Bulldogs Give Back
Jackson’s Home
After the loss of their son, the Dodgen family transformed grief into purpose by helping future UGA students feel at home — just as Jackson once did.
For many, the fall season brings to mind bonfires, holidays, and football Saturdays. But for the Dodgen family, fall carries something a bit heavier: memories of a brown‑eyed boy whose spirited competitive streak stir a sense of fond melancholy and whose deliberate kindness made him a “once-in-a-lifetime friend” to all who knew him.
Though Jackson Dodgen’s time at UGA was cut short, he made a home for himself on campus from the beginning of his Bulldog journey in fall 2023. From his very first tour with the UGA Visitors Center alongside his parents, Laina and Jeff, Jackson knew he wanted to welcome future Bulldogs to the campus he already loved so dearly.
“Jackson loved UGA so much that he would sign off emails and texts ‘Glory, glory — Jackson’ or ‘Nothin’ finer in the land — Jackson,’” says his father, Jeff Dodgen AB ’98.
“Jackson won’t become a doctor someday, bragging about his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, but the fund is our way of giving him a chance to continue on as part of the UGA family, the traditions, and the legacy he was so proud to be part of, even for a short time. Why would we not give him that?”
Support funds — especially endowed ones — offer the opportunity not only to honor a loved one but to ensure that, despite never knowing them, others feel their impact.
That love made him a natural fit for the Visitors Center. UGA’s best ambassadors are its students, and Jackson embraced that role wholeheartedly. As a student tour leader, he shared his enthusiasm for UGA with visitors throughout the year.
“He would stand in my office and look at the UGA diploma on my wall, and I’m sure he was imagining his own diploma one day,” Jeff says.
When Jackson was killed in a 2024 car accident, the place that had given him purpose and belonging became the natural home for honoring his memory. The Jackson Dodgen Memorial Fund, established in 2025, now supports student staff members at the UGA Visitors Center — the very community where Jackson formed such strong bonds.
“If we can help students feel at home at UGA, through Jackson’s name and through his memory,” Jeff says, “then at least something good will have come from his loss.”
For a young man who once trained for a 10K race just so his friends wouldn’t have to run alone, accompanied a coworker to the gas station late at night so she wouldn’t have to pump her own gas, memorized his friends’ coffee orders just to surprise them, helping someone feel part of the Bulldog community felt like the right legacy to leave for Jeff and Laina.
For the Dodgen family, establishing a fund in Jackson’s memory was the easy part. The hard part is living each day without him. This fund, however, offers a way for Jackson to remain woven into the fabric of the university he adored.
“It warms our hearts to know that Jackson is still a part of the university, and with an endowed fund, he’ll still be there long after we’re gone,” Jeff says.
