James May-June 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 68
business and culture, but also symbolically as a rebirth and a further representation of the central role Mercer
plays in the city.
DOWNTOWN PART OF CAMPUS
For many private universities
across the country, they may be
great schools, but they are often
tucked into their campuses and relatively isolated from their home city.
Mercer really is a part of Macon.
“Our historic campus is pretty
much on the edge of what people
consider downtown here. But we’ve
claimed downtown,” said Underwood.
“I made a presentation for our Rotary
club recently and pointed out that our
law school is downtown. Many of our
medical school facilities are downtown. And just recently we announced
that we’re moving the entirety of the
medical school campus here in Macon
onto a riverfront site in downtown Macon. So we think of downtown Macon
as part of our campus. It’s exciting
and it has taken a lot of work by a lot
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PRESIDENT WILLIAM UNDERWOOD
of people over a couple of decades
to make what we’re seeing happen.
I think Macon is today one of the hot
cities in the southeast, and I’m not just
talking about the weather.”
PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY
Tragedy struck Macon in November last year when the longtime
president and CEO of Newtown
Macon— the downtown development
organization there— died of a heart
attack at only age 42. Josh Rogers was
a Mercer graduate, a former student
body president and one of Macon’s
fiercest champions and a key cog in
the redevelopment of downtown.
“Josh Rogers’ outstanding leadership of NewTown Macon has been
a major factor in the amazing revitalization of downtown Macon over
the past decade,” said Underwood,
who chairs NewTown Macon’s Board
of Directors. “I am so proud of what he
has accomplished. His untimely death
is a shock to all of us who knew and
worked with him through the years.”
Underwood has been the chair of the
board of Newtown Macon since 2007,
working closely with Rogers much of
that time. Mercer has always been involved with NewTown Macon; in fact,
there have been three board chairs
of Newtown Macon— Underwood’s
predecessor, a one-year tenure of a
non-Mercer president and Underwood.
“It’s very important to us because
I think we recognized a long time ago
