This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Carolinian Creed. In light of the Creed’s long-standing presence on campus, the Office of Student Conduct & Academic Integrity and the Carolina Judicial Council (CJC) sponsored a weeklong celebration in its honor: Creed & Diversity Week. Thirteen different offices and student organizations worked together to plan and execute this annual celebration.
While the celebration week was originally just referred to as “Creed Week," the name was officially changed to “Creed & Diversity Week” in 2011. What does diversity have to do with the Carolinian Creed? The answers are in the Creed itself according to Erin Kitchell, Coordinator for Student Conduct and Outreach.
“All of these ideals are connected to the concept of diversity and inclusion,” Kitchell said. “Specifically, the [fourth tenet] requires that each and every person — students, faculty and staff — take action within our community to encourage a civil and open environment.”
Events for Creed & Diversity Week were held in various locations on campus. Beginning on Monday, each day of the week represented a different element of the Carolinian Creed: Respect, Integrity, Leadership, Acceptance, Compassion and Service. Events ranged from a movie screening and discussion of the film “Dear White People," a suicide prevention seminar, Hip Hop Wednesday, a Diversity Dialogue session and a presentation by featured speaker John Dozier, the University’s Chief Diversity Officer.
“I appreciated that he mentioned how much our Creed calls on us all to act and to showcase empathy and respect toward one another,” Kitchell said. “At one point in his speech I personally had chills. It was inspiring to think about how much of a positive impact each and every person on our campus can have on one another.”
But what do students think is the meaning and purpose of the Carolinian Creed? Do they feel it is a necessary element of the community? Third-year history and economics major Andrew Lepczyk feels as if the impact of the Creed on students is bigger than many realize.
“If I remember correctly, I had to memorize the Creed when I took U101,” Lepczyk said. “I honestly think the Creed, whether we realize it or not, plays a role in our everyday lives. I think the values touched on in the Creed are vital to us at USC.”
Students new to USC may hear Carolinian Creed and think of it as a code of student conduct — simply a list of “to-dos” and “to-don’ts." What many misunderstand about the creed is that it is a complement to conduct codes, not a long list of rules.
Following a cluster of frightening events that struck USC’s campus in the '80s, USC Vice President for Student Affairs Dennis Pruitt gathered a team of students and faculty to combat these issues. According to the Carolinian Creed History page, this team of USC community members decided to create the Carolinian Creed, not as something to limit students’ rights, but to “set an example for all to follow.”
Rebecca Garnett, Vice President of Creed Programming for the CJC, emphasized the lasting effects of the Creed on those who spend time at South Carolina.
“The Creed isn’t the Honor Code or the Student Code of Conduct,” Garnett said. “It’s a separate document that follows us even after we graduate — reminding us, as Gamecocks, what it means to be a Carolinian."