College student, alumnus,
and donors elevate others
and their communities
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Diversifying modes of communication
Raelen Watkins (B.S.Ed. ’23) is making a difference in the lives of her peers and patients. From starting a new student organization to advocating for more diverse representation in speech-language pathology, the future Double Dawg is taking steps to increase inclusivity in all clinical settings.
- Hometown: Loganville, Georgia
- Degree objectives: B.S.Ed./M.Ed. in communication sciences and disorders
What inspired your passion for communication sciences and disorders?
From early childhood to high school, I was interested in being a teacher. I think this stemmed from being an older sister and always having someone to guide and help grow. While taking an early childhood education class in high school, we had a speech-language pathologist (SLP) come to our class as a guest speaker. What appealed to me was that SLPs can work one-on-one with children, which is harder to do in a general education setting.
As I entered my undergraduate program, I realized how little I knew about the field. My passion for communication and language grew as I progressed in the program, and I realized I could provide individuals with tools for speech, communication, and language. There’s so much diversity in the settings we work in and the clients we see, and I’m incredibly excited to keep exploring the field.
How has learning American Sign Language enhanced or changed the way you approach your work in the field?
American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the main reasons I’ve continued down this career path. The Deaf language and culture have changed how I view communication and language. I now see the ableism and audism that is rampant in my field and society at large. Our field is often simply labeled as “speech therapy,” but speech is not the modality of communication that everyone uses. It should also not be considered the superior modality of communication.
Learning ASL benefits everyone—not just people who are deaf or hard of hearing. I will be an advocate for the Deaf community by promoting the use of ASL in therapy.
You founded a new student organization at UGA called Minorities in Communication Sciences and Disorders (M-CMSD). Why did you start this organization, and what are some of its main goals?
There is a lot of work done in recruiting and retaining marginalized students at the graduate level, but I felt there was still a need for this at the undergraduate level. Our first goal is to create a supportive community for minority students in CMSD to aid retention and empower them to foster positive changes in speech pathology and audiology.
Our second goal is to advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our field. Our final goal is to spread awareness of the field by engaging in recruitment activities that target diverse populations of young adults. M-CMSD welcomes those who identify with marginalized identities, including LGBTQIA+ students, those with disabilities or differences, as well as allies.
How have your service-learning experiences prepared you to work with patients in the real world?
My classes in the CMSD program, especially during my final semester, were very informative about what I will be doing in graduate school and beyond. My classes didn’t just explain what I needed to know; projects and homework assignments asked us to apply what we’d learned. While taking the Professional Issues and Clinical Principles course, I toured the UGA Speech and Hearing Clinic, observed therapy sessions, and talked to current graduate students.
In the Speech Disorders course, we discussed several different disorders we may encounter, but in the context of advocacy. SLPs have a responsibility to educate the public on communication disorders to help prevent and alleviate systemic issues. The program shaped me into a future clinician who will be client-centered, provide evidence-based therapy, and advocate for important CMSD issues.
What are your plans following graduation this spring?
I plan on continuing my education at the University of Georgia in the speech-language pathology master’s program. I’m unsure of what setting I want to work in, but I hope the program’s medical and school externships will help me decide. In whatever setting I end up in, I will continue to advocate for undergraduate CMSD programs by taking actionable steps to increase the retention and recruitment of marginalized students.
Raelen Watkins (B.S.Ed. ’23)
Raelen Watkins (B.S.Ed. ’23)
Commit to our students
Every year, dozens of hardworking students receive scholarships and need-based aid from the Mary Frances Early College of Education to help remove financial barriers that make it difficult for them to focus on achieving their academic dreams.
Please consider contributing to the College of Education General Scholarship Fund or the Abigail Reddic Student Teaching Emergency Fund with a gift of any size to ensure our students achieve their goals no matter their background or financial standing.
For more information, contact Molly Thomas, senior director of development and alumni relations, at
706-542-2893 or molly2@uga.edu.
