East Georgia State College

In the 1960s, community leaders in Swainsboro and Emanuel County petitioned the state legislature to establish a community college in the area. In 1969, the Georgia Board of Regents underwent a study to determine the need for additional community colleges in the state. A year later, the Swainsboro–Emanuel County area was approved as a prospective site for a new college with the stipulation that the city and county provide land and funding to build the campus. In September 1971, the citizens of Emanuel County approved a $2.1 million bond issue and provided 207 acres (84 ha) of land within the city limits of Swainsboro for a new college. 190 acres (77 ha) of the site was donated by Luck Flanders Gambrell , the wife of then-U.S. Senator David Gambrell . In December of the same year, the Board of Regents granted final approval for Emanuel County Junior College. Then-Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives and Emanuel County native George L. Smith II was instrumental in the college's establishment. In June 1972, temporary offices were set up in downtown Swainsboro and the college's faculty was hired while construction of the college campus began in December of the same year. The college hosted its charter class of 167 students in the fall quarter of 1973 at a temporary site, as the campus would not be ready for another year. The college changed its name to East Georgia College in 1988 when the University System mandated that the term "Junior" be removed from the names of its two-year institutions [ 3 ] and to give the college its regional identity. In the Board of Regents' June 2011 meeting, East Georgia College was granted approval to move to four-year status, allowing the college to offer limited bachelor's degree programs. With the change in its mission, the college was officially renamed East Georgia State College. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The college admitted its first students into the Bachelor's program in Biology in fall 2012.

[ 6 ] In April 2025, University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue made a recommendation to the Board of Regents to consolidate EGSC with Georgia Southern University . [ 7 ] On April 15, 2025, the Regents held their monthly board meeting on the main campus of Georgia Southern, formally approving the consolidation of Georgia Southern and EGSC. The following day, the Regents and Georgia Southern leaders held a town hall in Swainsboro to address concerns among EGSC students, staff, faculty, and the Swainsboro community at-large regarding the forthcoming consolidation. [ 8 ] In early June 2025, the Board of Regents, Georgia Southern leadership, and EGSC leadership revealed that the name for the Swainsboro campus would called Georgia Southern University–East Georgia Campus; additionally, Georgia Southern president Kyle Marrero will serve as the interim president of EGSC during the consolidation process effective July 1, 2025, after incumbent EGSC president David Schecter retires. [ 1 ] Campus More information Race and ethnicity, Total ... Undergraduate demographics as of Fall 2023 [ 9 ] Race and ethnicity Total Black 46% White 38% Hispanic 8% Two or more races 5% Unknown 2% Asian 1% Economic diversity Low-income [ a ] 62% Affluent [ b ] 38% Close The Luck Flanders Gambrell Center Physical Education Center The college campus opened in 1974 with six buildings and has been expanded significantly since the turn of the 21st century. Opened in 2001, the Luck Flanders Gambrell Center houses the Learning Commons (college library, Academic Center for Excellence, and Common Grounds Coffee shop), main auditorium, classrooms, and administrative offices. In 2003, the Physical Education building was expanded with a new indoor gymnasium, fitness center, an art studio, additional classrooms, and offices for Bobcat athletics. The Jean A.

Morgan (JAM) Student Center was expanded and renovated in 2007, adding student meeting space and offices for admissions, financial aid, student records, business affairs and counseling and disabilities services. The JAM Center was expanded for a second time in 2020, adding student recreation space and a larger bookstore. [ 10 ] In 2012, the college library was substantially renovated to accommodate the college's transition from two-year status to four-year status. The main campus also has an 18-hole disc golf course, 10k cross country course, outdoor tennis and basketball courts, a nature trail, Ezra Pond and Pa's Pond. In 2016, the campus was designated as a Bee Campus, and has applied for status as a Tree Campus. In 2017, the lower level of the Academic Building was expanded, adding additional biology laboratories and an 84-seat lecture hall. [ 11 ] The college opened a new southern entrance road, Madison Dixon Drive, named for one of the community leaders who pushed for the college's creation, [ 12 ] at the intersection of Lambs Bridge Road and Meadowlake Parkway in early 2008, and the Sudie A. Fulford Community Learning Center was built near the new entrance in 2010. Named for a well known grade school teacher in the Swainsboro community, the center features an educational resource center for area K-12 students and teachers, meeting space for small conferences, educational outreach programs and summer camps, as well as a great room with a vaulted ceiling and fireplace and a full-dome planetarium. The center's construction was funded by a donation from Ada Lee Correll, Fulford's daughter and the wife of Georgia-Pacific CEO-emeritus A.D. "Pete" Correll . [ 13 ] In November 2009, the EGSC Foundation voted unanimously to appropriate 10 acres (4 ha) of land near the northern part of campus to construct the college's first on-campus residence hall.

[ 14 ] Bobcat Villas opened at the start of the 2011 fall semester [ 15 ] and was expanded in the fall of 2016 through a USG P-3 initiative. The college's on-campus housing capacity is 412 students. [ 16 ]