Coastal Carolina University kick-starts first day of classes with exciting new projects (original) (raw)

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — As Coastal Carolina students made their way back to the classroom on Wednesday, Teal Nation is starting it off right with the new highest student body of roughly 11,000.

The campus brought the local farmers market to Prince Lawn to help bring students together before hitting the books.

CCU President Michael Benson said that the university has several new and exciting projects that have been completed and are underway as the new school year begins.

After two years, the new Thompson Library is now open for students to enjoy. The layout of the building being open is for students to easily move around, socialize and study with all of the new amenities.

“We have advising up on the second floor and on the first floor as you walk in, you’ll see it’s completely open. So, desks that move these pods were so students can sit. Those are also movable,” Benson said. “We have a makerspace and, of course, students will immediately recognize Starbucks. So, it’s a great space and it’s all going to naturally lit, beautiful, open and airy.”

Benson said the exterior of the facility is still being finished, but the inside is now ready to be used by students. He said in addition to the library, new projects such as a new home for the health and human services, costing roughly $60 million as the college’s enrollment growth continues.

This fall, the first-ever bachelors degree in nursing will be available to students. Benson said it’s programs like this that are needed on the campus to match the needs of the community.

“Well, enrollment, as I’ve said before, mirrors the growth of the county, but particularly in our allied health professions. If you look at the demographic in Horry County, health services, health care, whether it’s primary care or respiratory care or rehabilitation, we’re trying to come up with those degree programs,” Benson said.

Other projects like the new soccer stadium across Highway 501 that opened, as well as a soon to be new pedestrian overpass that will span across Highway 544 so students will have a safer passage to and from campus.

It’s projects like these ones where junior varsity lacrosse player Avery Przymylski says are putting Coastal Carolina on the map.

“With all the new buildings and so many renovations going on, I feel like everything is really coming together at Coastal,” she said. “And it’s really exciting to get into classes again and be back with my team.”

Przymylski said the new library is extra helpful. She said after being on the campus for three years, it was missing a facility like this. Its amenities help her and other students reach their fullest potential in comparison to their previous library.

“We have our own little like nook where our academic advisors are in and it’s like, super easy and convenient to get in there,” she said. “It’s really easy because sometimes we would have limited time to go into the library and it would be completely full and we wouldn’t be able to, you know, to have a good space for ourselves.”

Benson said that helping grow their campus by not only bringing new programs and facilities but furthering already successful established ones, like South Carolina’s first space satellite program, is important.

“Well, as the father of five kids myself, two college graduates, one who will start college next year, I’m really keen on providing the best experience possible,” he said. “We hope [this] will be their adopted home. And then while they’re here, they feel like they are home and they’re supported and surrounded by people that really want to see them be successful.”

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Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here.