Athens, Ga. – Steve Smith, vice president of corporate responsibility for Turner Broadcasting System Inc., will deliver the keynote address at the Black Faculty and Staff Organization’s fifth annual Founders Award Scholarship Luncheon from noon-1:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.
Smith, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English education in 1986 and a master’s degree in educational management in 1991, both from UGA, currently serves as TBS’s liaison to elected officials and community leaders. He said he is honored to speak at the event, which includes the presentation of two $500 scholarships to one undergraduate and one graduate student.
“I look forward to my return to the UGA campus because it was an outstanding experience and education for me on the undergraduate and graduate level,” he said. “I look forward to sharing with faculty, staff, students and guests how incredible the benefits of a UGA education really are.”
Sponsored by BFSO, the annual luncheon raises money for scholarships, which honor two students who show outstanding leadership and scholarship at the university.
Tickets for the luncheon are $30 per seat or $240 per table, with a table seating eight. Proceeds from the luncheon directly benefit the scholarship program. No tickets will be sold at the door.
Tickets can be purchased by contacting Randy Groomes, chair of the luncheon planning committee, at 706/542-8158 or rgroomes@uga.edu, or co-chair Mark Dawkins at 706/542-3632 or mdawkins@terrry.uga.edu. An invoice will be provided upon request.
Smith makes an ideal choice for the event because of his long tenure as a public servant, said Groomes, who is also the UGA Alumni Association director of multicultural programs.
In addition to his role at TBS, Smith sits on several boards of directors and advisors in metro Atlanta and has been appointed to special task forces by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
“I’m very excited to have Steve Smith deliver this year’s keynote address because he’s one of our alumni, and he’ll be able to highlight the civic responsibilities of leadership and citizenship that we hope our students strive to achieve,” Groomes said.
For more than 20 years, BFSO members have played a vital role in conceptualizing, advocating and helping to implement programs and services focused on equity and diversity at the University of Georgia. The organization’s mission is to create and maintain a coordinative function relating to recruitment, retention, advocacy, intellectual growth, political awareness and social enhancement of and on behalf of the black faculty and staff at UGA.