Sara Steele Hunt left Bibb County in 1947 to enroll at Judson College in Marion, serving as a “dining room girl” (DRG) to pay expenses.
Sixty-one years later, she was honored when the college’s board of trustees designated the campus dining hall the Sara Hunt Christenberry Dining Hall.
Christenberry — who along with her husband, Boyd, gave a financial gift to Judson — spoke at the dedication ceremony Nov. 1. She noted it was in that very room she met Boyd, a student at Marion Military Institute, who’s been her husband for 56 years. They married after her graduation in 1951. The couple now make their home in Montgomery.
The Judson trustees designated a portion of the Christenberrys’ gift to the college for extensive renovations to the dining hall, which were completed in the summer months prior to the current academic term.
Christenberry said serving her fellow students was a privilege and a special camaraderie developed among the DRGs, as they were called. “We were almost like sisters,” she said, noting the DRGs ate with faculty and staff during the summer months. She said her life had been enriched by their friendship as they strolled the streets of Marion after evening meals.
“I’ll treasure this honor all of my days,” she said.
Boyd Christenberry called his wife a “blue-ribbon lady.”
And Judson President David Potts concurred. “I think we can emphasize three words today,” Potts said. “They are beauty, truth and goodness. We celebrate a life today made up of these ideals.”
Trustee chair Charles Dunkin, of Birmingham, noted that the college couldn’t fulfill its mission without the support of its alumnae like Sara Christenberry.
“We thank [the Christenberrys] for helping students reach another level in their lives,” he said.
A portrait of Sara Christenberry and a dedicatory plaque, both of which will be displayed in the dining hall, were unveiled at the conclusion of the ceremony. (JC)
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