The University of North Georgia's (UNG) renovated Cumming Campus library was dedicated Nov. 5 as the John and Mary Helen McGruder Library thanks to their lifetime of support to the University of North Georgia and the Cumming Campus.

"We have no idea of the countless students who will go into this library and be inspired to go one more day, to take one more step toward their purpose. That's what philanthropy does," UNG President Michael Shannon said. "Thank you for your incredible generosity and kindness."

The McGruders were instrumental in casting the vision for the Cumming Campus, which opened in fall 2012, and have helped ensure the recently expanded campus can serve students in the best way possible.

"Thank you all. This was a pleasure for us and an honor to be able to do this," Mary Helen McGruder said. "We hope that by showing that the community supports this, we can add other names to other rooms and other buildings."

Mary Helen McGruder serves on the Board of Trustees of the UNG Foundation. The couple has supported many initiatives and campaigns for more than 37 years at the university. A decade ago, they created the John and Mary Helen Mashburn McGruder Endowed Scholarship. Since its inception, 16 students in programs including biology, theatre, communication, and journalism have received the scholarship.

“The newly renovated John and Mary Helen McGruder Library has made a transformational change to the Cumming Campus in its expanded ability to meet student needs," Dr. Ken Crowe, Cumming Campus executive director, said.

After serving as the cadet battalion colonel of his ROTC unit and graduating from then-Arkansas State College, John McGruder commissioned into the Army. He completed his service schools, including earning his Ranger Tab and Parachute Wings, in 1964. Following his tour in the 82nd Airborne and in Vietnam, he was assigned in 1967 as an instructor at the Mountain Ranger Camp in Dahlonega, where he met Mary Helen Mashburn, a third-generation student at then-North Georgia College.

Following a yearlong courtship, John and Mary Helen McGruder married in fall 1968 after her graduation from North Georgia. John McGruder left the Army to attend Veterinary School at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Mary Helen McGruder worked in the library and resource centers at Hickman High School before the births of their son, Paul, and daughter, Louisa.

Dr. John McGruder practiced in Missouri and Tennessee for several years before they moved in 1983 back to Mary Helen McGruder's hometown of Cumming, Georgia, where he opened Crestview Animal Hospital. While John McGruder built his veterinary practice, Mary Helen McGruder became involved in the local community, serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Forsyth County Public Library for 28 years and contributing her leadership expertise to several other charitable and economic development organizations.

Given John McGruder's ROTC and Army experience, he follows the UNG Corps of Cadets with interest and support. Through her involvement in the community, Mary Helen McGruder recognized the unique opportunities that would be available with the expansion of the UNG footprint in the area and worked to create educational opportunities for Forsyth County area residents.

Joy Bolt, dean of libraries, said library staff have overheard students saying the renovated space, which features multiple study rooms, means UNG's Cumming Campus feel more like a university campus to them now.

"Students know they have a place to go," Bolt said. "Thank you so much for your support to the university, to the Cumming Campus and for this space in particular."

In addition to the naming of the library celebrated Nov. 5, state Reps. Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald III presented the McGruders with a Georgia House of Representatives resolution honoring the couple's decades of service to their community.

"I can't thank you enough for your service," Cox said.