COVINGTON, Ga.— Perimeter College at Georgia State University will host its annual Daffodil Festival & Symposium March 9-10 on its Newton Campus, located at 239 Cedar Lane in Covington.
Lindsey Petrini, CEO of Piedmont Newton, will kickoff the event with a keynote address on Monday, March 9, at 10 a.m. Organizers chose “Healthcare: Access & Opportunities” as this year’s theme.
“Our goal is to highlight potential career options in our community in a high-demand field while being mindful of factors affecting patient access to healthcare,” said Stephanie Langston, event co-chair and principal lecturer of Spanish at Perimeter College.
Monday will include presenters from Piedmont Newton and Takeda Pharmaceuticals, plus other professionals in the healthcare field from the surrounding area.
On Tuesday, March 10, the symposium will feature GSU’s Perimeter College faculty and staff presenters whose talks will include an overview of Perimeter’s Dental Hygiene program at 10 a.m., followed by discussions on healthcare policy and non-traditional treatments at 11:30 a.m.
The Daffodil Festival & Symposium, rooted in the campus’s history, is a signature event for the college’s Newton County location which was built on 100 acres of donated land in 2007. Hosanna Fletcher, lecturer of sociology and event co-chair, explained its significance.
“Each year, we celebrate the Daffodil Festival & Symposium in honor of the daffodils believed to be planted by slaves more than a century ago when the property was a plantation,” Fletcher said. “The flowers, over the years, have continued to multiply and bloom, symbolizing the growth and resilience of the community.”
This year’s festival and symposium has been expanded to two days and will include a variety of activities for students, faculty, staff and community attendees. In addition to festival organizers recognizing the recipient of the Daffodil Festival & Symposium Scholarship, participants will be able to take part in sound bath, yoga, herbal tea-making and daffodil Lego creation sessions.
The Daffodil Festival & Symposium is free and open to the public. All presentations take place in the college’s 2N auditorium and atrium.
