USC Salkehatchie honors graduates, Allendale County ties at commencement

Camille Nairn’s name drew one of the loudest acknowledgments at USC Salkehatchie’s commencement, where the Allendale County supporter was honored for helping build the campus’s nursing pipeline as graduates from Allendale and beyond crossed the stage at Salkehatchie Commons. The ceremony on Friday, May 1, capped the school’s 60th anniversary year and underscored how the campus has become a hometown route to degrees, jobs, and staying rooted in the county.

USC Salkehatchie conferred 127 degrees at the 10:30 a.m. ceremony on the Allendale Campus. The Class of 2026 came from 41 cities in four states, and 11 international students represented eight countries, but the program kept returning to local names and local ties, especially for families in Allendale County who have watched the campus grow alongside the community.

Among the graduates and honorees linked to the county were Raleigh Freeman of Allendale County and several Allendale-Fairfax High School Early College students: De’Narie Ajala Breeland, Erica Ne’ohm Bradley, Iymesha Manna Grayson, Jaiden L’Val McKnight, Joronwanna Josephina Elmore, Santos Jesus Millan and Zy’Nahriah Zy’Kerriah Rhodes. Their presence reflected a familiar USC Salkehatchie pattern, with dual-enrollment students earning college credit while still meeting high school graduation requirements.

Nairn’s recognition carried particular weight because it connected directly to a program that can shape the region’s health-care workforce. USC Salkehatchie’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing track is offered with the USC College of Nursing in Columbia, and the program admits only the top 16 students each year. Students complete their first two years at Salkehatchie before moving into upper-division coursework and clinical rotations in the region. The program is approved by the South Carolina Board of Nursing and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

The ceremony also highlighted leadership and academic distinction through awards such as the Commencement Scholarship, the Faculty and Staff Excellence Award and Graduation with Leadership Distinction. J-Dan Shaw of Barnwell County served as macebearer, a reminder that the celebration reached across the broader region even as Allendale remained at its center.

USC Salkehatchie’s anniversary carried historical weight because the campus itself grew out of local civic action. Residents from Allendale, Bamberg and Hampton counties organized in late 1964 to create a regional campus, and USC established Salkehatchie in 1965. It began with eight part-time faculty members and 76 students and now serves more than 1,100 students, with campuses in Walterboro and Allendale. Six decades later, the ceremony made clear that the campus still depends on county families, school pipelines and local partners to keep the promise alive.