Spring Break
Proposal approved for $60K sculpture
MIMI ENSLEY
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
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The Alumni Association has committed $60,000 of private funds to erect a bronze representation of the University's first president, said Tom Landrum, senior vice president for external affairs.
But the donation will not detract from the association's other forms of giving - such as scholarship support, Landrum said.
"They would not diminish their effort in this regard," he said. "This would be above and beyond what they are already doing."
He also addressed the importance of having such a structure on campus.
"I do believe that anything you can do to provide connection with the institution that will endure past the days that a student stays on campus is one other way to keep them forever linked to their alma mater," Landrum said.
Loch Johnson, an international affairs professor, proposed constructing the statue after he was inspired by similar structures on campuses like Yale and Harvard.
"They add substantially to a sense of history and tradition at those universities," Johnson said, "just as a statue of Abraham Baldwin would do here."
Baldwin was elected president of the University in 1785. He also served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Kinzey Branham, a member of the art department faculty, will be the sculptor for the project.
But Johnson was particular about the direction Baldwin would face when he finally appeared at the south end of the President's garden - the University's founder will face away from the "89 bars and a strip joint" downtown, he said.
"In an act of bold leadership, Baldwin will stand with his back to those distractions and will look toward the centers of learning - the main library, the Miller Learning Center and the labs on South Campus," Johnson said.
After a long process of getting the statue approved, Johnson said he was pleased with the council's decision. The proposal passed through both the facilities committee and the executive committee with unanimous support.
"I'm ecstatic," Johnson said. "We've been working on this for a long time, so I'm very pleased."
