Lexingtonian Named USC's Outstanding Woman of the Year

Christina Galardi, a USC senior from Lexington, has been named the University of South Carolina’s Outstanding Woman of the Year for 2012, the university announced.

Galardi led the Carolina Service Council’s efforts to give back to the community while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, a university release said.

University officials honored Galardi and four finalists during a ceremony Tuesday. The award is given annually to an undergraduate who demonstrates exemplary academic achievement, service and leadership.

"I’m very humbled and honored to be selected from among this group,": Galardi said.

As president of the Carolina Service Council, Galardi has been instrumental in leading service activities including directing the volunteers for the Martin Luther King Days of Service. Last month she organized a "Beautiful Lengths" ceremony where 43 USC students, faculty, and staff members cut their hair and donated it to an organization that provides free wigs for cancer patients.

She called the hair cutting celebration one of her proudest accomplishments at USC, according to the release.

"We put together an event where we could celebrate these women for who they are under their hair," she said, adding that she hopes the Beautiful Lengths ceremony will become an annual event.

In the classroom, Galardi is a Carolina Scholar who has been on the President’s List each semester at USC. She is a public relations major and is a member of the South Carolina Honors College. Additionally, Galardi is a National Merit Scholar, Lieber Scholar, Palmetto Fellow, and a Robert C. Byrd Scholarship winner.

A finalist for Outstanding Woman of the Year last year, Galardi was selected as the university’s Homecoming queen, representing the Carolina Service Council, an honor she said allowed her to showcase community engagement at Carolina, the release said.

"I saw the Carolina Service Council as an opportunity for me to be a leader and develop my personal skills. But I also saw it as a chance to be able to give back to the community," she said. "The other leaders I was able to interact with are very, very special people."

She is considering a position with Teach for America after graduation, and her future plans include pursuing a master’s degree in public health.

This year’s finalists for the Outstanding Woman of the Year were Alexandra "Ali" Bickelmann of Williamsville, N.Y., a  senior accounting and international business major; Lauren Davis of Simpsonville, a senior international business major;  Lauren Stitzlein, a junior broadcast journalism major from Olney, Md.; and, Amy Woodell of Cary, N.C., a senior retailing major.