Athens, Ga. – “The Heritage of Sport,” a look at the impact of sports on the University of Georgia and the community, is the subject of a panel of sports luminaries and historic preservation faculty on April 11 at 4 p.m. The event takes place in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries auditorium, and is free and open to the public.
Participating in the panel are legendary sports figures Vince Dooley, former UGA football coach; Verne Lundquist, sports voice of the Southeastern Conference on CBS; and Tony Barnhart, studio analyst for the SEC Network and contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Danny Sniff, former associate vice president for facilities planning at UGA, will also serve on the panel to talk about Sanford Stadium and other sports venues on campus. The panel will be moderated by Loran Smith, a sports broadcaster and associate director of public relations and development for the University of Georgia Athletic Association.
“Athletic traditions stimulate pride in an alma mater and make for a passion for bragging rights when it comes to competition,” said Smith.
“The Heritage of Sport” is the theme of the 2016 “International Day on Monuments and Sites,” a program celebrating the history of sports at the university and its impact on students and faculty.
“The University of Georgia was one of the early advocates of football,” Smith continued. “The development of Sanford Stadium in 1929 confirmed that the Bulldogs could compete with anybody, and UGA became a pacesetter in facilities. The UGA physical plant for athletics today is impressive and will soon be one of the more complete facility layouts there is.”
A special one-day exhibit of sports memorabilia will also be on display on April 11, and includes a video presentation written by Smith and produced by the UGA Athletic Association.
“The Heritage of Sport” is organized by the Master of Historic Preservation Program in the College of Environment and Design and the University of Georgia Athletic Association. It is co-sponsored by the University of Georgia Libraries and the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
A reception will follow the panel.
