TUNITY SCHOLARS will enroll at
Berry College in the fall thanks to the tremendous generosity of Audrey Morgan, a longtime friend of the college and Board of Visitors member who helped launch the Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Program in 2009. Morgan’s most recent gift of $957,934 brings the total number of Gate Scholarships she has created to 27. And her $1 million estate commitment, which she recently increased by more than $200,000, will ultimately add even more Gate Scholarships. Morgan’s total lifetime giving to Berry now stands at more than $6.6 mil lion. Gate Scholarships are especially important today as heavy levels of student loan debt continue to make national headlines. In true Berry fashion, the Gate Program offers highly motivated students the chance to work their way through college with the opportunity to graduate debt free. It is a program Morgan wholeheartedly supports. “I have always believed that there is no better investment for
Georgia school superintendent shares familiar vision for education
our money than in the lives of our young people – to not only help them realize their dreams, but also to be compounded with the difference they make with their lives,” she said. Morgan knows personally the power of such a gift because she worked her way through college with donor assistance. She hopes her Gate Scholars will continue her legacy one day. “We are all so blessed,” she said. “There are so many in this world who do not have the advantages we have. We need to give them a helping hand to have a fair chance in life. After all, what’s life all about? To me, it is all about people.” Along with her gifts for Gate Scholarships, Morgan has also generously supported the Steven J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center.
MARTHA BERRY was very much on the mind of Georgia
State School Superintendent John Barge (88C) during his remarks to educators, alumni and students attending Berry’s fall 2012 Charter Fellows professional development workshop. In his presentation, Barge discussed in detail his blueprint for reforming Georgia’s public schools, dividing the various initiatives into three distinct areas familiar to Berry alumni. “Honestly, Martha Berry understood education better than any human being I’ve ever known,” he said. “We talk about educating the whole child, and a lot of folks have a different definition of what that means. To me, educating the whole child means educating the head, the heart and the hands. “We have focused in public education for a very long time on educating the head,” added Barge, who was elected to statewide office in 2010. “But if we
Future photos of Audrey Morgan (below, center) and her students are going to require a wide angle lens. Her most recent gift creates 10 new Gate Scholarships, bringing the total number to 27.
don’t teach our children how to apply the knowledge that we’re giving them and develop in them the leadership and the character skills to apply those [lessons] with integrity within the workplace and society, we haven’t fully prepared our children to be successful.” Following his presentation, the former STAR Teacher, 2001 Georgia Assistant Principal of the Year, and 2005 recipient of Berry’s Distinguished Achievement Award for alumni was presented with a new honor – the Charter Fellows Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession of Teaching. Joining Barge as a fall 2012 recipient was Green Alan Storey
TEN MORE GATE OF OPPOR
Alan Storey
The gift of opportunity
Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Dara Wakefield. BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2013
7