Georgia Trend
2023 100 Most Influential Georgians: A Most Inspiring Group
Our annual listing of the people who are making an outsized impact on the state. Plus, 2023 Notable Georgians.
By Mary Ann DeMuth
This year’s Georgian of the Year Pat Wilson may be the state’s top salesperson, working to attract companies that will invest millions and create hundreds of new jobs. However, he is hardly alone in promoting Georgia’s advantages. …In this year’s list, you’ll find CEOs, politicians, educational experts and the heads of nonprofits and economic development organizations, among others, who have inspired and spearheaded efforts to meet and beat challenges in virtually every corner of the Peach State. …(Among those in the University System of Georgia): Sonny Perdue, Chancellor, USG; Neil Pruitt, BOR Board Member; M. Brian Blake, Pres. GA State Univ; Ángel Cabrera, Pres. GA Tech; Brooks Keel, Pres. Augusta Univ; Kyle Marrero, Pres. GA Southern Univ; Jere Morehead, Pres. UGA; Kirby Smith, Head Football Coach UGA; 2023 Notable Georgians: Kathy “Kat” Schwaig, Pres. Kennesaw State Univ; 2023 Most Influential Hall of Fame: T. Rogers Wade, Former BOR Board Member; Philip Wilheit, Sr., Former BOR Board Member; James Blanchard, Former BOR Board Member; Hank Huckaby, Former Chancellor, USG; Carl Patton, Former Pres. GA State Univ; Betty Siegel, Former Pres. Kennesaw State Univ; Vince Dooley, Former Head Coach, UGA;
Board of Regents Officers: Harold Reynolds and Erin Hames will reprise their leadership roles on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia for 2023.
Griffin Daily News
Schools, college campuses draw lion’s share of Kemp’s bond package
By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service
Schools account for a major portion of the $600 million bond package Gov. Brian Kemp is recommending in the $32.5 billion budget proposal the governor released late last week. More than a third of the package — $217 million — would go toward K-12 school construction projects across the state financed by the Georgia Department of Education. The rest of the bonds would be divided between the other state agencies, including $113.4 million earmarked for University System of Georgia campuses.
Albany Herald
Valdosta State University receives federal funding to expand rural teacher pipeline
From staff reports
Valdosta State University has received $750,000 in federal funding to help address the need for more teachers across south Georgia, where classrooms are overcrowded and school districts struggle to recruit certified professionals ready to develop and inspire young learners. VSU officials say they plan to use the funds to expand the university’s rural teacher pipeline by providing scholarship and other support to paraprofessionals who wish to earn a bachelor of science degree in Education in Elementary Education through the university’s Online College for Career Advancement. Participating paraprofessional educators will be able to continue serving as vital members of their school’s support staff while earning their professional teaching credentials.
The Georgia Virtue
What began in 2016 as a partnership between Georgia Southern University and the Third Infantry Division at Fort Stewart has become a nationally recognized educational and research program with $5.68 million in federal funding to improve soldier health and performance to ensure force readiness. Now called the Soldier Performance and Readiness (SPAR) program, this Georgia Southern project aligns with the U.S. Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) initiative and represents a multifaceted partnership with the Army to provide onsite training that decreases musculoskeletal injuries; deliver an online certificate program in tactical fitness for college credit; collaborate with the Army’s Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (USARIEM); and develop programs to enhance and assess cognitive performance in tactical situations.
Valdosta Today
Valdosta residents graduate from GSW
The following area residents were among over 600 students who earned an undergraduate or graduate degree from Georgia Southwestern State University during the Fall 2022 Commencement Ceremony held on Friday, December 9 in the Convocation Hall of the Student Success Center. …Over 600 students graduated across two ceremonies. The commencement speakers were Ashwani Monga, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor & Chief Academic Officer for the University System of Georgia (USG) at the 12 p.m. ceremony, and Richard McCorkle, Executive Director for Chattahoochee-Flint Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA), at the 4 p.m. ceremony.
WFXG
MCG students aim to eliminate food waste on campus
By Allissa Young
The Augusta University Chapter of the Food Recovery Network was started by third-year MCG students Grace Koh and Michelle Lin. The Food Recovery Network is the largest national student-led movement fighting food waste and working to end hunger in the country. This idea was replicated when the two students came to MCG in 2021. That’s when they officially started the AU chapter in the fall.
Times-Georgian
Coming to America- stepping out of his comfort zone
By Miranda Pepe UWG Communications Specialist
Studying abroad can be a life-changing opportunity. Just ask Kabwe Mulenga, a University of West Georgia international graduate student from Zambia. After completing his Bachelor of Arts in E-Business in Malaysia, Mulenga entered UWG’s MBA program with a concentration in digital marketing. He knew he wanted to come to the United States to continue his education and found his home at UWG because of the value it would provide for his investment. UWG’s community has always been noteworthy among students, especially those who are studying abroad.
