs, e-mail language@uscb.edu.

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OUR FUTURE

USCB – Shaping Our Future to Meet the Needs of a Rapidly Changing Region The University of South Carolina Beaufort, like many of America’s long-standing universities, faces the challenge of preserving a 200-year academic heritage while anticipating its students’ educational needs. Having an appreciation of the past and acknowledging the challenges of the future will enable our students to be the next generation of reflective citizens.

Nowhere is this dichotomy more evident than in the very buildings that define the university. The Beaufort College Building on the North Campus in historic Beaufort represents the community’s 200-year commitment to higher education, beginning with the 1795 founding of Beaufort College. Driven by the needs of the region it serves and by exceptional support from the community, the University of South Carolina Beaufort built the South Campus in Bluffton just three years ago.

Hargray, the signature building of the South Campus, reflects the traditions of Beaufort College, but its subtle, high-tech metallic detail represents the challenge of the oncoming century. Together, these two buildings, and the campuses they represent, define USCB: not only a strong, enduring university that acknowledges its heritage, but also as a dynamic, emerging institution that embraces the growth and change that the 21st century will continue to exert on the Lowcountry.

This corner of the South Carolina and Georgia coast has weathered change successfully – with the aid of strong community leadership. So how will USCB, as the region’s local university partner, blend its rich heritage with the legacy of community leaders past to lead the region into the 21st century? How do we, as a university and a community, build on USCB’s rich and storied history to meet the opportunities that lie before us through education, research and community service?

The new South Campus has enabled the university to grow from a two-year regional campus on eight acres in Beaufort, S.C., to a four-year institution of higher education on two campuses spread over 208 acres. Today, USCB boasts an enhanced academic curriculum, an emerging athletic and recreational program, a campus life program bolstered by an increasing number of full-time students living on campus - and a diverse portfolio of community-based initiatives serving residents of the Lowcountry.

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“The essential framework of USCB has been in place since 2002, when we became a senior campus of the USC system,” says University Chancellor Jane T. Upshaw, under whose leadership USCB achieved baccalaureate status. “USCB is becoming a strong, regional leader in higher education with the potential of developing nationally recognized programs in selected areas. The university is growing to meet the needs of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. Those who are committed to the university – students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community supporters – have the opportunity to shape our development going forward.”

USCB’S MISSION: PARTNERING TO STRENGTHEN OUR REGION As a senior campus of the state’s largest public university, USCB strives

Dr. Jane Upshaw discusses USCB’s growth with students at the beginning of the fall semester.

to accomplish its mission of education, research and service on the southeast coast of South Carolina and Georgia. USCB’s baccalaureate degrees respond to regional needs, draw upon regional strengths and prepare graduates to occupy positions of responsibility in their communities. As the major intellectual and cultural center for the region, the university enriches the quality of life for all residents through community service, symposia, research initiatives, presentations of the performing and fine arts, and partnerships with area schools, businesses and organizations.

Community leaders in the Lowcountry have asked USCB to become a university partner that can provide leadership in the 21st century. USCB has accepted the challenge – even with an admittedly late start. In 1959, USCB became the first site selected by the University of South Carolina as a location for presenting USC courses outside of the main campus in Columbia. In the 70’s, when state funding was more plentiful, other USC regional campuses attained baccalaureate status and became senior campuses in the USC system. Now, USCB is pushing forward to catch up – and, in some areas, even forge ahead.

BUILDING A TEAM OF FACULTY, ADMINISTRATION AND COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS USCB has embraced the role of becoming a strong and enduring institution that respects and learns from its past, yet faces the future with optimism and purpose.

“Concomitant with construction of our academic, library and residence life buildings on the South Campus, the University of South Carolina Beaufort is building a team of leaders and a student body that reflect the same vision of excellence as

our buildings,” Dr. Upshaw says. “We are developing the systems, processes and managerial culture to grow and operate a 21st century university.”

