From the Dean: Thank you!

What an incredible month February of 2020 has been! From the official naming of the College on Feb. 1 to the arrival of our new T-shirts to watching the interior and exterior building modifications unfold to the gala and naming ceremony this week—it has been an honor and a joy to be part of the Mary Frances Early College of Education.

I want to thank everyone who played a part in this historic event. There have been many, many people who helped make all of this possible both behind the scenes and more publicly. There is always a risk of leaving someone out when thanking people, but there are some groups and individuals I would like to thank. Our communications team has done an incredible job with the website, invitations, interior designs, social media, and more. Our development team raised $3 million from 900 donors to endow the Mary Frances Early Scholarship sponsored by the Graduate and Professional Scholars, to endow four Georgia Commitment Scholarships, to upgrade the Mary Frances Early Professorship, to provide additional scholarships for students, and to support DEI work in the College and at the University. Our information technology team live streamed the naming ceremony, assisted with a video compilation, shot a time-lapse video of the letters going up on the outside of the building, and contributed more work behind the scenes. Our custodial crew has done an outstanding job of cleaning up after contractors on the ground and first floors and ensuring that everything was spotless for Monday and Tuesday. Andy Garber has negotiated contracts for interior upgrades, managed facilities crews, and answered countless policy and procedure questions.

The week was dampened by the flooding in Aderhold, but I am grateful for the people who sprang into action Monday night and did whatever needed to be done to get people out of the building safely, unplug electronics, move furniture, and mop up water to minimize damage. Andy Garber, Ralph Knapp, Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett, Michael Wisenbaker, and Angie Jennings, in particular, played a crucial role in controlling damage Monday night. Since then, Freita Strickland, Heather Bailey, Carolyn McNearney, and Andy Garber have worked to relocate classes, faculty, and staff so the College can continue to run smoothly. I appreciate those of you who have been displaced and who have had offices and materials damaged for your flexibility and willingness to pitch in and help move things out of harm’s way and relocate your classes and work spaces. We are still in the drying out process, but we hope to begin putting things back together by next week and to have everyone back in place within a month or so.

Thank you again to everyone who has played a part in creating the Mary Frances Early College of Education. I look forward to the great things we will do together in the future.

Denise A. Spangler