Jesse Mercer Plaza

The statue of Jesse Mercer sits casually on a bench in the middle of Mercer’s Macon campus. The youthful-looking founder of Mercer is staged at a sideways angle, looking ready for a conversation with a passing student. Occasionally, the statue’s head is rubbed by a frantic or uneasy student, hoping the tradition of good luck will work on the upcoming exam. During finals, traffic past Mercer’s respected namesake increases drastically.

The statue is encircled by quotes from Jesse Mercer, personally picked out by former Mercer President Kirby Godsey. To the statue’s left is a wooden bench, placed in honor of Hugh Lawson, a 1991 Mercer graduate who led the initial effort to design and build the statue. Lawson passed away in 1993 while attending Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law.

Since the statue was installed in 1995, this area in the main Quadrangle has become one of the most visited sites on campus by students and alumni. The statue, sculpted by Don Haugen of Marietta, was duplicated in 2005 and placed on the Atlanta campus as well.

Beginning in 2009, freshmen, as part of Fall Convocation, and graduating seniors, as part of Baccalaureate, began processing past the Jesse Mercer statue, rubbing his head for the first and last times on campus.

“The tradition really serves as the bookends to the Mercer experience,” said Dr. Doug Pearson, vice president and dean of students. “It is a recent tradition, but one that has quickly taken root.”

The statue was unveiled in 1995 in conjunction with the re-introduction of the tradition of Founder’s Day. The statue cost $75,000 and was paid for by a Student Government Association fund established specifically for constructing the Jesse Mercer statue.

Dr. Ferrol Sams’ Whisper of the River created the “spark” of student interest in erecting a statue, said Dr. Barry Jenkins, vice provost for institutional effectiveness and former longtime dean of students. The Student Government Association (SGA), led by Lawson, began a campaign in 1989 to fund the Jesse Mercer statue.

“The SGA voted that at the end of each year all monies that were left over and not used would not go into the upcoming year, but would go into a pot,” Dr. Jenkins said. “The money would accumulate into the statue fund until enough money had been accumulated to build a statue.”

The students were involved in the design, bidding and construction of the statue, Dr. Jenkins said. Lawson and other SGA leaders continued to focus on building a statue that best represented the student experience at Mercer.

“The students have liked that the statue is not on a pedestal,” said Dr. Jenkins, who was dean of students when the statue campaign started. “That caught the student’s eye. They wanted to be able to sit on the bench and talk to Jesse.”
Soon after the statue was installed in 1995, the SGA started a rumor that rubbing his head before a test would bring good luck, Dr. Jenkins said. These days, it is not uncommon to see students seated beside Jesse Mercer on the bench, reaching over and rubbing his head, or simply rubbing it as they run by on their way to class.

“I am embarrassed to say that I do rub his head often,” said Jordan Locke, current Mercer student and SGA member. “I like to rub his head right before tests I am worried about for good luck.”

That enthusiasm toward Mercer would make Lawson proud, according to 1990 graduate Lynn Creech Murphey, who was SGA vice president when Lawson was SGA president.

Dr. Jenkins gives much of the credit for the statue to Lawson, who seemed to understand the importance of his work at an early age.