News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE OCTOBER 15, 2007

Georgia's Newest State College is Celebrating a Birthday!

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) began its 100th birthday celebration on March 31, and the celebration will continue through 2008.  With two brand new four-year degrees coming in January and the 489-bed ABAC Lakeside housing complex now open, ABAC has plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Washington Monthly recently named ABAC as one of the top 10 community colleges in America.  In another poll, the ABAC turfgrass program was rated seventh best among all programs of its nature in the United States and Canada.

The 2007 fall term headcount of 3,666 students represents the largest enrollment in the history of ABAC.  The college is located in Tifton, a community which has twice been selected as one of the ³100 best small towns in America.²

ABAC is named after Abraham Baldwin, a Georgia signer of the United States Constitution and the first president of The University of Georgia.  The first students attended the institution in 1908 when it was an area high school called the Second District A&M School

On Feb. 20, 2008, ABAC will feature a First Day Celebration, marking the first day of classes at the A&M School 100 years ago.  A Centennial Concert will be held in the Donaldson Dining Hall.

The name was changed to the South Georgia A&M College in 1925. In 1929, the college changed its name again to the Georgia State College for Men, a four-year school which even featured a football team.  The Rams¹ most famous victory was over the University of Miami by a 13-12 margin in 1931.

The University System of Georgia (USG) was formed in 1933, and the college assumed two-year status and its present title.  Today Abraham Baldwin has 55 different two-year programs of study including nursing, criminal justice, education and many more.

ABAC received State College status within the USG in May, 2006 and will be offering four-year degrees of its own beginning in the spring of 2008. State college status will allow ABAC to retain all its two-year programs and add four-year degrees in diversified agriculture and turfgrass and golf course management.

The Division of Agriculture and Forest Resources is the largest division on campus, featuring such diverse programs as golf club management, wildlife and forestry.  Nursing is the second largest division. Because of its wide range of programs, the college attracts students from 154 Georgia counties, 12 other states and nine countries.  Female students make up 55 per cent of the enrollment.

More than 1,300 students live on campus in apartments, either at the 489-bed ABAC Lakeside or the 835-bed ABAC Place, which opened in 2004.  ABAC Lakeside is designed for freshman students with two students per room in half the units. ABAC Place features a private bedroom for every student.

All units at both locations are fully furnished, and the units at ABAC Place have a full kitchen and living area. ABAC Place and ABAC Lakeside residents also make use of the 10,000-square-foot John Hunt Town Center, which offers a game room, exercise room, computer study area, plasma television, convenience store and meeting room.

Funding for both ABAC Place and ABAC Lakeside was provided by the ABAC Foundation.

ABAC offers nine intercollegiate sports programs including men¹s and women¹s basketball, men¹s and women¹s tennis, women¹s fast-pitch softball, baseball, men¹s golf, women¹s soccer and rodeo. ABAC has won three national championships in women¹s softball and two national titles in men¹s tennis. 

The women¹s soccer team, now in its second year, is playing on a brand new field this season.

Other extracurricular interests for the students include a wide-ranging music program which includes a concert band, jazz band, concert choir and jazz choir.  The college has its own theater troupe called the Baldwin Players.  Other students write for the award-winning student newspaper, The Stallion, or the literary magazine, Pegasus.  ABAC also has its own student radio station, WPLH, and a television studio.

Students at the college choose from 40 two-year transfer programs, which transfer without loss of credit to other units of the University System of Georgia, or from the 15 majors in the career technological program, which are designed to be completed after two years of study.  Persons who want to upgrade their skills or acquire expertise in a particular area of study can enroll in 11 one-year certificate programs.

In 1987, ABAC expanded its scope to include classes in Moultrie at a location in the center of downtown now called ³ABAC on the Square.²   The Moultrie campus has proven to be very popular with nearly 400 students now attending classes

To meet the needs of its students, ABAC has joined with five other members of the University System to offer undergraduate and graduate degree classes leading to bachelor¹s and master¹s degrees without students ever leaving Tifton.  Students take freshman and sophomore level classes from Abraham Baldwin and then junior and senior level classes from the other colleges and universities. Collaboration partners include Valdosta State, Albany State, Macon State, Georgia Southwestern, and the University of Georgia

ABAC’s 421-acre campus includes the 12-acre Lake Baldwin and the 200-acre J.G. Woodroof Farm.  Woodroof was ABAC¹s first president in 1933. The ABAC Foundation owns the 91-acre Forest Lakes Golf Club, which proves a perfect teaching laboratory for students in programs ranging from agricultural equipment technology to sports turf management.

Prominent ABAC alumni include George T. Smith, the only Georgian to serve in all three branches of state government.  He was a former lieutenant governor, Supreme Court justice and Speaker of the House. Former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox is also an ABAC alumna.  Former President Jimmy Carter from nearby Plains enrolled in several short courses offered by the continuing education program at ABAC during his days as a peanut farmer.

For further information about ABAC, interested persons can visit the ABAC web site at www.abac.edu or call the admissions office toll free at 1-800-733-3653.

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