East Georgia College is a state college of the University System of Georgia. Located in the rural city of Swainsboro, the college serves Emanuel, Bulloch, and surrounding counties throughout east-central and southeast Georgia. In the 1960s, community leaders in Swainsboro and Emanuel County urged the state legislature to establish a community college in the area. In 1969, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia underwent a study to determine the need for additional community colleges in the state. A year later, the Swainsboro-Emanuel County area was approved as a prospective site with the stipulation that the county provide land and funding to build the initial physical plant. In September 1971, citizens of Emanuel County approved a $2.1 million bond issue and provided 207 acres (0.84 km) of land within the city limits of Swainsboro for a new college. 190 acres (0.77 km) of the site was donated by Mrs. Luck Flanders Gambrell, wife of then-U.S. Senator David Gambrell. In December of the same year, the Board of Regents granted final approval for Emanuel County Junior College. Then-Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives and Emanuel County native George L.