UGA President urges students to give back and serve their communities

TIFTON — University of Georgia President Jere Morehead has strong ties to the university and the state, so when he addressed the Tifton Rotary Club Wednesday, he was familiar with his audience.

“First, I’d like to say that my talk will have little to do with athletics, but I won’t mind talking about football after the program,” Morehead told the crowd. “I would like to say that we received more than 21,000 applications over the past year, which is a new record for us. There is no doubt that we will have some very capable students coming into our university. We also ranked in the Top 10 of Kiplinger’s Best Public College Values, meaning our students are getting some bang for their buck, and we are proud of that.”

Morehead, who became UGA’s 22nd president after replacing Michael Adams in July, then did something rare for an educator recently — he praised Gov. Nathan Deal and the state Legislature.

“We were delighted that Gov. Deal included $44.7 million in funding for a new science learning center in the state budget. That new facility, which should be open in 2016, will help move us forward,” Morehead said. “Locally, the governor also included $11.5 million for the development of a new turf grass research facility here at our Tifton Campus, and we are also adding new faculty and staff.

“Basically it was the best year we’ve seen out of the General Assembly in a long time.”

Morehead pointed out that the university’s Tifton Campus brings advanced degrees from the state’s flagship university closer to home for many in south Georgia, the hub of the state’s No. 1, multibillion dollar, diverse agricultural industry.

He then reached out to the gathered Rotarians.

“We want to teach our students to give back and serve their communities, to look outward instead of inward. And you are what we’d like our students to become,” Morehead said. “Our university’s singular obligation is to the state. Our obligation is to serve and make Georgia a better place in which to live. It is a special obligation — especially when it comes to agriculture. Tifton is critical to this state in that regard.”

Morehead added that UGA has recently formed an economic development office to assist new business in the state.

“Right now the office is small, but the idea is to bring our faculty into the work of new businesses in Georgia,” Morehead said. “We want to see more faculty involvement in work that is important to the people of this state. We are all inextricably intertwined. It’s important because all of the work being done at the state’s flagship institution is having a direct impact on the people of Georgia.”