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Ledbetter pledges $1.5 million to Shorter; business school bears his name:

Shorter College President Dr. Harold Newman, left, presents Robert H. Ledbetter Sr. with a proclamation during Thursday's dinner.

(Media release) Shorter College officials announced at a dinner on Thursday, Feb. 4, that longtime Rome businessman Robert H. Ledbetter Sr. is funding $1.5 million to enable the location of the college’s School of Business in the MidTown Crossing Shopping Center.

To honor Mr. Ledbetter’s generosity, Shorter will name its business school the Robert H. Ledbetter College of Business. This represents the first of Shorter’s schools to be named.

“Mr. Ledbetter’s gift allows us to have a newly renovated space to house our business programs in a facility that would have cost close to $5 million to build,” said Dr. Harold E. Newman, president of Shorter. “By providing new facilities for Shorter’s largest school, this generous gift will greatly impact Shorter and our students. In addition, it is a wonderful legacy for a man who has given so much to support education in this area.”

When renovation work is complete, the Ledbetter College of Business will occupy 30,250 square feet of space in the shopping center. The facility will be home to Shorter’s undergraduate programs in business, business programs in the college’s Professional Studies programs for working adults, and Rome-based support staff for Professional Studies.

There will be a dedication ceremony of the new Robert H. Ledbetter College of Business building in August. Shorter plans to move into the facility before the beginning of the fall 2010 semester, and Dr. Newman described the timing as “a wonderful way to launch Shorter University.”

A Rome native, Robert H. Ledbetter Sr. is a well-known real estate developer and investor. He serves as chairman and CEO of R.H. Ledbetter Properties Inc., which was ranked among the top 100 retail real estate owners in the nation in 2009 by Retail Traffic magazine. The company’s portfolio consists of more than 1.3 million square feet of investment properties located in communities such as Rome, Cartersville, Dalton, Jasper and Ellijay; Knoxville and Goodlettsville, Tenn.; and suburban Indianapolis.

Mr. Ledbetter is a graduate of Culver Summer School, Darlington School and Culver Military Academy. He earned the Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1958 and later served in the United States Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga as a LTJG.

Mr. Ledbetter’s philanthropic gifts include $1 million for the establishment of The Robert H. Ledbetter Sr. Endowment Fund in support of the Robert H. Ledbetter Sr. Professor of the Practice of Real Estate Development in the College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1999, he also established the R.H. Ledbetter Family Endowment for the Naval School of the Culver Educational Foundation to build and maintain the 70-foot sailing ship The R.H. Ledbetter. Robert H. Ledbetter Sr. and his family have made a $1 million commitment to Darlington School’s Second Century Campaign for the new Middle School building.

The establishment of the Ledbetter College of Business at Shorter represents the continuation of a close relationship between the Ledbetter family and the college which dates back nearly to Shorter’s founding in 1873. One of the college’s first trustees was Capt. A.W. Ledbetter, a Civil War veteran who established a number of businesses in Rome; he served as a Shorter College trustee for 26 years and was named a trustee emeritus of the institution.

Mr. Ledbetter’s father, Allison W. Ledbetter Sr., later served on the college’s Board of Trustees and, in the 1950s, became the first president of the Shorter College Scholarship Fund Inc., which was established by a group of Rome businessmen who sought to provide financial support for local youth to attend Shorter.

Robert H. Ledbetter Sr. served on Shorter’s Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2005 and on the college’s Board of Visitors from 1996 to 2000. In 2008, he served as honorary chairman of the Pursuit of Excellence Campaign for Shorter College Athletics. Mr. Ledbetter financially supported the development of the on-campus baseball complex, which also bears his name.

“I’ve always felt like God wanted me to do something, and I believe what He has asked me to do is to help in education,” Mr. Ledbetter said of his reasons for making the gift. “There is probably not a greater gift a man or woman can make than to invest in education. I believe God has blessed me for that reason. Through the years, I have been able to invest millions of dollars in philanthropic endeavors and never, years ago, would have believed I would be able to do this.”

In the fall of 2009, Shorter College’s School of Business enrolled approximately 30 percent of the college’s traditional students. The school is headed by Dr. Robert H. “Dub” Darville, dean, who also serves as Sewell Chair of Business Ethics and Professor of Accounting at Shorter.

Dr. Darville stressed that Mr. Ledbetter’s gift is significant because it will greatly strengthen the ties between Shorter and the area business community. “Mr. Ledbetter’s generosity has provided a space for us in a thriving business center,” Dr. Darville said. “This will give students the opportunity to see business in action and to witness firsthand the sense of entrepreneurial spirit that has been so closely aligned with Mr. Ledbetter through the years.”

