As the December Class of 2025 prepares to walk across the commencement stage, graduates leave the University of South Carolina with memories of enduring friendships, newfound passions, supportive mentors and life-changing experiences.
Seven USC School of Medicine Greenville students demonstrated their commitment to lifestyle medicine by training for and completing an Ironman 70.3 competition in Wilmington, North Carolina.
A new grant from the National Institutes of Health will help USC faculty study fragile X-associated health conditions, which may affect thousands of people in South Carolina, and identify new ways to diagnose and treat the conditions.
As the university marks the celebration of First-Gen College Celebration Week, we caught up with first-generation students, alumni, faculty and staff who are thriving in the classroom and beyond.
Paige Canady planned to write a straightforward honors thesis, the kind that might get read once or twice, then put on a shelf. But after collaborating with an art education student, the project became a cleverly illustrated children’s book, one that Canady hopes will be read by families everywhere.
Senior Gracie Bellah started at USC with her plans mapped out. A history and anthropology double major in the Honors College, she dove into historical research and became a leader in student organizations. Her experience helping other students as a McCausland College ambassador helped her decide to take her career plans in a new direction.
(feat. Steve Smith, S.C. Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology) Post and Courier Palmetto Politics
(feat. Robert Ployhart, management) HR Executive
(feat. Jennifer Baumstark, advanced professional nursing practice and leadership, and Tisha Felder, biobehavioral health and nursing science, and advanced professional nursing practice and leadership) Post and Courier
(feat. Geoffrey Alpert, criminology) The New York Times
Studying abroad during undergrad at USC helped JD Dawson, a third-year medical student at the School of Medicine Greenville, develop a global perspective on health care that he’s carried into his postgrad education.
South Carolina Honors College student Michael Pitre likes to get up around 3 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to make the two-hour drive to Folly Beach to surf at the Washout before heading back to Columbia and his 11:40 a.m. class. It’s a regimen that aligns nicely with the Marshall Scholar finalist’s jam-packed schedule that includes earning his BARSC-MD degree in just three years, working as an emergency medical technician, and researching the circuitry of the brain on his way to becoming a neurosurgeon.
Biomedical engineering professor Ehsan Jabbarzadeh became the University of South Carolina's fourth National Academy of Inventors fellow.
As a first-generation student, Jonathan Aun's path to becoming a doctor wasn't easy. In USC's Honors College he found friendships, memories and an environment of support and exploration in which to lead and help others do the same. Whether called Major Aun or Dr. Aun today, he continues to build compassionate connection with his patients — and is a true Gamecock at heart.
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