The Daily Gamecock: March 2025

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A profile on USC’s waterski club. The club was revived after COVID-19 put a halt on operations.

The Daily Gamecock highlights key moments through its most memorable pictures from February.

State and federal legislation aims to limit gender affirming care, impacting the transgender and nonbinary communities.

Hear from university students, faculty on how the national funding freeze has affected them and their careers.

A look at USC’s first Sustainability Summit, coordinated by the Office of Sustainability and members of Sustainable Carolina.

14 BLUFF ROAD FIELD

Members of club sports teams speak about the dangerous Bluff Road field conditions, many have suffered severe injuries.

16 MEN’S LACROSSE

The South Carolina men’s lacrosse team speak about the community the players have created after its first season win.

Women in STEM have historically fought for space in the maledominated field. USC students are working to change this.

22 COMIC

A comical twist on some comments the Daily Gamecock has received on social media.

24 BOOK BANS

Community members discuss South Carolina’s recent book ban policy. How it impacts local schools.

26 HENDRIX

A married couple talk about their new coffee-bus shop having moved from Cancún, Mexico.

A column providing commentary on the university’s architectural structure.

31

MCBRYDE DEMOLITION

McBryde should not be torn down, taking away the opportunity to create life-long bonds.

32 BREAKFAST

Why students shouldn’t skip breakfast and the benefits that the meal provides.

Junior forward Chloe Kitts has made a significant impact on the Gamecock women’s basketball team during its 2024-25 season.

The South Carolina baseball team’s field at Founders Park has been dedicated to former head coach Ray Tanner.

DEBATE CLUB

USC’s debate club members talk about how the club has helped them develop professional, and personal, skills.

34 BABY PICS

The Daily Gamecock staff members: past and present. Who is who?

COVER PHOTO BY: Jack Bradshaw

USC’s waterski club riding waves again after years of inactivity due to COVID-19, broadens outreach

CONNOR BOGAN | NEWS WRITER

The South Carolina waterski team is active again and getting back in the water for the first time since 2020.

USC’s waterski team holds weekly practice at Bud Lake and is open to all levels of water skiers. The team competes in the South Atlantic Conference of collegiate water skiing, according to its Garnet Gate page.

“We practice 30 minutes from campus out at Bud Lake. There’s a very nice gentleman who lets us ski behind his boat,” club president Jaime Torres said.

Torres is a graduate sports and entertainment management student at USC and started waterskiing as an undergraduate. He said that despite the size difference of USC’s new team, he knows what a waterski team is supposed to look like.

The club holds practice whenever anyone wants to go out, as long as the lake’s owner can pull them, Torres said.

The lake is both named after and built by the owner, Bud, club secretary and first-year business student Mia Balistreri said.

The club became inactive during the COVID-19 pandemic when the university shut down, Torres said.

Members of the club carpool to Bud Lake and ski all year round. During the colder months, they wear wet suits and dry suits while out on the water, Balistreri said.

Balistreri said she had no idea that a waterski club at USC existed and her first practice was one of her favorites.

“I saw someone’s story, and that day I was out skiing with them,” Balistreri said. “So that was super fun to just be thrown into it super quick.”

Some members take longer to get the hang of it than others, but they make sure everyone gets a chance to ski, Torres said.

Depending on levels of experience, members will be put on either one or two skis at the start, Torres said. After that, they just feel it out for themselves.

Torres said it’s a matter of being patient with

the new members and helping them learn. They take as much time as new members need.

“We’ll take you around the lake, and slowly you start incorporating more and more of the basics,” Torres said.

The club, despite being new, is starting off strong and already participating in tournaments, Torres said. He said there are lots of other new teams in the region who it competes against.

“It’s not like we’re competing against the very best,” Torres said. “We always have competition at our level — people who are just starting out, building their teams and have a lot of different people of skill levels.”

Fundraising officer and first-year pre-business student Carlie Fisher said her favorite part of being a member comes from

the fact that anyone can join. She said it’s fun to watch the excitement, especially that of new members.

“Everyone gets so, so excited. When you get up on skis for the first time, it’s such a crazy thing,” Fisher said. “There’s so many different milestones that everyone’s hitting throughout. That’s just kind of exciting, and it’s fun to watch.”

Fisher said her role as fundraising officer involves reaching out to different “ski brand companies” for equipment. Recently, she star ted a GoFundMe which will go towards funding a boat for the team, she said.

Even though the club is slowly growing in membership after being revitalized, Balistreri said an aspect of family is still present.

Being from Wisconsin, where many people

water ski, she was able to find a community of those who love being out on the water, such as herself, she said.

Torres said his favorite part of the club is watching members try something new. He sees it as the most rewarding part too, both in his own role and as a member.

“I like bringing new people into the sport. It’s probably my favorite thing. It’s always really been my favorite thing, even when I wasn’t president,” Torres said.

Torres started water skiing in college himself, so he knows what it’s like to not be brought up in the sport and try something new.

“Seeing the happiness it brings people. That’s untouched,” Torres said.

DESIGN: MEGAN GOURLEY

Senior outfielder Emily Vinson hits a ball straight up the middle as the Gamecocks begin its rally on Feb. 15, 2025 against Miami Ohio. Vinson had a season high three stolen bases during the game.

Students dance during the line dance at the Dance Marathon Main Event on Feb. 22. 2025. The students pictured are part of the Morale group and practiced all semester to present their line dance.

South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn

talks to her players during a timeout at Colonial Life Arena on March 2, 2025. The Gamecocks end its 2024-25 regular season 27-3 and will go into the SEC tournament as the No. 1 seed.

PHOTO: DELANY KRAL

PHOTO: MADISON REECE

PHOTO: SEBASTIAN GODUN

Staley

New legislation impacts transgender, nonbinary communities

Abill in South Carolina targets transgender and nonbinary individuals by banning gender affirming health care for minors as well as limiting access to care for those over 18.

This law went into effect this past summer and the effects have been amplified by recent executive orders signed by President Donald Trump that specifically target this community.

H. 4626 targets gender-affirming health care, which can include medicine, hormone replacement therapy and gender-affirming counseling. This law specifically bans this type of care for minors as well as banning doctors from assisting with gender-affirming care due to a risk of losing their jobs.

“Quite frankly, I’m still shocked that we can talk about America and South Carolina being a place where we champion people’s individual liberties, and yet we are seeing this kind of level of unprecedented government overreach,” said second-year anthropology and psychology student Isa Webster. Webster is also the event coordinator of Queer+ Honors Caucus.

Queer+ Honors Caucus is a student organization that works to connect queer students within the honors college at USC, Webster said.

He said that this sends a harmful message about identity to younger generations as well.

“We’re effectively teaching our children that it isn’t okay to explore yourself. It isn’t okay to question outdated social constructs that you don’t fully understand or that don’t fully apply to you,” Webster said.

Clinics that have offered genderaffirming care to adults have removed these treatments as this law bans public funds from going to hormones and surgeries for gender-affirming care for individuals of all ages, according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

As a result of this removal of funding some clinics, specifically MUSC, the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston has had to close down both its youth clinic and its adult clinic, limiting care for all individuals, according to Christina Pacozzi, the executive director of the Harriet Hancock Center.

“We have 46 counties, we know that most of our counties are very rural,” Pacozzi said. “You have to travel sometimes to go to a doctor and find a quality provider. And obviously there’s intricacies in finding the right provider for you. This is now limiting your access to care.”

While these orders are targeted at protecting youth by banning genderaffirming surgeries for minors, Pacozzi said that many transgender youths seek social affirmation rather than medical treatment.

Though many youth don’t want surgical treatment now, these laws can limit their access to care in the future because of these clinics closing, Pacozzi said.

“In many cases, they want to be socially affirmed. They want you to use their name. They want you to use their right pronouns. They want to be able to dress in a way that is affirming to them right now,” Pacozzi said.

Members of the transgender community feel confused and scared as a result of transgender individuals’ medical access being targeted, said Bernie McIlnay a graduate sports and entertainment management student, the development director of IRIS. IRIS is a student run LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

“I have heard from people in the community about how it has forced people to delay transitions,” McIlnay said.

The uncertainty around potential legal ramifications makes it difficult to access doctors who will help with transitions, which may have mental and emotional tolls on those who are unable to get the medication they may be looking for, McIlnay said.

Webster shared similar views about the lack of trust in the government and overall uncertainty regarding current issues.

“They don’t trust their government, they don’t trust any sort of public institution now, and they feel frustrated and they feel disempowered,” Webster said.

The law in South Carolina was one that specifically targeted transgender individuals, but the orders signed by Trump further the restrictions on trans and nonbinary individuals.

The amount of executive orders is meant to cause confusion, so it is difficult to understand what the orders enforce and what their goals are, McIlnay said.

“We’re just in a state right now of confusion over the past two weeks about what does the future actually look like, what is going to be carried forward that we need to consider when it comes to things

like gender affirming care, name changes, anything and everything that has to do with being trans,” McIlnay said.

The executive orders Trump has signed targeting transgender and nonbinary individuals aim to limit access to gender affirming care, limit inclusion in schools and ban transgender individuals from participating in sports with their preferred gender.

“They’re not laws, and so we’re trying to make sure that people understand what are their rights and what can still happen,” Pacozzi said.

