Local Students Named Carolina Scholars

A Richland 1 graduate has been named a Carolina Scholar, the University of South Carolina's most prestigious honor for incoming in-state freshmen, the school announced Monday.

Christian Kloot, son of Pamela and Robin “Buz” Kloot of Columbia, and a graduate of Dreher High School, was one of 20 scholars selected. Another local student, Thomas “Connor” Hoffman, son of Judith and Thomas Hoffman of Columbia, and a graduate of private Heathwood Hall, also received the honor.

Meanwhile, Creighton-Elizabeth Radcliffe Boggs, daughter of Sallie Hook Boggs and William Boggs of Columbia, and a Dreher High graduate, was named a Carolina Scholar finalist. 

Columbia students from elsewhere also were named scholars or finalists, representing Irmo, Dutch Fork, Spring Valley, and Richland Northeast high schools.

“The Carolina Scholar award is the flagship scholarship at the state’s flagship university, and the companion McNair Scholar award [for out-of-state students] is nationally competitive, each attracting the best and brightest students from our state, region and nation,” Scott Verzyl, USC’s associate vice president for enrollment management and director of undergraduate admissions, said in a press release. 

“These students come to USC with many accomplishments and talents, and our goal is to help create the conditions for these outstanding students to achieve the highest levels of academic success here at USC and beyond, wherever their careers may take them. We have high expectations for our top scholars, and not surprisingly they usually exceed them.”

More than 2,200 students applied for the Carolina and McNair Scholars awards, making it the largest and most competitive applicant pool in the university’s history, the school said.

USC invited 90 finalists to campus to compete for the Carolina and McNair scholarships. This year’s 20 McNair Scholars include students from eight states, while the Carolina Scholars come from nine counties in South Carolina.