President's Report - Gordon State College

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President’s Report
Smith Hall Rededicated
The “new” Smith Hall on the campus of Gordon State College was
officially dedicated with a ribbon cutting April 20, 2012.
Participating in the ceremony were Gordon President Max
Burns, education division chair Mike Mahan, Byron Smith, Joe Smith,
Rebecca Graham (all descendants of W.B. Smith for whom the building
is named), and Trey Varner, a senior early childhood education
major.
Byron Smith told the crowd of about 100 people that his grandfather,
W.B. Smith, was quite a businessman who at different times
owned a newspaper, a mortuary and a bank as well as other business
ventures. The family is most known for the Barnesville Buggy
Works which was, during its day, the largest in the South.
Smith is among a long list of Gordon graduates. His parents, both
sets of grandparents and he all graduated from the school.
“He loved this school as much as anyone has,” Smith said of
his grandfather.
Smith Hall, built in 1939 as a Works Progress Administration
project, now houses the division of teacher education.
“We are thrilled to offer our education students a state-of-the-art
learning environment that, at the same time, acknowledges Gordon’s
history,” said Mike Mahan, chair of the division.
From 1972 until April 2011, Smith Hall was the home of Gordon’s
nursing program. When the nursing program moved into the
Mike Mahan (left), Max Burns, Byron Smith, Joe Smith,
Rebecca Smith and Trey Varner.
new Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Building, plans got underway
to renovate Smith to accommodate the growing education division –
Gordon’s first four-year degree program.
Administrative offices are on the first floor with four classrooms
and a computer lab on the second floor. Two of the rooms will be set
up to simulate actual classrooms – one for the elementary program
and another for the middle/secondary program.
Classes began in Smith Hall in the 2012 summer semester.
Gordon Military College’s
Premier Nurse
Charlene Johnston Hall gives an approving look at a display honoring
her grandmother Garnett W. Quillian. Nurse Quillian ran the military
college’s infirmary from 1939 to 1969. The display features one
of the original blankets from the infirmary and pages from a “guest
book” that cadets used to record their experiences under Quillian’s
care. Hall donated these and more items which are on display in the
College’s Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Building.