While there is a lot of uncertainty around what implications these laws have in the long run and what they mean for those who are within the targeted groups, there are bigger, lasting implications to recognize, Webster said.

A belief that Webster and McIlnay both emphasized was that despite these laws targeting transgender and nonbinary individuals, they will continue to be here.

“My sheer existence is resistance, my acceptance in who I am, my acceptance that I am outside of the binary, is resisting what oppressors want,” Webster said.

The ACLU filed a suit in August of 2024 against the South Carolina law, but it is still in effect.

Olivia Helfen | State and local government beat writer

Illustration: Olivia Abner

University of South Carolina students, faculty respond to proposed reductions in federal funding

COLIN ELAM | NEWS EDITOR MORGAN COOK | NEWS WRITER

Two recent attempts by the federal government to halt or reduce the disbursement of federal funding have prompted responses from the University of South Carolina and concern among students.

In January, a White House memo announced a pause to federal financial assistance. While it was later rescinded, some students say that its effects linger.

Less than two weeks after the funding freeze was first announced, the NIH enacted a uniform cap on funding for indirect research costs, which was halted by a federal judge while a legal challenge is heard. The cap would reduce the amount of money that USC receives to conduct medical research. The NIH made this announcement the same month the university broke ground on a new medical school.

National Institute of Health indirect cost rate

On Feb. 7, the National Institute of Health (NIH) announced a cap of 15% for indirect cost rates for its research grants.

These rates, which are negotiated between research institutions and the government, cover facilities and administrative costs.

The cap was halted by a temporary restraining order from a federal judge, which followed a lawsuit against the NIH from the American Association of Medical Colleges and several other plaintiffs. The lawsuit states that enacting this cap was “unlawful.”

The planned funding cap could affect USC’s competitiveness as an institution, according to Janice Probst, a former associate director of the Rural & Minority Health Research Center in the Arnold School of Public Health.

Probst used an analogy of baking a cake to describe what indirect costs are. While ingredients such as eggs, sugar and flour are required for making the cake, a baker also needs space, an oven and electricity. The non-ingredient items would be the indirect costs in a research context, she said.

According to the federal announcement, this

rate has averaged between 27% and 28%, with some organizations using a rate of over 60%. These rates do not match the maximum rates f or private foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has a cap of 10% for grants to higher education institutions, the announcement read.

Probst also has a personal connection to the issue. Her nine-year-old great-nephew has stage four neuroblastoma, a type of cancer common in children. After looking into who was treating him, Probst found the research behind his treatment was funded by the National Cancer Institute, a component of the NIH.

“So if you say ‘We’re gonna cut NIH funding because we think they’re wasting money,’ you come to me and tell me that,” Probst said. “I, who have a little kid with no hair right now.”

NIH awards are USC’s largest source of federal assistance, and funding for indirect costs supports critical research infrastructure, Julius Fridrikssonn, vice president for research at USC, wrote in a Feb. 10 letter.

According to the NIH’s website, the University of South Carolina received $70,314,467 in funding from the institute in 2024.

“We are hopeful that the reduction in funds could prove temporary,” Fridrikssonn wrote in the letter. “However, we are planning for any eventuality and remain committed to growing our future health research endeavors.”

According to data from the magazine Newsweek, the State of South Carolina would have lost over $33 million in research funding in 2024 if the 15% cap had been applied that year. Probst believes the true number could be between $36 and $53 million per year, especially if other sources of federal grants follow suit.

On Feb. 25 the university broke ground on a new school of medicine. Speaking to reporters at the ceremony, Thad Westbrook, chair of USC’s board of trustees, said the new cap will not hamper the university’s ongoing medical projects.

“It doesn’t slow down what we’re doing right now with both medical education and research,” Westbrook said.

Westbrook would like to see the funding cap increased, especially for public institutions. Compared to private institutions, public universities like USC do not have as large endowments, he said.

University President Michael Amiridis said the university does not know what the result will be.

“At this point I hope that this will be reconsidered and the percentages will change,” Amiridis said.

The university has told its researchers to continue their work while applying for new federal funding opportunities, according to a statement from University Spokesperson Collyn Taylor.

According to the statement, USC officials are advocating for the university’s research to local, state and federal governing bodies.

“We have a government relations team that’s been working with the federal government and our federal delegation,” Westbrook said. “They’re very plugged in and in tune with what’s going on. I think we’re going to have a conversation for several months about this.”

The rescinded funding freeze memo

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo on Jan. 27 stating all federal financial assistance and funding were to be temporarily paused. This pause would officially go into effect Jan. 28 at 5 p.m.

The memo stated that federal agencies must do a comprehensive analysis of their federal financial assistance programs and pause any related activities. The memo also stated that agencies such as the Green New Deal, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, foreign aid and nongovernmental organizations must also comply.

Agencies affected by this memo would have until Feb. 10 to submit detailed information on programs, activities and projects that could be affected.

In a statement to the university, Fridrikssonn stated it will be closely tracking this situation and will keep those affected informed.

According to AP News, a federal judge then blocked this memo just minutes before it was supposed to go into effect.

Lawsuits from non-profit organizations that receive federal money prompted the blockage, according to AP News. The OMB then sent out another memo Jan. 29 stating the first one was rescinded.

Fourth-year environmental science student Lily Bosch was involved in a microbial lab and is now working on a project about North Atlantic right whales and the correlation between media coverage and public policy.

Bosch said the memo has affected her postgraduate jobs, as she wanted to work for a year at the federal level before applying for graduate school. Due to federal cuts, Bosch said her potential careers are unstable.

“There’s so many job cuts on the federal level...just things kind of being completely turned upside down,” Bosch said.

According to a statement from Taylor, the university will take appropriate actions that align with state and federal laws but are also in the best interest of students and faculty.

Fourth-year marine science student and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hollings Scholar Ainsley Cain has worked in a lab studying phytoplankton and conducted her own research for the Hollings program about the Pacific halibut.

Cain said there was a lot of panic within the Hollings Scholars when the memo was first sent.

“There’s a GroupMe that has a bunch of us Hollings Scholars in it, and we’re all texting like, ‘What does this mean for us’ ... So there’s kind of just ... Genuine panic,” Cain said.

As a Hollings Scholar, Cain said she receives two payments a semester for her scholarship. The first one for this semester was set to come in at the end of January, right around the time the memo was first released.

NOAA falls under the Department of Commerce, but Cain is considered to be on the education side of NOAA. However, her scholarship had the potential to be impacted if the memo had gone through, Cain said.

Cain said she did receive her scholarship money after the memo was rescinded, but is still

seeing the memo affect the Hollings Scholars program.

According to the Washington Post, The National Science Foundation (NSF) has taken down and reviewed thousands of science research projects in order to meet President Donald Trump’s executive order that was released during his first week in office. With that, NSF has looked through a list of keywords in order to determine if any projects violate the executive order, according to the Washington Post. NSF must provide justification if they believe a flagged keyword does not go against the executive order.

“Us Hollings Scholars can post a ... Blog excerpt about our project (and) they’ve taken all of those down to review them to be compliant with Trump’s executive orders ... It’s still been a little weird adjusting,” Cain said.

Fourth-year marine science student Madison Essex first got involved in research her sophomore year where she was a part of the Magellan Journey Program and later marine policy research. Essex now has her own independent study where she looks at the effects of climate change on fish.

Essex said she still does some work in the marine policy lab and has noticed changes made in order to comply with the memo. She said the lab has had to adjust how marine policy issues are handled due to the potential of them being blocked or not being allowed to be proposed again.

“We have to be really careful now with the wording ... We’ve taken a lot of proposals back so that we can edit them and or hold off ... So we can eventually propose them again, but the world of marine policy is very scary right now,” Essex said.

Essex said while her own personal research hasn’t been

affected, she feels uncertain about her future post-graduation.

“Coming in, professors were always saying to you ... ‘Climate jobs, environmental jobs, they’re going to be really necessary in the next couple years,’” Essex said. “‘You guys are going to be one of the most high demand jobs to have’, and now it feels like it’s kind of not the case.”

Essex said she can see how much this will impact incoming students for the next few years because there will be a lack of opportunities for students wanting to pursue research. While most internships and entry level work are unpaid, opportunities for paid and funded independent research could become limited in an already expensive field, Essex said.

“They’re definitely going to have to fight a lot harder for their opportunities,” Essex said.

“It’s going to become a lot more challenging for them to break through in this field.”

Bosch said while she considers herself lucky to not be affected as much as others, she does see others waiting for answers.

“I’m just learning a lot about how tied science (and) the federal government are because you think that they’re very separate, we’re kind of seeing that they’re not,” Bosch said.

A look at USC’s first Student Sustainability Summit

KELLY GRADY | ENVIORNMENT BEAT WRITER MORGAN COOK | NEWS WRITER

The Office of Sustainability hosted its first Student Sustainability Summit at the Learning Center for Sustainable Futures on Feb. 21.

The summit was coordinated by the Office of Sustainability and student volunteers within Sustainable Carolina. It is funded by a grant from the Central Midlands Council of Government. The summit was a collection of student-led workshops and presentations and drew a crowd of around 80 students, Associate Director for the Office of Sustainability Jessie McNevin said.

