Alumni and Friends,
Let’s connect! Winthrop launched a new texting program to help us stay connected with alumni and friends. We will share updates and opportunities to engage with the university. Don’t worry, we won’t bombard your phone, and you can opt out anytime. If you would like to opt in, text WINTHROP to 80109.
The fourth book for the 2026 Virtual Alumni Book Club is "Didn't You Use to Be Queenie B?" by Terri-Lynne DeFino. The reading period is July 31-Oct. 2. Read a summary and reviews for it here. Join the Virtual Alumni Book Club by signing up here!
We are headed back out for more Flight Paths with the Provost events! Rock Hill and Charleston alumni, mark your calendars! Join Provost Sebastian van Delden to connect and learn about new academic programs, including aviation, financial technology, artificial intelligence, supply chain and logistics, game design, software engineering, our first doctoral degree program and more! Business casual attire is suggested. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres courtesy of the Alumni Association. Flight Paths with the Provost: Rock Hill will be held on Thursday, Aug. 13, from 6-8 p.m. at 19th at the Warehouses, owned by Winthrop alumnus Harrison Dixon ’18. Register to attend here by Friday, Aug. 7. Flight Paths with the Provost: Charleston will be held on Thursday, Sept. 10, from 6-8 p.m. at The Rutledge Room. Register to attend here by Thursday, Sept. 3.
Save the date for Homecoming and Reunion 2026, Nov. 13-14! We look forward to welcoming alumni back to campus! If your class year ends in '6 or '1, you are celebrating a milestone reunion. 2026 Class Reunion registration and Homecoming event registration will open in August. Purchase your 2026 Homecoming T-shirt from Aug. 1-Sept. 18. Homecoming T-shirts are $25, which includes shipping.
Follow the Alumni Association on Facebook, Instagram (@winthropalumni) and Winthrop Connect for updates on alumni events! Download one of the free digital Winthrop backgrounds for virtual alumni events or for your personal use! Wear your garnet and gold attire to show your Eagle pride for both in-person and virtual activities! Purchase Winthrop gear in the bookstore on campus or online here!
*All event times are Eastern unless otherwise noted.
Join the Virtual Alumni Book Club by signing up at www.pbc.guru/winthrop.
"Didn't You Use to Be Queenie B?" by Terri-Lynne DeFino
July 31-Oct. 2
The fourth book for the 2026 Virtual Alumni Book Club is "Didn't You Use to Be Queenie B?" by Terri-Lynne DeFino.
Regina Benuzzi is Queenie B—a culinary goddess with Michelin Star restaurants, a bestselling cookbook empire, and multimillion-dollar TV deals. It doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous and curvaceous, with cascading black hair and signature red lips. She had it all. Until she didn’t.
After an epic fall from grace, Queenie B vanishes from the public eye, giving up her husband, her son, and the fame that she’d fought to achieve. Her shows are in rerun, her restaurants still popular, but her disappearance remains a mystery to her legions of fans.
Local line cook Gale Carmichael also knows a thing or two about disaster. Newly sober and struggling, Gale’s future dreams don’t hold space for culinary stardom; only earning enough to get by. Broke at the end of the week, he finds himself at a local soup kitchen in one of the roughest parts of New Haven, Connecticut. But Gale quickly realizes that the food coming out of the kitchen is not your standard free meal—it is delicious and prepared with gourmet flair.
Gale doesn’t recognize Regina, the soup kitchen’s cranky proprietor, whose famous black mane is now streaked with gray. It’s been more than 10 years since Queenie B vanished into her careful new existence. But she sees Gale’s talent and recognizes a brokenness in him that she knows all too well. The culinary genius in hiding takes him under her wing.
Teaching Gale, Regina’s passion to create is reignited, and they both glimpse a shot at the redemption that had always seemed out of reach. When Gale is chosen to compete on the hit cooking show, Cut!, it’s a turning point for them both.
It’s Gale’s time to shine. And that means Queenie B might just have to come out of hiding…
The reading period is July 31-Oct. 2. Read a summary and reviews for it here.
Flight Paths with the Provost: Rock Hill
Thursday, Aug. 13│6-8 p.m.
19th at the Warehouses
Join the Rock Hill Alumni Chapter and Provost Sebastian van Delden to connect and learn about exciting updates from Winthrop! Enjoy community over drinks, hors d'oeuvres and a round of golf. 19th at the Warehouses is owned by Winthrop alumnus Harrison Dixon ’18.
At 7 p.m., Provost van Delden will share information about new academic programs, including aviation, financial technology, artificial intelligence, supply chain and logistics, game design, software engineering, our first doctoral degree program and more! Business casual attire is suggested. Please register by Friday, Aug. 7.
Flight Paths with the Provost: Charleston
Thursday, Sept. 10│6-8 p.m.
The Rutledge Room
Join fellow Charleston-area alumni and Provost Sebastian van Delden to connect and learn about exciting updates from Winthrop! See more info above. Please register by Thursday, Sept. 3.
Homecoming and Reunion 2026
Nov. 13-14
Save the date for Homecoming and Reunion 2026, Nov. 13-14! We look forward to welcoming alumni back to campus! If your class year ends in '6 or '1, you are celebrating a milestone reunion. 2026 Class Reunion registration and Homecoming event registration will open in August.
Winthrop Ever Stand,
Lori Tuttle
Executive Director of Alumni Relations