Degrees offered through the school include the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Accounting; the BBA in Accounting, CPA Track (which is the only undergraduate program in the state of Georgia offering the 150 hours of training needed to meet requirements to meet CPA licensure requirements); the BBA in Business with concentrations in General Business, Management, and Marketing; the BBA in Sport Management; the Bachelor of Science in Economics; and several minors, including a minor in Forensic and Fraud Accounting.

The School of Business also includes the Department of Management Information Systems and currently offers the BS in Computer Information Systems. Plans call for the addition of a major in Management Information Systems.

In addition to its degree programs, Shorter’s School of Business houses the Hopkins Institute for Business Ethics, which hosts an ethics lecture each spring for the Shorter and Rome communities. Recently, Shorter’s SIFE organization, a chapter of Students in Free Enterprise, won “Rookie Chapter of the Year” at regional competition.

Record numbers for Georgia Northwestern, state technical colleges: (From a media release) Georgia Northwestern Technical College has a record winter 2010 enrollment of 5,950 students.  This is an increase of 947 students (18.9%) over the combined winter 2009 enrollment of 5,003 students for both Coosa Valley Technical College and Northwestern Technical College.  The College’s Floyd County Campus has 2,311 students enrolled, 738 at the Gordon County Campus, 280 at the Polk County Campus, and 2,621 at the Walker County Campus.

“I believe our enrollment numbers are increasing because of the college’s reputation of being connected to the region’s employers and also because of our affordability,” stated Dr. Craig McDaniel, GTNC president. “When you have access to a SACS accredited college that is successful in putting people to work and it only costs $40.00 per credit hour for most programs, why would you not choose a technical college?”

With approximately 200 classes being offered online this quarter, GNTC has 2,222 students enrolled in at least one online class. GNTC has 3,031 students enrolled full time and 2,919 enrolled part time at the college.

Enrollment in the Technical College System of Georgia continues to grow at a record pace with 109,548 students currently attending winter quarter classes.

Shorter Grad to Display Art (Media Release) Micah Cain, a Shorter College alumnus, will display his artwork in an exhibit titled "Strange Fruit" at Shorter College's Arnold Art Gallery from Feb. 8 until March 4.

"Strange Fruit" is a collection of abstract organic objects. Cain uses the abstracts to let the viewer see the intricacies of nature. "My primary goal is to present the viewer with a situation designed to allow personal interpretation of an abstracted environment," said Cain.

"Strange Fruit" is meant to present an audience with a collection of abstracted flora, he explains. Various forms will be displayed to highlight the subtleties of the organic environment, though no object is meant to be a literal representation of an actual fruit or plant. "My intent is to merely evoke a sense of the organic through familiar form, exaggerated color, and bizarre texture," said Cain.

Cain resides in Western North Carolina and is a residential artist at the EnergyXchange. There, he makes wheel-thrown and hand-built sculptural forms.

An artist's reception for Cain will be held March 2 at 4 p.m. in the Arnold Gallery inside the Minor Fine Arts Building and will be open to the public. The gallery will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday during the exhibition.

Southern's Ratcliffe due at Berry's Executive Round Table dinner Feb. 25:

(Media release) David Ratcliffe, the president, chairman and chief executive officer for Southern Company, will be the featured speaker at the spring dinner hosted by Berry College’s Executive Round Table. The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, in Krannert Center’s recently renovated Spruill Ballroom. Dinner begins at 7.

Registration is $30 for the general public and industry representatives. Table sponsorships (with seating for two company representatives) are available for $250. Table sponsors already signed up for this year’s event include Georgia Power, Redmond Regional Medical Center, River City Bank and Federated Insurance.

Berry students may attend for $15 (attendance is free for faculty, staff and freshman business majors). Business attire is highly encouraged. For more details about the event, contact ERT co-presidents Lee Parker lee.parker@vikings.berry.edu or Jessica Marotto jessica.marotto@vikings.berry.edu. The RSVP deadline for on-campus constituents and the general public is Feb. 5. Industry representatives must RSVP by Feb. 16.

A native of Tifton, Ga., Ratcliffe has served as president of Southern Company since April 2004. In July of that same year, he accepted additional responsibilities as CEO and chairman. Previously, he spent five years as president and CEO of Georgia Power, one of Southern Company’s largest subsidiaries. Ratcliffe holds degrees from Valdosta State University and the Woodrow Wilson College of Law. He is a member of the Georgia Bar Association. Read more about him online> Click

The ERT dinner is meant to aid and facilitate networking possibilities between students, faculty and industry representatives. Students are placed at tables that cater to their particular areas of interest in order to enhance the experience.

The Executive Round Table originated at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1956. Berry formed the second, or Beta, chapter in 1989. The organization's purpose is to encourage and help develop students who display outstanding character and leadership. Membership includes a mixture of students, faculty and industry/business executives.