WGAU Radio
UGA Griffin campus closed again today as storm recovery continues
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia’s Griffin campus is closed again today, with officials hoping to reopen for classes tomorrow: much of Griffin was damaged in tornados—five of them–that struck late last week.
Athens Banner-Herald
Georgia football OL Devin Willock & recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy killed in car crash
Marc Weiszer
Georgia football offensive lineman Devin Willock and team support staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed early Sunday in a single-vehicle car crash on the east side of Athens. Willock, 20, was a third-year player from New Milford, N.J. who started at guard in two games this season and played the past two after redshirting in 2020. LeCroy, 24, was a football recruiting staff member and a UGA graduate. Two other members of the football program were injured and are in stable condition, according to UGA athletics.
See also:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Support pours in for Georgia following tragic accident
Athens Banner-Herald
Georgia football player dies in crash: What we know about Devin Willock, Chandler LeCroy
‘A gentle giant:’ New Jersey product Devin Willock loved playing football for Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘A beam of light’: Chandler LeCroy left a legacy in UGA football and beyond
Athens Banner-Herald
Father of Georgia football OL Warren McClendon updates his status after car crash
SciTechDaily
Improving Memory: New Study Finds That Moderate Stress Is Actually Good for You
Brain Energize Concept Illustration
The research found that mild levels of stress improved working memory. Working memory is the cognitive function that allows people to temporarily hold and manipulate information in their mind, it allows the brain to hold onto information for a short period of time to complete a task, solve a problem or make a decision. It is closely related to attention and it is essential for a wide range of cognitive tasks such as reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Mild levels of stress can actually be beneficial for your body by forcing it to optimize brain cognition and bodily functions. New research from the Youth Development Institute at the University of Georgia suggests that the stress of the holiday season may have a positive impact on brain functioning, specifically working memory.
Mashed
The Real Difference Between Rare Steak And Rare Chicken
By Felicia Lee
If you’re a serious carnivore, you probably crave a rare or medium rare steak — a succulent treat that reveals deep red meat and releases blood-red juices when cut. And for many meat lovers, this is the best, if not the only, way to enjoy a steak. Indeed, there’s a long tradition of eating barely-cooked steak. …But of course, no one can (or should) live on steak alone. If you also enjoy chicken, you may have wondered why it’s so rare to see that protein served rare. With a few exceptions, chicken always arrives on your plate fully cooked. A big reason for this — besides longstanding culinary tradition — is safety. As Francisco Diez-Gonazalez, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, explained to Adam Ragusea, chicken flesh can carry pathogens such as salmonella. The only way to deactivate these is by thorough cooking. (Beef can carry pathogens too; however, these are typically restricted to the digestive tract and can be avoided by careful butchering practices.)
Aiken Standard
ECOVIEWS: Radiation can be good for turtles
By Whit Gibbons Columnist
Several years ago, Judy Greene of the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory took a turtle to a nearby medical facility and asked the staff to X-ray it. The turtle was not sick; it did not have a cracked shell or broken bones. But that image had far-reaching, invaluable consequences for ecological research: the X-ray clearly showed that the turtle was carrying eggs. X-ray photography had been used as a tool in human medicine for decades. Because of that turtle’s photograph, X-rays are now used worldwide to reveal highly interesting phenomena about animals other than humans in fields other than medicine. The animals are primarily reptiles; the fields are ecology and biology.
Savannah Morning News
Coastal Georgia shores up beach conservation for shorebirds impacted by climate change
Marisa Mecke
Brandon Noel, partnering shorebird researcher, surveying shorebirds on Little Saint Simons Island.
Georgia’s coast draws in tourists year-round, but some of the state beaches’ biggest fans are the migrating shorebirds that make Georgia their go-to rest stop each year. Scientists and advocates argue that keeping Georgia’s beaches preserved and in good shape is key to maintaining shorebird populations and ensuring their health for the future in the face of climate change. Far-flung travelers visit the Hostess City
Ray Chandler, an ornithologist and professor of biology at Georgia Southern University, has been researching a few of these travelers with his students on Cumberland Island. He works most closely with two types of shorebirds: the Wilson’s plover and the piping plover.
Albany Herald
Albany State groups to host ‘justice brunch’ in honor of King
From staff reports
The Albany State University Centers for Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Equity and ASU Greek Life and Diversity Engagement are hosting a justice brunch in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Tuesday. The event’s guest speaker will be the spoken word performer Kyla Jenee Lacey.
