When Stephen Schmidt ’40 roamed the fields聽of Oglethorpe more than 75 years ago as a four-sport letterman, he probably couldn’t have聽envisioned the synthetic turf that now covers the lacrosse field. Or that the would聽bear his name. And the thought of great-grandchildren knocking a ball around the same campus was probably nowhere near his radar.
However, this summer, head men’s soccer coach Jon Akin’s 聽soccer camp had the privilege of coaching聽one of Schmidt’s great-granddaughters. Mallory, 8, lives not far down the down the road but was attending her first week of athletics camp at Oglethorpe. Her older sister, Jules, 12, had previously attended basketball camps on campus.
Mallory is aware聽the family patriarch has ties to Oglethorpe, telling Akin she knew there was a bench named after Schmidt, but didn’t know the role he played during some tumultuous years in Oglethorpe’s history. Schmidt’s tireless fundraising efforts in the 1960s help keep the university financially solvent,聽earned him the “Mr. Oglethorpe” moniker聽and got a portion of Peachtree Road in front of the university named after him.
“Few checks arrived at the university during those years that didn’t have Steve Schmidt’s tracks on them,” said Elgin MacConnell, a longtime former staff member of Oglethorpe.
Schmidt probably knew his efforts to protect Oglethorpe would go on to benefit future generations. He just might not have realized it would be his own family.
