Staff report



THOMASVILLE — On this day 50 years ago, Birdwood College opened it doors with a handful of students and junior college classes in history, math, English, biology, psychology and secretarial science courses in shorthand, typing and business machines.

Today, the campus is known as Thomas University and celebrates a half-century of education with one of it highest fall semester enrollments. Some 800 students pursue 28 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in professional studies and the arts and sciences.

“It is humbling to think that thousands of students have walked the pathways of this campus to a brighter future. Despite its modest beginnings, Thomas University has grown into a mature institution of higher learning on the tiptoe of a new era,” said Thomas University President Dr. John M. Hutchinson.

Since its beginnings as a sectarian church school, Thomas University has evolved to become the only open enrollment, private institution of higher learning in the area. A nonprofit entity, TU is open to anyone with a high school diploma or GED and the desire to learn. Many who attend are first generation college students and working adults returning to school.

“We are delighted to currently experience our seventh semester of growth in recent history,” said Hutchinson.

Increasing enrollments have led Thomas University to purchase a larger tract of property for a new campus on Highway 319 South.

“We have served the higher education needs of the people of southwest Georgia for the past fifty years and intend to do so for another fifty years and beyond,” said Hutchinson.

Thomas University was founded in the shade of a grand southern plantation off Pinetree Boulevard in Thomas County, Georgia. The main building and grounds were originally part of the Birdwood Plantation, the winter home of the Honorable W. Cameron Forbes, former U. S. ambassador to Japan and governor general of the Philippines, grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

A Harvard man, Forbes was an international caliber polo player. When he listed the property for sale with Previews Inc. in New York, Birdwood Plantation was advertised as 157 acres with a tastefully decorated, 10-room brick colonial main house built in 1931, a five-room guest cottage, swimming pool, tennis court, stables and a full size polo field. Excellent dove and quail hunting was noted.

Birdwood was eventually sold to Greene W. Alday, from whom B.L. Brewton purchased the property with the intention of developing the land into a subdivision, according to archive documents.

In 1950, the property was acquired as the site for a Primitive Baptist college. The Chamber of Commerce paid $3,500 and Brewton paid $1,500. Mrs. Vicey Harris gave the first donation of $10,000.

Early fund-raising efforts by Birdwood College Dean J. Harley Chapman noted that some people will immediately speak of the cost of building a college. “We agree that most everything costs this day and time, but let us consider [a quote from M.D. Collins]: Education doesn’t cost; it pays.”

“With a lot of faith and very little money,” said Chapman in an article that appeared in the Thomasville Times-Enterprise in August of 1954, Birdwood would open on Sept. 17.

Faith held, and classes began.

Among the original students were: Marian Neta Thomas of Jennings, Fla., the first student to enroll in Birdwood and editor of the Birdwood News; F. Arthur DeVane of Cordele, first president of the Student Government Association; and Betty Heisler of Thomasville, yearbook editor. They were, also, the first three graduate of Birdwood College and received their degrees in 1956.

Also attending were: Warren Alexander of Ocilla; Anita Louise DeVane of Cordele; Ronald Dominy of Brooklet; Martha Nelle Griffin of Ocilla; William E. McCumber of Thomasville; Lunedra Nesmith of Dixie; Ben C. Perkins of Thomasville; and Theron Tilley of Ochlocknee.

Alexander transferred to Birdwood from Auburn University. He worked his way through Birdwood in the college’s print shop and at the Thomasville YMCA. He served as the athletic director and coach of Birdwood’s fledgling basketball team at the age of 19.

“We never won a game, but we had fun,” said Alexander.

Alexander went on to receive four degrees from Birdwood, Georgia Southern and the University of Georgia. He spent some 30 years in education as a coach, teacher and school superintendent.

When he was a head football coach in Hahira he brought his team to Birdwood for a football camp.

“It was really neat to bring my students to my former college,” Alexander said.

Alexander said he received individual attention in small classes. Today, Thomas University prides itself on still offering individual attention to students and providing some of the most favorable professor-student ratios in higher education.

Of his time in Thomasville, he says, “I can honestly tell you my time at Birdwood was the best schooling ever.” He had retired teachers from Vassar, Yale and other top notch universities. Among his favorite professors were Annie Mae Powell, Clifford G. Thompson and President J. Walter Hendricks.

Now a resident of Talking Rock, Alexander married fellow Birdwood student Louise DeVane.

He recalls that President Eisenhower used to play golf in Thomasville. The secret service team followed the president in golf carts and carried machine guns. Once the president stopped after finishing a round of golf, took off his hat and posed for a photograph with Louise.

“We still have the photograph,” he said.

Alexander said he and his wife look forward to attending the golden anniversary homecoming celebration next month.

“I’m very excited about homecoming. We can’t wait to come back.”

Thomas University has invited all of the original students to this year’s homecoming, which is scheduled for Oct. 15 – 17, with a golden anniversary theme of: 50 Years Later, 50 Years Greater!

“We are thrilled this year to have the opportunity to celebrate this monumental milestone with those individuals who blazed the path and build the foundation upon which we stand today,” said Jodi T. Weber, director of alumni relations.

“I personally look forward to meeting each and every one and hearing their stories,” said Weber.

After fifty years of educating, Thomas University’s continues to believe that everyone deserves the opportunity change their life and reach their goals.

“A well-educated individual contributes to the workplace, enriches the community and creates a brighter future for his or her family,” said Hutchinson. “We can have no higher calling than to contribute to the legacy of education that will serve generations to come.”

For more information about the Golden Homecoming celebration, contact Jodi Weber at 227-6903, or email jweber@thomasu.edu.