Although she's never officially joined Southwestern University's admissions staff, Genevieve Britt Caldwell might be one of the most successful student recruiters in the history of the University. By her estimates, she has recruited more than 100 students for Southwestern, most of them from the Texas Panhandle where she has spent the majority of her life.

"I find the students partly by observation—knowing bright students who'd be a good fit," she says. "I always approach them individually, and I tell them all about how highly we're rated, the way we're endowed and how beautiful the campus is. If you believe in something so much, you can inspire the belief in others. I think they can see how much I love Southwestern."

Caldwell represents the second in her family's four generations to attend Southwestern. Both she and her sister, Louise Britt Carvey '44 followed the path of their mother, Vera Barrett Britt '18, as well as their aunt and uncle. Her son, Dr. Turner M. Caldwell III '71, and his daughter, Dorothy Caldwell Abeyta '92, are also graduates. Both she and her son have served on the University's Board of Trustees. Turner has served as the lay delegate from the Northwest Texas Conference for the last eight years.

In recognition for her continued generosity and dedication, Southwestern has awarded Caldwell both the Distinguished Alumna Award in 1981 and the Southwestern Medal in 1999, the latter of which her spouse, T.M. Caldwell Jr., received as well. The Caldwell-Carvey Foyer in the Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center is named in honor of her family and her sister's family.

Caldwell's giving spirit certainly has not been limited to her alma mater. For more than half a century, she has been a civic leader in Clarendon and Amarillo. In the late 1950's, her efforts led to the formation of Girl Scout organizations in the southeast Panhandle. Over the years, she has been asked to serve on a variety of boards for organizations such as: the Amarillo Symphony, the Lone Star Ballet, the Museum of Art, Methodist Mission Home, Texas Heritage Foundation, Saint's Roost Museum and Methodist Churches in Clarendon and Amarillo. In 1979, West Texas State University honored her with the Panhandle Distinguished Service Award.

She is a founding member of the Circle of Friends at the Don and Sybil Harrington Cancer Center in Amarillo, where she has served on the board of directors for two decades and received the Outstanding Achievement Award. She also was awarded the Sword of Hope from the American Cancer Society for her efforts.

Caldwell says her passion for volunteering finds its roots in her childhood. Growing up on the Britt Ranch in Wheeler County, it was her father who first taught her the value of giving. "He always loved working with people and did a lot for Wheeler. He was very active in our church and helped many young people go to college. My sister and I grew up watching daddy do all he could, and we've both tried to follow his example."

As a student at Southwestern, she carried education and English majors with plans to become a teacher. She was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority and active in the English club. She says she loved the school and has wonderful memories of her professors. But her most vivid memory of her time at Southwestern centers on a day in early December of 1941.

"I was in our sorority room just after lunch. Some of us girls were playing bridge when all of a sudden we heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor coming over the radio. I just sat there in disbelief, thinking how shocking and terrible it was. I will never forget that day."

After graduating the following spring, she decided she would not teach because she wanted to help with the war effort. She applied for a job at Pantex, a weapons plant just east of Amarillo.

"I worked there for two years in payroll. I wasn't building bombs! It seemed that every person in the country was doing something for the war effort, and we were all dedicated to helping both the country and the free world."

She married in the spring of 1944 while Mr. Caldwell was on leave from flying torpedo bombers off of aircraft carriers in the South Pacific. He went on to work as a flight instructor on naval air bases around the country until the war ended. The couple then returned to Amarillo, and soon after, their daughter Mary Louise was born.

Today they are enjoying their retirement in Amarillo, where both are still actively volunteering in the community with organizations such as Meals on Wheels, Helping One Student to Succeed (H.O.S.T.S) and the Harrington Cancer Center. They have two granddaughters, Dorothy and Margaret. They enjoy traveling and have been all over the world, which she says "was possible only after we got Turner through medical school."

And she still finds time to make personal visits to the homes of potential Southwestern students all over the Panhandle. It is an effort from which she says she'll never tire. "I always get so excited when someone calls me about a student I should meet. It's another opportunity to talk about my school."

-Greg Holland