Campaigning on Campus

The 2008 A DAY for West Georgia campaign is commemorating the 26th anniversary of the event on campus with two familiar faces as crusaders, Police Chief Tom Mackel, and Dr. Mary Hooper, assistant professor of Educational Leadership and Professional Studies.

As campus chair, Mackel is rallying fellow co-workers to donate to the scholarship fun.

The 2008 A DAY for West Georgia campus chair, Tom Mackel, and co-chair, Dr. Mary A. Hooper, are excited to be heading up this year’s campaign, which is celebrating its 26th anniversary with the theme, “Fulfilling the Vision.”

“The faculty know that there are students out there that are struggling,” said Mackel. “A lot of the time people expect HOPE to cover things, but it can’t cover everything.  The vast majority of our students have costs that surpass tuition.”

So far, the total for this year is more than $730,000.

Hooper said she was pleasantly surprised at the positive response from faculty and staff.

“They just want to know what it’s about," said Hooper. “Once they know what it’s about, and they know that the money goes to support students, they are very responsive.”

The A DAY campaign is a collaboration of events that raises money primarily for student scholarships, faculty and staff development, and undergraduate research. Begun in 1983 and traditionally held on the third Thursday in October, the A DAY campaign continues to be an integral part of the university’s Annual Fund.

Here are a few comments from Mackel and Hooper:

Mary Hooper:

“I attend community events and have the chance to talk from a faculty perspective,” said Hooper. “I know a student who did his undergraduate work at West Georgia, and he shared with me what getting a scholarship meant to him – it meant the difference between being in school and having to work full time. Knowing things from the faculty perspective made this more real, it made it matter more.”

Tom Mackel:

“For three years, faculty and staff have raised $100,000 and more, and that’s three years where there have been little or no pay raises. We’ve still come through and we should be proud of that.

“It doesn’t go to just five or six scholars. It goes to a wide variety of students. We had a student last year who was awarded a scholarship to go to Mexico – she finished her studies there and now she’s a teacher at one of the community schools. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount, even a little bit helps.

“When these students grow and become West Georgia graduates, it’s the best advertisement for the school. A lot of times, when you assess a college, you assess their sports teams, like basketball and football. We have great sports teams, but the more qualified we make our students is our best advertisement.”

Two more opportunities to participate in the A DAY campaign for students are the annual Run for A DAY event on Thursday, Oct. 2, and the A DAY Music Faculty Concert on Monday, Oct. 13. Pre-registration for the FNBG A DAY Run will continue online through Sept. 30.

For more information on A DAY or to volunteer or contribute, call 678-839-6582.

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