S.A.F.E. Office Named for Swogger

"Faith, Family and Friends"

BY TY DEMARTINO '90

It may have been a chilly May morning in Frostburg, but it couldn’t have been warmer inside Pullen Hall as students, alumni, administrators, faculty and staff all came together for the naming of the S.A.F.E. Office in honor of the program’s longtime director – Don Swogger M’01.

Swogger, who is celebrating 31 years at Frostburg, heads up the office and advises FSU’s BURG Peer Education Network, which informs and empowers students to make healthy choices and consider recreational alternatives to drinking and drug use.

Jamie Myers '98 and Don Swogger M'01

“What Don built through the Peer Education Network is a testimony,” said Dr. Jeff Graham D’15, associate vice president for Student Affairs. “It matters to Don that he has been able to impact students for all these years with what he has built here in terms of peer education.”

The BURG program, under Swogger’s leadership, has been nationally recognized for years as “the pinnacle of peer education at colleges and universities across the country,” according to Graham.

Current and former students joined in on singing Swogger’s praises. “Don saw something in me that I didn’t. That is something for which I’ll be forever grateful. Don told me I had the talent, skills and the ability to lead this program,” said Jamie Myers ’98, a former BURG president. “Thank you for the impact you’ve had on my life.”

Swogger, who admitted he was humbled by the dedication, said he would rather cast the spotlight on the accomplishments of his students.

“Faith, family and friends are the most important things to me. … Every day I try to share my love and my gifts to the people around me – especially my students,” an emotional Swogger told the assembled group. “I have had the honor of working with young people. … That’s the true honor.”

Click HERE to see the dedication ceremony.

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