|
|
News |
Michael D. Chason |
IMMEDIATE AUGUST 22, 2006
ALUMNUS CREATES FIRST ACADEMIC MACE FOR ABAC
TIFTON--A piece of
On his first full day as President of ABAC on July 5, Dr. David Bridges called and asked Rucker to come by his office to talk. Somehow Bridges had discovered that Rucker had recently made a presentation gavel for Governor Sonny Perdue from the Georgia Agrirama.
Upon arriving at Bridges’ office, Rucker was commissioned to build an academic mace to be used at official ceremonies of the college. The first ceremony where the mace will be used will be Bridges’ inauguration as the tenth President of the college on Aug. 25 at 11:15 a.m. in Gressette Gym.
While Rucker has been an amateur woodworker for almost 12 years, he has only been turning wooden vessels and bowls for a little over a year. But he could not resist the challenge of creating the mace for his alma mater.
“I wasn’t worried about being able to design and create the mace,” said Rucker. “What was going to be tough was the time frame.”
He had roughly seven weeks to find the wood, get it dried, draw the design, and then create each piece.
“We wanted the wood to have some kind of attachment to ABAC,” said Rucker. “We tried to find a piece of wood from the log cabin, but we hit a dead end.”
Then Rucker turned to a friend and former college roommate Steven Rakestraw (Class of 1989). Rakestraw told him that some Bradford Pear trees had just been cut down a few days earlier near Gaines Hall to make way for another expansion project on campus. However, there was a problem. The trees had already been taken to the county landfill.
Rucker drove to the landfill and tracked down the trees just before they were put in the chipper. He saved the trunk of a pear tree which appeared to be large enough for the project.
“I then took the wood to the Agrirama where they were gracious enough to quarter the log for me on their steam powered saw mill,” he said. “I had to then have the wood dried or risk having the wood warp or possibly split as it dried naturally.”
Omega Flooring Company helped by putting the wood in its kiln and drying it, but Rucker did not get the wood ready to turn until the first of August, just three weeks before the inauguration.
By that time he had already begun the design process. Because he had such a short time span in which to work, he decided to make the mace in stages instead of turning one whole piece.
“I had one big constraint with the wood because it wasn’t big enough for me to make the mace in one whole piece,” Rucker said. “But really, I also wanted to make it in segments because if I screwed something up, I wouldn’t have to rebuild the whole thing.”
His plan turned out to be fortuitous because as he began building the mace, he realized he would have to make changes to the design. Because he made the mace in segments, it was easy to make the changes.
The mace, which is 42 and one-half inches long, was made in four segments, each with its own symbolism and meaning.
The
finial of the mace is crowned in the shape of an acorn, which symbolizes
potential and life. The finial also has three rings representing the motto of
the state of
The ball of the mace contains a medallion, provided by the ABAC Alumni office, which is ABAC’s seal.
The third segment of the mace, right above the staff itself, contains seven bands representing the seven academic divisions at ABAC.
The wood of the staff represents the college’s history, which is rooted in agriculture.
“The wood itself represents ABAC’s history,” said Rucker, “but it can also represent ABAC’s progress, as it was actually cut down to make way for an expansion project on campus.”
Rucker said the
final ring on the base of the mace represents ABAC’s new
With a passion for old woodworking machinery, Rucker made the mace on a 1941 Crescent Machine Company Wood Lathe.
Academic maces stretch back to the 14th century. They combine the look of a scepter for royalty and the battle club of the middle ages. All are individualized with symbolism unique to the educational institution for which they are created. The mace is also a symbol of authority for its institution.
The academic mace is carried by the person leading the procession during academic convocations and graduations and is considered part of the academic regalia used in academic ceremonies.
Rucker graduated from ABAC in 1990 with an Associate Degree in Agriculture. He went on to The University of Georgia to earn a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Degree, majoring in Agronomy, and a Master of Science Degree in Crop Physiology. He is currently employed by The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service where he serves on the University’s Public Service and Outreach faculty as a County Extension Agent.
His
wife, Julie ( ABAC Class of 1990), teaches English at
###