Remembering the Days: A USC Podcast University of South Carolina

In the early 1970s, USC's historic Horseshoe buildings had fallen into disrepair while new buildings sprouted across the campus. The university began a long renovation and restoration project that systematically rejuvenated each 19th century building, and the vigilant maintenance process continues to this day. 

The University of South Carolina has been around a long time — long enough to celebrate its 100th and 200th birthdays with the 250th less than 30 years away.

It began as a music department with only two professors and grew into one of the region's premier music schools. USC's School of Music is celebrating its 100th anniversary of making beautiful music in 2024. 

When Frank McGuire arrived at USC in 1964, Gamecock fans knew they had a winning basketball coach. But early in McGuire's second season, the team had three starters who had never played against a conference opponent. Their first such matchup on Dec. 6, 1965 — the No. 3-ranked Blue Devils of Duke University. 
 

Everyone knows the Horseshoe is the oldest part of the University of South Carolina campus. But there are two things — the university motto and seal — that are even older than USC's historic district. 

USC's modern desegregation took place in 1963 when three African American students enrolled at the historically white university — but they actually weren't the first black students in the university's history. For a brief window in the 1870s, USC became the only state-supported public university in the South to open its doors to white and black students alike.