Verner and Ethel Chaffin have had a long love affair with UGA, and their contributions to the law school and the dance department have made them an integral part of the university’s rise to national prominence.

Verner Chaffin, Fuller E. Callaway Professor Emeritus, taught at the law school in 1957-89. “We have both benefited greatly, seeing the growth and the recognition both law and dance have received nationally,” Verner Chaffin said.

“We are excited to be a part of that growth. Our gifts have been a great investment in the future of the state as well as the individuals who have directly benefited. This is such a great university, and we have been associated with it for so long that we feel like it is our extended family.” Ethel Chaffin agreed. She established the Verner E. Chaffin Professorship of Fiduciary Law to honor her husband, and has been supportive of UGA’s Core Concert Dance Company.

“I can’t put into words what these gifts have meant to me personally,” Ethel Chaffin said. “Our gifts to UGA have brought me much more pleasure than I have given. I’m a student of beauty and art and that is what has kept me alive. I believe that art is a necessary part of the human condition.”

The university needs many more like the Chaffins to join in the Archway to Excellence Campaign. A strong endowment is a hallmark of a world-class institution, and it is no secret that UGA seriously lags behind the institutions it aspires to emulate. UGA students and faculty deserve the kind of support that students and faculty at other great institutions enjoy, and to date it has not been provided at the levels required or in line with the abilities of UGA’s support community. These gifts will allow UGA to be opportunistic, weather economic storms, provide flexibility for growth and invigorate programs across the missions of teaching, research and service.

Private gifts are important to UGA and meaningful to donors like the Chaffins. “We both believe in the power of education,” said Ethel Chaffin, a former college dance instructor. “Your education doesn’t just stop after four years in college. You have to be prepared for a lifetime of learning.”