Delaney McLaughlin is not someone you’ll find sitting on the sidelines. She’s actively involved in the world around her, paving the way forward for others as the first to graduate from the Medicine, Health and Human Values (MHHV) concentration of the philosophy major.
While McLaughlin’s now found her niche, philosophy wasn’t how she first imagined making an impact. She always knew she loved healthcare and assumed medical school was the path forward.
As she pursued hands-on medical opportunities on and off campus, McLaughlin realized that illness is not the only thing that needs to be cured. She recounted a story of assisting in a clinic when two nurses were making fun of a patient with bipolar disorder.
“I don’t want to see that happen,” McLaughlin said. “That’s that patient’s experience.” McLaughlin turned her sights from medical school to the philosophy major with a new focus: bioethics applied to healthcare policy. Upon graduation, she’ll attend Duke University, pursuing a Master of Arts in Applied Ethics and Policy.
In Clemson people tell you ‘you can do it’. If you fail, they’ll help you get back up.
Delaney McLaughlin
“The most important consideration in a major is how it fits with a student’s interests and career goals. For those students interested in engaged philosophy, the track can serve both and contribute to both personal fulfillment and professional success,” said Associate Professor Charles Starkey, who developed the MHHV concentration, which launched in 2023. “Delaney is an excellent example of that.”
“I think it’s a great pathway,” McLaughlin noted. “It gives you a more well-rounded experience instead of just interacting with biomedical models. It teaches you to interact with the lived experience of patients and their specific conditions, not a boxed diagnosis.”
McLaughlin’s career interests tend towards healthcare, but her passion for ethical practices extends to all fields and people. In her junior year, McLaughlin became heavily involved in Creating Habits and Norms Guiding Ethical Decisions (CHANGE), the Rutland Institute for Ethics’ student committee.
“It’s easy cutting corners,” McLaughlin said. “In this club, we have a huge student outreach focus, teaching students how being ethical can benefit them and the area around them.”
To promote ethical decision making, CHANGE organizes university-wide events and college-specific events on various topics.
The inter-collegiate nature of the club makes it unique. “That’s why CHANGE is so awesome,” McLaughlin said. “You unite people from all over the university.”
One of McLaughlin’s goals for CHANGE was to help it become recognizable across campus. That’s why she did the Miss Homecoming pageant on behalf of the organization.
“It was something I’ve never done before, but it was awesome,” McLaughlin said. “It really helped me get the name of CHANGE out, and I met some amazing women from all over campus.”
One of the props McLaughlin used during the pageant was a hand fan with CHANGE’s logo on it. McLaughlin came up with the idea to use hand fans to market the club at the beginning of the Fall semester, realizing that students would use them — and therefore market CHANGE — in the summer heat.
McLaughlin brought the fans to Tiger Prowl. “Within 15 minutes, they had all been scooped up and I was walking around the stadium seeing so many people using them,” she recalled, excitedly.
Through her major and extracurricular activities, McLaughlin shares that Clemson has given her more than just an education.
“Clemson has provided me with a sense of self and security,” she said. “I came here really insecure, but I’ve been encouraged to build my self-esteem and build my confidence. In Clemson, people tell you ‘you can do it’. If you fail, they’ll help you get back up.”
With a newfound confidence, McLaughlin is off to Duke University to continue advocating for policies that help those who can’t help themselves.
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