Lindsay Tuck Morris

Servant Leadership in the Arch Society

For the last year, I have had the honor of serving as one of the 36 official student ambassadors of the University of Georgia. This group is called the Arch Society and has been sponsored by the university’s Vice President of Student Affairs since it was formed in 1991.

I joined the Arch Society because I resonated with the organization’s values of humble service, inclusivity, and pride in our university community. Arch Society members give tours of campus to visitors, serve at receptions and ceremonies, and volunteer at special events with donors, alumni, and interest groups.

Servant leadership is at the core of what we do, and in addition to our usual assignments, we organize fundraisers for Athens-area charities and support the university’s major student giving initiatives.

We serve on every assignment wearing our signature uniform: a black blazer to represent the iconic black Arch on UGA’s historic North Campus.

One of the perks of being in the Arch Society is leading the UGA student section at home football games. Members sit in the first row and cheer on the Dawgs for every home game of the regular season.

Joining the Arch Society is a rigorous process – first, a written application, a mandatory informational session, and a group interview. If selected to move on to the second round, candidates have a ten-on-one interview with outgoing Arch Society members, university administrators (including the Vice President of Student Affairs), and Arch Society alumni.

Membership in the Arch Society has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my time in college. I’ve become very close with my fellow members of the 31st class, and I’ve had the opportunity to serve at some of the university’s highest-profile events. I’ve served in the President’s box at the stadium, at the annual meeting of the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees, and the President’s Club Reception for UGA’s most generous donors.

A friend snapped this photo of me giving a tour to visiting high school students. This group was at UGA for a HOSA-Future Health Professionals competition and many of them hoped to attend nursing school in the future.

My favorite assignments, however, are campus tours. Most often, the groups that come for tours are students from underserved schools. Many of them will be first-generation college students, and I have the unique opportunity on my tours to share my experiences with higher education and provide insight for their own journeys.

I love connecting with each student I meet on tours and asking about their individual aspirations and how they connect to UGA. I’ve learned a great deal from the students, and knowing that I’ve played a part in helping them achieve their future goals means the world to me.

Athens’s Unsung Hero: Don Smith of Oconee Hill Cemetery

In my Introduction to Photojournalism class taken in spring 2022, the final project was a multimedia profile story on a subject of our choosing.

I immediately knew I wanted to choose an unusual subject – someone whose work is under-appreciated or unnoticed by the community but is actually integral to its success. I brainstormed ideas for a while, but I eventually found my ideal subject on an afternoon walk through campus.

Oconee Hill Cemetery is located directly behind Sanford Stadium, abutting the University of Georgia’s central campus. The cemetery is massive, with 100 sprawling acres of graves and available plots. I wandered in to explore the grounds and was immediately struck by the beauty of the place, particularly in the historic sections. Everything has been painstakingly preserved, with scenic landscaping and statuary. Around me, people jogged along paved paths and took photos of the monuments.

I researched Oconee Hill when I got back home and learned that the cemetery is home to a number of important figures in state and national history: Crawford W. Long, who invented the first surgical anesthesia, Ben Epps, who flew the first plane in the state of Georgia, and many notable political figures. Oconee Hill is maintained by a sexton, Don Smith, who oversees the cemetery’s operations, upkeep, and the sales of new plots.

I reached out to Don Smith and met with him twice, for a total of about seven hours. I learned about the career that had led him to this position and the deep commitment he has to preserving Oconee Hill for generations to come.

When he was promoted to sexton from general manager in 2017, the cemetery had fallen into disrepair. Smith hired a new landscaping team and worked tirelessly to restore the grounds, particularly in the historic sections where some of the most notable persons are laid to rest. He also oversaw the building of a new retaining wall within the historic grounds that allowed for the creation of new plots.

He proudly told me that those new plots were incredibly popular, not only because they are in the historic section, but because they have a direct view of Sanford Stadium – a fascinating combination of Athens’s richly historic past and its vibrant, energetic present.

The important work of maintaining cemeteries often goes unnoticed because some perceive it as morbid, but a stroll through Oconee Hill is anything but. Oconee Hill Cemetery is a beautiful, lovingly maintained place filled with history, and it was an honor to tell the story of the man who keeps it that way.