Media release: Georgia Highlands College officially dedicated the James D. Maddox Heritage Hall on Thursday evening at a celebration reception. The building at the corner of Third Avenue and Glenn Milner Boulevard was named for the late James Dickson Maddox, the college's founder, at a gala last November celebrating the college's 40th anniversary. Members of the Maddox family attending the ceremony included Rebecca Maddox, J.D. Maddox's daughter who also serves as the interim director of the nursing program at Heritage Hall; Frank Maddox, son of the honoree, and his wife Glenda of Falls Church, Virginia; cousins Clara Rogers and Nancy Johnson, and Johnson's husband William; Mrs. John W. Maddox; and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Wall. Belen Nora, the first director of nursing at GHC, also attended.
A plaque honoring Maddox's service to the college was unveiled, and will be displayed in the front entrance hall inside the building. Rebecca Maddox spoke for the family, as she said, "With the renaming of Heritage Hall, there are only three named buildings on the Floyd campus. The other two are named after David B. McCorkle the college's first president, and Wesley C. Walraven the college's founding dean and vice president of academic affairs. My father was proud to call each of these two outstanding gentlemen friends. He would find it very humbling to now have a building named after him. He would be the first to tell you that the success of the college has more to do with the first administrators, faculty and staff of the college than with anything he accomplished."
Following the unveiling, John Southwood, chief advancement officer, announced the successful completion of the Legacy major gifts campaign. "We started Legacy with an ambitious goal of $5 million and finished with more than $5.6 million raised," he said. "We hoped we'd be able to fund the scholarships our students so badly need, to provide funds for professional development, which is so important in academia, and to fund student success centers that offer tutoring and other services. I'm pleased to say that we have been successful in all these areas. We have created 30 new scholarships and have funds on hand to support a variety of professional development activities for both faculty and staff. Additionally, we have monies pledged to support our student success centers. Beyond those goals, however, we have received wonderful support for our nursing program. With generous donations from our health care partners we have been able to establish a simulation lab with computerized mannequins that can be programmed to respond to clinical situations in a realistic manner. We have also added new classrooms, labs and needed nursing faculty with this funding, and have received critical financial help with the start-up of our new B.S.N. degree."
In May, Georgia Highlands received approval from the Board of Regents for a sector change from a two-year college to a limited-mission four-year institution – or state college. Nursing is the first baccalaureate degree the college will be offering. National and state studies show that there will be a severe nursing shortage by 2020. Most hospitals and other health care facilities prefer registered nurses who have bachelors' degrees rather than associate's, so the new B.S.N. fills a critical need.
The ceremonies were concluded with a champagne toast given by Regent Willis Potts, who toasted the past, present and future successes of the college.
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