Student Achievement

College of Charleston students distinguish themselves every day in myriad areas ranging from academic accomplishment to volunteer service. Over the past several months, students have gained recognition by winning national contests and raising money to address significant needs in the community.

Led by the Student Government Association, College of Charleston students raised $3,000 in 2007 to fund an on-campus flagpole commemorating the firefighters who perished in the 2007 Charleston fire as well as the 9/11 rescue workers. Other students—some 300 in all—participated in the College’s second annual Dance Marathon and raised $42,000 for the MUSC Children’s Hospital (doubling the amount raised the previous year at the same event). And early this winter, more than 200 students (along with faculty and staff) pitched in to raise $60,000 and donate countless hours of labor to build a Habitat for Humanity home in Charleston in less than two weeks.

Other students have distinguished themselves as individuals:

Joseph Pollock, a first-year graduate student in Marine Science, received a Fulbright Scholarship to study the declining health of coral reefs in Australia. Pollock will conduct research on coral reef disease at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and with the internationally renowned faculty at James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Michael Smallwood, a junior, won the 2007 regional Short Play award for playwriting at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, and then this year received a top prize at the same festival for his new play “Talk.” He was also named Student of the Year at the College’s Multicultural ExCEL Awards.

Don Bailey, a freshman, won the 2008 Lincoln-Douglas debate at an Ohio State University forensic tournament. He also was named first-place overall speaker in that contes

Nakashia Dunner (’07), a Political Science major with a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies minor, received a Charles B. Rangel Fellowship, which is worth up to $28,000 a year to pay for master's degree studies in international affairs or related subjects at accredited universities.

Hart Moede, a junior Honors College student and Political Science major and Russian Studies minor, received a Department of State Boren Scholarship to study at St. Petersburg University in Russia.

Alison Deary and Brian Kennedy, both marine biology majors, received the Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 academic years. This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scholarship provides tuition, internship support and impressive networking opportunities with marine scientists nationwide.

Javier Orman (’07), a music major, received a Phi Kappa Phi Study Fellowship, which funds graduate school opportunities at the University of Michigan, where he is studying violin performance.

Joe Saei and Patricia Grant received Phi Kappa Phi Travel Grants and studied abroad during the summer of 2007. Saie, a sophomore Honors College student and double major in philosophy and communication, studied at the American University of Cairo in Egypt; Grant, a junior Honors College student and double major in economics and history studied at the London School of Economics.

Five students have been selected to serve in the Teach for America Corps. They include: Tom Skwierawski (double major in urban studies and political science), Lauren Beltran (Spanish major), Emily Connor (Spanish major; philosophy minor), Beth Myers (political science major; French minor), and Vashaunta Harris (biology major).