The statue that stands in front of Troy University‘s library has now been dedicated in the memory of former provost Fred Davis.

Chancellor Jack Hawkins, Jr says the university wanted to be able to recognize Davis for his contributions to TROY.

“This is significant because Fred Davis was significant,” says Hawkins. “There have been very few people in the last hundred years who made more of a difference at TROY than Fred. He was chief academic officer but he was so much more than that and I think we’ve seen the outpouring of love and support and respect that Fred enjoyed from all those students and colleagues who knew him.”

Hawkins says the student scholar statue was an appropriate choice for dedication due to Davis’s love of learning.

“He was a very learned scholar,” says Hawkins. “He loved the literature. He loved the written word. He was a grammarian and you’d best not have a dangling participle in your sentence because Fred would capture it. He made sure all the t’s were crossed and all the i’s were dotted and we felt something that would reflect that love of learning, the love of writing, the love of reading would be appropriate and we had no better representation than this statue that had been donated by the late Huo Bao Zhu.”

The student scholar was recently moved to its location in front of the library.

Hawkins adds that its placement adds significance to the dedication to Davis.

“So it’s a great honor to have something on a daily basis to remind us not only of Huo Bao Zhu but particularly Fred Davis and that’s why we made the decision to to place it in front of the library a place that he truly loved,” says Hawkins.

For the full story watch Cailey’s report.