Today, I’m thankful for my alma mater and its most famous ‘non-graduates.’
Wait, what did he just say?
Perhaps I should take a moment to explain.
On this day (December 10), back in 1836, Emory College was founded in Oxford, Georgia, by the Methodist Church, in memory of one of its ministers, John Emory. John Emory was a beloved, inspirational bishop with a passion for education. Unfortunately, the year prior to the founding of the institution that would bear his name, John Emory was victim of a horrible carriage accident that led to his premature demise. The school that bore his name remained a small institution of higher learning in the South for nearly three decades, before closing it doors (at least temporarily) at the onset of the American Civil War. After the conflict ended in 1865, Emory would reopen its doors the following year. However, the college remained in financial straits.
That was until in 1880, Emory’s President, Atticus Haygood, offered a speech on Thanksgiving Day expressing his gratitude towards the end of slavery. George Seney, a Brooklyn banker and fellow Methodist, heard Haygood’s speech and was moved to donate nearly $250K to the College to pay off its debts, increase construction at its Oxford campus, and ensure its long-term solvency. Emory began to grow in reputation, especially among the Methodist community. Soon thereafter, the leaders of the institution realized that they would need to relocate to a more bustling area if they were going to continue their rise as a more prominent institution of higher learning.
In 1915, under the auspices of President Warren Chandler, a decision was made to relocate Emory to the small town of Decatur, immediately outside of Atlanta in DeKalb County. Now, Chandler was able to undertake this bold move because he had the ardent backing of his brother, Asa Griggs Chandler. You see, a few decades earlier, Asa had purchased the secret ingredient for a recipe of soda, called Coca-Cola, from the chemist John Stith Pemberton for the low price of $1,750. Chandler would become a successful business tycoon, turning the Coca-Cola Company into a nationwide, commercial enterprise. He endowed the school the necessary 75 acres in the North Druid Hills Community of DeKalb County, along with a $1M endowment. Over the next half a century, Emory transformed itself in a leading private university in the South.
Then, something even more stupendous transpired.
On November 8, 1979, the retired chairman of the Coca-Cola Company, Robert W. Woodruff, gave, what was at that time, the single largest gift in the history of American philanthropy. Mr. Woodruff proffered $100 million to Emory University in the form of about three million shares of Coca-Cola Company stock. Combined with other donations he provided to the institution, Mr. Woodruff would ultimately give about $210 million to Emory over the course of his life. The most amazing aspect about this donation is that Mr. Woodruff never graduated from Emory. In fact, the school booted him out after attending only a single term; as Mr. Woodruff once put it, the only thing he ever excelled at Emory was “cutting classes and spending money.”
Yet, after dropping out of college, Robert started working as a laborer and then a machinist at a pipe and foundry company in Atlanta, where he learned the importance of having a strong work ethic. He eventually made his way into sales at an ice and coal company, and then a prosperous automobile company, before ultimately parlaying his way into becoming the President at Coca-Cola
Inc. in 1923.
This was not by accident.
You see, his dad, Ernest Woodruff, had purchased the company from Asa G. Chandler just a few years before. Under Robert Woodruff’s leadership, Coca-Cola would grow into one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world. Mr. Woodruff was adept at promoting its premier soda product through its famous ad campaigns on television and radio: “Things Go Better with Coke,” “It’s the Real Thing,” and “Have a Coke and a Smile.” The last one listed here was always my favorite. Even more so, Woodruff turned to television to promote his soft drink.
Who doesn’t fondly remember the famous Coke commercial with the injured Mean Joe Greene?
Who wouldn’t want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony?
Is there anything more entertaining than watching polar bears drink a Coke while marveling at the Aurora Borealis? OK I’ll readily concede that last one was not under Woodruff’s reign as CEO, but the visual still brings a smile to my face.
As Mr. Woodruff, then a nonagenarian, would admit to Emory students in the 1980s, the sheer shame he felt from being forced out of Emory was the impetus that ultimately catapulted him into becoming one of the most prosperous businessmen in the world. His benevolent gift to Emory was really a return of the award the college gave to him some 60 years earlier - the drive to succeed. What Emory has done with this endowment is astounding. They've allocated a significant portion to fund scholarships.
The reason I’m recalling this story is that it was Mr. Woodruff’s charitable generosity the would afford me the ability to attend Emory College and, eventually, the Emory School of Medicine. As Greek immigrants who owned a small dry-cleaning shop in Jacksonville, Florida, my parents lacked the financial resources to send me to Emory for my postgraduate education, which at the time was a whopping tuition of about $12 thousand per year; the scholarship foundation that Emory had set up with the monies provided by Mr. Woodruff afforded me the opportunity to attend Emory College in Atlanta starting in 1986, and then Emory University Medical School starting in 1990.
I am forever grateful for the gift Emory gave me. Frankly, this is the reason you see me drinking Diet Coke or Coke Zero. I would never deign to drink a soda product from the Pepsi Company, unless, of course, I had no other option. Even then, I won’t admit to enjoying it.
Along the way, Emory University has become a preeminent institution of higher learning – with repeated rankings in the Top 20 of the most revered colleges and universities in the United States. Thanks to the contributions of individuals such as George Seney, Asa Chandler, and Robert W. Woodruff – none of which ever graduated from the school – Emory's endowment continues to grow significantly. Today, I'm thankful to Emory and all its benefactors that afforded me the opportunity to receive a worthwhile education. I will never forget their generosity, and I see it as my role to ‘pay it forward’ as well.
I’ll celebrate Emory’s 184th birthday in the only way I know how – that is, with a Coke and a smile.
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