Forty-three CCU students volunteered at the 10th annual Women's Leadership Conference and Celebration of Inspiring Women. The event was hosted by Women in Philanthropy and Leadership for Coastal Carolina University and took place on Feb. 10, 2020, at the Sheraton Myrtle Beach Conference Center.

More than 700 students were eligible to participate in commencement ceremonies at Coastal Carolina University on Dec. 17, 2019, marking the last class of the decade to graduate from CCU. Ron Daise, vice president for creative education at Brookgreen Gardens, was the special speaker during the two commencement cerimonies. Daise used messages from Nick Jr.'s award-winning and internationally broadcasted television program "Gullah Gullah Island" to inspire and motivate the graduates and to remind them that this is only the beginning of their lifelong quest for knowledge. "Realize this day marks only the beginning of continued education. You have not yet reached the pinnacles of understanding, self-awareness, or wisdom. As said by Albert Einstein, 'intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.' Stay hungry for knowledge," said Daise. Daise is known by many as "Mr. Ron" on Nick Jr.'s award-winning and internationally broadcasted television program, "Gullah Gullah Island," for which he and his wife Natalie performed in starring roles. They also served as cultural consultants on the program. For more than 30 years, Daise has promoted awareness of Gullah Geechee culture and history. A cultural preservationist, performing artist, and educator, he has developed and presented stories, songs, and lectures about history, culture, and faith at museums, theaters, conferences, churches, and educational institutions across the country.

More than 2,400 Coastal Carolina University students were named to the Dean's List for the Fall 2019 semester. That's nearly 20 percent of the student body with a grade point average between 3.5-3.99 for the spring semester. An additional 802 students were named to the President's List for achieving a 4.0 GPA during the spring semester.

More than 800 Coastal Carolina University students were named to the President's List for the Fall 2019 semester. To be named to the President's List, students must achieve a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) for the semester. CCU has a student body of more than 10,000 and nearly 2,500 students were also named to the Dean's List for the fall semester. This means more than 23 percent of the student body earned recognition on either the Dean's List or the President's List.

On Oct. 5 at the Myrtle Beach International Airport, eight Coastal Carolina University students, all intelligence and national securities studies majors, took part in an exercise that simulated an airline crash and involved multiple city and county municipalities. The simulation takes place every three years and involves the Myrtle Beach Police Department, the Horry County Fire and Rescue, Horry County Emergency Management, Horry County Police Department, and Myrtle Beach Airport Fire and Rescue.

Hannah Elizabeth Persic is one of nine college students presented with the South Carolina Governor's Tourism Student Award during a ceremony at the Lace House in Columbia in October. The students were recognized for outstanding academic achievement in culinary, hospitality, and tourism studies.

The Department of Theatre at Coastal Carolina University will be presenting "The Crucible," directed by John Woodson, starting on Friday, Nov. 9, in the Edwards Theatre. This is a student-led performance and will transport the audience to the Puritan world of 1692 Massachusetts, where Abigail Williams and her cohort of girlfriends lead a Puritanical assault against a local farmer and his wife. In this production, jealousy and seething resentments pit neighbor against neighbor as a community is thrown into turmoil while accusations of witchcraft stain the people in paranoia. Two dozen students have been cast in the play.

More than 80 Coastal Carolina University students were inducted into Phi Eta Sigma during the 2018-2019 academic year. Phi Eta Sigma is the honor society for freshmen and was founded in 1923 at the University of Illinois.

Max McQuaide of Tyngsborough, Mass., and Grant Tattersall, of Conway, S.C., won the YETI FLW College Fishing tournament at Lake Hartwell presented by Costa with a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces. This tournament took place Nov. 1 on Lake Hartwell on the South Carolina-Georgia border. McQuaide and Tattersall represented Coastal Carolina University and won the tournement by catching five bass weighing nearly 14 pounds. The duo won $2,000 in prize money and earned a spot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

