COE to host first doctoral graduate alumni reunion July 15

June 27, 2017

Georgia Southern University’s College of Education (COE) invites all doctoral graduates to an alumni reunion on Saturday, July 15 at 2 p.m. at the Eugene M. Bishop Alumni Center.

This first-ever reunion of the Doctorate of Education alumni will serve to reunite classmates, friends and faculty. A special recognition will be held for the inaugural doctoral cohorts including the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership class of 1996 and the Ed.D. in Curriculum Studies class of 1998. Former and current faculty members of the College as well as University representatives will attend the event to meet and greet alumni.

In 1992, the COE initiated the University’s first doctoral program, the Doctorate of Education, which was also the first doctorate to be offered by an institution located in south Georgia.

Lynn Futch, Ed.D., member of the inaugural doctorate in educational leadership cohort, is spearheading the reunion alongside the College. The idea of a reunion came to Futch as she was cleaning out a room in her house and came across a doctoral notebook.

“So many emotions and memories just flooded me,” she explained. “I noticed the date, and it has been just over 20 years since the first four of us walked across that stage to receive the first Georgia Southern University doctoral hoods. I thought I should put this notebook in the archives because it is a part of history.”

Then, Futch had another idea. Why not reunite?

“We were a scared group of professionals who knew we would have to get through this together,” she said of her doctoral cohort. “We bonded very quickly. We’ve seen and done a lot of things in our professional and personal lives, but we will always have that True Blue bond.”

Futch and College Dean Thomas R. Koballa Jr., Ph.D., quickly agreed that a doctoral reunion was a spectacular idea.

“This reunion is a wonderful opportunity to recognize the two doctoral degree programs [curriculum studies and educational leadership] and to embrace the different beginnings, as each area has a unique story in the history of the College of Education,” said Koballa. “Alumni joining us will have the chance to reconnect with Georgia Southern and reflect on how the institution impacted their lives professionally and personally.”

The reunion is free and open to any alumni who completed an Ed.D. program through the COE.

To register for the reunion, visit http://bit.ly/GSEdDReunion.

Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers 118 degree programs serving 20,673 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.