Deserving of Honors

As a historian, Hew Joiner knows that conspiracy theories don’t usually pan out – but there are exceptions.

In 2002, a group of Bell Honors Program (BHP, now University Honors Program) graduates secretly planned to seize control of the annual alumni gathering. “The year that Hew Joiner was retiring, there were numerous BHPers who conspired to hijack the annual alumni get-together and turn it into an event honoring Hew – something he never planned it to be,” said Program alumnus Lee Davis. “At the same time, we put out the word that we wanted to present him with a scholarship in honor of his devotion to the Honors Program and tireless service to its students.

“I must say, that bit of fundraising was easy,” Davis said. “We worked with the development folks to send out a letter asking for donations in Hew’s honor, and asking them not to let Hew know what was happening. Donations rolled in almost immediately, and by the time of the event, the scholarship was already endowed.

“There was no doubt how much the BHP alumni appreciated Hew,” said Davis.

Amid the roasts and toasts offered up that evening, one moment pleased Joiner beyond all the laughter: the unveiling of an academic award in his honor, the Dr. George Hewett “Hew” Joiner, Jr. Scholarship.

“I was very pleased about that,” said Joiner. “A scholarship would have been my pick for memorials because that remains functional at the level that really matters – where students encounter their educations. The students were kind enough to let me set the criteria of selection, and the main criterion is that priority should be given to an international student who needs those funds.”

“Donations rolled in almost immediately…
There was no doubt how much the BHP alumni appreciated Hew.” – Lee Davis

One of the purposes of the Honors Program is to enrich the mixture of undergraduate students on campus, he said. “But bringing in students from other countries is one way of ensuring that enrichment goes on. It means a lot to me to this day. I take a lot of interest in keeping an eye on the incumbents of that scholarship. I’ve been very pleased with the choices.”

Honors alumnus Todd Deal is a chemistry professor and director of the Office of Student Leadership & Civic Engagement. “I was privileged to be chosen a member of the initial class of 18 Bell Honors Scholars who entered Georgia Southern in the Fall of 1982,” said Deal. “In a conversation many years later with Hew Joiner, he told me how the University administration had approached him with the idea of the program and asked if he would be willing to help create and then lead it. As I recall, Hew’s words were something like – ‘There is not a single administrative position on this campus that holds any interest for me – except that one.’ That’s Hew Joiner, always a rebel, but always focused on students and providing the best education possible.

“Over the first three-plus years of my undergraduate career, I was pushed harder than I ever thought possible in a classroom by a cadre of excellent faculty including Hew Joiner,” Deal said. “Those faculty challenged, inspired, and motivated me to explore ideas, to think beyond my world, to look to the wisdom of the ages – to learn and to love learning.”

In addition to continuing his career-long dedication to historical research, Joiner and his wife, Martha, are heavily involved in monitoring populations of rare plants native to the Southeast. The two work as Ogeechee-Canoochee riverkeepers and were the first amateurs to serve as “botanical guardians” of a five-mile stretch of land with numerous rare plants and pitcher plant bogs. They visit the site monthly to monitor the land’s use and keep it clear of unwanted growth that would shade out the smaller rare plants.

Joiner’s past experiences in historical research were not usually outdoor exercises, so for him, a break with his decades-long habit of spending long hours in archives, libraries and classrooms has been a refreshing change. It has been like a return to the days of his youth when he was an avid camper, he said.

“I have really come to enjoy it. I must say I’ve not been bored one split second since I retired.”