UWG News Item
Contact: UWG Public Relations Office
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
A DAY 2005 Co-Chair
October 3, 2005
CARROLLTON,
GA - Since the inception of the A DAY campaign for the University of West
Georgia, Rocky Lipham has been in the thick of things! Lipham, president
of West Georgia National Bank, is the vice-chair for the annual fundraising
campaign for his alma mater. During the first year of the campaign in
1983, Lipham hit the sidewalks of Carrollton gathering donations to the
A DAY campaign.
“A DAY creates the environment that increases the capacity to attract students who are academically strong and to retain those students,” Lipham said.
Many UWG graduates remain in the community following graduation so attracting the “best and the brightest” to the university often results in keeping the “best and the brightest” right here in Carrollton. The availability of scholarships beyond the HOPE scholarship is what attracts the academically talented students to UWG and A DAY donations fund those scholarships.
Lipham says, “Investing in the lives of University
of West Georgia students will in turn, be an investment in our community.”
As a graduate of the University of West Georgia, Lipham continues his
investment in education. While attending UWG, Lipham noticed there were
students in need of scholarships, during that time the need to fun scholarships
was not widely known. Lipham was pleased that after he graduated the A
DAY campaign was created to increase the awareness of that need.
Lipham is also pleased that through the years the excitement generated by A DAY is still present. He says, “A DAY is such a special day because people like to see red and blue balloons on the mail boxes of donors, volunteers have fun visiting the businesses in the community on A DAY, and most importantly, financial support for students is raised.”
As vice-chair, Lipham’s responsibilities include coordinating
the advanced solicitation drive for the campaign. This aspect of the campaign
allows volunteers to solicit donations from businesses and organizations
prior to the actual A DAY, planned for Oct. 20.
The goal of Lipham and his volunteers is to encourage new participation.
Lipham has asked his volunteers to seek out one new donor who is not affiliated
with the university.
Next year as chair, Lipham would like to carry that goal further and encourage new volunteers that have never participated in A DAY. He feels that the Carrollton community has changed and grown rapidly in the last couple years.
The Advanced Solicitations portion of the A DAY for the University of West Georgia campaign will end Sept. 29 with “A Night for A DAY,” an event held at the Carrollton Cultural Center to recognize the advanced solicitation donors and volunteers.
For more information or to volunteer, contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at 678-839-6582.
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