2,329 undergraduate students at Coastal Carolina University were named to the Dean's List for the Fall 2020 semester. That's nearly a quarter of the student body with a grade point average between 3.5-3.99 for the fall semester. An additional 930 students were named to the President's List for achieving a 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.

The goal of the "Spirit of the Chanticleer" award is to recognize students from each class who demonstrate excellence in school spirit as part of Homecoming week. Applicants must have at least a 2.75 GPA and be in good standing with the University. Their application must demonstrate their involvement on campus and provide a video response to the questions, "What does school spirit mean to you and how do you show it?" and "What is a platform, social awareness issue, non-profits, etc. that you are passionate about and why?" Six finalists were selected with three coming from primarly in-person classes and three from primarly online classes.

Two Coastal Carolina University juniors have been selected as Kenneth E. Swain Scholars for the 2020-2021 academic school year. Students selected as Swain Scholars work with CCU faculty and community agencies to research health-related issues and implement community health programs.

Coastal Carolina University saw nearly 400 students graduate in Summer 2020 during a virtual ceremony that included remarks from Carolyn Dillian, a professor of anthropology and recipient of CCU's 2020 HTC Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Lecturer Award.

Hannah Rowell majored in psychology and graduated in December 2012 from Coastal Carolina University. She then went on to UNC at Charlotte to get her master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Currently, she is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and works at McLaughlin Young EAP Group. She is a member of the Critical Incidents Team Lead. Hannah says, "I love the work environment at this job! We really work as a team and lean on each other for support. I also love working in crisis management and assisting people when they are in such a high state of need. It is rewarding to be able to assist in such a high-stress situation as a crisis, provide support, and let them know they are not alone." Hannah's career journey has been paved with many different learning experiences. She states, "The mental health field is always changing, and each job has taught me different lessons and challenged me in different ways. I love the versatility of my degree. I have always hoped to make a difference in at least one person's life during my career. I think it is important to help those that are struggling." Hannah did an internship during her senior year working with children with autism. She explains it was a fantastic experience. She states, "I found a passion for working with children with autism. The professor that was my mentor guided me and provided me with so much support. It was a great opportunity to get some experience in the field before going on to graduate school." Her advice to CCU students, "enjoy the journey. I know you may laugh at that right now as you are in it and bogged down with work and stressed out. But I encourage you to take a minute and enjoy the environment, the learning, and the people around you. College is a unique time and experience. I also encourage you not to limit yourself. Think outside the box in terms of careers. I have learned so many different career paths since I have gotten into my field that I never knew existed. My current job, doing crisis management, was a part of my field I knew very little about. Each job is a learning experience and stepping stone towards where you are meant to be."

Bessie Wilson graduated in May 2018 with a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations, and triple minored in Spanish, Marketing & Journalism. She was also a student in the Honors Program. Currently, she is the Digital Marketing Specialist at Waccamaw Publishers/My Horry News. She states, "I work for an amazing company with great co-workers. I'm extremely blessed to have been offered this job right out of college. I was very lucky to get offered a job in my field straight out of college. I think I graduated on a Friday and I started working a week later. Naturally, I was nervous to begin working "in the real world," but the classes I took while attending CCU successfully prepared me for my future. I did not do an internship while I was at CCU for undergrad. However, I utilized Career Services when they held their LinkedIn seminars and Resume workshops. Both of which were super helpful! I love being able to apply what I learned in college every day at work. I feel like sometimes, while in college, students think, "when am I ever going to use this in the real world?" Trust me you'll use the skills and lessons that you learn throughout school in your career, so listen to your professors!" Bessie made sure to utilize the resources available to her at the CCU Career Services Center. She has this to say to current students and graduates, "Career Services offers amazing resources for students that are about to make the transition from college to the real world. They are there to help and assist in any way possible. My advice to current CCU students would be to make connections and network. Make connections with your professors. They are there to help you and teach you. All of the professors live locally so more than likely have connections within the community that could lead to a possible job or internship. I would also suggest going to the career fair. That's how I found my job. The career fair is an opportunity to hand out resumes and do an impromptu interview. My last piece of advice would be to not settle. Don't settle on the first job offer you receive. Keep your options open and accept a job that you want and that you'll enjoy doing. If I accepted my first job offer, I would not be working at a great company that I'm with now."

Isaiah Davis has been elected the first Afro-Latino president of the Coastal Carolina Colony of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity. He is an intelligence and national securities studies pre-major at Coastal Carolina University.

Brianna Fleming was awarded the PGA Golf Management WORKS scholarship for the 2020-2021 academic year by the PGA REACH Program. The PGA WORKS initiative is designed to evolve the demographic composition of the golf industry's workforce and the PGA of America's Membership. Scholarship recipients will pursue full-time undergraduate studies at one of the 18 accredited PGA Golf Management universities during the 2020-2021 academic year, with the ultimate goal of obtaining PGA Membership.

Two students from Coastal Carolina University have distinguished themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic as Public Health Reserve Corps volunteers and staff. Haley Rissell, majoring in public health, began as a volunteer, then took a temporary position with SC DHEC to coordinate volunteer recruitment and placement for drive-through testing events. Lauryn Johnson, a biology major, has worked as a volunteer from dawn to dusk during many drive-through events. She has been on-site at venues as thousands of people streamed through to get the swab test for COVID-19.

Coastal Carolina University announced the winners of the 2020 Student Involvement and Leadership Awards in a recorded celebration of the annual awards ceremony. The event recognizes individuals students, student organizations, Greek life groups, and others for a variety of achievements, including community service, philanthropy, and impact.

The Coastal Carolina University Wind Ensemble presented the "Well-Aged" music performance on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wheelwright Auditorium on CCU's campus. The program included Ten Masterworks for Woodwind Choir, arranged by William Pelz; "Finlandia," by Jean Sibelius; "Old Wine in New Bottles," by Gordon Jacob; "Invictus" by Karl King; "Savannah River Holiday by Ron Nelson; and "First Suite in E Flat" by Gustav Holtz.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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

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

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.