40 S G M A G A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 The picturesque campus was once the winter residence of W. Cameron Forbes, former governor-general of the Philippines, ambassador to Japan, and grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson. From its beginning in 1950 as Birdwood Junior College, under the direction of the Primitive Baptist Church, the college has steadily grown in size and mission. In 1979, the college became nonsectarian and independent, and the name was changed to Thomas County Community College. Over the next three decades, the school became Thomas College in 1986 and Thomas University in 2000. Today, Thomas University serves as an independent, not-for-profit, regionally accredited institution with regional, national, and global outreach. Thomas University Remains Committed to an Education that Engages, Empowers, Transforms Intertwined within the historic community of Thomasville—with its boutiques, antique shops, cafés, and trendy bistros and coffee houses—sits Thomas University. PHOTO: PAT GALLAGHER