Gordon State College Welcomes Georgia Boys State on Campus

By Karolina Philmon, GSC Marketing Manager
Gordon State College hosts over 190 high school senior men with the Georgia Boys State program from June 12-18 at the Barnesville campus.
Georgia Boys State is a comprehensive one-week course in state and local government and is a program of the American Legion Department of Georgia. It is a “leadership action program” where qualified male high school rising seniors take part in a practical government course.
“We were pleased to be on the campus of Gordon State College this past week for the 81st session of Georgia Boys State. GSC and Barnesville has been a great host for two years now,” said Andy Sinquefield, Georgia Boys State media relations. “They [Georgia Boys State men] left here with a better understanding of how their involvement with government can make a difference in the future.”
According to its official website, the mission of Georgia Boys State is to “develop a working knowledge of the structure of government and to impress upon the citizen the fact that our government is what we make it. Along the way delegates can learn the political process by organizing a fictional 51 state. Each level of government is run by those delegates who are elected to serve. Instruction is presented on the law and court system, parliamentary procedure and Georgia political history.”
“They began the week building the government from the ground up, appointing city officials, moving to county government officials, and by weeks end they have elected a state government all the way up to Governor.” Sinquefield said. “They learned the process of campaigning on a platform and handling issues to be elected while serving their fellow city of Boys State. Also, during the week they learned about military service, veterans’ affairs, and law enforcement issues.”
As part of the Summer ‘22 experience, Georgia Boys State celebrated Flag Day on Tuesday, June 14, by placing US flags on the GSC Village/Commons quad outside of the residence halls to celebrate current and former members of the United States military. Highlander Nation was invited to participate in the ceremony.
“The individuals who lead Georgia Boys State do great work in helping to promote leadership and citizenship to young men from all across the state of Georgia. Their group has been a great addition to our campus at Gordon State College over the last two summers and we hope they will continue to visit our campus in the future,” said GSC Assistant Vice President of Innovative Education and Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Ric Calhoun.