CCU IN THE NEWS

Homelessness is an issue that affects communities on the Grand Strand and beyond. Two Coastal Carolina University sociology professors, Stephanie Southworth and Sara Brallier, have been studying and advocating for those facing homelessness in Horry County for nearly a decade.

The way people buy and sell homes with a real estate agent could soon change for buyers, sellers, and agents. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed Friday to pay a lawsuit settlement of $418 million to home sellers across the country. So, what could that mean for all parties involved? Coastal Carolina University Economics Professor Robert Salvino said the biggest motivation for this shift is that people aren't comfortable with the commission, and as home prices have increased because of inflation, so have commission percentages.

Emma Romito has never been in a sucking pluff mud grip or hammered apart oyster clusters on the public shellfish beds in Murrells Inlet. She doesn’t track the tides, know it’s important to rinse mud from boots and buckets before it dries harder than cement or get a homecoming feeling when she inhales the salty marsh. There aren’t coastal oyster beds in Cincinnati, Ohio. But she spent a day of her spring break with her sister and mother shoving oyster shells in a wire box they’d built with other volunteers gathered in the back parking lot of the Coastal Carolina University Science Center.

TikTok is facing a potential ban in the U.S. if the Senate takes up and passes a House bill that passed with broad bipartisan support and a pledge from the president to sign it as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle warn about the threats it poses to national security. “It is the access to the data, and the data we're talking about is your personal data. So if, if China so wanted, they could access your data and then do an influence campaign against you,” said Mark Chandler, a professor of practice in Coastal Carolina University’s department of intelligence and security studies and a former senior Defense Department executive.

It's a sign of the changing seasons. As we spring forward this weekend, you may also start noticing other signs of spring like bugs. There are tens of thousands of insect species in the Palmetto State, and they all form a vital and complex ecosystem that sometimes gets overlooked. Some are often labeled as pests. Yet, they all serve a purpose.

It all started during the 2011 college football season when the Kappa Sigma fraternity at Coastal Carolina University hatched a plan: they’d get a live rooster mascot to show off at their tailgate. The Japanese Shamo they found for sale was just right—a fighting rooster like the Chanticleer, complete with feathers the same shade of teal as the school’s colors. But caring full time for a chicken, it turns out, isn’t exactly what frats do best. Enter Melissa Stalvey. Her husband’s family had been raising chickens in Myrtle Beach for a generation, and although she’d grown up in Indiana as a Notre Dame fan, she’d come to “bleed teal” in support of her husband’s alma mater. An arrangement was made whereby she would keep Maddox (named after the CCU English professor who picked the school’s mascot in the 1960s), allowing the Kappa Sigs to pick him up on game days.

High school students across the state participated in Coastal Carolina University's 43rd annual Dr. Subhash Saxena High School Math Contest on Friday. The event aims to stimulate and promote interest in math among high schoolers.

The spring semester is well underway and we’re catching up with our Hometown Chants on what’s going on. We have updates on academics, upgrades to campus and our Sports Director Dave Ackert has the scoop on what to look forward to with spring sports this semester.

Coastal Carolina University’s new $29 million Thompson Library is nearing completion. Crews have been hard at work making sure the library is ready just in time to welcome students for the fall semester. The project earned approval back in February 2021. The new library will include more space, natural light, a virtual reality and data visualization lab, 3-D printers, individual studios for video and audio production and a new Starbucks.

Coastal Carolina University’s Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies will host the International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora (IGGAD) 2024 Conference. The conference focuses on oral Gullah Geechee language traditions. Additionally, there will be art, fashion, and performances to celebrate the culture.

Presidents Day occurs at a crucial moment this year, with the presidency on the cusp of crisis as we inexorably shuffle toward a rematch between the incumbent and his predecessor. It’s the sort of contest we haven’t seen since the 19th century, and judging by public opinion of President Biden and former President Trump, most Americans would have preferred to keep it that way. But the third installment of our Presidential Greatness Project, a poll of presidential experts released this weekend, shows that scholars don’t share American voters’ roughly equal distaste for both candidates. Justin Vaughn is an associate professor of political science at Coastal Carolina University. Brandon Rottinghaus is a professor of political science at the University of Houston.

A Tuesday murder in Myrtle Beach is putting a spotlight on the dangers that people who experience homelessness face every day. Coastal Carolina University professor Sara Brallier said Robert Khattar's murder is a nightmare for many sleeping on the street. Khattar was sleeping in front of 1526 Plaza Place where he was assaulted and killed on Wednesday. The coroner said he had multiple blunt force and chopping injuries on his face.

A cryptic request to declassify sensitive information regarding a national security threat set Washington abuzz on Wednesday after the leader of the House Intelligence Committee released a vague statement that raised more questions than answers. “We could be on the threshold of a space arms race, which actually, the United States is running about third in that behind China and Russia,” said Mark Chandler, a professor of practice in Coast Carolina University’s department of intelligence and security studies and a former senior Defense Department executive. “You could have a space arms race, if you will, if this becomes operationalized, and that's the key word.”

A Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office program has always been focused on inmates working towards their GEDs, but now they’re encouraging higher education as well. The program is partnering with Coastal Carolina University and associate professor Jennifer Schlosser to offer a sociology class for a handful of men.

Every Tuesday evening in February, there is a free jazz concert at Chapin Memorial Library in Myrtle Beach. Coastal Carolina University's Student Jazz Ensemble is one of the groups that will perform in the "Jazz in the Stacks" concert series. It’s a chance for the students to grow their performance skills while entertaining community members.

Coastal Carolina University is gearing up for the launch of a four-year undergraduate nursing program. This comes as the local area deals with a “critical nursing shortage,” the university said. Recently, the new four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program was approved for Coastal by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and the South Carolina Board of Nursing. The program is set to launch in the Fall 2024 semester.

WMBF News Anchor Rachel Bogle sat down with Coastal Carolina University Associate Professor Justin Vaughn to talk South Carolina's pair of February primaries.

Coastal High School social studies teacher Sarah Vicini helped prepare the room for the school assembly, never suspecting that she would be the star of the show. The big reveal came at the end of the event in the charter school’s multi-purpose room on Thursday. Vicini received the coveted Milken Educator Award, billed as the “Oscars of Teaching.” The Milken Family Foundation keeps its presentation ceremonies a secret. Thursday’s event was disguised as a National School Choice Week 2024 observance. Distinguished speakers included South Carolina Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver and the foundation's Dr. Joshua Barnett. Sarah Vicini, 29, has never taught anywhere else, and said after the ceremony that she never will. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Coastal Carolina University, and signed on at Coastal High School. This is her sixth year teaching U.S. History, Government and Economics, Psychology and Law.

A new honor society at Coastal Carolina University recognizes student engagement and participation on campus and encourages learners to take advantage of co-curricular activities

Crews are hard at work to complete one of the newest buildings on Coastal Carolina University’s campus. WMBF News told you about CCU breaking ground on the new Thompson Library back in May of 2022. As the building comes to life, students can expect the finished product to offer more open space, tons of natural light, and more technology. “We have a brand new facility for our students as you know, we continue to have growing enrollment numbers record for freshmen and growing for the third year in a row,” said Vice President for Finance and Business Administration and CFO Alan West.