GC&SU says farewell to Larry Peevy

By Megan Spears
Staff Writer

“A great former boss of mine once told me to be successful in life, and particularly at GC&SU, you must be flexible. That is one of the traits I have always attempted to live up to and to instill in all enrollment service employees. This is also a good lesson for every Georgia College & State University student to learn early in their career.”
Even as Larry Peevy is planning his retirement from GC&SU at the end of the academic year, he can’t help but continue to offer words of wisdom to the students, faculty and staff.
Larry Aubrey Peevy came to GC&SU July 1, 1982. Peevy worked his way up through the ranks to Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services. Peevy’s wife Dinah completed her master’s degree at Georgia College and currently is a Biology teacher at Jones County High School.
His son Phil and daughter Ashley both attended GC&SU during part of their college careers. Phil is now a County Manager for Jasper County, and Ashley is pursuing her master’s degree in Leadership and Communications at the University of Georgia.
For 12 years Peevy served as the Director of Admissions and Records at the University of Montevallo, the Public Liberal Arts University of Alabama.
His other management positions include serving as an officer in the Army Reserve for 23 years. He has served overseas during various exercises and as transportation officer for the 13th COSCOM, Ft. Hood, Texas, during Operation Desert Storm.
Peevy said he tries to maintain order and seriousness in his work, but his sense of humor always comes out.
“I have completed 31 1/2 years in public education and the military and am at a point where it is in my best economic interest to take advantage of the Teacher’s Retirement System opportunities available. I also plan to do a great deal of fly-fishing,” Peevy said of his retirement.
His colleagues said they will miss Peevy when he leaves.
“Mr. Peevy always keeps me on my toes. No matter what day of the week it is, whenever I ask him how he is doing, he will say ‘I’m doing great for a Friday,’ and then I have to stop and think what day it is. I will definitely miss his sense of humor,” said Jenny Gettis, who has worked closely with Peevy for the past 12 years.
Peevy was praised by his colleagues for his help in developing an incredible enrollment program at GC&SU.
“His efforts have enabled us to be recognized as one of the leaders in the state in enrollment management issues,” President Rosemary DePaolo said.
“During his tenure at this university, he has developed an enrollment service program that is one of the most well-respected and admired in the state and beyond. We have experienced great success under his leadership, and it has been an honor being part of
his team,” said Mike Augustine, Associate Director of Admissions.
“Not only is he one of the nicest people that I have ever worked with, but he is also very knowledgeable of Enrollment Services and is well-respected in the department,” Gettis added.
Peevy said he will put some of his military training to work after he leaves GC&SU.
“After I announced my retirement from Georgia College & State University and the University System of Georgia, I was approached by Georgia Military College and was asked to join their team as Vice President of Enrollment and Retention Management. I plan to begin working part-time with GMC August 1, 2002,” Peevy added.
Peevy had one more “word of wisdom” to share, in the form of a passage called “Loyalty.”
“I have a framed statement that I have kept in my office for the past 30 years,” Peevy said. “It is what I strongly believe and attempt to practice daily.”
“If you work for a man – in heaven’s name work for him. If he pays you wages which supply your bread and butter, work for him; stand by the institution he represents. If put to a pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. If you must vilify, condemn, and eternally disparage, resign your position, and when you are outside, damn to your heart’s content, but as long as you are part of the institution, do not condemn it.
“If you do that, you are loosening the tendrils that are holding you to the institution and, at the first high wind that comes along, you will be uprooted and blown away, and probably you will never know the reason why,” written by Elbert Hubbard many years ago.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 12 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry