Remembering the Days: A USC Podcast

The Duel of 1833

Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton engaged in an infamous duel in 1804, and a number of South Carolina College students nearly got tangled up in duels in the years before the Civil War. History records only one duel  involving South Carolina College students that ended in fatality — and this is the strange story of that tragedy. 

Palmetto Ivy: How the Honors College came to be

USC's South Carolina Honors College was born in the 1970s when several other of the nation's first honors colleges came into being. But rather than becoming an also-ran, USC's Honors College emerged as one of the nation's best by offering hundreds of unique honors courses across every academic discipline at the university.

First things first, USC’s first national championship

Curtis Frye, head coach of field and track head at USC, knows a thing or two about coming in first place and being the first to do something. He's done all of those in his time at Carolina, including bringing home the university's first-ever national championship trophy. Perhaps most importantly, Coach Frye understands the importance of putting first things first. 

Gran Tourino: the history of USC’s Visitor Center

Every year, tens of thousands of prospective students and their families visit the University of South Carolina for a campus tour. Here's the story of how the university's Visitor Center came to be, as well as a peek behind the curtains at some unscripted moments in the lives of campus tour guides. 

Carolina’s not-so-secret gardens

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world … is a garden.” When Frances Hodgson Burnett penned those words more than a century ago in her classic children’s book The Secret Garden, there probably were very few, perhaps not any flower gardens on the University of South Carolina campus. But we’ve made up for it in the past 50 years or so. On this short tour, you'll learn the history of several not-so-secret gardens on campus and what's planted in each one. 

The Myth of Commodore Capstone

What building on the University of South Carolina campus was named for a Confederate navy commodore and commemorated on a picture postcard? It's a trick question! A high-rise residence hall was featured on a postcard in the late 1960s, and the caption on the postcard said the building was named in honor of alumnus Epaminondas J. Capstone. But how that came about is the real story!

Sink or swim: the course that became a freshman lifesaver

Fifty years ago, it wasn't uncommon to hear professors give the 'look to your left, look to your right — one of you will have failed by the end of the semester' speech. But exactly 50 years ago, Carolina tried something different: a course designed to help freshmen feel like they belonged along with the academic tools they needed to succeed. It was called University 101, and it became model for hundreds of colleges across the country.

Fair play: the 50th anniversary of Title IX

Women's college sports were in their infancy in the 1970s, but Title IX changed everything by leveling the playing field for men's and women's sports at the collegiate level. Meet two of the first 18 women to receive athletics scholarships at the University of South Carolina.

Remembering the heroes: a Memorial Day tribute

Scores of University of South Carolina graduates have died in military service since the Spanish-American War at the close of the 19th century. In observance of Memorial Day, we remember three, who died serving their country in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.

High-rise hijinks: Life in the Towers

Pranks and pratfalls are part of life in any college residence hall, but one dormitory complex at the University of South Carolina seemed to have more than its fair share. Stories about life in the Towers, also known as the Honeycombs and the Veilblocks, are now almost the stuff of legend. Here are a few anecdotes from yesteryear about the now-demolished dorms.