(left to right) Richard Haldeman and Jason Peevy

Erskine College Public Relations Director Jason Peevy is spending his last day at Erskine with friends. Peevy, who came to Erskine in 1994, has resigned to become Director of Communications for the Capital Campaign at the University of Georgia, where he will start work Sept. 2. Today he said goodbye to a number of well-wishers at a luncheon in his honor.

"I figured when I said I was leaving, you all would have two or three moving trucks pulling up at my house right away," Peevy joked.

Peevy led Public Relations at Erskine into new territory, beginning with the debut of the Erskine web site in 1996 and continuing with the advent of Erskine's on-line news publication, Netnews, in 1997. Erskine's web site, the on-line news publication Netnews, and the alumni publication Inside Erskine have all won awards during Peevy's tenure.

A graduate of Auburn University, Peevy was an experienced journalist when he came to Erskine, and had become familiar with the upstate area when he worked for the Index Journal. At Erskine, Peevy combined his journalism education and experience with a keen interest in the technological advances he believed would benefit the college. Never formally trained in web design, Peevy taught himself enough to launch Erskine's web site.

"It was a fortunate day for me and for Erskine when Jason was employed as my assistant in the summer of 1994," said former Public Relations Director Richard Haldeman, who retired the following year. "He brought a strong academic background and also journalistic and computer skills honed at both weekly and daily newspapers.

"During the past eight years, Jason has transformed the Public Relations office into an important marketing tool for the college," Haldeman said. "He and Steve Sniteman built a mission for the Public Relations office."

"What Jason has done in his effective and brilliant way is to get the world, the Erskine family, higher education in general, and prospective students to sit up and take notice of the bright light that is Erskine," said Vice President for Development Lee Logan. "He will be missed, but he has taught us well."

"Today is a tough day for us," said Chief Marketing Office Steve Sniteman, who has worked with Peevy since the reorganization that moved the Public Relations Office from the Development Division into its own area, Marketing and Public Relations.

"We know this new position is a wonderful opportunity for Jason, and we wish him success, but we're sorry to see him go," Sniteman said. "He has led the way in marketing the college, and he has been a friend and a trusted colleague."

Friends bid Peevy farewell at the Village Grill on Friday