WTOC
Georgia Southern University honors Martin Luther King Jr. with kick-off celebration
By Dal Cannady
Georgia Southern University helped kick off our region’s remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The faculty, staff, students, and the community gathered today to reflect on how Dr. King changed our country and our culture. They also looked ahead to the future. Groups from both campuses collaborated to host the kick off celebration. They heard from Dr. Georje Lewis, a former Georgia Southern Vice President who’s now president of Atlanta Metropolitan State College.
Albany Herald
Georgia Archives to present African American genealogy event
The Georgia Archives and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society’s Metro Atlanta Chapter will present the African American History and Genealogy Event Feb. 2-4. The three-day event will focus on the topic of African Americans in Georgia, with a focus on education, history and genealogy. On Feb. 2, the event will feature speakers discussing African American education in Georgia.
Article also appeared in:
Patch
Georgia Southern University: ‘Old Glory’ Gets Upgrade On Georgia Southern Statesboro Campus
For more than 60 years, the American flag has been raised and lowered every day on the same flag pole on Sweetheart Circle. Mike Markovcic works on Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro Campus, and has been responsible for the flag for the past few of those years. “You’re going up there every morning bringing the flag up and taking the flag down at nighttime, and trying to keep it off the dirt,” Markovcic said. “A lot of people died for that flag. That flag means a lot.” This flag pole was first planted back in 1958. Aged over decades, the old pole was ready for retirement and replacement. For nearly 10 years, Markovcic had been campaigning for a new flagpole for Sweetheart Circle. Just recently, when the proper materials for a suitable display were finally received, the new flagpole was installed.
Business Insider
I’m a teacher who works at Starbucks for no salary just to cover my medical expenses
Alicia Gonzalez
…I wanted to save the world from injustice
After I graduated high school, I went straight to college at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro and majored in sociology. I wanted to be a social worker and solve all the injustices of the world. After I graduated with my degree in sociology, I interned for a few months at Henry County’s Division of Family & Children Services. It was depressing, and later I considered joining the Air Force. Instead, I decided to get my master’s in special education from Georgia Southern University. … I applied at the Starbucks outside of Savannah, which is about a 45-minute drive from my house, but it was the closest one that would hire me. My friends and family thought I was absolutely nuts. They couldn’t believe I was driving so far away from home, three to four school nights each week, to work. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. My medical bills had to be paid and my health issues weren’t over. I commuted for almost a year, then was finally able to transfer to the Starbucks three minutes from my house.
Bellingham Herald
WWU swears in a new police chief. Here’s what to know about her
By Robert Mittendorf
Western Washington University has a new chief of police, as Katryne Potts was sworn in this week, WWU said in its email newsletter, Western Today. Potts is a 22-year veteran of law enforcement, WWU said. …Potts joins WWU from Augusta University in Georgia, where she had served since 2019 as a training lieutenant and later captain of the school’s patrol division, according to her LinkedIn biography.
Athens Banner-Herald
Kirby Smart admits heated pregame speech wasn’t before College Football Championship
Ryne Dennis
Kirby Smart set the record straight on a NBA on TNT podcast Friday night about a fiery pregame speech that many believed was before Monday’s 65-7 romping of TCU in the CFP Championship game. Smart’s not so safe for work speech dropped numerous expletives and he told the team that it had prepared for 365 days for the moment. Well, as motivating as the speech was, Smart told TNT’s Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley that the speech “was leaked from a previous game.” When asked by others which game it was, Smart replied “I’m not even sure because they all sound like that.”
Athens Banner-Herald
Toasting the champs: Georgia football basks in another national title parade, celebration
Marc Weiszer
This salute to the champions is beginning to become wonderfully familiar for Georgia football fans. Five days after the Bulldogs brought home their second straight national title, they lined a parade route from Pinecrest down S. Lumpkin Street to Baxter Street to do it again. Fans continued their celebration from Monday night on a blustery day with temperatures in the 40s and winds blowing at up to 12 miles per hour. Georgia coach Kirby Smart and wife Mary Beth rode in the back of a BMW convertible with son Andrew, waving to fans on both sides on their way to a Sanford Stadium celebration.
Athens Banner-Herald
‘Them Dawgs is Hell’. Stetson Bennett sweater the talk of Georgia football title parade
Ryne Dennis
Georgia football quarterback Stetson Bennett wore a unique sweater while riding in the back of a convertible on Saturday. The two-time champion’s red crewneck read ‘Them Dawgs is Hell’ as he waved to fans along the Lumpkin Street parade route. Bennett’s UGA football career has come to a close. The 25-year-old is a Bulldog legend for leading Georgia to back-to-back national titles, its first titles since the 1980 season.
