Patti Peabody carries her Jaguar passion into retirement

Patti Peabody’s decision to stay home for college to help her parents save money turned into a lifelong experience as a Jaguar.

Peabody graduated from the Academy of Richmond County in 1981 and then enrolled at one of Augusta University’s legacy schools, Augusta College, where she double majored in political science and sociology.

She got involved in college life right away as a freshman when she became interested in student government and pledged Zeta Tau Alpha. Despite originally planning to graduate after five years, Peabody decided to run for student government president, which carried a full scholarship, and became the first elected female student government president. She enjoyed the inner workings and was even asked to be on the search committee for a new president when President George A. Christenberry announced his retirement.

“Those things kept me really busy, and it gave me a lot of good experience. It allowed me to meet a lot of new people, too,” Peabody said.

After she graduated, though, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She tried numerous jobs that never piqued her interest. Then, a recruiter position in admissions opened. She applied but initially didn’t get it.

“Turns out the person they hired left after a month, and they called me back and offered me the job,” Peabody said. “And I never left.”

Loyal, joyful, sentimental

Peabody retired in October after 37 years of working in admissions, a job she absolutely loved. It didn’t matter to her that at times her job felt like it was 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She cherished every opportunity to talk about her alma mater and encourage students to consider Augusta University.

“Just helping them figure out what to do and how to get in, I enjoyed the contact with the students and the parents. I enjoyed seeing them through,” Peabody said. “I would love to go to graduation and see people, and they would stop and say, ‘Thank you for helping me get into college.’ I would be so glad and tell them I’m so proud of them. That feeling of helping people is wonderful, and that’s what admissions is.”

Peabody also noted that, if they were able to bring students onto campus, that made a world of difference. In her opinion, anything is going to look good on paper, but until you step foot on campus, you won’t know how you feel.

“She is loyal to everything, especially Augusta University. I remember learning her extension, and, if I ever had a question, I would call her. She might not have had the answer, but she was always going to point me in the right direction.”

Dip Metress, AU head men’s basketball coach

She said there was a lot of school spirit when she was in college, “because everybody was there together” on the Summerville Campus. She said everyone would meet near the teardrop or the Student Activity Center when changing classes and mingle. There were parties on the weekends, but Sundays were usually reserved for studying at the library.

Peabody was already working at AU when Heather Metress joined the staff.

Their early interactions were always purposeful. Working in the Registrar’s Office, there was a commonality when it pertained to work and the students. Through those interactions, their relationship developed into a friendship. Metress believes Peabody’s connection to AU has been their connection, too.

“She really modeled for my husband and I how to stay active with your alma mater. Patti makes everything fun. She is a natural includer. She includes everybody, and people are drawn to her,” said Metress, AU’s registrar. “She made attending university events fun. I think from the beginning of our relationship, she would say, ‘Hey, there’s this Alumni Association event,’ or ‘We’re doing this on campus; come participate.’ It really helped us develop a connection to Augusta College, Augusta State, Augusta University. Had I not met Patti and she hadn’t demonstrated all of that, I may never have had those connections.”

Metress is also a Double Jag, having earned her Master of Business Administration around the time Peabody was earning her master’s in education. Current men’s basketball coach Dip Metress, Heather’s husband, also earned his master’s degree around the same time, but they all agree that basketball brought them closer together.

“Her love for the university is contagious, because she gets you involved,” Heather Metress said.

Dip Metress met Peabody on a campus tour. One of his first interactions came after he was introduced to her mom during his interview process with then-head coach Clint Bryant to become an assistant coach. Over time, he learned of her passion for athletics and basketball.

“We’d be at her favorite Mexican restaurant, and the number of times we’re sitting there, and people would come up to her and say, ‘Hey, I appreciate you helping me get in school,'” Dip Metress said. “She can literally sit there and say, ‘I helped that person get into school 20 years ago,’ or ‘I helped that person’s daughter get in school.’ She bleeds Augusta. If you asked her favorite color, it’s going to be Jaguar blue.”

Loyal, loyal and loyal

Katherine Sweeney, retired assistant vice president for student success, has known Peabody for 45 years, well before either started working for the university.

