News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5051 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE April 28, 2009

Andrea Willis will retire after 35 years at ABAC on June 1.  During that time she has served as a faculty member, division chair, and director of the Fabulous Golddusters dance team.  She has also taught many line dancing classes like this one in Gressette Gym. 

WILLIS TO RETIRE AFTER 35 YEARS AT ABAC

TIFTON—After serving as a faculty member, academic division chair, and director of the popular dance team, Andrea Willis will retire on June 1 after 35 years from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Willis, a Brunswick native, began her career as an ABAC faculty member fresh out of college in 1974. She received her Associate of Science degree from Brunswick Junior College and then transferred to Georgia Southern College (now Georgia Southern University), attaining her bachelor’s degree in Education in 1973 and her master’s degree in Science for Teachers in 1974.

“When I got the position at ABAC I was a city girl,” Willis said. “I had never been around cows and hay, and I didn’t know what a tractor pull was. It was a true learning experience, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.”

She was recruited to choreograph for the ABAC Golddusters’ dance team her very first year at the college. She had a workload of nine classes on top of her role as choreographer and director of the troupe.

“That was my first time choreographing or directing anything, even though I had been dancing since I was three years old,” said Willis.

The memories she has of the 26 years she spent as the Golddusters’ director are some of her most precious.

“I have loads of memories of the Golddusters because I was straight out of college, and they were around my age,” Willis said. “That first year was a little rough because I was brought in and replaced a secretary who had actually started the squad. Several of the coeds returning still had an allegiance to their first director; so I had to prove myself to them. It was an interesting but productive year for us all.”

When Dr. Stanley Anderson took over as president of the college in 1975, he wanted the Golddusters to recruit and travel to promote ABAC.

“We would travel three and four times a week to do shows,” Willis said. “It was exhausting but so much fun.”

She still gets Christmas cards from girls she taught 15 years ago and some of her charges have followed in her footsteps, coaching cheerleading, color guards and dance teams.

“They will call me to ask for advice or for copies of old routines,” said Willis.

Just this year Willis was surprised with a Golddusters’ reunion during the college’s Celebrate ABAC festivities.

“That was wonderful, and I couldn’t believe how many showed up,” Willis said. “For us to be the caliber we were, I had to work them long hours and keep my expectations high. You never know how they accept you pushing them so hard.

“Not too long into my tenure, I had to dismiss a young lady from the squad for insubordination. She left on a bad note, and I never expected to see or hear from her again. About ten years later, she came to homecoming, looked me up, and thanked me for dismissing her. She said it had made a huge difference in her life and had contributed to her success in her chosen career, which happened to be working with young people.”

Not only was Willis director of the Golddusters, but she also choreographed the first 10 ABAC Beauty Revues before becoming director of the Ms. ABAC event for 31 years. She has served as advisor to the Student Government Association for the last three years and as division chair for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation for nine years.

Willis has seen a lot of changes in her time at ABAC. She recalls when the girls’ dormitory was being constructed where ABAC Place now stands, the Field Days the campus used to have where by the end of the day, many faculty and staff had been thrown into Lake Baldwin, and the student who decided to streak one day and ran straight into a tree, passing out.

In all her years at ABAC, there is one thing Willis knows for sure.

“When we are educating them, they are educating us,” Willis said. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t learn something from my students. Being in the field of education, you are constantly learning and that is why I love it.

“Though I'm retiring from ABAC, I was raised by workaholic parents,” Willis said. “I hope to find a job working with people in a health care setting, possibly patient education because my many years teaching health and wellness brought about a passion for the field.”

Willis and her husband, Vernon, a building contractor and real estate agent, have been married for 27 years. They have two children, Hallie, a student at Emory University getting her Master’s degree in Public Health Policy; and Paten, who is graduating in May from ABAC, and will be attending the Medical College of Georgia, majoring in Occupational Therapy.

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