South-Carolina
USC joins college network looking to boost rural students’ access to higher education
COLUMBIA — The University of South Carolina is joining a coalition of colleges and universities looking to expand their recruiting and outreach efforts in rural schools.
As one of 16 new members of the Small Town and Rural Student College Network, known as STARS, USC will get more funding for its work to reach prospective students and be able to better coordinate with the network’s other members to put on school events.
It’s the latest step the university has taken to make itself more accessible for Palmetto State high schoolers, whose rural campuses are set to get more outreach from the network’s other 31 members, which range from Ivy League universities to state flagships and liberal arts colleges.
“We’re trying our best to recruit these students to the University of South Carolina, that’s our primary goal,” Scott Verzyl, USC’s vice president for enrollment management, said. “But if we can increase the college-going rates for South Carolinians, no matter where they go to college, that’s a win for the university and the state of South Carolina.”
Founded in 2023 with 16 members, the STARS network helps coordinate and fund its members’ outreach to rural and small town students, who are less likely than their urban and suburban counterparts to attend and stay enrolled in college.
Admissions counselors from its member schools “caravan” together across rural areas, visiting schools to teach about the admissions process and hold information sessions for parents, according to Marjorie Betley, the network’s executive director.
Students on those campuses often lack as much exposure to information about higher education and can be overlooked by admissions counselors, because trips to small towns put them in front of fewer students than a trip to a big metropolitan area.
In its inaugural year, the network boasted 1,100 visits to rural high schools in 49 different states.
“For many students, it just shows that we care,” Betley said. “We are not overlooking them, we are not flying over them just to get to the big city kids. We care, and we’re going to take the time and the effort to go reach them and give them the same information that their peers have, because they deserve that.
South Carolina students can expect at least two of those group travel trips this school year, in the fall and spring.
USC will get $200,000 from the network to help fund its prospective student outreach efforts, Verzyl said, which aim to visit every high school in the state each year. It doesn’t always hit that mark, but it’s usually close, to the tune of over 90 percent.
Perhaps most importantly, that money will help fund the university’s efforts to transport high schoolers to campus, which allows them to better understand USC and college life — a “transformational activity” for some students, Betley said.
Such visits can be particularly important for rural students, who might not be as familiar with higher education or have the same support systems at their schools or in their families for applying to college.
Coupled with the university’s 2023 pledges to automatically admit all South Carolina students who graduate in the the top 10 percent their school, and pay the tuition of such students whose families make less than $80,000 a year, school leaders are hoping that the STARS network will help USC build a more diverse student body.
“All of these kinds of things, access and affordability, we think are important to attracting students, particularly the students from more rural parts of the state,” Verzyl said.
BLUFFTON, S.C. – Kentucky men’s golf begins the month of March at the Colleton River Collegiate this Sunday and Monday at Colleton River Club (par 72, 7403 yards).
UK joins a 15-team field for the 54-hole event, which will consist of 36 holes of continuous play on Sunday, followed by 18 holes on Monday. An 8 a.m. shotgun start will kick things off on Sunday, while Monday’s final round will begin with another shotgun start, this time at 7:45 a.m.
UK is paired with Indiana, Kansas State and Ohio State for the first day of play.
The Wildcats will utilize the same starting five, albeit in a different order, as was featured at the Watersound Invitational just two weeks ago. There, the Cats finished seventh in a loaded field and found themselves as high as third place during the final nine holes.
Sophomore Jacob Settles had the best showing of his collegiate career, finishing tied for seventh at 5-under par, while senior captain Jack Schoenberger had his highest finish of the season, placing tied for 14th at 2-under.
Jacob Lang, Luke Coyle and Cole Stockard will complete UK’s starting five alongside Settles and Schoenberger, the fourth time in six events the Wildcats have featured this starting unit.
Freshman Cameron Phillips will tee it up as an individual once again after an impressive showing in the same role at the Watersound where he tied for 29th and had two rounds under par.
Fans can follow along with live scoring on the Scoreboard Powered by Clippd website.
Kentucky Lineup:
- Jack Schoenberger: Senior, Alpharetta, Ga
- Jacob Lang: Sophomore, Alvaton, Ky.
- Jacob Settles: Sophomore, Winchester, Ky
- Luke Coyle: Junior, Campbellsville, Ky.
- Cole Stockard: Freshman, Dalton, Ga.
Ind. Cameron Phillips: Freshman, Portsmouth, Ohio
Competing Schools (15): Chattanooga, Cincinnati, ETSU, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers
For the latest on UK Men’s Golf follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram @UKmensgolf, and online at ukathletics.com.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Former President Joe Biden spoke Friday at the Columbia Art Museum in downtown Columbia at an event hosted by the South Carolina Democratic Party to honor his more than 50 years with the party and to mark his 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary victory.
Biden entered the South Carolina primary having lost Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. His win in the state gave his campaign momentum heading into the rest of the primary calendar.
“People in this room brought my campaign back from the brink — a lot of pundits, people in the press had given up on me,” Biden said.
Biden said South Carolina’s support was central to his path to the presidency.
“If I could just get to South Carolina I could win the nomination, and I knew if I won the nomination I’d win the presidency because I knew what Bill Clinton and Barack Obama knew before me — South Carolina picks presidents,” Biden said.
South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain said Biden’s performance in the state went beyond a primary win.
“Biden didn’t just win, he delivered,” Spain said.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., whose endorsement of Biden ahead of the 2020 primary was a key moment in the campaign, attended the event. Clyburn praised Biden’s record of public service.
“There is no American ever who has demonstrated through his service more substance — and I might add sustenance — than Joseph Robinette Biden,” Clyburn said.
Biden also directed remarks at the current Trump administration and called on Democrats to turn out for November’s midterm elections to help flip the House or Senate.
“There’s no time to give up — it’s time to get up, get up, get up, continue to fight,” Biden said.
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Researchers and history buffs will soon have to plan around a temporary closure at the Charleston County Public Library’s Main Library as renovations approach.
The library’s South Carolina Room, located at the Main Library at 68 Calhoun St., will temporarily close to the public beginning May 1, as the building prepares for renovation later this year.
The South Carolina Room is expected to be unavailable for about eight to 10 weeks during the transition. During that time, services, collections and in-person research assistance will not be accessible.
READ MORE | “Charleston County Public Library introduces new Youth Library Card options.”
The department will reopen to the public in a temporary location at 1248 Camp Road, though an official reopening date has not yet been announced.
The South Carolina Room is CCPL’s primary local history and genealogy research department. It preserves and provides access to materials documenting the history and people of Charleston County and South Carolina, including historical documents, maps, photographs, manuscripts, newspapers and other archival resources used for scholarly research, family history and community exploration.
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CCPL said the temporary relocation will allow continued preservation of materials while renovations at the Main Library are underway. Updates on reopening timelines and services will be shared at ccpl.org and through the library’s official communication channels.
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