Commit to our students
Every year, dozens of hardworking students receive scholarships and need-based aid from the Mary Frances Early College of Education to help remove financial barriers that make it difficult for them to focus on achieving their academic dreams.
Please consider contributing to the College of Education General Scholarship Fund or the Abigail Reddic Student Teaching Emergency Fund with a gift of any size to ensure our students achieve their goals no matter their background or financial standing.
For more information, contact Molly Thomas, senior director of development and alumni relations, at
706-542-2893 or molly2@uga.edu.
ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT
The voice of Sanford Stadium
- Degree: Educational leadership
- Current position: Retired chief human resources officer, Oconee County Schools; stadium announcer, University of Georgia
- Lives in: Bishop, Georgia
On Saturdays in Athens, the voice of Brook Whitmire (A.B.J. ’90, M.Ed. ’00, Ed.D. ’03) echoes through the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium, where he serves as stadium announcer.
On Mondays through Fridays, however, Whitmire—who recently retired—spent his time as an educator, coach, and administrator in K-12 school districts.
The schedule, though hectic, was worth it.
“When you're teaching, you're using your voice all week and then you're coaching, and so on a Wednesday or Thursday, I'm worried if I'm going to lose my voice for Saturday and that sort of thing,” Whitmire says. “But it's been a great experience.”
A Triple Dawg with two degrees from the Mary Frances Early College of Education, Whitmire taught high school for seven years and served in school leadership roles. He retired as chief human resources officer for Oconee County Schools after 15 years in the role.
In 1990, after graduating from UGA with a degree in broadcast journalism and minoring in business, Whitmire had a job lined up in banking and took up substitute teaching in the meantime. Substitute teaching shifted into an interest in teaching full-time, so he left banking, earned his teaching certification, and returned to UGA to earn graduate degrees in the College about a decade later.
“I had the good fortune of having Dr. John Dayton as one of my professors and decided to go straight into getting a doctorate with an emphasis in school law right after my master's,” Whitmire says. “I was a proud Dawg already, but it was a terrific educational leadership program with just some fantastic instruction.”
For Whitmire, attending UGA was a no-brainer. By the time he returned for graduate school, he was already regularly traveling to Athens to announce Georgia football games, a position he’s held since 1992.
“The first several years I was still teaching and coaching, and so I would have a Friday night football game in Atlanta, and then get up early and, like everybody, fight the gameday traffic to get to Athens and announce the game,” Whitmire says. “So that was a little difficult, wonderfully well worth it, but difficult sometimes.”
After completing his doctoral degree, Whitmire and his family moved to Athens in 2004, and he began working in school leadership.
“That was a fantastic move for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the proximity of the campus to the football games,” he says. “The university community is incredible. It's a great place to raise a family. We all love it when we're here as students, but it is just as great when you're here as a graduate.”
Although he retired recently, Whitmire plans to consult on a contract basis with schools and continue stadium announcing for the Dawgs. Based on his positive experience in the College, Whitmire strongly encourages others to pursue graduate degree programs.
“It’s just so worth it. You just have to start and jump in there and see it through to the finish, and it's one of those things too, you can do it when you're 30, you can do it when you're 50, you can do it when you've just graduated,” Whitmire says. “I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything, and I'm thankful for the wonderful professors who helped me out along the way.”
—Anika Chaturvedi
Barry Dotson (A.B.J. ’86, Ed.D. ’06)
Barry Dotson (A.B.J. ’86, Ed.D. ’06)
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
A champion of change
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” —Nelson Mandela
Barry Dotson (A.B.J. ’86, Ed.D. ’06) typically sticks to a structured plan, whether he’s helping students apply for financial aid or mentoring the next generation of leaders.
But he admits that one of his most spontaneous decisions—applying to the Mary Frances Early College of Education’s doctoral program in occupational studies (now workforce education)—ended up impacting his life in more ways than he could imagine.