“Knowing that that engagement is there and people are sharing their passions, that’s only going to have a larger ripple effect. I can’t wait to see what comes out of this conference,” McNevin said.

McNevin said the summit was advertised through Eco Ambassadors, a new part of Sustainable Carolina’s outreach program. Eco Ambassadors has over 1,200 students involved, McNevin said.

“The concept behind Eco Ambassadors was an opportunity to allow students at all levels and at all time availability to get more involved in sustainability on campus through our office,” said fourthyear finance and marketing student Katie Poer, who helped found Eco Ambassadors. “It’s kind of, as we viewed it, a nice bridge program to dip your toes in the water of sustainability on campus through making it more open and inviting, without it feeling like a burden.”

For a student to become an Eco Ambassador, they must complete certain requirements, Poer said. This includes attending either a sustainability 101 or environmental justice 101 lecture, a hands-on workshop, a discussion workshop, volunteering in the garden and completing community service within the sustainability office.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity to help develop some skills and learn through collaborating with others,” Poer said. “I think sustainability is very applicable to everyone in all things.”

At the Summit, students from a variety of majors gave presentations and led workshops, discussing topics including fast fashion, environmentalism in Latin America and heat mapping in Columbia. Hands-on workshops covered topics including planting trees, cleaning up trash around Green Quad and upcycling, or

using recyclable or discarded material to create new items.

“I really enjoyed the trash pickup,” second-year environmental studies and dance student Claire Hirsch said. “I always love doing hands-on activities that help make me feel like I’m having a tangible impact on helping our environment. And I think it’s really important to keep our nature spaces clean as students here, because we’re so lucky to have some green spaces around campus.”

Some workshops were run by outside organizations, including “Seed Packing: Milkweed for Monarchs,” led by graduate environmental science student Connor Chilton. Chilton interns with the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, who run the Monarchs and Milkweed Program.

“Monarch butterflies specifically need milkweed for their larva… Milkweed and monarch populations have been declining really, really badly,” Chilton said. “So this gives the opportunity for native milkweed seeds to go to anybody who signs up (for) their program in the State of South Carolina. We’re filling 5,000 orders of it.”

Not all student presenters were members of Sustainable Carolina but still wanted to speak about environmental topics that were important to them. Second-year environmental studies student Anna Petruzzi, a member of the summit planning committee, and fourth-year public health student Maggie O’Leary, a non-member, presented on fast fashion and how to shop for sustainable clothing. Their presentation was adapted from an environmental studies project they did last semester, Petruzzi said.

“(Awareness of fast fashion) is definitely super important . . . especially for USC students, because a lot of people don’t realize exactly what the impact is of buying clothes from fast fashion companies,” O’Leary said. “A lot of people are thinking, ‘Oh, Shein’s cheap, so that’ll be fine.’ Our age group is the biggest (demographic) for fast fashion, especially with our use of social media.”

Third-year international business student Hanna El Khantour said she felt that initiatives like the Student Sustainability Summit were important to have on campus so that students could realize their potential to create change.

“I think sustainability is the basis of everything that we’re going to try and build in the future,” El Khantour said. “Because if we don’t worry about it now, it will be too late. I think it’s important to have initiatives on campus that make people more aware of everything that they can do, so that we can live on this planet for as long as we want.”

Third-year environmental studies and political science student Jackson Hensley, a member of Sustainable Carolina, said the goal of the summit was to bring people and organizations from across campus together to collaborate and share ideas about sustainability.

“I hope that they’ve learned something, and there are action items that they can take from it to help make our community better,” Hensley said.

Sustainable Carolina allows students who are passionate about sustainability, service and future success to develop as leaders and dedicate their time to improving campus sustainability.

PHOTO: KATIE AMBROSE

On Feb. 21, 2025, the Student Sustainability Press Conference students participated in hands on projects in Green Quad D. The group decided to write letters to the state about how they can be more environmentally friendly.

South Carolina women’s basketball player Chloe Kitts making an impact on the court in her third season at South Carolina

Hunter Burkhalter | SPORTS writer

Junior forward Chloe Kitts has been a catalyst for the No. 4 South Carolina women’s basketball team, strengthening her game to help drive the Gamecocks to a 23-3 record.

“There’s so many (athletes) that just come to practice, and that’s it. They don’t do any extra,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “She does all the extra, so I want basketball to repay her.”

Kitts has solidified her spot as a key player on the team in her third season in garnet and black. Kitts is averaging 20.4 minutes per game and is scoring an average of 9.4 points per game this season. Her highest-scoring game in conference play comes from her game against Mississippi State, in which she had 17 points. Kitts scored double figures in six of the eight games since the win against the Bulldogs.

“Chloe works her butt off, and sometimes she doesn’t get to reap the benefits of her hard work through stats,” Staley said about the Mississippi State game.

Kitts has been a force on the glass, leading the team with 7.6 rebounds per game. Her season-high came in the season opener against Michigan, where she finished with 14.

Kitts is currently at 182 rebounds on the season, which is 64 more than her next-closest teammate in line. Kitts’ performance on the glass has her ninth on the SEC leaderboard for rebounds per game.

Kitts’ commitment to basketball and improving her skills started early in high school. After receiving more than 40 scholarship offers from top colleges around the country, she decided to commit to the University of South Carolina.

In December 2022, Kitts decided to enroll early at South Carolina and skip the remainder of her senior year.

In 2024, Kitts got to take part in a championship run similar to the one that made her come to the University of South Carolina in the first place. She performed well in South Carolina’s tournament run, scoring an average of 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds

and about 16.3 minutes per game in the postseason.

During the offseason before her junior year, Kitts wanted to commit to getting stronger so that she could stay up on her feet more often.

“Last year I was falling every possession,” Kitts said. “The offseason for me was staying in the weight room. I spend more time in the weight room than I do getting up extra work because I realized that was more beneficial for me.”

Kitts’ commitment to improving in the offseason has paid off. In a game against then-No. 8 Duke on Dec. 5, she tied her career high with 21 points and 11 rebounds in her 25 minutes of playing time.

“I’m happy because Chloe pours into herself; she does all the right things in regards to prepping herself,” Staley said after the game. “She does all the right

things and (makes) lifestyle changes ... in order for her to play this way.”

While Kitts’ selflessness can be a strength on the court, Staley said it’s something she can grow from.

“Tonight, Chloe just played mind games with herself, and sometimes that happens; it’s an unselfish act,” Staley said after South Carolina’s win over Auburn. “But at the same time, if she doesn’t shoot, we have to start the process (of running a play) all over.”

Her selflessness isn’t just noticed by Staley, it’s noticed by her teammates as well. Freshman forward Joyce Edwards also encourages Kitts to shoot the ball more often.

“At the free-throw line, Joyce was yelling at me to shoot the ball,” Kitts said after the win against Auburn. “She was like, ‘I know you made two before, and I know

you’re not trying to be selfish, but I was wide open.’”

Since the Auburn game, Kitts has been leaning into taking more shots. In the Georgia game on Feb. 6, she tied for the most made field goals with sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley with five while taking eight attempts. In South Carolina’s game against then-No. 4 Texas on Feb. 9, she made four field goals, tying with Edwards and Fulwiley for the most on the day. Her nine attempts also tied Fulwiley and senior guard Te-Hina Paopao for the most on the afternoon.

“She wants to be a pro, so she’s active in doing things and creating habits that will help her,” Staley said. “So I want basketball to repay her for that every time she steps on the floor.”

Photo: Jazzy Rhodes

FILE — Junior forward Chloe Kitts laughs with a teammate while getting back on defense during the matchup against the Auburn Tigers at the Colonial Life Arena on Feb. 2, 2025.

South Carolina baseball field dedicated to former Gamecock baseball head coach Ray Tanner

Tanyon Ziolkowski | Baseball & Softball Beat Writer

The University of South Carolina has officially named Ray Tanner Field at Founders Park, the home of Gamecock baseball, after Ray Tanner on Feb. 15. This marks the first former South Carolina coach or athlete to be mentioned in the name of a sporting complex.

Tanner is a former South Carolina baseball head coach from 1997-2012 and University of South Carolina athletic director from 2012-2024.

South Carolina baseball head coach Paul Mainieri said Tanner has approached the name change with a humble mindset.

Tanner said he even tried to put a stop to the field dedication years ago while he was serving as USC’s Athletics Director. He credits the coaching work of Bobby Richardson and June Reigns for setting the foundation of South Carolina baseball.

“I know that it’s a great honor, and I’m humbled, but it’s not about me,” Tanner said. “I’m just the guy that was driving the bus at a good time.”

Saturday’s pregame ceremony that announced the introduction of Ray Tanner Field was filled with former Gamecock

baseball players and friends of the legendary coach.

Success at the helm

In his 16 seasons as South Carolina baseball’s head coach, Tanner led the Gamecocks to six College World Series appearances, cementing South Carolina as the sixth ever program to win backto-back NCAA championships in 2010 and 2011. Tanner led South Carolina to 14 NCAA Tournaments, while winning three SEC regular season championships and six SEC East Division titles in the process.

Tanner also coached South Carolina during the program’s 22-game NCAA Tournament and 12-game College World Series win streaks, as they remaining the longest in NCAA history. Tanner finished his coaching career with a 738-316 record (.700).

“This is such a special weekend for me personally,” Mainieri said. “I told Ray (Tanner) this the other night how proud I will be every day of my coaching career here at South Carolina to go work on a field named after him.”

The two coaches said they hold a lot of mutual respect between each other, as they have similar qualities and parallel coaching careers. Mainieri and Tanner faced off multiple times throughout their careers at LSU and South Carolina, respectively, and Mainieri said Tanner constructed a model program out of the Gamecocks during his coaching tenure.

“He and I had very similar qualities as coaches, we expected a lot out of our players,” Mainieri said. “But I think he did it with a loving heart, and I tried to do it the same way.”

Tanner was awarded as a three-time National Coach of the Year (2000, 2010, 2011) and SEC Coach of the Year (1998, 2000, 2011).

Built this place from the ground-up

Back in 2009 when then-Founders Park was built, Tanner had a significant role in how the stadium was designed and constructed. Tanner said the foundation of now-Ray Tanner Field was inspired by numerous ballparks and their features, including Arkansas’ batter’s eye and concourse, Omaha Rosenblatt Stadium’s left field seats and Camden Yards’ right field.

Tanner said he wanted fans to be able completely walk all around the ballpark, and he precisely copied the exact distance fans were from the first and third base foul lines at Sarge Frye Field, the home of Gamecock baseball until the 2008 season.

“Building this stadium was an absolute rush,” Tanner said. “I was here almost every morning with a hard hat and a gator ... It was a blast, it was fun.”

Tanner said he was thrilled with the speedy 13-month construction process of the stadium, and he was able to lead South Carolina to two national championships with Founders Park being its home.

“From the moment you (Tanner) stepped on to this campus, you knew how special it could be,” former South Carolina announcer Mike Morgan said. “You had a vision, not just of wins, but winning culture. And today, we’re here to honor that vision turned undeniable reality.”

Post-coaching career

During Tanner’s 12-year tenure as South Carolina’s Athletic Director, the Gamecocks have won four national championships, including 2015 equestrian and women’s basketball in 2017, 2022 and 2024. The Gamecocks have also taken home 21 SEC regular season and tournament titles during his time.

Tanner has also contributed to tremendous student-athlete success off the field. In 2014, South Carolina became the first school in the SEC to offer four-year scholarships to its student athletes who played the qualified sports. Additionally, since 2015, University of South Carolina athletes have earned more SEC Academic Honor Rolls than any other school in the conference.

Since stepping down from his athletics director role in September 2024, Tanner has gained a new role as the athletics director emeritus and senior advisor to the USC President, Michael Amiridis. Tanner’s new position focuses on fundraising and community engagement.

Since his retirement from coaching, Tanner has been inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.

Photo: Sebastian Godun

FILE — Ray Tanner (far right) poses with family members during a ceremony to dedicate the field at Founders Park to Tanner before a game on Feb. 15, 2025. Tanner previously served as a baseball coach and athletic director for South Carolina, leading the baseball team to back-to-back National Championships as head coach.

Photo: Sebastian Godun

FILE — A view of the field behind home plate at Founders Park after a game on Feb. 15, 2025. The field was recently dedicated to Ray Tanner, after a long career at South Carolina as a baseball coach and athletic director.

‘It’s an embarrassment’:

Club sports athletes face unsafe playing conditions, suffer injuries on dangerous field

SAM STROUP | CLUB SPORTS BEAT WRITER

Quinn Lafferty, a captain for the men’s club rugby team, suffered a severe knee injury while playing on the Bluff Road fields over a year ago.

Lafferty is a fourth-year nursing student and still feels the effects of his injury.

“Last year, I blew out my knee,” Lafferty said. “Tore my ACL, had deep bone bruises, tore my meniscus and sprained everything else. It was horrible. I still haven’t fully recovered since, and I deal with it every day.”

The fields are home to USC’s growing list of outdoor club sports, including lacrosse, soccer, rugby and field hockey. The fields, which sit at the corner of Bluff and National Guard Road near Williams-Brice Stadium, were formerly used by South Carolina football until recent facility upgrades. They’re maintained by the University of South Carolina Athletics Department and USC Campus Recreation.

Despite the high number of clubs that use the fields, athletes claim they’re forced to play on an uneven surface that features holes, divots and sandpits, putting them at a greater risk of injury. Some have even abandoned the fields altogether, opting for local high schools or other on-campus fields.

“It’s a matter of time before one of us has a season-ending injury,” fourth-year political science student and women’s lacrosse club president Karlyn Antolini said. “I hate to say it, but it is. The fields are absolutely awful. I literally don’t know how else to put it. It’s an embarrassment to have schools come to us and play.”

What’s

gone wrong with the fields

Lafferty hasn’t been alone. Several of his teammates have suffered similar injuries. Lafferty said the injuries have negatively impacted the club’s morale, as players know they’re at a higher risk of injury while using the fields.

“It brutalizes the team,” Lafferty said. “Some key guys, quality guys that we need and care about. It’s messing not just with their rugby career, but messing with their psyche, too. It’s something that’s really important to me. When people go down with injuries that take them out of their sport, it’s really their only release sometimes.”

Gunnar Wilson is an offensive coordinator and former player for the men’s lacrosse club. Wilson noticed the poor field quality immediately upon transferring to USC in 2021, and it wouldn’t take long for him to suffer a debilitating injury.

“My junior year, I started my injury out here,” Wilson said. “Hit a divot in one of the holes, messed my knee up, was kind of hurting. The next week, I tore my ACL, LCL and meniscus. Multiple other friends, people tearing ACLs, spraining them, out for the year, which really sucks as a college student. This is a big part of these guys’ experiences.”

Many athletes said the field is filled with holes and uneven patches of grass. Second-year finance and marketing student Evan Saholsky said men’s club soccer often switches sides of the field during practice due to holes and divots on the playing surface.

“There’s a lot of dry patches, but there’s also a lot of potholes,” Saholsky said. “Some of them are filled in

to think about where you step more often. I’ve personally rolled my ankle plenty of times playing on that field. My ankle has been sprained a couple of times, and playing on that field, it doesn’t help at all.”

Saholsky, who suffered an ankle injury while playing on the fields earlier in his career, said the uneven surface is more hazardous to soccer players, as the sport requires precision and cutting.

“Early last year, I decided to play without my brace,” Saholsky said. “The first day I did that, I sprained it within 30 minutes of playing. I know a lot of other guys will get really sore afterwards because they’re playing on an uneven surface ... It will hurt a lot on their knees and hips.”

The fields often flood during high-rain days, forcing games and practices to be moved or canceled. The lack of consistent practice times make it hard for clubs to compete against other schools. Men’s lacrosse club head coach Peter Candela said the rescheduled practices sometimes don’t include trainers, preventing the club from going full-contact.

“Sometimes they cut practice from us

“The lights is a safety issue,” Candela said. “Coming out here and teams weren’t able to see the ball because we had eight to 10 lights out, it’s pretty bad.”

Second-year biochemistry student Georgia Christensen plays for club field hockey. Field hockey’s unique playing dimensions make it different from other sports. But the out-of-bounds lines on the fields at Bluff Road can be difficult to identify, causing confusion amongst players.

“The lines we play (are) different from the lines soccer plays,” Christensen said. “It’s different from the lines lacrosse plays and different that rugby plays. Through all of it getting roughed up on the fields, you can barely see them. It’s hard to follow.”

The fields create even more problems for fans. The clubs use the few sections of bleachers, forcing fans to stand for hours during games.

“There’s not really a great spot for the fans to sit,” Christensen said. “Even then, you’re walking off the field with your shoes all muddy and sandy.”

The issues don’t stop there. The fields only have one bathroom that, according to

compliant,” Candela said. “We’ve had grandparents that’ve had to go down the road to be able to go to the bathroom because they’re in wheelchairs.”

Lacrosse clubs face more challenges

Fourth-year exercise science student

Ashtin Reich has played for the men’s lacrosse club for the past three years. As the club’s treasurer, Reich is responsible for coordinating the team’s practice times and scheduling games with other schools. Reich said he’s had trouble scheduling games for the club because of the poor condition of the fields.

“We’re consistently renting fields because teams refuse to play us,” Reich

like that. If we’ve got kids paying $50,000 a year, they should be able to have two fields set up for us. I’ve got 50 kids out here, so do the math. Kids are coming here for lacrosse too.”

Antolini helped restart the women’s lacrosse club in the fall of 2022 after it received a five-year ban due to a hazing incident in 2017.

Antolini, who also serves as the club’s head coach, said she received little support from the university while relaunching the club. Club sports teams receive financial assistance from the university through the Sports Club Executive Board. Antolini believes the university didn’t financially support the club due to the

statement. “Field conditions can change for a variety of different reasons and feedback on what USC can do to improve their services is always welcome. USC has started a master planning process that includes plans to increase the number of recreational fields around campus.”

While men’s lacrosse still practices on the fields, women’s lacrosse has completely abandoned them altogether. Antolini rescheduled the club’s Feb. 15 home game against Clemson after seeing the weekend weather forecast.

“Our home games would be on those fields, we just typically try not to use them,” Antolini said.

Antolini said she didn’t realize how poor

said athletes could work out a solution with the school so every outdoor club sport could use the space.

“Turf fields, because every sport that plays there can play on turf,” Victor said. “Even if they just built one and then the time was split differently, I think people would be willing to change their schedules in order to have a better and safer field.”