THE ACADEMY: EDUCATION AND RESEARCH The foundation of USCB’s team is its faculty. The university has taken major strides to enhance both the scope and depth of its faculty, adding 17 full-time faculty members during the 20072008 academic year. Many of the new faculty members have studied or taught at some of the nation’s finest educational institutions.

At the same time, the faculty has adopted a new organizational structure that provides for distinct academic departments, effective with the fall semester. The faculty organization now reflects USCB’s baccalaureate status.

One of the new academic administration and faculty members joining the

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OUR FUTURE

university during the fall semester is Dr. Charles Keith, who earned a bachelor’s degree at Princeton, a doctorate at the University of Chicago and now specializes in cell biology. After spending 23 years at the University of Georgia, Dr. Keith will join USCB as Chair of the Department of Science and Mathematics.

Dr. Veronica Godshalk has joined USCB as chair of the Department of Business Administration from Penn State University where she served as Associate Professor of Management and Organization, and the Davis and Marjorie Rosenberg Professor of Innovation and Change in the Management Division.

Dr. Godshalk earned her Ph.D. in Business Administration from Drexel University and her masters from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Harvey Varnet joins the university as Library Director in January. Dr. Varnet earned a Doctor of Arts in Library Administration at Simmons College in Boston.

Before joining USCB, he served as the Director of Library at American University in Kuwait. Prior to that, he served as Special Assistant to the Office of the Vice President of Academic Administration at Providence College in Rhode Island.

These three faculty leaders, like all 17 faculty hired this year, were recruited following comprehensive, nationwide searches for distinguished scholars. “Each of these candidates could have gone to educational institutions with established departments,” says Dr. Blanche Premo-Hopkins, interim executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. “But they saw the opportunity at USCB. These leaders are program-builders; they wanted to join us to help build our academic program.”

Dr. Premo-Hopkins worked with faculty leaders to conduct the successful faculty searches.

The new faculty members will join a distinguished assemblage of scholars and new department chairs including: Dr. Babet Villena-Alvarez, chair, Department of Humanities and Fine Arts; Dr. Carl Eby, chair, Department of English, Speech, and Theatre; Dr. Lynn Mulkey, chair, Department of Social Sciences; Dr. Charles Calvert, chair, Department of Hospitality Management; Melanie Pulaski, interim director, Department of Education, and Dr. Susan Williams, chair, Department of Nursing.

RN to BSN and Pre-Nursing programs are now offered at USCB.

“USCB is well positioned with faculty and with clear promotion and tenure guidelines,” Dr. Premo-Hopkins says. “These active scholars are publishing or producing creative work. Our students will be involved in their research and have access to the full content of their fields.”

THE UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE: WELL-ROUNDED STUDENT DEVELOPMENT The USCB experience extends beyond academics. The addition of the South campus enables USCB to offer regional students affordable access to a complete university experience. This includes a more lively set of student life activities,

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on-campus apartment living and, now, varsity athletics. Palmetto Village, the apartment complex on the South Campus, is home to more than 260 students, up from 60 just two years ago. Not just a residence hall, Palmetto Village enables students to broaden their horizons by living alongside other students from diverse regions and cultures.

“We’ve grown by leaps and bounds over the past two years,” says Kate Torborg Shuman, director of student life. “Today’s student life program involves clubs, organizations, multicultural programming, campus tours and the ambassador program, orientation, leadership programs and community outreach. We’re involved with virtually anything that has to do with students outside of the classroom.”

Nowhere is this growth more evident than in the Welcome Week activities the university conducts during the week prior to the start of classes for the fall semester. “We want students to feel welcome from the first moment they arrive on campus,” Ms. Torborg says. “So we have faculty, staff and volunteers standing by to help them move in.”

After settling in to their new home in Palmetto Village, students may take part in a series of instructional and entertaining activities. Instructional workshops on student success, judicial and housing matters are valuable learning experiences. Fun activities include a day at the beach, performances by improvisational comedians, and even a chainsaw juggler.

On the athletic and recreational fronts, the university has made great strides in developing its first varsity athletics program by joining the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and applying for membership in the Florida Sun Conference. Former major

These and other related questions will emerge in the strategic planning process. They will not be easy issues to address for a university that is growing as rapidly as USCB – in a region that is also rapidly growing and changing.