“It's not one of those things that I planned,” says Dotson, who currently serves as vice president for student affairs at Southeastern Technical College in Vidalia, Georgia. “I received my doctorate, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It really opened a lot of doors for me that I didn't count on, and I feel like because of that, I need to give back and help open some doors for others as well.”
Dotson aims to help even more students succeed academically and beyond with a planned gift to the College of Education, which will support specialized programming for students in a range of fields, from education and counseling to allied health and communication sciences.
Citing Nelson Mandela, Dotson is a strong believer that education is the most powerful tool people can use to make a positive change in the world.
“I often think about all the educators we send out, and the College of Education potentially has the ability to change more people than any other college at the University of Georgia,” he says. “I just want us to change the world for the better, and I want to help provide for those individuals coming behind us who want to change the world.”
In 1994, Dotson started his career in the technical college system of Georgia at Southeastern Technical College, where he continues to provide students with support services, programs, and activities designed to ease the transition into higher education and ensure student success.
Throughout the years, he’s held several positions with Southeastern Tech, including director of enrollment services, acting president, institutional accreditation liaison, and executive vice president.
“I see education as the great equalizer,” says Dotson. “I know what it did for me, and that's what we do every day in education—we're providing an equal opportunity for everybody. And so, I want to help provide that opportunity for somebody who needs just a few extra dollars to go to college because things aren't getting cheaper.”
In 1997, Dotson began his role as vice president for student affairs, managing admissions processing, registration, retention, and transfer credit for more than 3,000 students per year.
Dotson’s leadership also extends to student recruitment, career planning and counseling, assessment and testing, career placement support, financial aid, student judicial and disciplinary issues, and specialized support services for students with disabilities as well as parents.
After Dotson completed his doctoral degree in 2006, his teaching career flourished.
He credits the College of Education for opening this new door and has since taught at several institutions, including Liberty University, Georgia Southern University, and the American Public University System, which is comprised of 40,000 military students.
In addition to his current role in student affairs, which involves helping students obtain financial aid and coordinating events for new, transfer, and current students, Dotson often sits on dissertation committees to help future educators achieve their goals of obtaining doctoral degrees.
“I know the great need that we have for teachers in this state,” says Dotson. “And it’s just so wonderful to have a little influence on those coming in the profession behind us because students need that helping hand sometimes. Again, I feel like the College of Education has the potential to implement great change in Georgia. We should be a part of trying to help make the world a better place by helping others.”
—Kathryn Kao
UGA Heritage Society
For more information on how to join the UGA Heritage Society by making a planned gift to the College, please contact Molly Thomas, senior director of development and alumni relations, at 706-542-2893 or molly2@uga.edu.
UGA Heritage Society
For more information on how to join the UGA Heritage Society by making a planned gift to the College, please contact Molly Thomas, senior director of development and alumni relations, at 706-542-2893 or molly2@uga.edu.
Three retiring colleagues—professor emerita Diane Cooper, associate professor emerita Merrily Dunn, and professor Laura Dean—recently created a new fund to support the College of Education’s college student affairs administration (CSAA) and student affairs leadership (SAL) programs through planned and outright gifts, as well as by enlisting the support of alumni who have passed through their classrooms.
The College’s CSAA programs offer experientially rich instruction for those seeking a career serving students in higher education. Building on a legacy of more than 40 years, CSAA and SAL programs are based on a cohort model focused on student development and learning and connecting theory to practice.
As part of the Cooper-Dunn-Dean Fund, the colleagues created the Community Academic Regalia Trunk. Because master's students must buy graduation regalia—and will likely never wear them again—the program lets students donate their gowns, so that students in the future can borrow from the trunk rather than buying.
“We recently got our first donation and are hoping to have more come in,” says Dunn. “I live close to campus and have room for them, so the ‘trunk’ will live at my house. We also know there are doctoral alums who purchased but never wear their regalia, so we're hoping for a few of those too. We're excited to see where this goes.”
Three retiring colleagues—professor emerita Diane Cooper, associate professor emerita Merrily Dunn, and professor Laura Dean—recently created a new fund to support the College of Education’s college student affairs administration (CSAA) and student affairs leadership (SAL) programs through planned and outright gifts, as well as by enlisting the support of alumni who have passed through their classrooms.