Athletes are still moving forward with their respective seasons despite the poor playing conditions at Bluff Road. Christensen and Victor said they’ve helped implement team bonding activities to keep spirits high while they push for change behind the scenes.

“Even through this trouble, we’re good about keeping our team morale high,” Christensen said. “There’s no one who’s like, ‘I’m not coming to practice today because I don’t want to play on those fields.’ We try our best to work around it

for club sports.

Photos: Madison Reece

The Bluff Fields on Bluff Road on Mar. 1, 2025. These fields used to be the old football practice fields but have been repurposed

‘We’re all like brothers’:

South Carolina men’s lacrosse club wins first season game, preaches togetherness

Sam Stroup | Club Sports Beat Writer

USC’s men’s lacrosse club recently began its 2025 season and already has a thrilling victory under its belt.

On Feb. 7, the club picked up its first win of the season when it defeated Boston College 10-9 in overtime. The game was tightly contested, as neither team led by more than two points throughout the night. The Gamecocks held a one-point lead at halftime and led for most of the second half.

With around a minute to go, Boston College scored a late goal that tied the game and forced overtime. In the extra period, the Gamecocks quickly gained momentum when it moved the ball deep into Boston College territory.

Nathan Wolfe, a first-year sport and e ntertainment management student, scored the gamegoal for South giving his team its first win of the season.

a crazy game,” Wolfe said. “That’s what I came to South Carolina for, crazy games like that. That’s a great team over there, and we stuck together the whole time and came together right there at the end.”

a third-year sport and entertainment management student, helped the

Gamecocks win in overtime when he scooped the ball off the ground and passed to an open teammate, who later found Wolfe for the score.

“I saw the guy coming,” Michinard said. “I felt the ball hit my stick, so I picked it up, ran it down, threw it to zero (third-year advertising student) Casey Hurley, and Wolfe finished it off with a game winner.”

South Carolina competes in the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference, which is part of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Gamecocks play its first divisional game of the season on Feb. 15 at Georgia, then host Northeastern on Feb. 16. The club plays its home games at the old football practice fields across from Williams-Brice Stadium.

In the club’s season-opener, the

and lost 15-5. After the defeat, the team rebounded to have a strong week of practice that culminated in the win against Boston College.

“We just came back with a different mentality during practice,” Michinard said. “We hit the ground running, got a little more conditioning in. There was punishments for dropping balls, errors, missed slides. We got a lot more competitive during practice.”

The Gamecocks have been successful over the years, as the club won the MCLA Division I National Championship in 2019 and 2022. The club’s success has helped it gain the attention of potential future players. One of those was Wolfe, who said the team’s reputation played a role in his

“I knew South Carolina had a great team,” Wolfe said. “They (have) a great sport management program and obviously big sports, great school. Kind of all just came together. This is the right spot for me, and obviously this was a great home opener, and (I) want to keep rolling.”

Coleman Glazer, a fourth-year political science and criminal justice student, initially didn’t make the team as a freshman. Glazer tried out again as a junior, made the team and has been a key player for the Gamecocks over the past two seasons. The club hosts tryouts each fall to determine its final roster. Glazer said he and his teammates spend time with each other off the field, which helps them built trust and chemistry between one another.

“We’re all like brothers,” Glazer said. “It’s a family. It’s a great environment ... We’re all super close and we love hanging out

The Gamecocks end the regular season with a pair of big home games. After hosting Texas for its annual Alumni Weekend game, the club faces off against Clemson at home on April 10. Despite facing a challenging schedule, Wolfe said he believes the Gamecocks have enough talent to win the club’s third national championship.

“We’ve got all the pieces that we need,” Wolfe said. “We’ve got everybody, and we just (need) to tighten it up a little bit. All the plays are there, just tighten it up, sharpen things up. Once we really put it all together, I think we’re in for

Photo: Jack Bradshaw Sophomore midfielder Jaden Mullins pushes against a defending player while carrying the ball during the game against Boston College on Feb.7, 2025. The Gamecocks defeated the Eagles 10-9.

‘Women are just as smart, just as capable’: Women in STEM share experiences, setbacks as they navigate fields

Amelia York | Arts & Culture Writer

Ever since she was a teenager, J’nea Wiggins has loved the challenge of math and science and the feeling of getting a problem or question right. Since then, she knew she wanted to pursue biomedical engineering for the rest of her life.

The world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is historically a maledominated field. Roughly 28 % more men are in a STEM discipline regarding technology, according to a 2023 study conducted by Gallup. Around 10 % more men are in fields revolving around mathematics. While there are distinctions between the disciplines, a gender gap still exists overall.

However, women at USC are navigating STEM fields, contributing to their education and research. Through organizations such as the Alliance for Women in STEM and Alpha Omega Epsilon, female students are

creating communities to support their professional growth and tackle the challenges of these fields.

Overcoming Barriers

Overcoming Barriers

Wiggins is a third-year biomedical engineering student and co-president of the Alliance for Women in STEM. The organization provides resources and a supportive community for women taking on STEM fields, Wiggins said.

As of November 2024, women make up roughly 34 % of the workforce in STEM fields and represent 16 % of engineers and architects, according to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Wiggins said certain stereotypes have caused a barrier for women in STEM.

“The main barrier, in my opinion, is this preconceived notion that men are smarter, or men just do things better than women do,” Wiggins said.

Biases can affect the opportunities women are given, relegating them to roles that don’t align with their full potential or capabilities, Wiggins said. While respectable careers, women can get stuck in positions such as the front desk or organizing tasks, while men take on the technical and leadership roles, she said.

cyber intelligence student, she was also a president of the Alliance for Women in STEM at USC. She said some of the disadvantages women in STEM face, while subtle, still create an impact.

“I think at this point, any barriers are going to be more microaggressions,” Jenkins said. “My name is pretty gender neutral, so in emails, people reach out and call me ‘Mr. Jenkins’ ... I’ve been told on numerous occasions that I’m more likely to get a job in the field just because I am a woman.”

While some kids were busy playing doctor or teacher, Jenkins pictured herself as a receptionist simply because it was a career that would give her a lot of computer access. These childhood daydreams would one day turn into a career in cyber intelligence.

Jenkins was one of the only girls in her computer science class during her freshman year at USC. She said the overt or subtle judgments made in the classroom were not accurate for her capabilities.

“I think it can also feel scary to ask a question because when you are one of three girls, you want to prove something by being there,” Jenkins said.

Instead of having that fear as a woman, Jenkins said students should encourage conversations about speaking up because someone else probably has the same question too.

Methods for Overcoming Barriers

Methods for overcoming barriers

Jenkins said promoting and being a part of clubs is a great outlet for women in STEM fields. Besides developing professionally, the club wants to help women form friendships

and make connections with other women in STEM.

Her role as president of the Alliance for Women in STEM is coordinating events and overseeing the executive board. Last semester, two women from Prisma Health came in as guest speakers to talk about the transition from college to working in the health field. Other community service projects include walking dogs from the Final Victory Animal Rescue, working with the Oliver Gospel homeless shelter and Midlands Orphan Relief.

Alliance for Women in STEM provides research projects, grant proposals, graduate and medical school applications and scholarship opportunities. The organization also offers resume workshops and interviewing techniques taught by professionals from the Career Center.

Chloe Wheeler is a fourth-year graduate student with a degree in integrated information technology. She remains at USC, earning her master’s in international business. Wheeler is the president of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a professional and social sorority supporting women in the fields of STEM.

Wheeler said her career path started out as a curiosity for coding games on an iPad as a child.

She was inspired by her mom who worked in enterprise data systems, and knew this would be something she wanted to pursue. Wheeler realized her analytical skills would be a fit for a career in integrated information technology.

Wheeler said Alpha Omega Epsilon’s mission is to provide a community where women in STEM can grow professionally and connect through social events. A few years ago, Alpha Omega Epsilon organized a panel of women to come to USC to answer questions about their professions as women in STEM and their success stories from engineering to the medical field.

Alpha Omega Epsilon’s efforts also include engaging with younger girls in partnership with the College of Engineering and Computing. The professional sorority holds an annual K-12 STEM project teaching day to spark an interest in the fields. Activities include making aluminum foil boats and learning about Newton’s laws of motion through building race cars and having competitions.

Wheeler said she has witnessed a growing number of women entering the information technology field of study as each year went by, most performing at a high level, leading to the idea that notable progress has been made in terms of the representation of women.

“I saw it go from me being the only girl in the class to (having) four, five or six girls in my classes, and all of us were probably top of the class, performing really well,” Wheeler said. “Women are just as smart, just as capable ... It’s good that you see more women going into these fields.”

Molly Conway is a fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology student. She is vice president of Alpha Omega Epsilon and has been a part of the organization since her freshman year.

Conway was first inspired in middle school by the groundbreaking work behind Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), a technology advancement used to modify DNA. She read about the female scientists behind CRISPR winning a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Conway said reading about these women achieve their first award in chemistry motivated her to keep working towards a career in STEM.

Female mentors in STEM

Second-year biology student Lena Richardon’s deep love for science began in middle school after she watched a documentary about genetically modified organisms and plants. She found the process of science interesting, much like working through a puzzle.

