In the spirit of forging Key Connections and the Fall Holiday Season, thirty members and friends of Lowcountry Phi Beta Kappa staged a happy hour/networking session with pizza and beverages. Participants then were treated to a haunted history tour at the nearby Old City Jail hosted by Bulldog Tours.

Twenty members and friends enjoyed a personalized, guided tour of Charleston's International African American Museum (IAAM) led by Dr. Bernard Powers, Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston and Professor Emeritus of History at the College of Charleston. Dr. Powers is a pivotal figure in the founding and opening of the IAAM.

Thirty-three members and friends gathered at Ms. Rose's restaurant on April 22 for our annual scholarship banquet. Certificates and checks for $2500 were presented to Charleston Southern recipient Brooks Ball, Citadel recipient Andrew Palmer, College of Charleston recipient Zoe Willis, and American College of the Building Arts recipient Carolyne Chardac.

The Lowcountry PBK Winter Event was a smashing success with speaker Dr. Gibbs Knotts from the College of Charleston speaking on the South Carolinas primaries, especially on the Republican side of the political spectrum. Dr. Knotts gave us a brief history of how and why the Republican party became the “first in the South,” and then discussed the current candidates running for office. The audience was fully engaged with a very lively question and answer period following his talk. In addition, our 2023 College of Charleston scholarship recipient, Maddy Landa, was recognized and briefly explained how the LPBK scholarship helped her to pursue her studies in the liberal arts. 

The Association was excited to host its annual holiday party at a new venue - Gage Hall - on December 11, 2023. Participants included Association members, their guests, as well as alums from Ivy League and Seven Sisters schools. Attendees enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner, great conversation, and the holiday piano music of Tom Bailey.

Lowcountry PBK members, new graduates, and guests gathered at Ritual Rooftop on October 12 for a networking happy hour for part one of our 2023 Key Connections event. Following happy hour, the group walked down to the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston for a gallery tour and talk with Katie Hirsch, Halsey Director. All enjoyed viewing the Halsey's current installation, "When the Land Meets the Body," featuring varied artworks from artist La Vaughn Belle.

Thirty members and friends gathered at Ms Rose's restaurant on April 24 for our annual scholarship banquet. Checks for $2500 and certificates were presented to Charleston Southern recipient Deymon Fleming and Citadel recipient Evans Banks. College of Charleston recipient Maddy Landa is studying abroad and will receive her award after her return. Also honored was American College of the Building Arts 2022 recipient Carolyne Chardac, who had not been designated for this honor by the time of last year's banquet. The meeting ended with the election of officers for 2023-25.

Some 30 members and friends gathered for a reception and program at the American College of the Building Arts. THe featured speaker was Carolyne Chardac, our 2022 scholarship recipient from ACBA. Carolyne dazzled us with her passion for plasterwork. Her informative presentation not only laid out the history of plasterwork, but also showed how professional plasterwork specialists construct their work. An added treat was Carolyne's having cast plasterwork samples for each of the attendees as a memento of the event.

Again extending a welcome to alums from Ivy League and Seven Sisters schools, the association hosted its annual holiday party at the Charleston Library Society on December 12, 2022. Around 55 persons enjoyed a buffet dinner, great conversation, and the piano music of Tom Bailey. The event also acknowledged the upcoming retirement of Phi Beta Kappa member and executive director of the Library Society Anne Cleveland.

On October 13, 2022, some two dozen members and friends opened a new program year with our second annual Key Connections event. Held at the Frothy Beard Brewing Company, Key Connections began with folks sharing pizza and conversation. A tour of the draft brewery followed. We welcomed one new recent initiate as a member of the association and also two PBK members from the faculty and staff of Coastal Carolina University.

On 25 April 2022, twenty-one members and friends gathered at Ms Rose’s restaurant for our first in-person scholarship dinner since 2019. The association’s awards recognize signal academic achievement in the liberal arts and sciences. Honored were Anna Walter from the College of
Charleston, Ernest James from The Citadel, and Samantha Arp from Charleston Southern University. Faculty mentors introduced each awardee, who then responded with a brief personal statement. Each received a check for $2500. A student from the American College of the
Building Arts will be recognized in the fall.

Randy Akers, executive director of South Carolina Humanities, offered an informative Zoom presentation on 28 February on the history, work, and coming initiatives that will help mark SC Humanities’ 50th anniversary. Opening in Lancaster, SC in August 2022 will be a multimedia history of South Carolina's seven Indigenous groups in their own words. Included are the Cherokees of South Carolina, the Edisto Indians, the Santee Indian tribe, the Pee Dee Indian Nation, the Waccamaw Chicora Indian people, the Chicora Siouan Nation, and the Catawba Indian Nation.  More information at https://schumanities.org/speakers_topics/history/page/7/.

The Association again hosted an elegant holiday party at the Charleston Library Society after having had to cancel the 2020 gathering because of the COVID pandemic. Some 60 attendees enjoyed a festive dinner buffet. Pianist Tom Bailey provided seasonal music, as several folks gathered around the piano to sing many of the familiar holiday songs and carols. Alumni/ae from the Ivy League schools as well as all PBK faculty at the College of Charleston were invited to join association members for the occasion.

On Thursday evening 21 October 2021 the Lowcountry Association hosted our first in-person event since the pandemic struck. In the spirit of Oktoberfest, the association organized a tour and beer tasting at Holy City Brewing Co. in North Charleston. Around two dozen members and friends, including several recent PBK initiates celebrated together with lively conversation over brew and snacks after a most informative tour of the facility. The program was one of many events across the nation sponsored in part by the Key Connections program of Phi Beta Kappa.