Distinguished Alumni Award: Donette Stewart ‘86
Donette Stewart knew immediately as an undergraduate that USC Upstate (then USC Spartanburg) was a special place.
She had originally planned to transfer to the main USC campus in Columbia, but changed her mind after recognizing the qualities that have made Upstate special to generations of students. “I got very involved in the campus, had faculty members who cared that I was in class every day and knew you by name, and I liked that,” Stewart recalls. “It felt like the right place to be from the beginning.”
And it’s continued to be the right place for 30 years. As vice chancellor for enrollment services and director of admissions, Stewart has been the face of Upstate for many prospective and current students. She knows many by name, provides a warm welcome to campus, and answers innumerable questions from families and students. On graduation day, Stewart is like a proud parent, offering hugs and congratulations as she mingles with the graduates.
Stewart knows that many of Upstate’s students were drawn here by the same things she was. “I went to a small high school, and was coming into a classroom of 20 to 25 students,” she says. That intimate setting felt comforting and familiar to her, and is an asset Stewart often highlights when talking to prospective students about Upstate.
Stewart didn’t initially see herself in admissions. After completing her undergraduate degree in business marketing and management, she pursued a career in health care. “I knew I wanted to do something around helping people, or maybe some kind of public relations and communications,” she says. Then she saw an opening for an admissions counselor at USC Upstate, and the job description appealed to her.
Thirty years later, she is still working in admissions, and has witnessed major growth and change at her alma mater. Not only did the campus expand its physical presence, but also its vision.
Recalling the five chancellors of the University, all of whom Stewart worked with, she notes, “Each of them had a different vision, a different passion, a different thing they brought to campus. Helping them achieve those goals and fulfill their vision has really been rewarding.”
While so many big ideas might be overwhelming to some, Stewart finds them energizing. “Upstate is a very fast-changing and evolving campus, and some people stay here a long time and keep the base of the campus, the history of the campus, strong. And then we have this infusion of new people coming in with new ideas and helping to keep things fresh.”
Most importantly, everyone at Upstate has a shared purpose that they care deeply about, Stewart says. “The people who work here really want to invest in students. That’s my favorite part of the job. They want to see students succeed, they want to remove all the barriers, help them have a more successful life through attending college. It’s something that most of us who work here have in common. The best part are the students that are here.”
Outstanding Alumni Award: Jason Land ‘98
The journey to a high-level leadership position doesn’t always start with a clear path forward or a degree from a Top-10 school. Sometimes, it involves working hard and making the most of the opportunities you can afford.
Such was the case for Jason Land, vice president of marketing for Security Finance. When he was choosing a school, he recognized he could get a quality education at USC Upstate without breaking his budget. “You were getting a good affordable price, and it was it was right here close to home,” he says.
Originally an education major, Land discovered business was a much better fit. The switch soon paid off. Land started working at a bank, implementing their new online banking program, and then moved into the marketing side. “Some of the computer skills and things that I learned in school, they really positioned me to be able to get opportunities early on in my career,” he recalls.
Throughout his career, Land has remained connected to USC Upstate. For the past nine years his wife, Kim, has been a senior instructor at the business school. He has served on the JCBE alumni board and been involved in the Upstate spelling bee for all the area middle schools.
Seeing a need for younger, fresher perspectives at his workplace, he implemented a new internship program. “I've pulled a good number of interns to work from (USC) Upstate,” he notes. “It's been an outstanding program for us, and some of them we've hired on full time. They’ve turned out terrific.”
The benefits work the other way, too. Interns learn important business skills and gain valuable work experience. Often, Land says, they’re working on the same kinds of projects that full-time staff are doing.
Land’s journey began with the simple goal of earning a degree. He was the first college graduate in his family, and is proud to have completed his degree while also working full-time. Now he has a career he enjoys, and time to give back to the local community. “Having been in Spartanburg since before I was in college, it's really neat to see how the university has changed and grown,” he says.
Outstanding Alumni Award: Georgia McClintock ‘08, M.S. ‘23
When she was in 10th grade, Georgia McClintock was told that a reading comprehension disability placed her at a fifth-grade reading level and a third-grade writing level. She worried she was destined to be another statistic among impoverished women of color. Recalling her prospects at the time, McClintock said, “I didn’t want to think about what my life would look like.”
