Pharmacy students don’t usually get much attention for their leadership.
With a strenuous course load and a packed curriculum, they’re often confined to their studies, but Donna Walker was an exception.
Before she became a marketing and pharmaceutical sales executive, she studied pharmacy at USC, served as a student senator and interned with then-U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond.
The South Carolina College of Pharmacy’s Executive Dean, Joe DiPiro, says combining USC’s push for student leadership with the college’s well-respected curriculum would make for more elite graduates. We agree.
So it’s heartening to hear that Walker, a successful graduate, is giving more than half a million dollars to encourage more pharmacy students to lead in the community.
The college, which was formed less than a decade ago when USC’s pharmacy school merged with the Medical University of South Carolina’s, hopes to become a top-10 program, but it’s been hindered by outdated facilities, and that’s hurt recruitment.
That’s not an uncommon problem at the university. But promoting unique programs like a pharmacy leadership program or an aerospace research center — which just last week snagged a $1 million gift — help show would-be students and faculty that USC is worth a shot.
So we applaud Walker, along with Lou and William Kennedy — who donated $30 million to the pharmacy school in 2010 — and Darla Moore, Marva Smalls and Anita Zucker — who have given to the McNair aerospace center.
Their gifts have been substantial, pushing the Carolina’s Promise fundraising campaign closer to its goal and establishing exciting new programs at USC.
But in our opinion, their long-term impact could be far greater.