The College’s CSAA programs offer experientially rich instruction for those seeking a career serving students in higher education. Building on a legacy of more than 40 years, CSAA and SAL programs are based on a cohort model focused on student development and learning and connecting theory to practice.
As part of the Cooper-Dunn-Dean Fund, the colleagues created the Community Academic Regalia Trunk. Because master's students must buy graduation regalia—and will likely never wear them again—the program lets students donate their gowns, so that students in the future can borrow from the trunk rather than buying.
“We recently got our first donation and are hoping to have more come in,” says Dunn. “I live close to campus and have room for them, so the ‘trunk’ will live at my house. We also know there are doctoral alums who purchased but never wear their regalia, so we're hoping for a few of those too. We're excited to see where this goes.”
Diane Cooper, professor emerita, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services
“As the amount of state funding for higher education has decreased over the years and more restrictions have been placed on how student organization funding can be spent, faculty often have little or no discretionary money available for special emergency funds for students, celebrations, and other cohort achievement markers over the years. Faculty often buy needed items for our students, much like classroom teachers do at public schools across the state. I was so frustrated not being able to help students—for example, putting on end-of-semester events—because there was no money to tap for food.
I am giving to this fund so that the faculty in our programs can celebrate student successes, create cohort memories, and mark significant events in our students’ lives. In addition, at times, a student will have an emergency and limited access to funds. Rather than needing to withdraw from UGA even after support from student care and outreach, I hope this fund can smooth over a rough spot. I’ve worked with our students for more than 25 years and know how well they represent the College as they take positions in higher education across the country. The ways we use this fund to enhance student experiences are paid back and paid forward every day!”
Merrily Dunn, associate professor emerita, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services
“After over 20 years as a faculty member in the CSAA and SAL graduate programs, I know what graduate students need to be successful. As we prepare them for careers as educators in various higher education settings, students need to attend conferences and engage in many other professional development activities. They need to be recruited to UGA and often need financial help to visit campus before they make the consequential decision about graduate school. All of this is essential, and it all costs money that isn’t part of our budget.
As my colleagues, Diane Cooper and Laura Dean, and I thought about our retirements, after a combined total of over 60 years as faculty in our programs, we knew we wanted to do something to continue helping students. We created the Cooper-Dunn-Dean Fund to help meet the needs of CSAA and SAL graduate students in all those ways that help them grow as professionals. I give so that programs I dedicated over 20 years to can become even stronger and more supportive of the remarkable students who come to UGA.”
Laura Dean, professor, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services
“Graduate education at its best involves not only academic coursework, but also a wide range of other experiences that help students understand the broader profession and develop their identities as emerging professionals. From my own time as a graduate student, I know that opportunities to engage with speakers and visiting scholars, participate in continuing education workshops, attend professional conferences, and serve on state and national committees were invaluable in my learning and networking and becoming a successful and professionally engaged practitioner. I am fortunate and grateful that my graduate program provided and supported many such opportunities. However, with today’s more limited funding and increased expenses for students, such opportunities are out of reach for many students and programs.
I give because I want all of our students—not just those who already have resources and social capital—to have every opportunity to learn and develop as professionals, and because I want them to engage in places where “They are UGA” so that others, including prospective students and prospective employers, can see the amazing students with whom we are fortunate to work. I hope that the Cooper-Dunn-Dean Fund can be a source of support to expand the horizons and serve as a springboard for professional success for generations of CSAA/SAL students to come.”
Thank you for
answering the call!
In a 24-hour show of generosity, our EduDawg community gave more than 400 gifts totaling $30K+ to support the Mary Frances Early College of Education.
Every gift helps remove barriers to higher education, solidifies the College’s position as an academic powerhouse, and strengthens the community’s commitment to giving back. If you missed UGA’s Dawg Day of Giving on March 30, you can still support us by making a gift today.
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