A dozen Coastal Carolina University students participated in the Field Methods in Oceanographic Analysis: Study Abroad at the Scottish Marine Institute faculty-led program for three weeks, studying at the Scottish Marine Institute (SMI) in Oban, United Kingdom. SMI is a world-class research and teaching center with areas of emphasis in Arctic Seas, Dynamic Oceans (climate research), and Marine Renewable Energy. Students completed a 3/1 credit MSCI laboratory course while abroad, learning how to work with oceanographic data: how to acquire data (online or shipboard sampling), process data using appropriate software, and present data to a scientific audience. Each student chooses a type of data to process, interpret, and display in an oral presentation at the end of the course. This program leverages the local setting by inviting guest lecturers to introduce students to the types of data they use. The group compared and contrasted data from Long Bay with data from SMI, and students took a sampling cruise aboard one of the Scottish Association for Marine Science research vessels to participate in the collection of physical measurements in Loch Etive for analysis.

Sixteen Coastal Carolina University students walked away with cash prizes after the annual Undergraduate Research Competition in April. More than 120 students submitted their work, illustrating the research talents of CCU students and the wealth of experiential learning opportunities at Coastal Carolina University. Presentations at the CCU Undergraduate Research Competition were judged by more than 80 faculty judges. Prizes were awarded for first ($150), second ($100), and third ($50) place in four award categories.

Coastal Carolina University held its annual Student Involvement Leadership Awards ceremony on April 29, 2019. The event recognizes students and student organizations who have excelled at leadership and service throughout the academic year. Eight students were awarded and seven organizations were recognized.

On March 7-9, several Coastal Carolina University math students attended the Southeastern Section meeting of the Mathematical Association of America at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn. The students gave talks, presented posters and participated in math competitions. Two of the students won awards for their research presentations. Jeremiah Dunivin won an award for his presentation titled "Nevanlinna-Pick Interpolation on Certain Subalgebras of Bounded Analytic Functions."

The results are in: Coastal Carolina University has four new leaders on the Student Government Association for 2019-2020. Jazz Jackson is the student body president; Khyle Mingo is the executive vice president; Clara Comiskey is the vice president of finance; and Rae'L Jackson is the vice president of public relations. The mission of the Student Government Association (SGA) is to provide Coastal Carolina University students with representation, services and advocacy within the Coastal Carolina University community. The SGA serves as the voice of the students and acts as a conduit between the students, administration, faculty and the alumni.

Coastal Carolina University public health majors Erin O'Hagan and Erika Luke traveled to Columbia, S.C., to attend the Second Annual Minority Health Summit. The event complemented their PUBH 350 course which focuses upon building community coalitions to implement public health initiatives. After graduation, Erin plans pursue her interest in women's health among underserved populations. Erika wants to pursue a career as a child specialist assisting terminally ill patients. The event was sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

Several students who are members of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society at Coastal Carolina University organized a food donation drive to benefit Churches Assisting People in Conway, S.C.

The Equestrian Team at Coastal Carolina University has 12 students competing for the 2019 season.

Cassidy Brown, a senior marketing major, will start a new position at Amazon as an area manager in Spartanburg, South Carolina, upon graduation from Coastal Carolina University in May.

This semester, 20 Coastal Carolina University seniors showcased their artwork in the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery in the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Coastal Carolina University welcomes more than 3,000 new and transfer students for the Fall 2018 semester.

Shannon Brophy, an intelligence and national securities studies major at CCU, will be spending the spring 2019 semester in the Sultanate of Oman as an intern with the United States Department of State. Brophy will join the U.S. embassy in Oman's capital, Muscat, as part of the US Department of State's Student Internship Program. This marks the first time a Coastal Carolina University student has been awarded this U.S. government internship.

Coastal Carolina University is now home to the Gamma Mu chapter of Chi Omega, established in Fall 2017. The founding members are already laying a foundation of philanthropy across the community for future members to build upon.

Seven Coastal Carolina University honors students presented research papers at the Southern Regional Honors Conference in Asheville, N.C., from March 30-April 1. The theme of the conference was "Diving into Diversity." The students were accompanied by Christine Rockey, instructor of the CCU honors program, and Jeremy Killian, a lecturer of the honors program.