USC Unites in Tragedy

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Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — One day after tragedy stuck the USC campus, students and faculty rallied together as a community. “The campus is resilient, I just visited with people in public health and although they are sad, they are making plans to continue and we‘ll move on as a university community,” said USC President Harris Pastides. The USC campus was a sea of garnet and black Friday as students united together as one gamecock nation, to move forward from the murder-suicide shooting incident Thursday that left two dead. “It‘s really special, it shows how as a Gamecock community whenever one of us is hurt, we all rally behind,” said one USC freshman. “There are a lot of people who are giving each other hugs, and they‘re talking and I really appreciate that,” added another student. “There‘s a lot of messaging on social media, in study groups, a lot of my friends texted me asking if I was okay and saying they are there to talk,” said a USC senior. “That has brought me a little closer to my friends here.” Students and faculty didn‘t just have each other to rely on to help them cope Friday. Furry friends, like two year old Meg, were on campus to help during this trying time. “It‘s a very calming atmosphere, people just relax.” As students and faculty work to move forward, they are not forgetting the lives lost by placing flowers on the steps of the Public Health Center. “Out of respect to the people who lost and for the people who know this professor and who were good friends with him, that‘s really what it is all about and we wanted to show our comradery as well,” said one student who laid flowers Friday morning.