Business majors improve their presentation skills in the new library.

leaguer Rick Sofield, USCB’s first head baseball coach, was hired earlier this year to develop the varsity baseball program. The varsity baseball team will open its first season in the spring of 2009. Beginning this fall, USCB will compete in varsity golf and cross country.

Student leadership opportunities abound at USCB. Not only did the student government develop and ratify its first constitution last year, but the USCB student government president was elected president of all student government organizations in the University of South Carolina system.

ADDRESSING OUR FUTURE: NEW STRATEGIC PLAN Growth in faculty, facilities and enrollment represents an impressive return on investment for the public donors and private individuals who have supported USCB over the last five years of rapid expansion. Having laid a firm foundation for the university’s next phase of growth, and ever mindful of the university’s role as an instrument of service to the Lowcountry, USCB plans to launch a strategic planning initiative in the next calendar year. Many elements in the university’s vision remain to be defined and implemented. The strategic planning process will collect input across the university and the many community constituencies USCB serves to consider these and other vital questions: •

How do we optimize the use of the two campuses by capitalizing on their distinctive strengths?

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What additional academic programs will best serve the needs of the community in the near future?

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How can we develop a teaching and learning environment that acknowledges the cultural diversity of our student body?

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What is the optimal size and student body makeup in 5, 10 and 20 years?

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How do we balance accessibility to local students with our desire to increase the quality of our students?

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How do we maintain USCB’s momentum and continue to demonstrate a solid return on the community’s investment?

The faculty is already leading the approach to these issues with its Quality Enhancement Plan. The inclusive process the faculty is using to shape this fundamental academic initiative will provide a model for the university’s strategic planning process.

“Each member of the university community – faculty, students, alumni, community partners, donors and friends of the university, staff and volunteers – has much to anticipate as together we face the challenges growth brings,” Dr. Upshaw adds.

Dr. J. Herman Blake, scholar in residence and director of the Sea Islands Institute at USCB, has observed the Lowcountry with the eye of a sociologist for more than five decades. The vision for the QEP process that he is facilitating will inform our strategic planning process:

“The University of South Carolina Beaufort has a profound and deep heritage, as well as a complex and rich legacy that can propel us into a boundless future. Through a careful analysis, we will study the experiences of many peoples, ‘listen eloquently’ to many voices, and creatively pursue new knowledge in many disciplines. We will prepare our students to be leaders in a global society.”

-- J. Herman Blake, Ph.D. Scholar in Residence, Director of the Sea Islands Institute, University of South Carolina Beaufort

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STUDENT PROFILE

FACULTY PROFILE

Roy Darby: A Singular Distinction, A Career of Service

The Pied Piper of USCB

Roy Darby III, Ph.D., believes in tradition. His commitment to the University of South Carolina Beaufort extends back 20 years. His family’s commitment to the Lowcountry extends back 200 years.

It all began with Alex Sanchez.

After graduating from Westfield High School in western Massachusetts two years ago, Alex and a friend were scouting colleges when they learned about the University of South Carolina Beaufort. They made their first trip to South Carolina, toured both campuses and liked what they saw.

As associate professor of psychology and program director of the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at USCB, Darby earned a singular distinction when he was named Professor of the Year and Academic Advisor of the Year for 2006-2007. In so doing, he became the first faculty member in the history of the university to earn both honors in the same year.

“I was overwhelmed,” he acknowledges with his trademark Southern graciousness. “I was absolutely speechless when I was informed of the honors.”

With his first psychology course at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, Darby knew clinical psychology would be his life’s work. After earning a B.S. in psychology at USC, he earned an M.A. in clinical psychology at the University of Florida. Just as medical doctors do, Darby performed a year of residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Then it was back to the University of Florida for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

Darby was serving as director of a psychology clinic in Jackson, MS., living with his mother and stepfather and teaching psychology at Mississippi State University when his stepfather died. Now it was decision time.

