Skip to Content

With more than 340,000 living alumni, the University of South Carolina has stories to tell, and Carolinian is here to tell them. From celebrated artists, scientists and business leaders to everyday alumni who embody the spirit of Carolina, this is our story — and this is your magazine.

Carolinian is published three times a year and distributed to members of the USC Alumni Association. Select features from the print edition can be found here, alongside web-exclusive stories, videos and interviews that celebrate our successes, revisit our history and remind us what it means to be a Carolinian. Forever to thee!

Cover to Cover

Some stories are long overdue. Take women’s basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley, who graces the cover of the winter 2023 issue of Carolinian. With two NCAA National Championship nets to her name, and a powerhouse program still lighting up the scoreboard, her story would make the cut 365 days a year.

But Staley isn’t the only star in the current issue. The latest Carolinian also features stories on former Gamecock football players turned childhood literacy advocates Langston Moore and Preston Thorne, indigo artisan Caroline Harper, Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, longtime Vice President for Student Affairs Dennis Pruitt, First Lady Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis — and that’s just the top of the roster.

Meet Coach Staley
Cover of the Carolinian magazine featuring Dawn Staley.

 

 

  • Portrait of Caroline Harper.
  • Mood Indigo

    Indigo is tightly woven into South Carolina history, but few have worked with the rich natural dye since it fell out of favor nearly 150 years ago. Alumna Caroline Harper is bringing it back.

    Meet Caroline Harper
  • The process of making indigo ink.
  • Chips of indigo in someone's hand.

Web Extra

Catching Up with David Shields

In 2019, English professor and heirloom foodways expert David Shields took us to rural Spartanburg County to learn about a variety of corn once grown by Thomas Jefferson that was thought to be extinct. 

For the debut of Catching Up, our new Carolinian web series where we follow up with people featured in our print edition, we joined Shields in Pomaria, South Carolina to meet legendary heirloom seed saver, Carold Wicker.  

Catch up with David ShIelds
David Shields taking notes on seed samples in glass jars.
Preston Thorne and Langston Moore get the kids pumped up for reading during an assembly.

Gamechange

Langston Moore and Preston Thorne made a big impact on the football field at Williams-Brice. Now the former Gamecock defensive linemen make their impact writing children’s books and visiting schools.

Meet Langston and Preston 

Dennis Takes the Cake

A lot can change in four decades. Having served six presidents and shepherded more than 160,000 Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Zers to graduation, the longest-serving VP for student affairs in school history is calling it a career.

Meet Dennis Pruitt
Dennis Pruitt holding a cake that says 43@USC.
Photo of a Gamecock women's soccer player holding the ball during a game with the sunset behind her.

Golden Hour

The Gamecocks women’s soccer team always puts on a show, and some evenings the sky itself gets in on the action. But for defender Taylor Jacobson, a sophomore from Orlando, Florida, the focus is entirely on the match.

First Scholar

First Lady Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis holds two graduate degrees from USC — a master’s in art history and a Ph.D. in philosophy. Her intellectual curiosity is how she makes sense of the world.

Meet the First Lady
Portrait of Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis.

Judge of Character

School of Law alumna J. Michelle Childs was appointed circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this summer. Carolinian sat down with her to discuss her time at USC and her career on the bench.

Meet J. Michelle Childs
Portrait of Michelle Childs.
Basil Watson working on a clay sculpture.

Heroes in Bronze

In 1963, Henrie Monteith Treadwell, Robert Anderson and James Solomon Jr. became the first Black students admitted to the university since Reconstruction. Now the three trailblazers are being immortalized in bronze by acclaimed sculptor Basil Watson.

Meet Basil Watson 

Inside Carolina

Miss USA is a Gamecock; plus, how USC drives S.C. tourism industry

Did you know that Miss USA is a Gamecock? Meet Morgan Romano, an engineering alumna who has a passion for getting more girls to explore opportunities in STEM. Also in this episode: a look at how our College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management helps drive the largest industry in South Carolina, tourism.

Things move quickly at the University of South Carolina, and it can be hard to keep up. Inside Carolina, the university’s monthly email for alumni, delivers timely profiles, video stories and the latest news about your alma mater directly to your inbox 12 times a year.

Sign Up Today
Hannah Horne with Miss USC, Morgan Romano

Join the Alumni Association

While you’re a student for a short time, you’re a Gamecock for a lifetime. Join the alumni association to connect with a strong network of Gamecocks and give back to our beloved university. Our members enable us to engage more students, host more alumni events and programs, and build the brand of South Carolina around the world.

USC ALUMNI
Three alumni wearing Carolina gear at a tailgate with Williams-Brice Stadium behind them.
©