CYRUS G. WILEY DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD
The Cyrus G. Wiley Distinguished Alumni Award was established July 1, 1974, during
the administration of Dr. Prince A. Jackson, Jr., seventh president of the university. This award
was initiated to recognize outstanding alumni who have shown extraordinary support and
loyalty to the university, and who have become exemplary examples of the lofty ideals espoused
by the university. The award also extols the achievements and contributions such
distinguished alumni have made nationally, regionally, and locally.
HONOREES
November 2010
August 1974
June 1991
Ruby Lee King
John W. McGlockton
Norman B. Elmore, Sr.
Clifford E. Hardwick, III
Benjamin F. Lewis
James O. Thomas, Jr.
Ira Jackson
June 1992
Roy L. Jackson
June 1993
Johnnie P. Jones
June 1975
June 1998
Lester W. Butts
Matella W. Maree
Josie B. Sessoms
Nancy Walker
William N. Weston
John Clark, Esq. & Mary Clark
May 1999
Margaret C. Robinson, Ph.D.
Louise L. Owens
June 1990
November 2009
John W. McGlockton
Gwendolyn Thompson Conyers
Thomas Boles
November 2011
Dorothy B. Trawick
November 2012
Laura Kornegay Irwin
November 2013
Beauty Baldwin
November 2014
Clemontine Washington
November 2015
Percy Mack
Dorothy Wilson
RICHARD R. WRIGHT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
The Richard R. Wright Award of Excellence was established March 25, 1972, during the
administration of Dr. Prince A. Jackson, Jr., seventh president of the university. The award
was developed to honor corporate and community citizens, alumni, and outstanding leaders
who have distinguished themselves through their expertise in social, educational, and civic
arenas. The award is named in honor of Richard R. Wright, Sr., the first president of
Savannah State University.
HONOREES
June 1973
William “Bill” A. Binns
Waldo W. E. Blanchet, Ph.D.
Richard Gordon Hatcher
August 1973
W.W. Law
June 1974
Esther F. Garrison
RADM Samuel Lee Gravely
Julian C. Halligan
Howard Jordan, Jr.
August 1974
Howard N. Lee
Benjamin Tucker
June 1990
Calvin L. Butts, MD
Matella W. Maree
June 1993
Priscilla D. Thomas, Ph.D.
June 1998
November 2009
Luther H. Conyers
November 2010
Jimmie C. Jackson, Ph.D.
Prince A. Jackson, Jr., Ph.D. (Posthumously)
May 1999
November 2011
Virginia Edwards
John D. Marshall, Ph.D.
December 2003
December 2012
Gwendolyn P. Goodman
Edna Branch Jackson
December 2006
November 2013
Carlton E. Brown, Ed.D.
Connie Cater
May 2007
Michael L. Thurmond
May 2008
Major General Walter E. Gaskin
Otis Johnson, Ph.D.
November 2014
Dr. Clyde Hall, `48
November 2015
Dr. Charles Elmore
Dr. Annette K. Brock
LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING
By: James Weldon Johnson
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.
SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY HYMN
Written by J. Randolph Fisher and Hillary Hatchett
Let us give thanks and praises to
Our Alma Mater, S.S.U.
Thine honor, pride, and eminence,
We raise in prayerful reverence.
Guide us still from day to day,
Be Thou mindful lest we lose out way;
Help us know that life, short or long,
Means unceasing work for weak and strong.
Refrain:
Where Savannah meets the sea,
Where grassy plains and palms abound,
Where the flow'rs are gems of loveliness,
There S.S.U. is found.
We adore each beauteous scene and hall,
Our all we pledge to Thee!
In our hearts we'll build a shrine for You
We hail Thee, S.S.U.!
Refrain:
Where Savannah meets the sea,
Where grassy plains and palms abound,
Where the flow'rs are gems of loveliness,
There S.S.U. is found.
We adore each beauteous scene and hall,
Our all we pledge to Thee!
In our hearts we'll build a shrine for You
We hail Thee, S.S.U.!
Lyrical revision by LaGina Frazier