March 2000: Vol. 79, No. 2March 2000: Vol. 79, No. 2 |
 ENDOWED CHAIR HONORS HOLMES  The University will create an endowed faculty position to honor the late Hamilton Holmes (BS '63), who integrated UGA in 1961 along with classmate Charlayne Hunter-Gault (ABJ '63). Holmes went on to become a senior vice president for medical affairs at Grady Hospital and associate dean of the Emory School of Medicine. When he died in 1995, following heart surgery, Dr. Holmes was a trustee of the UGA Foundation, and he and Hunter-Gault (see photo at left) had been honored with a lecture in their names. The new Holmes chair in the College of Arts and Sciences was announced by Holmes' son, Hamilton E. (Chip) Jr. (BBA '90) at the annual Holmes-Hunter Lecture in November. The Holmes family has made a $30,000 gift towards endowing the chair which, according to A&S dean Wyatt Anderson, will not be restricted to a specific department or discipline. TRAFFIC: AN ECONOMIC PROBLEM FOR ATLANTA  Speaking to an audience of 1,000 at UGA's annual economic outlook luncheon in Atlanta, business college dean George Benson predicted that "recent growth here in Georgia—such as traffic congestion—will cause some weakening of Georgia's very robust expansion."
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In his State of the University address, delivered on Jan. 12 in the Chapel, President Michael F. Adams focused on three "timeless principles" that he believes have molded UGA into one of the "best public universities in the country" over the past 100 years and will continue to be the foundation for the future.
 President Adams believes that the three guiding principles found on the state seal—wisdom, justice, and moderation—are the foundation for UGA's future. |
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Teaching is at the core
While UGA may change in many ways over the next century, "What will not change," said Adams, "is what is at the very core of what we do: Teaching young people to be discriminating thinkers, teaching them with wisdom so they may pursue and attain wisdom."
In the Information Age, that means equipping students to evaluate data and discern its value, said Adams. But it goes beyond the ability to analyze facts and make good decisions. "Wisdom must also be reflected in the way we live our lives," he said. "Our students need an understanding of and appreciation for people who are different from them. Not in a competitive or comparative way that results in one culture or set of traditions being valued over another, but in a way that recognizes ignorance can breed fear, which can breed hatred, which can breed violence."
Repeating a theme he has often focused on since arriving at UGA in fall 1997, Adams called for increasing the number of students who spend at least one semester studying outside the U.S. to create "a self-sustaining culture of internationalization."
Noting also that the state of Georgia is rapidly becoming more multi-racial and multi-ethnic, Adams set his remarks about justice in the context of his Sept. 30 announcement that the University would continue to use race as one of several factors in making some admissions decisions.
Justice mandates diversity
"Justice compels us to help this state find a way to serve all its people educationally," he said. "And justice compels us to act in a way that maintains our standards and ideals while offering a chance that otherwise would not be offered." In a world where students will be working and socializing with people of all backgrounds," Adams said. "We have a responsibility to prepare them for those experiences. One of the ways we are doing that is to try to develop a diverse student body."
On the subject of moderation, Adams urged a sense of balance in personal conduct and public life. "Collegiality and cooperation, cherished principles of the academic environment, are just as important in the off-campus world," he said. Institutionally, the principle of moderation means recognizing that the University cannot be all things to all people, but must choose areas of focus on which to build its national and international reputation. That focus is being developed through an exhaustive strategic planning process underway on campus for nearly a year.
In the meantime, planning discussions also continue on possible new schools or institutes that may grow from proposals Adams made or endorsed in last year's State of the University address. They include a School of Public and International Affairs, a College of the Environment, a New Media Institute, and a college or institute focused on the arts.
Judge says lawsuit is no class action
Federal District Court Judge B. Avant Edenfield ruled on Feb. 10 that a lawsuit challenging UGA's admissions policies is no longer a class action.
Judge Edenfield also denied the plaintiffs' motion for an injunction that would have halted the current admissions process and affirmed a previous ruling that the plaintiffs cannot pursue damages from UGA president Michael F. Adams and Chancellor Stephen Portch personally.
The judge kept intact the reverse discrimination claims raised by four white female plaintiffs, all of whom were denied admission to the fall 1999 freshman class.
Korean leaders here for historic meeting
Han Park, director of UGA's Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS) and frequent Korean mediation point man, had every right to be proud.
For nearly two years, Park had hoped to attract a delegation of top North Korean advisors to a symposium at UGA—with the goal of bringing one of the world's most isolated countries into an exchange of ideas at an American university.
The fit between UGA and North Korea is a natural one, according to Park. "UGA is at the forefront with negotiations and relations with North Korea," he says. "We are the only U.S. institution represented in North Korea and we're actively trying to cross boundaries."
The symposium was finally held Nov. 29-30 in four segments, three of which were closed to the press and the public because the North Korean delegation—led by Kim Hyong U, former North Korean ambassador to the U.N.—was uncomfortable with reporters covering the sessions.
"For the last three to four years, North Korea has really struggled because they have been quite detached from the rest of the world," says Park, a Korean-American who was born in China. "They have become more sophisticated, but they still cling to the party line. They are still far apart in terms of their belief system."
But by coming to the U.S., the North Koreans show their willingness to expand boundaries of understanding. "And clearly, they would also like to enhance their own prosperity," says Park, who has visited North Korea more than 30 times. They know that the U.S. has influence over world trade, and they would like the U.S. to lift trade embargoes."
North Korea has shared the Korean peninsula with South Korea since the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. The border is regarded as one of the most volatile in the world, with nearly two million soldiers, including U.S. troops, affixed to the line. Because of such territorial zeal, Park saw the UGA talks as a significant and positive step.
"People came together to share advice and help insure safety in far-ranging issues from the economy to nuclear warfare. This was the main point of the symposium: to open lines of communications so that the North Koreans can be engaged. With engagement, people will seem less foreign."
Among those in attendance were John Merrill, former analyst with the U.S. State Department, and former American ambassadors to South Korea Donald Gregg and James Laney.
"I've waited 52 years for this moment," said Laney.
While on campus, the North Koreans also spent time with UGA's international agriculture department. They were impressed with the sophistication of UGA's agricultural genetics—especially its work with potatoes, which could help feed the North Korean people.
McGill lecturer pays tribute to crusader
"20/20" correspondent Deborah Roberts (ABJ '82) said she was honored to be back at UGA in November to deliver the Ralph McGill Lecture because the famed Atlanta newspaper man and human rights crusader touched her life.
"I grew up in Perry, Ga., and attended segregated classrooms," said Roberts, "and I'm proud to honor a man who paved the way for me to be here and graduate from UGA. He helped reshape the world to include a face like mine."
Roberts expressed concern over the obvious "tabloidization" of TV program content. Ratings are to blame, she said, along with the fact that, because of cable and satellite, viewers have so many more choices than ever before.
Princeton physics professor Freeman Dyson describes himself as "obsessed with the future." His Nov. 9 Charter Lecture was entitled "Gravity Is Cool: Or, Why Our Universe Is Hospitable to Life."
AJC editorial page editor Cynthia Tucker delivered the Holmes-Hunter Lecture Nov. 11 in Georgia Hall.