Richardson is co-president of the Alliance for Women in STEM. She said it’s important to find a female mentor.

“Finding mentors to help lead you into the position you want to be in is something that is really useful,” Richardson said. “I think a big step for women in STEM is just getting more women through there that can then help younger generations and encourage more established women in STEM to help those who are starting out.”

Richardson found a successful woman in the STEM fields to mentor her throughout a research project. Alissa Richmond Armstrong is an assistant professor at USC with a research concentration in stem cell and developmental biology as well as the biology of cellular stress. Armstrong served as a mentor for Richardson throughout her research in biology.

Armstrong is guiding Richardson in her lab research. Specifically, Richardson and Armstrong are studying ovaries and fat and are trying to understand the changes of the fat by silencing specific signaling pathways between them. The lab work involves looking through a microscope at fat cells and categorizing how each one affects the ovary.

When Gess was teaching her biology classes, she noticed in labs that women were taking notes, and men were handling the experiments. Recognizing the pattern, she assigned groups, which allowed for everyone to be included in the lab activities. Gess aimed to challenge gender stereotypes and balance out the opportunities in a laboratory setting.

Whether entering into the STEM fields through a microscope or a computer, Richardson offers her advice to young women out there thinking about pursuing STEM fields.

“Be sure of yourself and confident. There’s so much out there that women can accomplish and can do and so much that just has not been done yet,” Richardson said.

LEFT PAGE — Second-year biological sciences student Lena Richardson smiles while talking with a fellow club member during the weekly Alliance for Women in STEM meeting on Mar. 4, 2025. Richardson serves as one of the clubs 3 presidents.

Ashley Gess is an assistant professor of STEM and a co-coordinator of the Ed.D. in integrated STEM education, essentially training teachers to better teach students in STEM disciplines.

Gess said joy and creativity should also be involved in learning in STEM. Gess would often think about molecules moving in terms of music, she said, showing a different learning perspective in an analytical field. She applied this to her teaching, allowing her students to describe the steps of bone ossification through a dance, poem or other medium.

Members of the Alliance for Women in STEM Club sit and discuss possible answers while playing Family Feud during their weekly meeting in Russell House on Mar. 4, 2025.

Photos: Jack Bradshaw

Female Mentors in stem

WHERE GAMECOCKS FIND THEIR ROOST

UofSC students post for free when using their UofSC email address.

USC’s Spur-ing Debate club helps students grow confident in public speaking, fosters community

Isabel Rogers | ARts & culture writer

Public speaking can be a daunting task for anyone, and doing so with only 15 minutes to prepare a topic is even more so. But USC’s Spur-ing Debate club has helped students grow confident in doing just that.

The club seeks to provide students with a place to find and grow their presentation skills along with their voice and opinions, according to its Garnet Gate page. Over the past year, the club went from only about six active members to almost three times as many, and the group now participates in debate tournaments hosted by universities across the country.

Spur-ing Debate meets on Tuesday from 7:30-8:30 p.m. and Saturday from 2:003:00 p.m. On Tuesday, meetings focus on practicing certain skills while Saturdays consist of mock debates where members are broken into four teams of two, given 15 minutes to prepare their assigned stance on a given topic or motion and allowed about seven minutes to give their opening statements before debating back and forth.

Second-year supply chain, operations and finance student Tirth Thakar is the vice president of the club. He is acting president this semester as third-year finance student and club president Eleanor McMakin is studying abroad in Japan.

Thakar joined Spur-ing Debate his freshman year after falling in love with it in high school, he said.

“I was a shy kid who couldn’t speak in front of a large group of people,” Thakar said. “So I decided to join debate club, and I’ve been having so much fun going to tournaments, going to conferences, so I just decided to look up on Garnet Gate (if) there (was) a debate club at USC, and I found Spur-ing Debate.”

Typically, McMakin covers logistics while Thakar focuses on training new members and running debates. Thakar enjoys helping newcomers improve while getting better himself in the process, he said.

“(New) members are welcome anytime — they can be caught up,” Thakar said. “I even try to organize one-on-one meet

ings with them — just try to clarify any questions they have — because we want to make sure that the new members understand what’s happening, and we don’t want them to feel left out.”

Second-year criminology and criminal justice student Brook Walker joined her freshman year with no experience in debate. With future plans to be a lawyer, Walker was drawn to the club by the opportunity to work on her public speaking skills as she struggled with anxiety over public speaking in high school, she said. Now, she is the social media and recruitment chair of the club.

“This club … was the first step in me pushing myself out of my current comfort zone,” Walker said. “I think it was the best decision I ever made.”

Debaters are not allowed to exceed seven minutes and fifteen seconds during their opening statements. Anything said after that cannot be taken into account by judges. Walker only spoke for two minutes during her first debate. The last time she spoke, however, she went over the timer.

“I improved a lot on my speaking time length. I’m more confident when I speak. I’m not shy. My posture is better. Still working on it, but it’s getting better,” Walker said.

College debate tournaments are the best place for members to put together everything they have been practicing in meetings and compete against other schools, Thakar said. In Vermont, Yale and upcoming in Vanderbilt, tournaments give members the chance to experience debates in a more formal setting at schools with large debate teams with rich histories while also visiting other college campuses and cities, Thakar said.

“Experience is really important, because it’s really hard to simulate a real debate setting, especially in a club, and especially in a club as small this one,” Thakar said.

Third-year marketing and management student Akshat Shah joined the club with no experience in debate in the spring of his freshman year. He started coming to meetings at the invitation of a friend and

upon seeing his public speaking skills improve, he continued.

Shah said he views Spur-ing Debate as a speech club more so than a debate club, as topics are not highly contentious.

“They’re not trying to divide you or (are) politically charged,” Shah said. “It’s really trying to get you to think critically and back up your points and create an argument that you can defend. And that’s what this is all about.”

Shah’s time at Spur-ing Debate helped him overcome public speaking tendencies he used to struggle with such as stumbling over words, fidgeting with his hands or not standing still. The club has also taught Shah to look at both sides of any issue, he said.

“I used to think a lot (in) black and white,” Shah said. “(Now I see) nothing can be truly defendable 100% — there’s always two ways about everything … even though I know I have to defend one thing, I’ll look at it from the other way and then either try to come to a compromise or say, ‘I acknowledge that way, but here’s why my way, or my thinking, is better.’ And that’s just, at the end of the day, how you win any

debate.” Debate has taught Thakar to be open to other perspectives, he said.

“In debate, you don’t get to choose the side you’re in,” Thakar said. “So you have to think of the other side’s topics, and then you might just grow a more open mind.”

It’s not all public speaking, though. Thakar said he prioritizes building community within the club, and many members said the welcoming atmosphere and friendships are important parts of the club.

“My philosophy is, if you’re not having fun with debate, there’s no point in debate,” Thakar said. “So we want to make sure it’s a welcoming environment for everybody to come in. We all think of each other as friends … We try to learn from each other. We try to grow from each other.”

Students interested in joining Spuring Debate are welcome to attend a meeting, which are held on Tuesdays from 7:30-8:30 p.m. in Russell House 205 and Saturday from 2:00-3:00 p.m. in the Russell Underground. More information can be found on the club’s Garnet Gate page.

Design: Abby Smith

COMING THIS MONTH…

Confusion and controversy surround South Carolina’s book ban policy

Richland Library Sandhills’ bookshelves are shown as half-empty on Feb. 4, 2025. Over 10,000 instances of books being banned were documented by Poets, Essayists, and Novelists America in the 2023-24 year.

South Carolina educators and parents are having difficulty discerning school-appropriate materials due to confusion regarding the state statute permitting book bans.

Since August 2024, the state school board has been working to assist with the removal of contemporary books, such as Sarah J. Maas’ “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series, from school libraries, according to the South Carolina Department of Education.

According to the state board’s regulation 43-170, instructional and library materials cannot include “descriptions or visual depictions of ‘sexual conduct.’” The board has the authority to permanently ban this material from all South Carolina

“It’s also causing some confusion for educators because they’re not still 100% clear on what rises to the level of description of sexual conduct or not,“ Kelly said. “And it’s causing some confusion for parents, too, because there have been books challenged to date that have been retained.”

Curriculum classics used in South Carolina school systems, including Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, were challenged in November 2024 because they imply sexual conduct, but were ultimately kept in schools due to a lack of evidence against them.

Teachers can select from a variety of books for their lesson plans, depending on what they believe will best educate the kids, said Jamie Gregory, president of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians. Gregory advocates for local control rather than state control since teachers should have the ability to choose the books they want to teach.

“If they have determined that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a selection to make for students, and obviously it is an appropriate book in a high school, then the state board should not be involved in telling them that they can’t do that,” Gregory said. “There’s just no reason for there to be that level of control at the state level.”

“There’s a lot of room for improvement and we’re always ready and willing to collaborate with the state department, with local district officials to help figure out something that makes more sense than the current regulation,” Gregory said.

Tayler Simon, the founder and owner of Liberation is Lit, advocates against book censorship with her bookstore that specializes in books by disabled, Black and LGBTQIA+ authors. Simon has also argued against the school board’s ability to pick and choose what should be banned. Parents are benefiting from this because the state board and the instructional materials review committee are not required to read the entirety of a book that is challenged, Simon said.

