Sea turtles, marine life get close look on USCB's Pritchards Island

With campuses in Bluffton and Beaufort, the University of South Carolina Beaufort is anchored in the community.

But it also has another campus of sorts, one many don't know about that is only open to a select few: Pritchards Island.

The university has owned the 1,600-acre island -- given to it by Phillip Rhodes, a longtime Beaufort community member and supporter -- since 1983.

Rhodes donated the barrier island south of Fripp and Hunting islands to help preserve it and prevent its development.

His goal was accomplished, said outgoing USCB Chancellor Jane Upshaw.

"(It) is a pristine barrier island filled with the natural flora and fauna indigenous to the South Carolina coast," she said. "We know of very few islands today left in that environmental state."

But Rhodes went a step further. He helped USCB build its Barrier Island Research Center on the island.

The island is a popular spot for loggerhead sea turtles to lay their eggs during nesting season. And the research center used to open its doors to students, community members and volunteers to research the turtles, among other marine life and phenomena such as beach erosion.

One such volunteer was Dolly Nash, the great-granddaughter of Civil War legend Robert Smalls, who would frequently come down from Maryland during the summers to help plan meals and activies for those visiting the island, Upshaw said.

Pritchards, accessible only by boat, has also inspired many artists.

For several years, the Beaufort County Arts Council collaborated with USCB to hold an annual artist retreat on Pritchards. Each artist was required to provide a piece of art that became the Pritchards Island Collection.

That collection now hangs in the library at the Hilton Head Gateway campus.

While the beach is no longer open to the public -- high tides and shifting sands have made it unsafe -- professors still visit the island to conduct research.

But should the public want to know the beauty and importance of Prichards Island, all they have to do is visit the university library.

"The (art) collection serves as a constant reminder to students and the public of the beautiful, environmentally sensitive sense of place," Upshaw said.

Follow reporter Sarah Bowman on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Sarah and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGSarah.

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This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Sea turtles, marine life get close look on USCB's Pritchards Island."