Excitement is at a fever pitch on campus.  Tomorrow our #1 rated Bulldogs kick off a new season against Ga. Southern.  But today the UGA Alumni Association gets things rolling with our annual preseason celebration known as First Friday.  Coach Mark Richt addresses a group of alumni faithful at breakfast this morning.  His wife, Katharyn, and other coaches’ wives will host a First Ladies of Football lunch before the scene shifts to the Tate Center plaza at 2 p.m. where there will be fun for all ages.  Men’s basketball coach Dennis Felton and Lady Dogs coach Andy Landers will be on hand for autographs and pictures.  We’ll host a book signing at the UGA Bookstore featuring well known authors and Bulldog greats from the past.  First Friday culminates with a pep rally from 8-9 p.m. to be broadcast live on Atlanta’s CBS 46.  I invite you and your family to join us for all the First Friday fun.  Go Dogs!

1966 College of Vet Med grad Dr. Larry Corry has been named president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association.  He was elected by the 76,000-member organization at its annual meeting earlier in New Orleans.  To say he’s active in vet circles is an understatement.  In 1977, Larry was among a group of vets who started the state’s first vet emergency clinic and currently has interest in two such clinics now, all while running two animal hospitals of his own.  Please join me in congratulating Larry.

UGA’s presence in Gwinnett County continues to be seen.  This afternoon President Adams and Board of Regents chair Richard Tucker ‘72 will be among the speakers at a 4:30 dedication of the UGA Gwinnett Campus located just off I-85 at the Old Peachtree Road exit.  We’ve had UGA programs offered in Gwinnett County since the mid-1980s but this facility puts it all under one 60,000 square foot roof.  The center will offer master’s degrees from several UGA schools and colleges including the Terry College, SPIA, Social Work, and Agriculture.  The College of Education now offers a doctoral program there.  The Lawrenceville campus will offer continuing education programs as well.  In addition to the Gwinnett location, UGA has extended campuses in Griffin and Tifton.

We are pleased to join the College of Environment and Design in welcoming its new dean to UGA.  Dan Nadenicek comes to us from Clemson where he chaired the Department of Landscape Architecture.  CED faculty and students of Project Riverway are sponsoring a reception today from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in Caldwell Hall’s Circle Gallery.  Project Riverway is a three-year service learning course designed to develop life-improvement plans along the Chattahoochee, Flint and Apalachicola rivers.  Dean Nadenicek will oversee a program of nearly 600 graduate and undergraduate students. 

Gov. Sonny Perdue has named Shaw Blackmon III, ‘96 BBA, an at-large representative to the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia.  Shaw currently serves as president and CEO of National Bank Products in Warner Robins and is vice chairman of the WR Chamber of Commerce.  As if he weren’t busy enough, Shaw finds the time to be on the boards of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, Sunmark Bank, the Museum of Aviation and the Houston County Heritage Foundation.  While in Athens, Shaw lettered all four years on UGA’s golf team.

The Benson name has strong ties to Athens as well as to the University of Georgia.  Many of us know about Benson’s Bakery and its signature fruit cakes.  Others may know that the Benson family owns and operates three local hotel chains.  But what you may not know is that the Benson’s will donate $1 to the Athens Area Community Foundation for every night one of its rooms is rented during UGA home football games.  Motel Enterprises President Will Benson (BBA ‘03) says the company’s investment will be, at least, $10,000 per year for a minimum of five years and will fund economic development and job training.  Will, his brother Reese, and their father, Larry (BBA ‘74) are encouraging thier hotel guests to participate as well.  Motel Enterprises is comprised of the Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Hilton Garden Inn.

I am so excited that three wonderful alums are being honored by UGA.  Former Georgia Governors Zell Miller ‘57, ‘58, Joe Frank Harris ‘58 and the late Ernest Vandiver ‘40, ‘42 will each have campus buildings named in their honor.  The Board of Regents has approved a residence hall in the East Campus Village to be named the S. Ernest Vandiver Hall; the East Village Commons dining facility becomes the Joe Frank Harris Commons, and the Student Learning Center, located near Sanford Stadium, will now be known as the Zell B. Miller Student Learning Center.  I can’t think of three greater leaders of our state to be honored in this manner.  UGA Provost Arnett Mace said in a news release annoucing the name changes that these men “recognized UGA’s role in providing educational leadership for Georgia and they worked to ensure that the university received state resources and assistance to carry out this mission.”      

Alumni, friends, faculty and staff raised more than $650 million in the University’s seven-year Archway to Excellence fundraising effort that ended June 30.  The campaign began in 2001 with a target of $500 million but more than 100,000 contributors helped reach this goal 15 months ago.  President Adams said in a news release that this campaign’s success showed strong support for the state’s flagship university.  Click here for more information about giving to UGA.

With regard to the Alumni Association, our membership increased more than 16% in FY 07-08 over last year with member numbers now approaching 30,000.  We sincerely appreciate all you do for us and for UGA.  To join the UGA Alumni Association or for more information about us please click here.

The UGA Career Center is hosting its 7th annual Student Employment Fair this Friday Aug. 22 on campus at the Ramsey Student Center.  With more than 1,000 students expected to attend the free event, this is a great opportunity for local businesses and organizations to recruit and hire our bright UGA students for parttime positions.  Click here for more information about the job fair.

Since I mention student employment, I want to let you know that we have a partnership with the UGA Career Center.  It’s through this collaboration that we jointly house a career counselor in our Atlanta Alumni office.  The director of our Alumni Career effort is Nicole Lechene (nlechene@uga.edu).  If you’re a young alum looking for that first job or someone who’s been out of school a while and considering a possible career change, Nicole can help out.   

The new academic year is upon with the start of classes today.  I can’t think of a better place to be than in Athens on the University of Georgia campus!  More than 30,000 students will be hustling from one end of the campus to the other.  About 4,800 of those will be freshmen trying to find the right bus routes and classrooms.  Speaking of the class of 2012, they bring with them a high school grade point average of 3.8 and an SAT average of 1253.  This class also is the most diverse in school history with a 16 percent rise in the African-American population and a 47 percent increase in Hispanic students from 2007.

You may not know that the UGA Alumni Association has an outlet for students with our Student Alumni Association which has nearly 3,000 members.  During orientation over the summer we signed up some 500 freshmen into our SAA and will keep them engaged with various members-only activities.  Last football season our “BEAT” t-shirts were a big hit.   There’s no better way to stay involved on campus than to be in the SAA.  If you’d like to purchase a membership for a student or for more information about our Student Alumni Association, please contact Assistant Director of Membership – Student and Young Alumni Programs Julie Cheney ‘99 or call 706-542-2251.