Aiken City Councilwoman Gail Diggs to be honored at University of South Carolina homecoming

Oct. 28—Forty-eight years after she was crowned the University of South Carolina's homecoming queen, Aiken City Councilwoman Gail Bush Diggs will finally receive the scepter traditionally given to the university's homecoming queens.

Diggs, a Democrat representing District 1 on the Aiken City Council, is set to be honored and receive her scepter during the halftime homecoming ceremonies of Saturday's South Carolina-Missouri game.

Diggs, the second African American homecoming queen at the university, was not given the traditional scepter — a decorated staff — during the Oct. 12, 1974, homecoming ceremony held during a game between 0-4 South Carolina and the 0-4 Virginia Tech Hokies (South Carolina lost 31-17).

The first African American homecoming queen at the University of South Carolina was Gail Ransome one year earlier. The university student body also elected an African American president, Harry Walker, in 1971. The University of South Carolina was desegregated in 1963 when three African American students were admitted, becoming the first African Americans to study there since 1877.

Diggs said in a university news release issued Thursday that she was shocked to learn that she had been elected homecoming queen.

"I didn't think I had a snowball's chance in hell of winning," Diggs said in a news release from the university. "Just to see them out on the field, and each time they'd announce another runner-up, and I'm still standing there in total disbelief. It was surreal."

The news of her election was not taken well by the majority white student body.

A university news release says that Diggs was greeted with thrown popcorn and racial slurs as she made her way to the 50 yard line. And university officials didn't give her the scepter.

"They told me they didn't have it because something happened to it," Diggs said in the news release. "They'd give it to me later."

But that never happened.

Diggs shared the story earlier this year in a documentary, "The Backbone," created by Honors College student Hannah White.

Jules Tyndall, Homecoming Commission president and a marketing student at the Darla Moore School of Business, watched that documentary.

"The purpose of Homecoming is to deepen people's love for USC, and this was a situation that might have tainted her perception of the university," Tyndall said. "While there's nothing we can do to fix that 48 years later, it's a way to employ our own purpose, which is to deepen her love for the university."

Diggs said she was totally speechless when university officials told her they planned to honor her.

"I actually had mixed feelings about this entire event," Diggs said. "I remember how scary it felt to be on the field in front of 20,000 people in 1974! It's much bigger than that now. Our guys are playing good football, and this game is sold out to a crowd of 90,000!"

The Gamecocks are currently 5-2 and winners of four straight games (Charlotte, South Carolina State, Kentucky and Texas A&M). Williams-Brice Stadium has a capacity of over 77,000, and the highest attendance was over 85,000 at a South Carolina-Georgia game in 2012 that South Carolina won 35-7.

Diggs said she planned to calm her nerves the same way she did all those years ago.

"I said a prayer before I went on the field 48 years ago ...," Diggs said early Friday morning via text message. "I will be doing the same this Saturday."

Diggs added that she'll be able to do something she wasn't able to do in 1974: celebrate with her family.

She said her father, a minister in the Church of Christ, died in a car accident in 1965 and her mother was ill and unable to attend the ceremony.

"Saturday, my daughters and grandchildren will be able to join me on the field during the presentation," Diggs said. "What a blessing!"

The game is set to kick off around 4 p.m. Saturday. It will be broadcast on the SEC Network.