A chance encounter in the American Southwest helped Katie Fuscaldo ’27 find clarity about where she belongs
She was 17. He was 72.
She was from Maryland, and he was from South Carolina.
She was deciding where to go to college. He carried Clemson everywhere he went.
It was the summer of 2022, and Katie Fuscaldo and Landy Weathers ’72 were on a guided tour through the American Southwest with their families. A few days in, as the group traveled through Utah, Landy struck up a conversation with Katie and her sister from across the bus aisle.
“I lean over, just making conversation,” Landy recalled, “and I just got to talking to them.”
It wasn’t long before Katie, a rising high school senior, told Landy she was deciding between two colleges: Clemson University and the University of South Carolina. Reflecting on the moment with a chuckle, Landy said he told Katie, “Honey, we got to talk.
From the row behind their daughters, Carolyn and Joe Fuscaldo laughed as they saw the encounter unfold. Having heard an enthusiastic “Go Tigers!” in response to Carolyn’s Clemson baseball cap, they had an idea of what was coming and were amused when it arrived.
Up until that trip, Katie had been stuck between the two universities. Although she had felt the “unique spirit” of Clemson during a campus tour that spring, she was left wondering if it was simply good marketing. A few months later, she happened to meet Landy, who — traveling with a suitcase full of Clemson Orange and a backpack full of Paw pins — would help her trust what she had felt on campus.
“Meeting people outside of the school setting, who still gave us that same feeling and perspective of Clemson, just really made an impression on Katie,” said her mom, Carolyn. “It was such a positive, sort of infectious thing that we felt.”
On the last night of the summer tour, Landy gifted Katie a Clemson pin from his backpack. She took it home and pinned it to her dresser mirror, where it still hangs today.
“Landy and his wife were such tangible evidence that everyone that does go to Clemson is so in love with it,” Katie said. “I just felt like I could see myself in Clemson even more.
Tiger Reflections, Connections
Being able to see herself at Clemson was a major turning point for Katie. She had friends going to South Carolina and to Clemson, but she wasn’t sure where she belonged. Meeting Landy and his wife, Susan, however, was reassuring: If she could find herself among the Clemson Family all the way out West, then she could certainly find herself warmly welcomed into the campus community.
Plus, meeting the Weatherses among the orange canyons of the American Southwest had felt like more than a coincidence to Katie. During an excursion in the Grand Canyon, the tour guide repeatedly mentioned its shades of orange. “I just thought that was also ironic because orange is Clemson’s color,” Katie said. “I felt like it was a sign that I had to come here.”
When Katie later received her acceptance letter, she danced around the kitchen with her mom, overcome with joy. The Fuscaldos quickly shared the news with the Weatherses.
“I can’t tell you how many times they reached out to check in and asked if we needed anything,” said Carolyn. “It was just comforting to know they were there for her … and all just because of the Clemson bond,” she added.
Along with helping Katie figure out how to secure football tickets, Landy and Susan invited Katie and her parents to tailgate with his family, including his children and their spouses — all Clemson alumni — during Parents Weekend of her first semester. At the tailgate, Katie basked in the realization that her family was visiting her at Clemson, where she now belonged.
“It just felt really special in that way,” she said.
Coming Full Circle
Four years later, Katie is a senior nursing major, an Honors student, a member of the biology honors society, and co-president of the Clemson chapter of Dream Catchers, a national foundation that helps hospice patients fulfill end-of-life wishes.
She and her family remain close with Landy — an alumnus who, serendipitously, helped Katie see that the Clemson Spirit is as real on campus as it was in the canyons of the Southwest.
“It’s such a neat connection that’s still there,” she said.
