On Friday, Dec. 9, Columbus State University will bestow upon local arts supporter and philanthropist Barbara Carlton “Bobsie” Swift an honorary degree. The university will present the honorary doctorate of humane letters during its 10 a.m. ceremony in the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center honoring the graduates of its College of the Arts and the D. Abbott Turner College of Business.

Along with her late husband, Clifford Jewett Swift III, who passed away in December 2021, Mrs. Swift’s cultural contributions have included her love of the students and musical programs in the College of the Arts. The Swifts’ influence is found throughout the university’s Joyce & Henry Schwob School of Music and the Bo Bartlett Center. This includes establishing an endowed scholarship in 2015 to benefit students studying string instruments, with priority given to students in the school’s cello studio.  

As a current member of the Schwob School of Music Board of Advisors, Mrs. Swift has championed student scholarships and named faculty professorships—thereby ensuring excellence in the classroom, on the stages and in the concert halls where CSU students hone and perform their craft. In September 2021, she and Mr. Swift made a $1 million contribution to Columbus State to create the Barbara C. and Clifford J. Swift III Endowed Faculty Chair for the Director of the Schwob School of Music. This endowed faculty chair will ensure the Schwob School of Music’s ability to attract and retain a director of superior ability.

“An honorary degree is the highest recognition that Columbus State University can confer on an individual and is therefore not lightly given,” explained Dr. John M. Fuchko III, CSU’s interim president. “It is intended to honor a person who has a sustained a record of achievements of lasting significance. Mrs. Swift is certainly no exception.”

Honorary degrees are conferred only after a formal recommendation to the University System of Georgia chancellor and approved by the Board of Regents. Fuchko noted that, during the 25 years since Columbus State presented its first honorary degree in 1997, only 36 individuals have been honored in such a way.