Spring 2004

Volume 7 Number 2
A publication of Macon State College

MSC Foundation Establishes Scholarship

In Memory of Dr. Gwen Sell Sorrell

By Sheron Smith

Perhaps the best thing about Dr. Gwen Sell Sorrell's two big passions in life was how they strengthened each other:  her love for teaching fed her desire to travel the world, while the thrill of travel made her an even better teacher.

Dr. Gwen Sell Sorrell and her husband, Dr. Larry Mobley, sit in a courtyard during a visit to France.

"Although she agreed with John Keats that through books we travel 'in the land of gold,' she also insisted that our imaginary travels are riches when read within the context of real journeys," said Sorrell's husband, Dr. Larry Mobley.

A longtime English professor at Macon State College, Sorrell died in January 2004 after an 18 - month battle with cancer.  She was one of the College's most popular instructors, teaching various courses in literature, ethics and gender studies, and earned a reputation for generating enthusiasm for learning among her students.  The glowing evaluations many wrote about Sorrell helped her win Macon State's Outstanding Teaching Award in 2002. 

In addition to her work in the classroom, Sorrell was the founding director of the Macon State College Study Abroad Program.  She twice taught literature at a University System of Georgia summer study abroad program in London, and she also visited Russia and Japan on faculty development trips.  On her own, she traveled extensively in England, France, Italy, Germany and Scotland.  Sorrell especially loved London and would spend hours each day of a trip exploring that city's ubiquitous museums and bookstores. 

"Gwen saw travel as a portal through which she could study the history and culture of other places," said Mobley, also an English professor at Macon State.  "It was important to her to encourage students to leave their provincial world and experience the life - changing adventures of travel."  In Sorrell's memory, her family has established a scholarship through the Macon State College Foundation that will merge her twin passions by giving more students an opportunity to study while traveling abroad.  Mobley, along with Sorrell's children, Scott Sell and Mary Lee Sell Watts, have pledged $20,000 to endow the Gwendolyn Sell Sorrell Study Abroad Scholarship.  As an endowed award, the scholarship will be given annually to qualified Macon State students. 

"The Foundation is honored to add this scholarship the resources we offer our students," said Sue B. Chipman, the foundation's executive director.  "Gwen always worked closely with us to help students apply for scholarships they could use toward study abroad.  I know her efforts literally opened a world of opportunity for them, so a study abroad scholarship in her memory is a fitting tribute."

Among the many Macon State students Sorrell encouraged to study abroad was Ashley Walker, now a senior communications major.  Because of Sorrell's influence, Walker spent the summer of 2002 studying in Italy.

"She was my professor in gender studies, and her excitement about learning and discussing ideas in the classroom made me enthusiastic about college," Walker said.  "She was eager to teach me all that she knew, and that included teaching me to experience the world through travel.  And she was right.  Going to Italy was the best experience of my life."

Walker is going on another study abroad trip this summer, this time to Spain, and she aspires to a career that will allow her to travel to or live in other countries.

She thinks Sorrell would be pleased.

"Gwen was an incredible teacher and mentor," Walker said.  "I'm thankful we were friends."

Donations to the Gwendolyn Sell Sorrell Study Abroad Scholarship fund may be made to the Macon State College Foundation, 100 College Station Drive, Macon, Ga., 31206 - 5145.  Call (478) 471 - 2732 or email development@maconstate.edu.

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