She was determined to break the stereotype and make her family proud. But things got off to a rocky start after she started college. Her GPA was so low, she was placed on academic probation twice. "I said if my environment doesn’t change, I’m not going to do well,” McClintock recalls
She got that new environment, and a second chance, when she received a Shoestring Players scholarship to USC Upstate. She was the first black woman to receive the theater scholarship. “It was a complete 180 so quickly in my life at 19,” McClintock says. “When I transferred here, I had new friends, mentors — people who kept me accountable. I knew this was what I was destined to be a part of.”
With a new support system in place and a great deal of hard work and determination, McClintock achieved what she had always dreamed of – becoming the first college graduate in her family. “You can come from nothing, or you can come from something, and still have a fruitful life,” she says.
And she didn’t stop there. She went on to become a career counselor at USC Upstate, and eventually earned her master’s degree. Knowing where she came from and all she achieved motivates her to continue giving back. She hopes to be a role model for other students who might be facing challenges similar to what she encountered. “I feel like it’s my duty as an alum to give back where I can,” McClintock says. “And being present could change another student’s life.”
McClintock has been there for many students through the years, offering support, encouragement and the occasional tough love. Those personal interactions are what makes USC Upstate stand out to her. It’s “an institution that can change your world. We’re just a tiny little campus in northern Spartanburg, but it’s a campus that’s full of hope. Your dreams can become a reality.”
Young Alumni Award: Chloé Thomas ‘13
As the dean of student life at the Singapore American School, Chloé Thomas has traveled far. Not only in miles, but in every aspect of who she is. “Without this lens or the people who helped me stretch my imagination, I would not be where I am today,” she says
As a college student, her primary goal was to remain close to a loving and supportive family. USC Upstate allowed her to do that, and also go further. “USC Upstate had great faculty and staff members who deeply cared, took time to deepen my knowledge and understanding of the world, mapped out coursework with me, challenged me on my beliefs and behaviors, provided opportunities for me to practice theories and skills learned in the classroom out in the community, and much more,” she says.
Thomas has maintained ties to USC Upstate, recently serving on an alumni panel for the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. The program was critical to her maturation and development of a holistic worldview, and she enjoys opportunities to support it. “I have stayed connected with faculty that I continue to learn from and share community with,” Thomas says. “I am excited about the opportunities that exist to continue to connect to USC Upstate through the Alumni Association.”
She especially credits the faculty in women’s and gender studies for opening her eyes to issues such as race, socio-economic disparities, diversity, inclusion, and social justice. These were “all critical to the work I’ve done and am committed to,” she says.
She loves that her time at USC Upstate opened up pathways she hadn’t initially envisioned, and she’s grateful she embraced them. “I was open-minded, leaned into opportunities, jumped courageously into the unknown, taking risks I didn’t know I would thrive from,” Thomas says. “The journey has been far more adventurous and cup-filling than my limited imagination could have ever created.”
Young Alumni Award: Midas Hampton ‘15
Midas Hampton came from a home of financial poverty, yet one that was rich in values. His mother provided an example of what a successful life looked like. “Knowing where you come from, and the sheer dedication of my mother to just exist in spite of forces stopping her – win, lose or draw, the personal responsibility was there,” Hampton says.
Hampton, the founding executive director of Strategic Spartanburg, has carried those lessons with him throughout his career. He took seven years to earn his bachelor’s degree because he was busy working while going to school. An older co-worker who saw the potential in him advised him to focus on his studies full time, and Hampton took that advice. After one semester at Denmark Technical College in Denmark, South Carolina, he transferred to USC Upstate.
He appreciated that Upstate offered the flexibility to try different things. “The space to explore was absolutely there at USC Upstate,” Hampton says. “Being able to shift was significant to where I am today.”
Hampton applied himself to a wide range of jobs and responsibilities while at school. “That experience, of being able to take concepts and put them into practice in real time, and also learning and gaining leadership skills while still being a student, to leverage those right when you get out of college, was significant for me.”
Though he earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, he decided he wanted to focus on creating policy rather than enforcing the law. In his current role at Strategic Spartanburg, he develops data-based initiatives to improve the lives of Spartanburg County residents.
Hampton still makes time to engage with his alma mater. “For me, the work that Upstate does, and the way it engages with the community, the way that the students themselves find ways to engage with the community, allow me to pull back into what I call the microcosm that is USC Upstate,” he says.
Among his favorite quotes is the advice the author Toni Morrison would share with her students. Hampton says it best sums up the values his mother instilled in him, and has guided him throughout his career: “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.”