“I had been coming to the lowcounty on vacation and loved the area. I decided if I were ever going to make a change, that was the time to do it.”

Moving back to the Lowcountry, Darby joined the university in 1986 as an adjunct professor teaching four psychology courses. At the same time, he opened a modest practice in clinical psychology in Beaufort. “I do it mostly in the evenings to keep up my clinical skills. It provides topical material for keeping my courses fresh,” he says.

In 1989 when a full-time teaching position opened, Darby applied and was accepted. Shortly afterward, he immersed himself in the affairs of the university. In 18 years, he has served on 33 committees, subcommittees and planning teams. He was chairman of the USCB Faculty Organization for three years and coordinator/mentor of the USCB Honors 14

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Professor Roy Darby, Ph.D.

Program for four years. He has held six posts in the Regional Campuses Faculty Senate and served as its chairman.

“What has maintained my passion after all these years is the fact that USCB is growing. It’s vital, it’s a going concern,” he says. “And as the university grows, so, too, will the psychology program.”

Away from the campus, he shares quiet time at home with his wife, Amy Jacobs, a licensed professional social worker. The couple has three children, two grandchildren and two dogs.

Darby’s academic honors at USCB – professor of the year, teacher of the year, academic advisor of the year three times – tell only half the story. It’s the other awards that lend perspective to the man. There is, for example, the Bronze Star with Combat “V” for valor, the Vietnamese Honor Medal, First Class; the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry With Palm, and the Combat Action Medal. All were earned in Vietnam.

A U.S. Naval officer for four years, Darby served as a senior naval advisor to a Vietnamese coastal group. “I lived with the Vietnamese for a year during the Vietnam War,” he says.

“The experience profoundly changed my viewpoint on humanity and particularly my awareness of cultures beyond our own.”

Trading on the experience, Darby advocates greater international fellowship at USCB. “I would like to see USCB become more internationally and culturally aware. That’s an experience I would like our students to have.”

In fact, Alex liked it so much he embraced the college experience wholeheartedly. He earned a place on the Chancellor’s List with a consistent 3.5 grade point average over four semesters. He forged his career goals around USCB’s Hospitality Management program, found a part-time position as a residential assistant and orientation leader in the Palmetto Village apartments, worked as an officer with the USCB Department of Public Safety, and joined the Opportunity Scholars Program, which helps students who are new to the college experience by providing study aids like laptop computers and tutors.

Alex and his friends also volunteered their services with the Hilton Head Humane Association, walking dogs and helping around the kennels once a week. It’s a way of helping the community, of course, but it’s also a means of assuaging the pain of missing Lucius, his large but friendly Doberman Pinscher at home.

In his spare time, Alex helps out in the Office of Residence Life, performing clerical duties and general office work.

His photography skills led to a special

request: taking pictures to support the marketing effort at USCB. Yet another interest is the university’s Diversity Involvement Recreation Transition program, which encourages students to touch on the four key program elements at least twice each semester.

“First, Matt and I came down two years ago,” he says. “Then my friend, Sarah, who was going to the community college, came down. Then, the next semester, my best friend, Andy, came down with Wesley . . . ” In the fall, Alex plans to participate in the Student Ambassador Program by serving as a tour guide for campus visitors. In truth, he’s already an unofficial tour guide, sharing his knowledge of the university, Beaufort County and the Lowcountry with the curious.

An unabashed fan of USCB, Alex has shared his enthusiasm for the university and the Lowcountry with the friends he left behind in Massachusetts. Not surprisingly, he has enticed more than a few to join him on campus.

“First, Matt and I came down two years ago,” he says. “Then my friend, Sarah, who was going to the community college, came down. Then, the next semester, my best friend, Andy, came down with Wesley, another of our friends.”

Two more friends were expected to enroll for the fall semester. That will make seven, all from Westfield High School and all matriculated at USCB in a two-year period.

Alex hasn’t decided what he’s going to do when he graduates in 2009. There’s the hospitality industry, of course. And then there’s academia.

