Story by GCSU senior Cale Strickland.

G eorgia College & State University held its annual Alumni Awards Dinner in Magnolia Ballroom Friday, Feb. 16.

Four awards were given: the Alumni Heritage Award, the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, the Alumni Achievement Award and the Ethel Rae Mozo-Stewart Alumni Community Service Award.
Georgia Military College Colonel Pamela Harvey Grant, ’82, ’87, ’07, received the Alumni Heritage Award, which is presented to an alum who has exemplified Georgia College’s ideals through at least four decades of public service.

Grant has climbed the ladder at GMC. She began as a student teacher before becoming a faculty member, then the assistant principal, the first female principal of the Preparatory School and now, assistant superintendent for the Preparatory School.

Grant’s commitment to education and scholarship is reflected by the five degrees she received from Georgia College: bachelor’s degrees in political science and public administration, master’s degrees in English and school leadership and an education specialist degree in school leadership.

In addition to her professional and academic accomplishments, Grant is heavily involved in her community. She served on the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber Board of Directors and teaches Sunday School at Milledgeville First Methodist Church, where she is part of their college-student ministry.

Dr. Juawn Jackson, ’16, received the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, which is presented to an alum who graduated in the past 10 years, has achieved significant success and displays the promise of future, continued success, in a professional or business career.

In January 2023, at the age of 29, Jackson became the youngest president of the Bibb County Board of Education, where he previously served as chairman of the Policies and Rules Committee.

Jackson is also a program coordinator for Alpha Phi Alpha Educational Talent Search, a college and career readiness program and federal TRIO program of the United States Department of Education and president of the Georgia Association of Special Programs Personnel.

Additionally, Jackson is chairman of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church Board of Trustees, held positions on the Bibb County Education Foundation Board and the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, and was president of the Macon-area chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, of which he is a lifetime member.

Dr. Beverly Vashon Woods, ’78, received the Alumni Achievement Award, which is presented to an alum who became prominent in a professional field and positively affected the state, region or country.

After completing her bachelor’s degree in special education at Georgia College, Woods returned to her hometown of Buena Vista in Marion County, Georgia, and began working as an interrelated resource teacher before pursuing a master’s degree in mental retardation, learning disabilities and a specialist degree in administration.

Soon after, Woods became the director of special education for the Marion County Board of Education, where she served for 27 years.

While pursuing her doctoral degree, Woods taught in the Phenix City, Alabama, Public School System and worked toward a master’s degree in divinity at the Candler School of Theology.

Sherrill Crowell Jones, ’69, ’75,  received the Ethel Rae Mozo-Stewart Alumni Community Service Award, which is given in honor of a late Georgia College alumna and presented to a graduate or associate or honorary alum who has displayed a continued commitment to service and effected positive change within their community.

Jones has dedicated her life to education. She completed a B.S. in elementary education at GCSU, an M.Ed. in Reading Education at the University of Georgia, an education specialist degree from Georgia College, and certifications in Education Administration and Supervision. 

During her 34 years in the public school system, Jones served as a first-grade teacher, county reading coordinator, assistant principal, principal and school system elementary curriculum, staff development and gifted program coordinator. She was named Northside Elementary School’s Teacher of the Year — twice — and received the Georgia College John H. Lounsbury Award in 2000.

For over 50 years, Jones has been an active member of the Milledgeville community, serving on a myriad of boards, including those of the Old Capital Historical Society, Baldwin County Program for Exceptional Children, Milledgeville/Baldwin County Allied Arts, Lockerly Arboretum Foundation Trustees and Twin Lakes-Mary Vinson Memorial Library.

Today, she serves on the Baldwin County Board of Health and as a recorder for the Oconee Greenway Authority. She volunteers at Lockerly Arboretum, Oconee Master Gardeners, Milledgeville-Baldwin Convention & Visitors Bureau, Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion, River of Life, Milledgeville Main Street’s Adopt a Planter program and a Memory Hill Cemetery maintenance group she started in 2020.

The award is a full-circle moment for Jones, as she respected and admired Stewart tremendously; she was the first principal Jones taught under.