Community, charity fuel engagement for Nivens family
This story is written by Johnathan McGinty
Allen and Meg (BSED ’95) Nivens might not reside on campus anymore, but the University of Georgia community remains close to their hearts.
The Gainesville residents can trace some deep roots back to Athens. As a child, Meg enjoyed the “glory years” of the early 1980s, with Herschel Walker prowling the Sanford Stadium field, and she eventually earned a degree alongside her brother. The eldest grandson of an alumnus, Allen spent dozens of weekends Between the Hedges as he grew up, and while he didn’t attend UGA, his fandom for the Bulldogs and affection for the red and black remained strong.
Today, the couple’s two daughters, Sara and Annie, are pursuing degrees from UGA, and Allen and Meg’s experiences as parents navigating life with children in college would have been drastically different had they not joined the Parents Leadership Council (PLC).
The Nivenses’ journey with PLC began after they hosted an incoming freshman meet-and-greet for their local UGA alumni chapter. There they learned more about the opportunities offered by the organization, which prompted them to join PLC.
“It’s been so fun to be a part of it,” Meg said. “It’s such a great opportunity to not only get involved in the school and support their mission, but also meet parents just like us. Reconnecting with friends from college who now have their children and are part of PLC has been a fond and special thing. We’re all in this together one generation later.”
Allen and Meg Nivens’ affection for the University of Georgia community has led them to give back through the Parents Leadership Council.
Three years later, the Nivenses’ network has grown through their involvement in the program. In addition to hosting incoming freshmen gatherings, the couple has helped other parents find ways to get involved while establishing a primary line of communication and engagement with the university.
“We’ve had the opportunity to get community members here from Hall County to join and get involved in PLC,” Meg said.“It’s been really fun to grow our local base of parents who care. It creates opportunities, and it creates a sense of community — even within our hometown — through the university.”
In addition to their engagement with PLC, Meg is a proud member of Georgia Women Give, a nationwide group of women committed to philanthropy, community and learning. With three words giving the group focus — quickly, significantly and enduringly — these women impact campus life, engage with faculty, staff and students and connect with other “Georgia Women.”
“We all want to support each other and build students up and give opportunities to experience things from the university,” Meg said. “It’s been another fun way to give and get involved.”
Allen is the CEO of Sun Valley Energy Inc., a nationwide wholesale supplier of refined products including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and kerosene, and he’s helped fuel more than the PLC’s initiatives. Working with his sister, Leslie N. Miller (BS ’02) they established the James Edward Nivens (BBA ’48) Memorial Scholarship as a way to create opportunities for students and honor their grandfather.
“As we all lose loved ones, we’re all searching for ways to keep them alive, not just in our individual families but beyond,” Allen said. “I think we want all of our parents and grandparents to be as big to others as they were and are to us. For us to have a named scholarship in our granddad’s name, especially when we got the first annual report that had his name associated with it and some information about the student that was awarded the scholarship, boy, did it bring it home. It means so much.”
Allen and Meg credit their parents with instilling a strong sense of giving and philanthropy from a young age, and they want to utilize and spread that sentiment with others.
“We all can make a difference in life, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be financially,” Meg said. “But when you have the opportunity to give financially, it’s just everything to us. We hope our girls are learning as we learned from our parents, watching, and will instill that in their children, too.”
“Generosity and gratitude are the currencies of life, and you get what you give, so we prioritize that,” Allen said.
Want to know how you can get involved? Consider being a part of parent philanthropy at UGA by joining the Parents Leadership Council or learning about ways your family can make an impact by contacting parents@uga.edu.