“Right now my plans involve earning a master’s degree in higher education, possibly at USC in Columbia, so I could do what I’ve been doing the whole time here: working with the director of residence life,” Alex says. “They’ve given me so much, and I’ve put so much into it and enjoyed it so much that I thought I’d just keep doing it.”

Alex Sanchez, ‘09, Hospitality Management major UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORT

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PROFILE IN GENEROSITY

The Hornings Help Sustain Their Adopted University Dick Stewart, one of the prime developers in Beaufort, has been a generous benefactor to USCB over the years, giving of time, talent and treasure. Among these gifts was the introduction of Joan Horning to the development staff in the summer of 2000.

The Beaufort College Building was in the process of being restored and a campaign to fund the restoration was under way. Dick and Sharon Stewart were the campaign chairs. Dick recommended that Joan Horning get involved and, on a very hot day in August, Joan took a treacherous, dusty tour of the beautiful old building under massive reconstruction. The rest, as they say, is history. Joan and her husband, Bob, have been in almost daily contact with the university ever since.

After retiring from the General Electric Company in 1975, Bob Horning served the Sperry Corporation and then Uniroyal, devoting most of his 35 years in the corporate world to marketing, strategic planning and business management. His wife, Joan, served as a flight attendant with American Airlines, took time off to join Bob in raising two “wonderful daughters,” then returned to the airline in a corporate position involving sales and development on a global scale. Bob and Joan lived all over the world.

‘We’ve fallen in love with Beaufort, with USCB, with Chancellor Jane Upshaw, and with so many members of the staff. We’re delighted to be able to play an active role in the university’s growth.’

One weekend in 1990, while visiting friends on Hilton Head Island, the Hornings were introduced to Spring Island. “We fell in love with the concept of living within a nature preserve that is environmentally sound and friendly,” Bob says.

They found their lot on horseback, built in 1995 and have been there ever since.

Traditional retirement was not for the Hornings; they were too active, intelligent and creative to lapse into a life of leisure and relaxation. They needed a cause.

From the Beaufort College project, Joan moved quickly into her next endeavor.

And like so many others, it involved economic development for the community.

“Joan realized that, in order to grow, Beaufort needed a legitimate theater,” Bob says. When the Shed closed, Beaufort was left with no venue for the performing arts. Joan and thespian Karen Harvey began the crusade to bring legitimate theater to Beaufort. They organized a committee and formed Beaufort Presents, which considered operating out of a small warehouse. However, to attract an audience large enough to guarantee profitability, the venue would require vast improvements in lighting, seating and more.

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“I realized that to develop a substantial theater, I would have to form a partnership with the city,” Joan says, “so I met with the mayor, Bill Rauch, and with Dick Stewart, and we talked about creating a theater. And then we realized the University of South Carolina already had a theater.”

During the past year, Bob also has lent his corporate expertise to the university to raise funds for the emerging athletic program. Bob was a valuable part of the committee, the Athletics Charter Foundation, which raised support for the development of golf, cross country, baseball and other sports programs at the university.

Actually, it was the auditorium in the Performing Arts Center on Carteret Street in Beaufort. “It wasn’t used as a theater, it was being used as an auditorium,” Bob adds, “but it was a very substantial structure. It had tiered seating, a wonderful stage, lighting and an excellent presence right in the center of town.”

The inaugural event for the Athletics Charter Foundation was a golf tournament at Palmetto Bluff. When the last score was tallied and the last donation accepted, the event raised nearly $100,000 for the varsity athletics program.

“The Hornings are faithful supporters who have helped at every turn to position the university for growth and development,” Chancellor Upshaw says.

Joan assumed responsibility for all things creative while Bob handled finances. They developed a business plan and approached the university with a proposal to convert the auditorium for use as a legitimate theater.

Only a few minor renovations would be required.