Athens Banner-Herald
Photos: Georgia celebrates back-to-back National Championships at parade in Athens
44 PHOTOS
Athens Banner-Herald
Former Georgia football tight end Arthur Lynch’s case resolved in Tennessee court
Marc Weiszer
Former Georgia football tight end Arthur Lynch reached a plea deal Friday in a Hamilton (Tenn.) County Criminal Court from an incident in April 2021 in Chattanooga. Lynch entered a guilty plea for a charge of misdemeanor simple assault after police alleged last year that he engaged in sexual contact without the consent of the victim. Lynch was initially charged last March with two counts of felony sexual battery, but one of those charges was dismissed and he reached a plea deal on the lesser charge of assault.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia lawmakers begin work on Kemp’s $32.5 billion budget this week
By James Salzer
This is called “budget week” at the state Capitol and with good reason: The Legislature all but shuts down while Appropriations committees start work reviewing Gov. Brian Kemp’s $32.5 billion spending proposal for the upcoming year. It’s an annual event the week after a legislative session begins, where agency leaders go before lawmakers and essentially list all the additions and subtractions to their department budgets in the governor’s written proposals that legislators already have a copy of in front of them. Some legislator then publicly tells the department head how much they appreciate all the hard work that particular agency does. A few other lawmakers might ask questions, and then it’s on to the next department head, and the process is repeated. For three days. It’s more sausage making than prime-time TV drama.
See also:
Marietta Daily Journal
Kemp proposes record $32.5 billion state budget
InsiderAdvantage
Legislators get to work on budgets
by Cindy Morley
After a week of festivities and celebrations, Georgia lawmakers will get down to the basics this week as they take on the task of creating the FY 24 budget and looking at mid-year recommendations for the Amended FY23 budget. They will be off today in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, but return to the Capitol Tuesday for four days of budget hearings. Legislators will be considering the recommendations made by Governor Brian Kemp in his budget address Friday. Many of Kemp’s recommendations center around public education, including a proposal for providing $303 million to fund a $2,000 pay raise for teachers and other certified staff.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
36% of higher ed supervisors are looking for other work, study finds
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
Over a third of higher education supervisors, 36%, are likely to look for a new job in the next year, according to a new survey from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, CUPA-HR. And only 40% said they were interested in finding employment opportunities at their current institution. Almost three-fourths of supervisors said the job expectations heaped upon them increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just over half of non-supervisors said the same. The strongest predictor of retention was whether supervisors felt they had resources and support in their role. But only 59% of supervisors indicated they receive such support, the survey found.
Inside Higher Ed
Court Rejects Suit Challenging Title IX Exemptions
By Scott Jaschik
A federal district court last week rejected a suit challenging the right of the Education Department to grant exemptions, as required by federal law, to some religious colleges from certain provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. A group of LGBTQ students and former students at religious colleges sued over the exemption. The students said they were expelled or otherwise discriminated against by the colleges. Under Title IX, if a college is “controlled by a religious organization” with “religious tenets” inconsistent with the application of Title IX, the Education Department may grant the exemption. Judge Ann Aiken did not dispute that religious colleges with the exemption can and do discriminate against LGBTQ students.
Inside Higher Ed
Report: Can CRMs Help HBCUs Support Students?
By Sara Weissman
A new report, released today, suggests using a customer service management system, or CRM, can help historically Black colleges and universities better serve students. The majority of companies with at least 10 employees use a CRM, a software system to manage communication with customers, but fewer than half of colleges and universities use one, according to the report. The report describes the progress of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Digital Transformation initiative, or HBCU Dx, a project in which a group of HBCUs employed one of two CRM models with help from the Partnership for Education Advancement, an organization focused on advancing social mobility among HBCU students. Whiteboard Advisors, a consulting firm, was commissioned by the organization to produce the report, which evaluates the project through interviews with staff members at six of the HBCUs.
Inside Higher Ed
Northwestern Graduate Assistants Form Union
By Colleen Flaherty
Graduate assistants at Northwestern University voted last week to form a union, 1,644 to 114. Some 2,893 assistants were eligible to vote. The new union is affiliated with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Kathleen Hagerty, provost, and Kelly Mayo, graduate school dean, said in a statement, “We thank the voters for casting ballots and respect their decision. We look forward to beginning the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement that works for both the University and graduate students within the bargaining unit.”
Inside Higher Ed
Indiana U Student Assaulted for Being Asian
By Scott Jaschik
A student at Indiana University at Bloomington was stabbed several times in the head last week while riding a local bus, NPR reported. The suspect, who is 56, told police she stabbed the victim because she was “Chinese,” adding that she “would be one less person to blow up our country,” according to an affidavit shared with NPR.