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Fayette resident recalls ‘growing up’ with CCSU

After 33 years, Jerri Hager, director of programs and professional training for the Harry S. Downs Center for Continuing Education at Clayton College & State University, retires on Aug. 30.

Hager, a Forest Park native who has lived in Fayetteville for several years, enrolled at Clayton Junior College in 1969 at age 17 and received her Associates of Arts in Social Sciences in 1973.

She was a member of the school’s original freshman class Ð making her the university’s last original link to its founding 35 years ago.

"The buildings weren't even completed when I went to register for classes," she said. "We had to register somewhere in Forest Park, and when classes did start, there were only two buildings completed — the Administration Building and the current Business and Health Sciences building."

The Student Center was completed shortly after the term started and housed the library on the second floor.

Hager has no immediate plans for her retirement. She just enrolled the youngest of her two children, daughter Jenny, at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, and she and husband Danny have built a home in Brunswick where he has started a new job at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

In May, Hager earned a second degree from Clayton State — a bachelors in Integrative Studies. Now she is considering going on to graduate school.

"I've been so used to taking classes, and I really enjoyed it for the most part," she said. "I might as well keep going. It certainly isn't going to hurt."

In the meantime, she is looking forward to new opportunities being close to the ocean, and making new friends at her new home in Brunswick.

"I feel like I've grown up here, Hager says thoughtfully. "This has been my life.

"My first job was student assistant in president’s [Harry Downs] office. I became full-time in 1971 working in the mailroom, where we did all the duplication and copying for the faculty using a mimeograph machine."

After leaving the mailroom, Hager moved into Accounts Payable as a clerk, then to Social Sciences, Public Information and eventually Continuing Education.

"I feel so lucky to have worked at Clayton State," Hager said. "I've had so many opportunities for advancement and have been able to work in so many different departments. What's even more amazing is I've enjoyed every one of my jobs."