USCB Chancellor Dr. Jane T. Upshaw recognized the merit of their proposal and agreed that the syndicate could have access to the theater, subject to USCB’s educational uses. And so, in 2003, USCB and Beaufort Performing Arts entered into an agreement that continues to contribute to the cultural life of Beaufort. Joan was the first chairman of BPA. The Hornings also were instrumental in securing the gift of property that will result in the establishment of an endowed scholarship fund to provide financial assistance annually to USCB students in the future.

“We’ve fallen in love with Beaufort, with USCB, with Chancellor Jane Upshaw, and with so many members of the staff,” Joan says. “We’re delighted to be able to play an active role in the university’s growth.”

Joan and Bob Horning

The story began in 1997 when Joan and another friend, Marty Hendershot, conducted a fundraising campaign to build a home for young girls from troubled homes. The Women of Spring Island took an interest in the project and raised $750,000 in donations. Then they convinced Union Camp Corporation to donate five acres of land for the building and persuaded local building suppliers and an architect to donate their products and services to the project. In the end, the land and building were valued at about $1 million.

Unfortunately, the program suffered setbacks and closed. Working with the university, the Hornings were tireless in their efforts to find a means to redirect the funds from the original project to an annual scholarship fund that would benefit USCB students for years to come.

Gifts to the USCB Fund meet some of the university’s most important opportunities: developing degree programs crucial to the students in this region, recruiting new faculty, strengthening academic success programs, shaping our athletic program and enhancing our facilities.

To make a gift now, please use the enclosed envelope or find our giving form at www.uscb.edu.

To make a legacy gift, please contact Colleen Callahan, Director of Development, at (843) 208-8080.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORT

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ALUMNI PROFILE

How Far Can a USCB Student Go?

T

he stone canyons of Manhattan are a world away from the verdant marshlands and gentle breezes of the Lowcountry. Yet it was here at USCB that Kathleen Hogan began to acquire the skills and the confidence to become Senior Vice President and Controller of one of the largest global asset-management firms in the world today.

From her spacious office on the 28th floor of 345 Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan, corporate headquarters for Blackstone Alternative Asset Management L.P., Kate Hogan reflected on her freshman and sophomore years at the University of South Carolina Beaufort and the special role one professor played in her life.

She arrived at USCB in the fall of 1991 after graduating from Fairport High School in Rochester, N.Y. “I couldn’t have been happier with the location,” Kate says.

“I loved the smaller campus and appreciated the individual attention I received as a student there.”

In her first semester, Kate met her math professor, Dr. Jane T. Upshaw. “She was a confidence-builder, a mentor,” Kate says. “She gave me the strength to work harder and be more focused. I loved her classes and enjoyed the academic challenge. I looked forward to attending her classes and would feel really proud when a lesson that seemed so complex suddenly became logical and the pieces of the puzzle came together. The experience at USCB provided the intellectual curiosity that enabled me to continue moving forward into the world of finance, accounting and mathematics.”

Kate took four classes with Dr. Upshaw. In her final math class, she was assigned a special project: creating a statistical model, an exercise not covered in the textbooks. At the time, Kate was working as a waitress at the Harborside Café on Hilton Head Island. She consulted the company’s chief financial officer, developed a suitable model and presented it in class. “I remember Dr. Upshaw’s reaction: ‘This is one of

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USCB News Highlights 17 National Searches Yield Significant Group of New Faculty

the best, most interesting statistical models I’ve ever seen.’

Coming from her, it meant a lot.”

In 1993, having completed her course work, Kate transferred to Pace University in New York City and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public accounting. From there, it was on to the world of finance, beginning with her first job as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche. Kate continued to progress through increasingly responsible positions before attaining her senior management role at The Blackstone Group. At Blackstone, Kate manages the accounting, administration, tax and finance functions for a company that invests $22 billion in hedge fund assets.

To balance an intense workload that can require 70-hour weeks, Kate devotes weekends to her husband, Rich, and their children, Grace Kelly, 4, and Rich Jr., 2, at their home in suburban Westchester County.

“I still think about Dr. Upshaw,” Kate says.

“She’s a passionate, extraordinary person who dedicates herself to each student’s success. She will always hold a special place in my life.”

