USCB Holds Fall Commencement Ceremony
The University of South Carolina Beaufort awarded bachelor’s degrees to 118 graduates at fall commencement on December 14, 2024.
“After you leave this ceremony and for the rest of your life, I ask that you continue to be a force for good in the world,” USCB Chancellor Al M. Panu told the graduates. “Make your corner of the world a better place. Think of others. Make a positive contribution to your community. Make your life story one of good deeds, large and small.”
The most popular majors for the fall Class of 2024 are Psychology, Business Administration, Biology, Interdisciplinary Studies and Public Health. Most of the graduates — 84%— are from South Carolina.
Ben Blumenfeld, aged 71, is the oldest graduate in the class. The son of Holocaust survivors, Blumenfeld started working in his parents’ grocery store in Atlanta at age 6. The store was in the same community as Ebenezer Baptist Church, and its pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As a result, Ben witnessed firsthand the injustices of segregation. He also came to know leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including the Kings, Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young and Hosea Williams.
Blumenfeld ultimately had a decades-long career as a talented and successful watchmaker and jeweler. He eventually retired to Sun City with his wife, Harriet, but there was one more thing he wanted to accomplish: earn a bachelor’s degree. He did it, earning his BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from USCB.
- USCB -
JJ 12/18/2024