Georgia Southern student success leader honored with MLK Drum Major Award  

February 11, 2025

Sharing a birthday party with your older brother isn’t something many people view as a privilege. 

“My birthday was August 11, and his was August 14, so we always shared birthday parties,” explains Reggie Simpkins, Ed.D., associate vice president for Student Success at Georgia Southern University. “People always thought we were twins. That’s because we did everything together.”

Simpkins was determined to honor his brother’s memory and keep his name alive after he died in 1998 to a senseless act of violence. That’s what led him to start the Jo-Nathan Foundation. The nonprofit organization provides financial assistance to underprivileged and at-risk youth to participate in summer camp opportunities, focusing on education and exposure to positive experiences. 

“We wanted the foundation to focus on sending kids to summer camps because my mother would send us to 4-H camps when we were growing up,” explained Simpkins. “It was an idea to try and bring some of those same memories to youth today.” 

Because of this work, Simpkins was recently honored with the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award at the Old Macedonia Baptist Church in North Augusta, South Carolina. 

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by a community I call home,” said Simpkins, who is from the nearby community of Edgefield.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award is given to those performing daily acts of service to make their community a better place. The name comes from King’s speech, “The Drum Major Instinct,” which he referred to as the human desire for notoriety and attention. He warned that this innate desire can be harmful if not properly channeled, and that true greatness comes from serving others rather than pursuing personal glory. 

Simpkins and the foundation team also host their own leadership camp for kids primarily in the Central Savannah River area. As they prepare for their 9th summer camp this year, he reflected on the foundation’s impact over the years, saying he wishes his brother could see what they’ve done. 

“Our work with the foundation has brought us some sense of closure,” said Simpkins. “I think that Jonathan would be so proud of the work we’ve done, that we’ve helped keep his name alive through service to the youth in the South Carolina and Georgia area.”