Page 72 - Coffee County

felt, was to organize a foundation. Sears worked for about six months, hashing out the details and doing the legwork to get the foundation in place. On February 10, 1971, the Coffee County Progress announced that the South Georgia College Foundation had been formed. Under the headline “Group Sets Up Foundation To Promote Local College,” the Progress listed the offcers and initial Board of Trustees of the Foundation. The founding members were Elton D. Brooks, Wendell Sears, M.L. Preston, Charles H. Elder, Denton R. Coker (SGC president at the time), Charles S. Chao, Winston Purvis, Francis S. Stubbs Sr., Clinton L. Lott Jr., Richard Worrell, Ray W. Hedges, Myles Greene, Rowan B. Evans, Jack B. Roberts, E. Wayne Frey, Hatley J. Quincey, G. Willis Williams, Dan A. Jardine, B.D. Davis, J.D. Justice, David H. Bailey, George “Bouncer” Smith, Marvin J. Williams, Mrs. Calvin Meeks, Mrs. W. Heyward Brawner, William

L. Willis, Joe M. Thrash, L.L. Denton Jr., Simon Grantham, Hiram Tanner Jr., Thomas H. Frier, Melvin Waters, Tom S. Deen, F. Davis Wade, Walter Wilson Jr., W.A. Crider Jr., Joel C. Ray, Wiley Bordeaux and Jess Tanner. Getting four or fve people to agree on anything can be a major undertaking; fnding 39 individuals from such varied backgrounds and occupations to come together for one purpose is an astounding feat. These men and women,

however, were leaders in Coffee County, and they understood the difference a foundation could make in the mission of South Georgia College. It didn’t take them long to have a foundation in place. The Progress summed up the SGC Foundation’s purpose in one all-inclusive statement: “The Foundation will acquire funds for the purpose of providing fnancial support for South Georgia College beyond funds except from state allocations.” That sentence means a number of different things; the SGC Foundation, like many college foundations across the country, flls several different roles. Its main function, which opens up opportunities for the other roles the Foundation flls, is to serve as a bridge between South Georgia College and the community. The Foundation involves community members in the operation and mission of the college, and helps bring vital community resources to campus. The Foundation can then leverage these

resources to help provide a quality education for students.

The scope and infuence of the SGC Foundation, which is a 501(c) (3) organization and a separate entity from South Georgia College, has grown tremendously over the years. The Foundation is made up of a board of 25 trustees, which direct the operations of the Foundation. The frst aim of the Foundation was to acquire property to preserve the aesthetics of the

campus and to ensure that the college had adequate room to grow as SGC expanded. Scholarships, which may be what the Foundation is synonymous with today, were always on the minds of the Foundation trustees. The frst Foundation scholarship, however, did not come about until the late 1970s. Buck Chambers, whose family business, MarCraft, Inc., stands in the shadows of South Georgia College, received that frst scholarship. (Chambers’ mother, Sylvia Chambers, has served two terms as Foundation president; Douglas National Bank recently initiated a scholarship endowment in memory of Chambers’s father, Gene Chambers, who passed away in 2010. In addition, each of the Chambers children is an SGC alum.)

Most of the scholarships the Foundation awards are partial; however, the Dr. Ivy Moorman Scholarship is one fund which provides full tuition due to the generosity of his descendents to assist students pursuing a career in the medical feld. It was frst given to Drew Bagwell, now a local surgeon, in 1987. Dr. Bagwell didn’t come to South Georgia College because he didn’t have any other options. Far from it, he had also been accepted to Emory University in Atlanta. Emory is one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, and to receive a letter of acceptance from Emory is quite an accomplishment. However, an Emory education comes at a price – literally. He had also applied to SGC, and when he looked at what the two schools could offer him, he didn’t see much of a difference. “For the frst two years, I felt like I could get the same education at South Georgia that I could at Emory,” he recalls. The decision was an easy one. He eschewed Emory University for SGC. Bagwell graduated from SGC in two years and moved on to the University of Georgia, where he earned a degree in biology. From there he went to the Medical College of Georgia (now Georgia Health Sciences University) and fnished medical school. He remained in Augusta for six years of residency in general surgery. Once he had completed his residency and was free to choose where he would like to settle down, he immediately returned to Douglas. Today, he serves the Douglas