Liberation is Lit is primarily a used book store, that focuses on selling books by disabled, Black and LGBTQIA+ authors. They also do political advocacy against book censorship.

“Now all of a sudden, ... (parents) are using sources that pick explicit materials specifically out of context to use as evidence as why school districts should remove books from the shelves, and there is seriously lacking context,” Simon said.

schools when parents object to them with enough evidence.

Patrick Kelly, a high school teacher and director of governmental affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association, said the board has not had a lot of prior experience removing books from libraries in addition to regulating instructional materials, but it has had to ban 10 of them.

According to Kelly, unless sexual conduct is openly shown in a way that allows a reader to visualize what is happening, the book will most likely not be banned. The board is constantly adjusting guidelines regarding the statute since parents and the state often have different views on what a book truly conveys.

Gregory said the recent book bans have contributed to the growing perception that school librarians are no longer trustworthy. She said this suspicion stems from the state board’s strong stance that librarians are to blame for permitting some of these publications to be available in schools. She also said this is harmful, and she does not want communities to turn against librarians as a result.

“There’s no reason for this to be happening right now,” Gregory said. “It’s really unfortunate that that’s the way school professionals are being treated, especially at the time in our state when we have a teacher shortage and many other problems in education that have nothing to do with the school library books.”

Gregory said the state could make improvements without enforcing book bans in schools by treating teachers better and not portraying them as the bad guys as a result of the state’s control.

A parent in Berkeley County challenged Mark Curato’s “Flamer” for containing sexual material, prompting it to be banned on Feb. 5. Simon said the evidence offered did not support the regulation’s restriction because it was not sexually explicit and instead is informative to students.

“The parents who make these complaints are lumping things that aren’t... Sexual materials used to titillate or arouse a reader,” Simon said. “This material isn’t used for those purposes.”

While Simon said she does not think any book should be censored, raising public awareness of what is happening should be the first step in allowing communities to speak out against book bans.

“Unfortunately, the trend does seem that more and more books will be challenged and ultimately removed from schools,” Simon said. “People weren’t really paying attention to what’s happening, and now that people are aware of this happening on a state level versus in their individual communities or outside of their individual communities. They are feeling more empowered to speak up and do what they can to fight against censorship.”

Payton Hamrick | ARts and Culture Writer

Photo: Kiley Wagner

Hendrix The Bus serves Columbia community Mexican-inspired coffee

Damian Bertrand | ARts & culture writer

Awarmly decorated interior filled with lush plants, enticing coffee and a student-friendly atmosphere makes a new coffee shop a welcome addition to the Columbia coffee scene, with an exciting twist.

There are plenty of coffee shops in Columbia, but none have the unique quality of Hendrix The Bus Coffee Shop — the customers are served on wheels.

This coffee shop distinguishes itself from others in the area to students, said Victor Nguyen, a third-year computer information systems student.

“It’s obviously in a bus, right? And I think that’s pretty unique, and I think that’s quite cool,” Nguyen said.

The over-a-decade-old school bus used to be a rentable bar for events, but co-owner Levy Gomez said he fell in love with Five Points after getting

hired from Miami, Florida, to do a private event.

Originally from Cancún, Mexico, Gomez moved to Florida, where people hired him to open restaurants with their money.

He and his wife, co-owner Samara Ruiz, decided to make Hendrix The Bus a permanent coffee shop on Blossom Street in October 2024.

“We drove around the whole city to see spots, and we loved Five Points,” Gomez said. “We looked around Five Points (to see) where we could park ... And we made it happen in a week.”

Ruiz and Gomez’s companionship is more than twice as old as the bus. They have been together for 30 years and grew up with each other in Cancún since they were 11.

Gomez said he took inspiration to build the bus from Ruiz, who came up with the

The coffee shop is getting great business from Columbia, and it is receiving a positive response from the community, Gomez said.

Gomez said the shop’s large student base is a big drive for its following and success.

“In Miami, we worked for a year, and we had 300 followers on Instagram,” Gomez said. “And we moved here, and in a matter of two months, we’re up to almost 1,700 people following on Instagram.”

The interior of the bus is decorated to create a warm atmosphere for customers. The decorations are inspired by Tulum, Mexico, known for its ‘boho style,’ Gomez said.

Boho style is carefree and works around natural elements, such as plants, according to an article from HGTV, a home improvement channel.

Gomez said the shop uses an Italian coffee brand called Illy and fuses it with Mexican spices.

“If you Google, ‘Best coffees in the world,’ it will always pop up,” Gomez said. “We are incorporating Mexican ingredients because we’re Mexican too.”

The unique cultural flavors, such as horchata, a rice syrup with cinnamon and masa pan, a Mexican candy infused with peanuts, separate Hendrix The Bus from other coffee shops, said Ian Kruger, a third-year computer science student.

“It’s not really something you’d find anywhere else,” Kruger said.

idea. Soon after in 2023, Hendrix The Bus was built.

He was struggling with his three other restaurants in Florida after facing a series of closures during the pandemic.

“My wife told me, ‘You’re going to do anything but that, so find something to do to get you out of it’,” Gomez said.

In Florida, Ruiz said the strain of seeing Gomez working so hard to keep running the restaurants made her upset.

“It was really tough for him, and he was tired because ... it was too many hours,” Ruiz said. “He was always working and very stressed out. It was hard.”

Starting the business in Columbia made all the difference, she said.

“We love it. We’re very happy here,” Ruiz said. “I have family here too, so that made the transition very easy, but the people here (are) amazing, and we love the city.”

Kruger said he’ll keep coming back as a result.

“I’m already back a second time, so a third will definitely be in store,” Kruger said.

Gomez said he’s happy to continue serving the Columbia community.

“We are extremely happy to be here”, Gomez said. “We fell in love with the place and the response of the people. We couldn’t be more appreciative and thankful.”

Hendrix The Bus is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Gomez said they are working on a smaller mobile unit to sell their coffee at Soda City Market.

The counter at Hendrix the Bus Coffee Shop in Five Points on Feb. 11, 2025. Hendrix the Bus Coffee Shop is a 2010 Thomas American school bus transformed into a coffee shop, owned by couple Levy Gomez and Samara Ruiz.

Photo: Destini Simon

Column: USC’s love-hate relationship with concrete

jc vaught | opinion writer

From the moment students step onto its grounds, USC’s campus feels like a disservice to its storied academic promise and tradition. Instead of an inspiring welcome, students are greeted by a grim, gray maze of blocky towers and concrete plazas; an industrial park aesthetic that immediately undermines the university’s historic legacy and sets a somber tone that can bring students’ spirits down.

By comparison, Midlands Technical College, the second-largest post–high school institution in the midlands area after USC, manages to achieve a remarkable balance of classic brick and contemporary design despite having only a yearly budget of $131 million across its six campuses. The college’s clever architectural blend not only overcomes its tight budget but also provides a much more inviting atmosphere than USC, which has instead embraced an architectural style that feels cold and uninviting, lacking the warmth and collegiate charm one might expect from a flagship state university.

The contrast is undeniable, a sea of gray concrete stretching across the campus like a relic of another era. The architecture evokes comparisons to an industrial factory, an aesthetic that feels both imposing and strangely impersonal. The sheer utilitarianism of the buildings creates a sense of monotony, their brutalist facades offering little warmth

Although frugality may have trumped aesthetics in the ‘60s, just a half century later, students are the ones stuck with the result; a sprawling campus riddled with stark concrete buildings, making it feel more like an abandoned industrial complex than a university. Especially when contrasted with the historical Horseshoe, a picturesque landmark frequently featured in photographs and embodying the charm and inviting ambiance one would expect from a classic Southern college.

The blame might be traced to the 1960s and ’70s craze for brutalist architecture, when huge slabs of exposed concrete were championed as futuristic. Others point to the breakneck construction spree under University President Thomas F. Jones, when enrollment nearly quadrupled in just over a decade and the university slapped up buildings as quickly as possible.

But understanding why USC has so many concrete towers doesn’t make them any easier on the eyes. Students living in high-rises like Bates West or South Tower might joke that the concrete walls give off prison vibes. Visitors might do a double take when they see the looming slabs of Gambrell, or the hulking Coker/Jones complex just across the library fountain. That disconnect can tarnish the sense of pride students should feel in their campus. Walk around on a cloudy day and the effect can feel especially gloomy. One moment students are admiring the centuries-old architecture, gracefully shaded by stately, towering oaks,

exuding an inviting warmth and historic charm. However, just step a few yards away and suddenly students are surrounded by stark, windowless concrete that impose a cold, industrial vibe that feels unwelcoming.

Even among the most enthusiast supporters of modern design, USC’s mid-century blocks can come across as jarring. The original campus, noted on USC’s campus architecture page for its federal and neoclassical structures, gives a sense of tradition that’s instantly lost once outside the Horseshoe. It can leave prospective students and parents wondering if they’d stumbled onto the streets of Columbia, possibly asking “Wait, are we still on campus?”

