The Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing: Where Creativity, Community and Culture Meet

In the fall of 2024, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Office of Development hosted a naming ceremony for the Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing.  The event took place in the Miller Learning Center, one of three locations where the Center is housed. Associate professor and director of the Center, Rebecca Hallman Martini, English department head, Roland Végső, Franklin College Dean, Anna Stenport, University of Georgia President, Jere Morehead, and benefactors Jill and Marvin Willis brought together a passionate crowd of writers aware of the impact that written words have on our community and world.

Hallman Martini opened the event with remarks about the Center and the role she has played in its development. 

“I trace it all back to a conversation I had with Jill in the Summer of 2021,” she said. “After receiving a call from Meredith Metcalf from the Office of Development, I drove to campus for what I thought would be a relatively brief meeting with Jill, who wanted a tour of the Writing Center.” 

At the time, the Center was a repurposed classroom that housed several years-worth of unsold books. When the two met, Hallman Martini recalled, the conversation effortlessly flowed, covering the shared vision for the Center, its history and the work necessary to make it a more sustainable, supportive writing environment that would enhance the student experience. 

“As a writer herself,” said Hallman Martini, “Jill understood the challenges of writing and the value of creating a community around writing.”

She expressed that in a time where some writing centers were facing budget cuts and closed doors, the Willis Center for Writing is thriving. “While we continue to do the work to support writers across campus, we will now do so with an even greater sense of dignity, validation and kindness,” she said.

The Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing is a vital resource for the university community, and thanks to the Willis’ generosity, it is now even more invaluable. The Center supports students, faculty and staff in multiple ways, from hosting events focused on writing to professional development opportunities.

Following Hallman Martini’s remarks were students Chanara Andrews-Bickers (Ph.D. English `25) and Litong (Eve) Zhu (A.B. English `25). Andrews-Bickers serves as Assistant Director of the Willis Center as well as the President of UGA’s Graduate and Professional Scholars (GAPS) and Zhu is a writing consultant for the Center.

“The Writing Center has been my academic home-base since the beginning of my graduate studies in 2019,” said Andrews-Bickers. “As a first-generation college student entering the Ph.D. program right out of undergrad, navigating the shift from a small, black, women’s college to a large, predominantly white research institution, my first year was a series of struggles,” she said. She explained her appreciation for Hallman Martini and the Center’s former assistant director in creating space where she could freely disclose her feelings while adjusting to the change. She then reflected on past semesters when COVID shifted everything online—including the GAPS writing group she had initiated within the Center, aimed at underrepresented groups to find community in writing. These writing groups became a staple in the Center, still occurring today on a monthly basis. “New people would join each time, many of whom had not known about or used the Writing Center,” she said. “More returned to the Center with a newfound confidence and comfortability with the idea of writing tutoring.”

Today, the Center’s staff has grown and become more inclusive. It has doubled its staff size since 2019, with tutors representing a large variety of academic disciplines, cultural backgrounds and language knowledge for both graduate and undergraduate students. “This team is more reflective of the dynamic university community we serve, and that is because our director got it. She understood the changes that needed to be made to foster an environment in which writers could find someone with whom they were comfortable engaging in the interactive practice that is the writing process.” 

Undergraduate student Litong (Eve) Zhu, from Shanghai, China, followed Andrews-Bickers. 

“I first came to the Writing Center in my first year, when I was still majoring in business,” Zhu said. Navigating a new educational system and country had been overwhelming. She credits her English 1101 instructor for introducing her to the Center. “As someone who had never really written much in English before, I really felt that the Writing Center had helped me navigate that side of undergraduate life and helped save me from so much stress and anxiety.”

Zhu spoke about how she felt that she was truly supported by the Writing Center and how new opportunities came to light through the people she had interacted with throughout her studies. Coming from a family of scientists and businessmen, she had little experience with those who worked in the humanities—even though she enjoyed reading. Zhu would often chat with her consultants in the Center after editing her essays, and it was through them that she felt encouraged to change her major to English in her second year. Today, Zhu is a writing consultant herself. “A former consultant told me that teaching writing is the best way to improve myself, so I am grateful to the Writing Center for giving me even more opportunities to improve myself and to give back to the community that has given me so much.”

“Writing and communication are key to what arts and sciences brings to the university and what it brings to our graduates,” said Anna Stenport, Dean of the Franklin College. “Unfortunately for me, 30 years ago, there was no Willis Center for Writing—but I had the pleasure at the time of working with English faculty from the department who very generously guided me on the writing journey—and that is part of the experience that changed my life, that made me want to dive headfirst into writing and to be a supporter of writing and communication.” 

When it comes to academic innovation and the intersection of both arts and sciences, the Willis Center is where these qualities come together. Stenport expressed that when the strengths of students at every level are built upon in collaboration with faculty, the result is the amplification of the power of academic innovation and the leadership of the arts and sciences. University president Jere Morehead followed Stenport’s remarks, saying that the Center “…is now a special place that we can showcase as our commitment to what is so important at this university.”

The naming ceremony for the Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing signified a new chapter of advancement of writing excellence and the steadfast support of those who recognize its importance. From the heartfelt speeches to personal stories shared by students, the event highlighted how the Center has transformed into a thriving hub for academic growth and community. Thanks to the generosity of Jill and Marvin Willis and the dedication of faculty and staff, the Center will continue to foster a culture of writing excellence at the University of Georgia. As it moves forward, the Willis Center stands for the support of writers from all backgrounds, ensuring that their voices are heard, their stories are valued and their potential is realized.

Image: Jill and Marvin Willis at the dedication event. Photo by Andy Sloth.