Sweeney worked as registrar and director of admissions at then-Augusta State University prior to consolidation, while Peabody was an admissions recruiter. After consolidation, Sweeney became director of admissions. She said, over time, having Peabody as a dependable resource was beneficial because she has an amazing memory.

“She was always a go-to for information about the university, whether it be past or present,” Sweeney said.

Every story she has to share about Peabody would be the same story time and again, “and I mean that in the most positive way,” Sweeney said.

“Patti helped hundreds of students enroll, and the truly amazing part of it is she remembers almost every one of them,” Sweeney continued. “To this day, she runs into former students whom she helped over the years and remembers the circumstances of their enrollment. Whether they were new freshmen stepping onto a college campus for the first time or students transferring to AU after starting their college experiences elsewhere, Patti helped each one with the same care and concern. Each and every student knew Patti was in their corner and doing everything she could to make their experience a good one.”

Loyal, friendly, enthusiastic

Peabody boasts she’s been to more AU basketball games than anyone. That love of sports comes from her grandfather, who used to bring her to games on campus.

Dip Metress said it was nice to have a supporter of the sport turn into a lifelong friend. He also noted Peabody has worked with and impacted a lot of people over her three-plus decades. He said he has texted with former players, and they almost always ask, “How’s Patti doing?”

“Patti was in our wedding, and she used to come visit us at Belmont Abbey. Some people thought she was a graduate of Belmont Abbey because she would come up for every homecoming,” he said. “But she is loyal to everything, especially Augusta University. I remember learning her extension, and, if I ever had a question, I would call her. She might not have had the answer, but she was always going to point me in the right direction.”

Chris Gay, director of communications at Augusta Preparatory Day School, is a graduate of Augusta State University and has known Peabody for more than three decades. He worked at The Bell Ringer in the mid-1990s and covered sports throughout the year. She attended many of those same events, and a friendship was born.

Gay said she embodies the spirit of being a Jaguar through her support and love of Augusta University, and “few people truly love AU as much as Patti.”

“If you cut Patti open, she would bleed Jaguar blue,” Gay said. “During my 20-year career as a sportswriter for The Augusta Chronicle, one of my fondest memories of Patti was seeing her at a bar in Springfield, Massachusetts, during the 2008 Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight. She and Tim Dobbs and several others were there enjoying supper. I’m pretty sure there was also some dancing to the Cupid Shuffle involved. Patti wasn’t going to miss her favorite basketball team making a run to the national championship game, even if it involved a long bus trip. She wasn’t going to miss having a great time.”

Gay wrote a story in 2007 about Peabody hanging posters around campus on a Wednesday promoting the men’s basketball team, who were playing host to their first NCAA Division II regional in school history that Saturday.

“The lead quote from Patti: ‘There’s school spirit everywhere.’ That school spirit starts with Patti,” he said. “If anyone deserves to get inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame for their contributions as the No. 1 fan, it’s Patti.”

A Jaguar through and through

Sweeney said, throughout her career, Peabody was the embodiment of what being a Jaguar means.

Collegiality, Peabody was a tremendous team player who worked very well with others. Her compassion was at another level as she empathized with people and wanted to help others, which, according to Sweeney, made her excellent at her job and the work she did for the university.

“Inclusivity, she has the rare knack for making everyone feel welcome and valued, regardless of their background,” Sweeney said. “She has integrity because she is truthful and reliable in all of her actions and leadership. She has been leading for most of her life. She was a leader among admissions recruiters in the state of Georgia and assumed a leadership role in transfer articulation for the university. And aside from all of these things, she is probably the biggest Jaguar sports fan the university has ever had.”

Peabody has been on countless bus rides to hundreds of sporting events, rooting on the Jaguars. She has formed hundreds of relationships with former student-athletes and students, which, she says, “mean the world to me,” and gets daily updates from those students across the state and around the world. Her house turned into the “International House of Peabody” when coaches from overseas needed a place to stay.

“She is a true fan. She’s been a fan before I was a coach here,” Dip Metress said. “She was a fan under Marvin Vanover, Clint, Gary Tuell and all the people who have coached here.

“She’ll reach out to Heather and I, win or lose,” he added. “There’s about two or three people I can think of, but she’s definitely on the Mount Rushmore of fans of Augusta University Athletics and Augusta University.”