Michelle Johnston thrives in position as Georgia Southwestern president

AMERICUS — Michelle Johnston points to a Georgia Southwestern State University diploma cover sitting prominently on a shelf behind her desk.

“I ask every staff and faculty member to display a diploma cover somewhere where students can see them,” Johnston, who on June 1, 2024 was named the first female president of Georgia Southwestern, said. “That’s what they’re here for; that’s what we all are here for, to work toward that diploma.”

Johnston, of course, made history when she became GSW’s first female president. And while the 12th Georgia Southwestern president says she proudly claims that title, spend a little time with Johnston and it’s easy to see she is not anyone’s token choice.

“First of all, I’m honored; it is a big deal,” the Mississippi native said during a conversation in her office on the Americus university’s campus. “But it should be pointed out that it is fitting and appropriate for this university to have a female president. Around 65% of the student population at Georgia Southwestern is female, and I think it’s incredibly appropriate for those students to experience strong female leadership.

“When I go into the president’s conference room and see all those portraits of men who have served in this position over the 119 years of this university’s history, I’m humbled and I’m honored. And I truly believe that, going forward, you’re going to see more female portraits, and portraits of a diverse mix of people who’ve held this position.”

Johnston came to Georgia Southwestern with impressive educational bona fides of more than 30 years in the field, including almost a decade as president of the College of Coastal Georgia. She said Georgia Southwestern and Americus seemed like perfect fits for a small-town Mississippi girl who experienced the vitality of growing up in a “college town” surrounding Mississippi State University.

“There was a duality in Starkville, the mix of small-town country life that was also a place of great thinking, lectures, performances,” Johnston said. “That same special sauce is here. Everyone knows someone who has gone to school here, and there is just a great deal of passion for the university in the community.

“There is a sense here that the students want to be prepared to be exceptional. There is the desire to learn, to lead, to excel. And with the examples of alumni like President and Mrs. Carter and Griffin Bell, there is a true sense that graduates can go anywhere, do anything.”

President Jimmy and wife Rosalynn Carter’s influences can be found all over the GSW campus, in programs like the Jimmy Carter Leadership Program and the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, and on campus buildings that bear the first couple’s names. That significant impact is not lost on Johnston.

“The huge impact of their support is felt on this campus every day,” she said. “Their influence attracts students who want to be the country’s next leaders. That huge legacy they left is there all the time; it resonates on the campus, in the community, in our country and in the world.”

Georgia Southwestern’s student body of more than 3,700 reflects a surprising growth on the campus that has students from 21 states and 42 countries. GSW is the fastest-growing of the 26 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia, is recognized as one of the nation’s best educational values, and, perhaps as significant, 84% of the university’s graduates choose to remain in Georgia after graduation, again tops in the University System. And it can’t be overlooked that GSW has had a half-billion-dollar impact on Americus and the surrounding region over the past five years.

When she came on campus in Americus, Johnston quickly hit the ground running, winning over students, faculty and citizens in the community alike with the passion for her mission on constant display. She expanded one of her primary educational initiatives — integrative learning — into the community even as she was preaching it to her faculty and staff on campus.

“I love that we’re not so siloed in our classes,” she said. “Our instructors utilize integrative learning that stretches across disciplines, opening students to concepts they might not have otherwise experienced.

“When I first came here, I reached out to the president of South Georgia Technical College and the superintendent of the local public school system and asked if we could meet, just us, and talk about initiatives that could impact all of our students. What we’re doing is integrating concepts across all levels of education for the betterment of our community.”

Another signature project that Johnston and GSW faculty, staff and students have undertaken is the construction of a home through the local Fuller Center. With one build under their belts, Johnston has reached out to the leaders of Phoebe Sumter Hospital and South Georgia Technical College and they’ve agreed to utilize their staffs and students to complete another build.

“The one thing we’re doing with this build that’s different is that the students who participate will not be excused from their classes,” Johnston said. “That’s what we did before, but I think that’s a vital lesson for them as they prepare for their careers. They need to learn the concept of volunteering is an ‘and’ event. It’s something extra they’re doing, so they need to make sure they can find the time to pitch in without missing out on their classes.”

With her presence stretching all across this quaint southwest Georgia region, the significance of Michelle Johnston being the first female president of Georgia Southwestern State University will fade with time. The world is changing — sometimes more slowly than many would like — and such issues as gender roles are becoming less historic, more the norm. But the hard work, the enthusiasm, the emphasis of moving students toward that all-important diploma that already have become earmarks of Johnston’s tenure, those are the things that will ensure her legacy throughout the next 119 years of the university’s history.