Day turns to darkness as MUSC celebrates total solar eclipse

People cheered as a total solar eclipse temporarily darkened the afternoon sky at the Medical University of South Carolina. It wasn’t dark for long – “totality,” the period when the moon completely obscured the sun, was brief. It was also cloudy, and there was lightning from an approaching storm. But the crowd on the lawn outside the Drug Discovery Building seemed to love it.

Cheryl Kennedy, a unit secretary in the surgical trauma intensive care at MUSC Health, came to campus on her day off to see it. “After tracking it on the NASA map, this was the best spot. The camaraderie is great. We can be friends and be social, rather than being on social media.”

Pediatric-hematology oncology resident Majd Ghanim was joined by his wife Sawsan and their 15-month-old daughter Zaina for the occasion. “I think it’s awesome that MUSC is hosting such an event where you don’t have to take the day off and go somewhere else.”

Certified registered nurse anesthetist Ben Sokol came to the MUSC event with colleagues from interventional radiology. They and others at the eclipse viewing event were pleasantly surprised they were able to be there. “It’s people just helping each other out and giving each other breaks so everybody can come out and see the experience,” Sokol said.

Pediatrician and professor Rita Ryan, who watched the eclipse with neonatologist Lakshmi Katikaneni and medical resident Eric Ward, agreed. “All of us are on service today, so we’re very lucky the unit’s not too crazy. Some other people are there so we could be out here, which was so nice of them. I’m glad MUSC did this.”

College of Graduate Studies student Barbara Marebwa, who’s from Kenya, summed up the occasion this way: “Super cool."