Behind the Blue Coats That Serve UWG
By: Danny Talbert | December 12, 2025
CARROLLTON, Ga. - If you have ever attended a University of West Georgia graduation, an event hosted by the University’s President or a home football game, you might have noticed a small group of people working wearing blue sport coats. Well, these volunteers, distinguished by their blazers shaded UWG blue, are a select group of high-performing students known as the Blue Coats.
Established in 2014, the purpose of the group is to serve as presidential ambassadors at the school’s biggest events, as well as participate in community-driven projects.
“We work closely with the President, alumni and community members throughout the year. So far this year, we worked all the home football games, the alumni tent at the games and we did a toy drive with the President and his family,” said Emma Nixon, a senior softball player who has spent the last three seasons playing catcher for the Wolves and is now proudly a Blue Coat.
This year, the group has been instrumental in keeping several areas of the home football games operating smoothly. “One of the most important roles is running the elevators and checking people in at the suites during football games. Not only are we making sure that only authorized people are using the suites, it also allows us to meet donors and other community members,” described Nixon. “Some of us also checked in people at the AOB (Athletics Operations Building) porch or welcomed Wolves back to campus at the alumni tent.”
Made up of UWG athletes from the softball, volleyball, football and soccer teams, as well as about 15 other students, the Blue Coats convene every few weeks to go over past events and prepare future projects.
“We typically use the meeting time to sign up for future events,” explained Nixon. “Members have to volunteer at least 15 hours a semester in order to stay a Blue Coat.”
Ranging from freshmen to graduate students, members can remain a Blue Coat for multiple years as long as they meet the 15-hour requirement and continue to live up to high standards of the group.
“We always want to represent the university well and put on a good face for our alumni and donors. It’s also a great way to network with people who are heavily involved in the community,” explained Nixon.
Notably, creating connections with alumni, donors, community members and university administrators is a staple of being a Blue Coat. In fact, part of the Blue Coats selection process involves meeting with these individuals to determine whether a student is a good fit for the group.
“It’s kind of like speed dating,” Nixon described the selection process. “Going one at a time, you sit down with about ten different donors and alumni, and you spend five minutes getting to know each other.”
Nixon said that she really enjoys connecting with different members of the UWG community while representing the University. “We like networking with people, spending time together to get to know each other. We also want to support the president and his staff when running the event. It's important to have a group like this that can come together to show everyone how great the university is.”
The now senior softball player explained that her positive experience at UWG is what drew her to the group. “I came across the Blue Coats a while ago, and I felt like it would be a perfect opportunity for me to be able to give back to the community that has been supporting me for the last three, four years,” said Nixon. “Really, the support system I have with softball made me want to branch out more into the West Georgia community.”