Shorter Hires Women's Lacrosse Coach>Shorter

Georgia Highlands offers free film series, now-April 13:

(Media release) The philosophy program of the Division of Social Sciences at Georgia Highlands College has announced the schedule for its spring 2010 philosophy film series. All films will be shown on the Cartersville campus at 6:30 PM in room 321. Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend, though some films make contain subject matter that is inappropriate for children. There will be a period of discussion after each film.

Feb. 16: Thirst, directed by Park Chan-Wook
A priest becomes a vampire…another man’s wife is coveted…a deadly seduction triggers murder. Thirst is the new film from director Park Chan-Wook (Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). Already a box-office smash in Korea, Thirst was honored with the Prix du Jury [Jury Prize] at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival.

March 9: The Hit, directed by Steven Frears
Terence Stamp is Willie, a gangster's henchman turned supergrass (informer) trying to live in peaceful hiding in a remote Spanish village. Sun-dappled bliss turns to nerve-racking suspense, however, when two hit men (played by a soulless John Hurt and a youthful, loose-cannon Tim Roth) come a-calling to bring Willie back for execution.

March 30: High and Low, directed by Akira Kurosawa
High and Low stars Toshiro Mifune as Gondo, a wealthy industrialist. Gondo is contacted by a gang of kidnappers, who inform him that they've kidnapped his son. The crooks demand a huge ransom for the boy's return -- an amount so huge that it will utterly bankrupt Gondo. As the harried businessman prepares to pay the ransom, he discovers that his son is safe at home: the kidnappers have accidentally snatched the son of his chauffeur.

April 13: The Big Lebowski, directed by Joel Coen
"Dude" Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire. Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it. Things don't go as planned.

Berry College's fifth annual French Film Festival set for February
(Media release) Berry College will host its Fifth Annual French Film Festival throughout February. The theme of this year's five-film series is “Surfing on a New Wave: Great French Directors in 2010.”

Admission to all the films is free and open to the public. All five films will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Science Auditorium on the Berry College campus. Cultural Event credits are available to Berry students who attend.

This year's selections include:
• Les Amours d'Astrée et de Céladon (Romance of Astrea and Celadon), Thursday, Feb. 11
• Les Témoins (The Witnesses), Thursday, Feb. 18
• La Fille Coupée en Deux (Girl Cut in Two), Friday, Feb. 26

The theme for this year's festival was selected to celebrate the new French Nouvelle Vague (the cinematic New Wave), a term coined for a group of notable French filmmakers of the 1960s.

The festival appropriates the term for a new generation of accomplished French directors.

“The French Nouvelle Vague is 50 years old,” said Vincent Grégoire, Nichols Professor of French and the festival's artistic director. “Yet, Godard, Resnais, Chabrol, and Rohmer up to last year, were still making movies. Moreover, the spirit of the Nouvelle Vague is as vibrant as ever in the art of young directors such as Laurent Cantet, for instance.”

This festival will show the continuity between the Nouvelle Vague of the 1960s and the New Nouvelle Vague of the beginning of the 21st century, Grégoire said.
Organized by the departments of foreign languages and communication, the festival is made possible by a Tournées Festival film grant from the French-American Cultural Exchange (FACE), a program of the French government.

Brian Carroll, co-organizer with Grégoire of the annual film festival, credited the Tournées Festival grant program for making Berry's event possible.

"In the five years of the festival, the French-American Cultural Exchange (FACE) has enabled us to show 25 French films you can't just drive over to Blockbuster and rent," said Carroll, an associate professor in the department of Communication. "We simply couldn't afford to pay the performance rights on these films without the help of the French government, and at a time when arts budgets are being cut all over the world, it says a lot about the French that the Tournées program is alive and well.”

The Tournées Festival was created by FACE to help small but ambitious colleges gain access to new French films usually only available in bigger cities. The Tournées Festival is made possible because of support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Centre National de la Cinématographie, the Grand Marnier Foundation, the Florence Gould Foundation, the Franco- American Cultural Fund, Highbrow Entertainment and Agnès B.

About the films
-Les Amours d'Astrée et de Céladon: Based on Honoré d'Urfé's 17th-century novel, Les Amours d'Astrée et de Céladon tells of the romance between a young shepherd and shepardess who dwell among nymphs, fairies and druids on the Forez plain in 5th-century Gaul.

-Les Témoins: Between the summers of 1984 and 1985, a group of friends witness the reality of the AIDS epidemic through their complex relations with a young man named Manu.

-La Fille Coupée en Deux: A colorful film about a flirtatious television weather reporter named Gabrielle who is pursued by a spoiled pharmaceutical heir and a famous (and much older) married novelist.