‘The experience at USCB provided the intellectual curiosity that enabled me to continue moving forward into the world of finance, accounting and mathematics.’

USCB conducted 17 national searches for faculty positions in 2007. The resulting group of new faculty members and successful internal candidates bring new energy, expertise and leadership to USCB. The faculty will continue to strengthen and enhance programs ranging from science to art.

The record number of new professors parallels the university’s remarkable growth in academic programs and student enrollment.

USCB Honors 180 Graduates at 2007 Commencement Ceremony

USCB honored 180 graduates May 4 at its 2007 Commencement Ceremony on the Helen and Brantley Harvey Plaza on the university’s South Campus. The event marked the university’s fourth commencement ceremony as a baccalaureate degree-granting member of the University of South Carolina system. At the same time, the USC system awarded the first honorary degree to be conferred at USCB to Dr. Jack B. McConnell, founder of Volunteers in Medicine, a free medical clinic that has been serving Hilton Head Island for 11 years. Dr. McConnell received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree and delivered the commencement address. Also for the first time, 24 students in the Master of Arts and Teaching were hooded.

USCB Launches Nursing Program

“She was a believer,” Kate says. “She helped bring me to the next level and enabled me to focus on my strengths. I’ve had a few people pass through my life who have made a lasting impression. Just incredible individuals who are giving and kind. You strive to make them proud. I’ve worked really hard to get here. It’s a great career.”

For more information on USCB Alumni Association, or to suggest an alumni we might profile in the future, please e-mail MJ Luby, Alumni Coordinator, at Luby@gwm.sc.edu.

USCB is now one of 10 universities in South Carolina offering a baccalaure-

ate-level nursing program. “This professional program will meet a critical need for nurses at our local hospitals, from Savannah to Beaufort, and will provide excellent job opportunities for our students,” says USCB Chancellor Jane Upshaw. For more information on USCB’s nursing program, contact Dr. Susan Williams, Chair, Department of Nursing.

Congratulations! You’re a Sand Shark

With input from alumni, community, students, faculty and staff, the USCB Mascot Steering Committee selected the Sand Sharks as the new university mascot. The USCB Sand Sharks will convey an image that is powerful, enduring, and reflective of the Lowcountry. USCB also adopted new colors of navy blue, sand and garnet. For more information on the university’s new mascot, link to www.uscb.edu/mascot.

Students Choose On-Campus Apartment Living

Another indication of USCB’s tremendous growth may be found in the number of students and student athletes living in the Palmetto Village apartments this year. Located on the South Campus, Palmetto Village is at full operating capacity. The apartmentstyle housing facility opened to students in 2005.

First Season Looms for USCB Intercollegiate Athletics

With a new mascot in place, each of USCB’s intercollegiate athletic teams is ready to embark on a winning season.

Intercollegiate athletics will begin this fall under the auspices of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Men’s golf and the men’s and women’s cross country teams will launch their seasons shortly. For schedules, sports news and stories, visit www.uscbSandSharks.com Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Receives Landmark $1 Million Endowment

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of South Carolina Beaufort has received a $1 million endowment and a $50,000 bridge grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation to continue providing educational enrichment to seasoned learners in the Lowcountry. The endowment will help the institute provide nearly 300 not-for-credit educational classes for more than 1,000 adults at four locations throughout the region.

USCB Hits a Home Run with Sofield as New Baseball Coach

Major League baseball veteran Rick Sofield joined the USCB athletics staff as the university’s first head baseball coach on August 1. “It is such an incredible opportunity to build something from scratch, to build a strong foundation for our young athletes on and off the field and in the classroom,” said Coach Sofield. Baseball recruiting begins immediately to field USCB’s first team for the 2009 season.

Coach Sofield graduated from USC and “is glad to be back in the Palmetto state.”

Our Annual Fund Your gift to the annual fund empowers today’s USCB students to become people who explore, discover and change the world.

As one fiscal year closes and another begins, we thank you for your support of the USCB annual fund.

You may use the enclosed envelope in this issue of USCB Magazine for your gift.