This contrast is even more noticeable because the Horseshoe gets used as a marketing tool: a meticulously curated

Photographic: jack bradshaw

image of a historic quadrangle where centuries-old oak trees frame sprawling, verdant lawns and stately facades. Every brochure and postcard features sunlit scenes of the manicured gardens, elegant brick walkways and quietly inspiring greenery that seem to promise an eternal academic idyll. Yet this picture-perfect portrayal, omnipresent on official tours, glosses over the less glamorous reality that awaits beyond these scenic snapshots. Once students are actually enrolled and wandering over to class in a concrete rectangle slab covered in decades of grime, the reality hits. Parking garages and windowless utility facilities only add to the bleakness, giving parts of campus an industrial feel. If these were tucked away or had a facade, maybe we could ignore them. Instead, they often sit right next to classrooms and central campus. What might frustrate students is that some universities manage to grow without sacrificing aesthetics. Schools like the University of Oklahoma have stuck to a cohesive style for generations. Others, like Princeton or Duke, may have updated

gothic or collegiate theme across much of campus. However, at USC, it appears there was no overarching vision; just a wave of frantic expansion that swallowed up the old-fashioned charm creating the eclectic mix of architecture we see today.

It wasn’t always like this.

According to the SC Encyclopedia, early on, the university’s buildings (from about 1801 to 1860) were small-scale brick structures, mostly in the federal & neoclassical style , with some flourishes of Greek revival. Back then, the campus served barely a few hundred students and architectural elegance seemed crucial to conveying a sense of academic gravitas.

By the turn of the 20th century, USC had embraced neoclassicism and even some Beaux-Arts touches. Grand columns and stucco details reflected a national taste for classical forms, and despite major disruptions like wars and economic downturns, the campus managed to remain fairly consistent: classical silhouettes, brick, columns and a human scale.

However, in the decades following World

features recognizable landmarks like Darla Moore School of Business, the Carolina Coliseum and the Koger Center for the Arts. Although some structures from the late 1940s and early 1950s still hint at earlier styles, modern designs began to take hold during a period of rapid expansion in the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. With so many new students, the university found itself slapping together dorms and classroom towers at a breathless pace, a development that has contributed significantly to the campus’s current, less-than-inviting concrete aesthetic.

In the years after Jones retired, USC tried to temper that bunker-like aesthetic. The 1980s still saw some gray, monolithic expansions, but as time went on, designers dialed back the raw materials in favor of more transitional styles.

By the 1990s, the campus had entered what I call the “Beige Era,” when buff brick became the norm, and buildings rarely exceeded six floors. It wasn’t exactly a throwback to federal columns, but at least

toward the mid-century towers and students will feel the jarring shift.

Today, the newest campus additions present yet another style: more glass, steel and brick, often with eco-friendly features and open courtyards; what I call the “Garden Campus” approach.

Buildings like the Darla Moore School of Business, the Joseph F. Rice School of Law and Campus Village aim to be modern without towering over everything. Recent projects highlight living walls, landscaped courtyards, and vibrant greenery installations that offer a refreshing contrast to the often dry classes students are in. On paper, it’s an appealing idea. In practice, these structures now sit alongside the brutalist expansions, creating a patchwork of industrial and contemporary architecture.

So, the question remains: does USC embrace the concrete towers as part of its institutional DNA, or does it look for ways to minimize their visual impact with greenery and new paint jobs?

Although USC has improved its approach in recent decades, thoughtfully integrating new architecture with existing buildings and landscapes, the brutalist blight on campus remains a costly mistake. Nothing short of a comprehensive, multibillion-dollar renovation could truly erase the “brutal” in brutalism around campus. Until then, anyone expecting a seamless transition from the iconic southern charm of the Horseshoe to outer campus will have to adjust their expectations, or at least bring some sunglasses for all that gray.

Column: McBryde should not be torn down

Ryan harlow | opinion writer

For many incoming freshmen, the housing selection period can be both scary and exciting.

With a multitude of options, these new Gamecocks might find it difficult to make such an important decision. While there may be a few clear top choices, one dormitory always seems to land last on the list: McBryde.

Whether students are studying at Thomas Cooper Library or hanging out in Five Points, there is no shortage of criticism directed toward the residence hall with a poor reputation. This includes the harsh brick architecture, lack of cleanliness in the bathrooms and the small room sizes.

However, the nearly 70-year-old walls would tell a different story, one that isn’t often given the respect it deserves. It’s a story of everlasting brotherhood forged from a lived experience that only select USC students get to experience.

By tearing down McBryde, incoming freshmen lose out on the opportunity to live in the historic building, and no longer get the chance to create the types of bonds that can only be forged within the walls of the dormitory.

With the USC board of trustees’ March 2024 decision to demolish the dormitory, USC students might have been left wondering what the future holds for the storied building and its legacy. Recently, the University Historian Facebook page posted about the demolition and urged former residents to share photos and stories from their time living in the building. The post has garnered 106 comments in 15 days. The comments tell stories of 1980s fraternity events and Friday night card game traditions, symbolizing the true spirit of McBryde.

Named after former University President John M. McBryde, the building was completed in 1955. It originally served as fraternity housing but was later converted into an all-boys freshman dormitory upon the completion of USC Greek Village. Remnants of this past can still be seen through the Greek letters and logos visible on the grounds.

Beyond the literal symbolism of brotherhood embodied by its fraternal

roots, it is important to note that McBryde’s location on campus is extremely beneficial for getting to classes on time, professors’ office hours and the student health center.

The relationships that emerge and the overall legacy of the McBryde Quadrangle represent the very best of our university and deserve to be celebrated just as we would a fourth-quarter LaNorris Sellers touchdown run or masterful Dawn Staley coaching performance. Between all the memories shared, the true legacy of the building is not what any one particular student may experience in their first eight months in Columbia, but the bonds that emerge for the rest of college and beyond

In these moments, we find friendship and fulfillment through our peers. There is no greater reminder of that truth than living in McBryde. It is an environment that

fosters the growth of a man at a pace that far surpasses most other experiences in life. So while it may not be a five-star hotel, the value that comes from living there extends not only to a student’s time at USC but to the rest of their life as a whole.

McBryde served as my home away from home freshman year. From meeting one of my closest fraternity brothers to my best friend on campus and future bandmates, I will always hold dear the memories it gave me. When I think about McBryde, I don’t think about the stigma or reputation; I think about the late nights in G Hall after gigs in Five Points and the countless football Sundays spent with my best friends.

Despite not living there myself, I was welcomed into the community with open arms. The true legacy of McBryde is

friendship; it’s a place where guys from all over the country can come together and create priceless memories and bonds through a one-of-a-kind shared experience. USC is not only losing a piece of history but also an integral part of the soul of our campus.

In the face of demolition, the Carolina community has to come together to remember and honor the legacy of this great building. The quadrangle will always hold a special place in my heart. The dorm has positively impacted so many young men in our community and will continue to do so in the future if the building is not torn down.

Photo: Kiley Wagner

McBryde Residence Hall stands behind the Thomas Cooper Library on Feb.

Column: Students shouldn’t skip breakfast

KARA ROTTMANN | OPINION EDITOR

In an early morning rush, a student might be thinking about one thing: getting out the door for class. As they grab their headphones, shove their laptop into their backpack and scramble to find their keys in their messy apartment, the clock ticks. Class starts soon, and they still have not even left yet.

As they begin to walk up the dreaded Bull Street hill, their stomach growls. This student forgot to eat breakfast — and they might not be the only one. According to a study published by the National Library of Medicine, about 13.8% of college students rarely or never eat breakfast. Even though eating breakfast might seem inconvenient to students, especially since no one ever wants to have to wake up any earlier than they have to, students shouldn’t skip this morning meal.

For starters, eating breakfast in the morning has its perks. Students can lower their risk for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and even obesity. However, the health benefits might get lost even by skipping breakfast just one day of the week. Students should not only prioritize eating breakfast in the first place but also make it a routine in order to promote a healthy heart. Additionally, the human body stores energy and nutrients that we need for survival, and breakfast replenishes it. During the day, a student might be eating three meals and snacking consistently. The food that they consume creates energy for the human body, allowing a student to get through their long day at USC. At night when students are sleeping, their bodies go hours without any food.

This means that when students wake up, their bodies need to be replenished in order to gain back the energy and nutrients not received overnight. Eating a balanced breakfast before heading out the door fulfills the body’s need for sustenance. In order to have a productive and healthy day of classes, students should eat something, even if it is small, before getting their day started.

Skipping this meal can cause the brain to be depleted of glucose, causing a student to feel sluggish or feel like they are struggling to focus. Sometimes, a stomach growling or even the feeling of hunger might be a distraction. By eating breakfast, a student might be more likely to focus on important material during lectures, which will also help them perform better on exams in the process.

Eating breakfast is important, as it boosts physical health and academic performance. Students should focus on making it a routine, as a small habit can easily be changed into an everyday goal.

Before a student rushes out the door for their next morning class, they should grab a banana or maybe even a yogurt on their way. After all, eating breakfast will only help them be a better student throughout the day.

PHOTO: KILEY WAGNER

USC students eat breakfast in the Gamecock Park dining hall on Feb. 25, 2025. Breakfast is the first meal of the day that helps to start up the metabolism in the body.

Baby Matching: Match the baby to the adult!

Answer Key:

design: Abby Smith

Baby #1: Delany, Baby #2: Brendan, Baby #3: Marley, Baby #4: Elise, Baby #5: Miles,

Baby #6: Jenna, Baby #7: Mingo, Baby #8: Anna, Baby #9: Kelly, Baby #10: Carrigan

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