Augusta State University’s historic campus will display its military roots by hosting Fort Gordon and city officials for a Community Covenant signing ceremony Friday, June 13, at 3 p.m.

Congressman Paul Broun, Brigadier General Jeffery W. Foley, ASU President William A Bloodworth, Jr., and Augusta Mayor David (Deke) Copenhaver will take part in the program. Mayors of Grovetown, Harlem, and North Augusta will also participate in the signing along with representatives from the Columbia County Commission, and Augusta-Metro, Columbia County, and North Augusta Chambers of Commerce.

June 13th is the day before the U.S. Army’s 233 birthday and Flag Day, which falls on the 14th. Interestingly, the flagstaff on ASU’s campus is among the oldest in the nation. It dates back to October 1900 and according to one researcher, “should be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.” Other structures of historical military significance at ASU include four original Arsenal buildings and a restored 1866 Arsenal Guardhouse as well as an Arsenal Cemetery which contains the remains of soldiers from the 1800’s to the 1940’s.

Augusta State moved to the historic site of the Augusta Arsenal in 1957 following the arsenal’s closure in 1955 by the U.S. Army. The Army began operating on the site in 1827, and some of its original buildings are still in operation.

For more information, call ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1444.

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