Georgia College & State University (GCSU) held a dedication ceremony for its first athletic director, Floyd Anderson, Sept.9 under the pavilion at the Lake Laurel Lodge.
Anderson was born in 1927 and passed away in December 2022. Known as the ‘father of athletics,’ he served at GCSU for 22 years in the classroom, in various athletics, and in a range of administrative roles, including chair of the Health Physical Education and Recreation Department and as athletic director.
“This is a very special opportunity to celebrate, honor, and remember the life and legacy of Floyd Anderson. A gentleman very dear to everyone here,” said Cathy Cox, GCSU president.
“We are so honored to celebrate the huge and significant impact Floyd had not only on Lake Laurel but the entire Georgia College campus and community.”
As athletic director, Anderson established the first men’s and women’s athletic programs in 1968 and would later establish the Outdoor Education program. As part of this program, he created the Outdoor Education Institute, which hosts courses at the Lake Laurel Lodge. Outdoor education was something very dear to Anderson and his beginnings led to the long lists of opportunities available to students today.
“Floyd’s son, Blake, shared a story of his dad with me that I would like to share. When he was a little boy, his dad brought him here and his dad looked around and said, ‘This could be something someday.’ And I think he is probably looking at it with great pleasure today,” said Cox to the audience.
According to the director of the outdoor center, Liz Speelman, everything the outdoor center and outdoor education is today, began with Anderson’s workshops. Today, students continue to learn leadership, decision making, team building, and more life skills through the outdoor center.
“While I didn’t know Floyd, I am a product of his work because I actually graduated from the Masters in Outdoor Education several years ago,” said Speelman. “And now, I teach our outdoor classes, and I also run our outdoor center based here at East Campus.”
After Speelman spoke, Wayne Allen of the Boys of ‘69, the first GCSU baseball team created in 1969, took the audience to the past by sharing stories and remarks about Anderson, who was his former baseball coach. Four out of 13 Boys of ‘69 were present, including Allen, at the dedication.
“Floyd had a vision that he wanted to create a baseball program. At that time there was no equipment, no practice field, and very little money. Behind the scenes, he put together a 12-game schedule and found a field for us to practice on…,” said Allen, describing the beginnings of the original baseball team and their 12-game season. “We call Floyd a coach for his dedication, leadership, and determination he had for leading us that first year. We also call Floyd a friend and that friendship has grown from that season over 50 years. When you have a friendship that lasts that long, I can only think of one word: respect.”
After Allen, Floyd Anderson’s wife, Melissa Anderson, spoke about his character and the passion he had for his many roles at GCSU. According to her, he always found solutions to make things happen and worked with numerous associations to obtain the land that would become West Campus. In addition, she stated Anderson loved hands-on teaching and would move easily from an administrative role quickly to a teaching position throughout the day. Wherever he was needed, she assured he was there to help.
“One of his passions was outdoor education, and Lake Laurel was his diamond in the rough. He was already involved in the National Outdoor Education project when he came to GCSU, so contacts were already in place to have the Outdoor Education Institute at Lake Laurel,” said Melissa Anderson. “As we all know, he would multitask before it was even a word. He didn’t know any other way. He had no concern for who got the credit but looked to get the task accomplished.”
For his history at and dedication to GCSU, Floyd Anderson was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. According to Melissa, it was a “special honor” to him, and they were grateful to those who recommended him for the honor.
“Be it academically or athletics, I like to think he laid a solid foundation in those earlier years to allow for the growth that has taken place,” said Melissa Anderson.
Closing the program, Director of Athletics Wendell Staton unveiled the plaque that now stands beside the Lake Laurel pavilion in memory of Anderson and his legacy. In addition, Staton highlighted the Floyd V. Anderson Memorial Endowed Scholarship, which supports a GCSU baseball player entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year. The student-athlete must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 and demonstrate financial need. In addition, they must exhibit a high moral character including an exemplary degree of integrity, respect, sportsmanship, leadership skills, support for others, selflessness and commitment to their team.
According to his plaque, Floyd was an “influential and active” force behind the establishment of GCSU’s East and West campuses, alongside his many other roles and contributions, and will be remembered as a teacher, coach, administrator, mentor and friend of Georgia College & State University.