It was in October 2014 that ground was broken for the new Georgia Military College campus in Fayetteville. Less than four years later, on Aug. 17, ground was broken for Phase 2 at the GMC campus on Veterans Parkway.
Above, Georgia Military College Executive Director Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Rock Donahue welcomes guests for the Aug. 17 groundbreaking for GMC’s new campus expansion. Photo/Ben Nelms.
GMC’s Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Scott “Rock” Donahue, executive director of the Fayetteville, Fairburn, Zebulon and Stone Mountain campuses, welcomed guests to the groundbreaking.
GMC President Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, IV (Ret.) said the new 11,000 sq. ft. building will house six classrooms, biology and chemistry labs and offices.
“If we’re not making a difference, who is?” Caldwell said, speaking of both GMC’s principles and mission.
Caldwell also thanked Chick-fil-A Chairman and CEO Dan Cathy for his guidance in establishing the Fayetteville campus.
Cathy followed with comments on the campus expansion. Those comments included observations that apply, not only to Chick-fil-A as a company, but to a large variety of businesses, organizations and institutions such as GMC.
“Today, we compete in speed and talent,” said Cathy of the nature of today’s competition.
Cathy also thanked Armed Forces Mission Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Ken Koon for delivering the invocation.
“We’re on the front line that seems to deny that there is a God in Heaven,” said Cathy.
Another speaker at the ceremony was Fayetteville Mayor pro-tem Paul Oddo, who noted that establishing a college built from the ground up was only an idea a few years ago. Today, said Oddo, GMC is in Fayetteville and is the No. 1 community college in Georgia.
“We’re proud you are in our community,” Oddo said. “We believe in you.”
Rounding out the comments prior to the groundbreaking, Donahue spoke about the value of education.
“At GMC, we believe in community, state and nation,” he said. “And here in Fayetteville, we have faith in how far we can go.”
It was on Oct. 16, 2014 that the groundbreaking ceremony for the first GMC building was held.
To date, and though a number of other colleges have a presence here, GMC has been the first and only college to build a campus from the ground up in Fayette County.
