Elizabeth Buck (MS, Foods and Nutrition) received recognition from UGA’s Office of Instructional Support and Development as an “Outstanding Teaching Assistant.”

Ruth Gildea (Junior, Dietetics) was named to the 2002 SEC Track and Field Honor Roll by SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer.

Margaret Kabahenda (PhD, Foods and Nutrition) received a 2002 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the University of Georgia. She has been a graduate assistant in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences as well as the Institute of African Studies. She recently completed her master’s degree and has begun the PhD program.

Robyn Mowery, (PhD, Child and Family Development) received an American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Fellowship during the annual AAFCS meeting in Dallas, and also received the 2002 GAFCS Graduate Student Member Scholarship Award at the Georgia Association of Consumer Sciences Annual Conference.

Emilia Papakonstantinou, (PhD, Foods and Nutrition) received an AAFCS Fellowship in Dallas. She has been selected as a 2002 Blue Key initiate and received the Holley B. Alley Scholarship from the Georgia Nutrition Council as well as the June and Bill Flatt Nutrition Excellence Graduate Scholarship from the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. She also won the 2002 Georgia Nutrition Council Student Presentation Award.

Virginia Robinson (PhD, Child and Family Development) received an AAFCS Fellowship in Dallas.

Five FACS students were among a group of 27 UGA students who spent four weeks in Ghana this summer learning about the West African country. CFD graduate student Genese Vertus joined fashion merchandising students Crystal Danforth (shown), Jessica Rhine, Bianca Henderson and Candiss Mosely on the trip.

Dr. Patricia Hunt-Hurst, associate professor of textiles, merchandising and interiors, served as the FACS faculty member on the trip and taught a course on West African Fabrics, Dress and Adornment. All of the participants completed a second course, African Society and Culture.

Vertus, who stayed in Ghana for seven weeks, conducted a research project that included interviewing residents who live near a lagoon in the Osu region of Accra. The fashion merchandising students learned to weave kente cloth from one of the master weavers in the Industrial Arts Department at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, and explored the role of traditional fabrics in western-style contemporary clothing such as dresses and suits, as well as in traditional forms of dress, such as wrappers and headties. They also had the opportunity to visit with Ghanian apparel and design students.

Ian Knight (Senior, Housing) and fellow Georgia Bulldog John Huber were among the football team members who participated in building a Habitat for Humanity house in Athens this summer.

This is the first Habitat house anywhere in the nation to be built with volunteers from a college football program, according to Jim Thompson, president of Athens Area Habitat for Humanity. The idea came from former UGA linebacker John Brantley, Athens branch manager for HomeBanc. Brantley approached Georgia Coach Mark Richt during spring practice and the team quickly became partners with HomeBanc and Re/Max of Athens.

Dixie McCoy and her son, Andrew, moved into the 1,100-square-foot home after it was dedicated in August.

Other Georgia Bulldog players who also are FACS students and participated in the Habitat build are Bruce Adrine, Kenneth Bailey, Reggie Brown, Decory Bryant, Cap Burnett, Christopher Clemons, Nicholas Clemons, Patrick Croffie, Terrence Edwards, David Jacobs, Michael Johnson, David Kendrick, Clint Larkin, Johnathan Loftin, Kareem Marshall, Randy McMichael, Jermaine Phillips, Darrius Swain, Bruce Thornton, Kenneth Veal, and Shedrick Wynn.

David Jacobs (Senior, Housing ) has been awarded the 2002 Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achieve-ment Award for the strength and courage he showed in battling back from a stroke.
Jacobs was a standout defensive lineman for the UGA Bulldogs when he suffered a stroke in November 2001 and spent weeks in rehabilitation before returning to school and his classes in January 2002. During his recovery, however, he knew he was remembered by his fellow classmates.

“We had so many students stopping by and asking how to send David a card that we kept an up-to-date address posted outside of our office,” says Connie Rash, assistant director for student services. “He was inundated with cards from FACS students.”

Jacobs returned this fall to continue work toward his degree in housing. He coached a Little League baseball team this summer and now is working with freshman football players as they adjust to playing college-level football.

“D.J. is going to help our freshmen along because he can relate to them. He will help teach them and help them get better. He’s an inspiration to the entire team,” says Mark Richt, head coach for the Georgia Bulldogs. “He loves Georgia, he loves the coaches and players, and he wants to be productive. I think he’ll be an inspiration and a motivation for years to come.”

The Rudolph Award honors student athletes who have overcome great personal, academic and/or emotional odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics. It is sponsored by the National Associa-tion of Academic Advisors for Athletics.