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Oglethorpe Realty Changes: President
Moves to Lanier House, Alumni to Gain Center
Atlanta – The Executive Committee of the board of trustees
of Oglethorpe University resolved yesterday to convert the former
President’s House on Windsor Parkway into an alumni center and guest
quarters. The facility became available after trustee Smith Lanier
donated the money to buy a new president’s house on Mabry Lane. The
alumni center, which was made possible by a donation from trustee
O.K. Sheffield ’53, has three stories with rooms sufficient for
meetings, conferences and entertainment.
“I’ve always dreamed of bridging the Oglethorpe communities
together and I think that this center will accommodate everything
from lodging guest speakers and important candidates to serving as a
meeting place for student organizations like OSA and IFC,” said
Sheffield, who was elected to the board of trustees in 1997.
Oglethorpe University President Larry D. Large worked with
Sheffield to move the idea through the Buildings and Grounds
Committee and the board of trustees to secure approval. “I’m
delighted with the prospect of making important and effective use of
this building,” Large said. “Oglethorpe has long needed a facility
for its alumni. I’m deeply grateful to O.K. for his leadership
financially and as a member of the board. Without O.K.’s commitment,
this would not have been possible.”
Sheffield came up with the idea to house the alumni center and
guest quarters in the same facility after seeing Smith College’s
alumni house while visiting former provost Tony Caprio. “I thought
that it was a great idea to incorporate the two. Our guests will
most likely be more comfortable and have a better opinion of
Oglethorpe.”
Another intention of the center will be to recruit active alumni
members while they are still students, according to Sheffield. “The
center should be a success because many of the students are still
familiar with the former president’s house and are apt to become
involved more easily. Students will become accustomed to visiting so
they will know what it is like to be an alumni.”
Initially, the center will house the positions of director of
alumni relations, assistant to the director of alumni relations and
the new position of alumni services coordinator funded by The Teagle
Foundation grant, according to Director of Alumni Relations Amy
Zickus.
“I am very excited about the alumni center. I think it will have
a profound impact on the ability to program alumni. It will keep
Oglethorpe alumni connected and serve as a place where they feel
welcome,” said Zickus.
In addition to offices, the center will house meeting rooms for
faculty, student groups and staff, there may even be a quiet study
room for students.
“We want the students to see the center while they are here so
they know that there will be a place for them when they want to come
back and visit. I heard that at other universities, many alumni feel
‘orphanized’ and I don’t want that to be the case at Oglethorpe,”
said Zickus.
While plans are coming along to transform the old president’s
house into an alumni center, Large and his wife, Marsha, are
settling into a new home. The new president’s house was purchased by
the university on February 29, 2000 with funds donated by Lanier and
his wife Elizabeth, who wanted to honor four family members who
graduated from Oglethorpe: daughter Edith Carol Lanier Hodges ’90
and aunts Sarah Ione Thompson ’27 and Carroll Thompson Sanders ’29,
and Sidney Lanier, 1860. The Lanier House is located at 2702 Mabry
Lane. The white three-story, colonial home sits on top of a hill
near the Capital City Country Club in Brookhaven. With its hardwood
floors and bright walls, the 5,500 square foot house has three
bedrooms, four bathrooms, two dens, a living room, a dining room,
and a study.
The search for the house took over six months. The housing
committee, made up of trustees Warren Jobe, Jack Scalley, Harald
Hansen, Joel Goldberg and Belle Turner Cross ’61, along with John
Knott III and the Larges, searched all houses on the market within
three-to-five miles of campus. “We chose this house because it was
close to campus and it suits the entertainment needs of the
university,” said Knott. The dining room is suitable for dinner
parties up to 30 people and is graced with one of the two fireplaces
in the house. Trustees Yetty Arp ’68 and Belle Turner Cross ’61 are
collaborating with Marsha Large to complete the decorating.
At the last Oglethorpe Student Association meeting, the Larges
surprised the student government officers by driving vanloads of the
students to the house and giving them free range. In a case of
serendipity, the students took all the empty cardboard boxes that
the Larges were eager to get rid of – after all, with graduation
fast approaching, they had their own move to worry about.
Though the house is well suited for the president and university,
some work still is needed. The Larges will use the house to
entertain and cultivate relationships with faculty, students, alumni
and donors as well as community leaders and prospective students and
friends of the university.
Oglethorpe University is an independent, highly selective,
coeducational, liberal arts institution located in Atlanta at 4484
Peachtree Road. Founded in 1835, Oglethorpe University is dedicated
to producing graduates who are broadly educated in the fundamental
fields of knowledge and the basic concepts and principles of their
disciplines. During the 1999-2000 academic year, Oglethorpe enrolled
1,230 students representing 32 states and international students
from 31 countries.
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