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 8, 2008

ABAC Embarks On Second Century of Service

TIFTON--With its second century of service underway, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) is getting ready for a brand new look with more bachelor’s degrees and the rehabilitation of the original three buildings on the front of the campus.

ABAC began Bachelor of Applied Science degrees in Diversified Agriculture and Turfgrass and Golf Course Management in January. Those degrees are going well, and ABAC President David Bridges has more ideas for the future.

“In our second century, we must continue to move the college forward to become Georgia’s State College of choice,” Bridges said. “A part of that is to develop new degrees which fit with our mission.”

Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) is proving to be a strong partner with ABAC by adding junior and senior level classes in Natural Resource Management and Early Childhood Education on the ABAC campus. GSW also continues to offer upper level classes in management and accounting at ABAC.

In addition to the four-year degrees, ABAC offers 41 transfer programs and 10 career technology programs. Over 3,600 students are enrolled in those programs, both on the Tifton campus and at ABAC on the Square in Moultrie.

In 2007, Washington Monthly 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 type in the United States and Canada.

In the 2008-09 state budget, ABAC is scheduled to receive $6 million in funding toward the rehabilitation of Tift, Lewis, and Herrings halls on the front of the campus. All three buildings were built in 1908 and are currently not in use. 

The first students attended the institution on Feb. 20, 1908 when it was an area high school called the Second District A&M School. The college has spent the past year celebrating its 100^th birthday. 

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.  ABAC is named after Abraham Baldwin, a Georgia signer of the United States Constitution.

ABAC received State College status within the USG in May, 2006. State college status allows ABAC to retain all its two-year programs and add selected bachelor’s degrees.

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 10 countries.  Female students make up 54 per cent of the enrollment.

More than 1,300 students live on campus in apartments, either at the 489-bed ABAC Lakeside, new in 2007, 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 six intercollegiate sports programs including men¹s and women¹s tennis, women¹s fast-pitch softball, baseball, men¹s golf, and women¹s soccer. ABAC has won three national championships in women¹s softball and two national titles in men¹s tennis. 

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 also 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.

In 1987, ABAC expanded its scope to include classes in Moultrie at a

location in the center of downtown called ABAC on the Square. The

Moultrie location has proven to be very popular with nearly 400 students now attending classes. 

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, now the president of Young Harris College, is also an ABAC alumna. 

During the past year ABAC alumni Michael Johns and Thomas “Boo” Weekley have dominated the headlines. Johns was one of the 10 finalists on the American Idol competition, and Weekley, a professional golfer, has won back-to-back tournaments at Hilton Head, S.C., and played for the United States on the victorious Ryder Cup team.

For further information about ABAC, interested persons can visit the ABAC web site at www.abac.edu or call the admissions office at (229) 391-5004.

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