Some lessons linger long after the classroom lights fade. For Zaine Hedge (RU-2011), it was the voice of Dr. Joy Farmer, professor of English, urging him not to lose momentum before the next challenge. Her literature courses were legendary for their rigor, and Hedge — already headed to law school — wasn’t eager to end his senior year buried under novels and essays. “I told her I didn’t want that kind of stress during my last semester,” he recalls. “She looked at me and said, ‘If you’re going to law school, why lose momentum before the hardest academic challenge of your life?’”
What began as reluctance became revelation. “She made us uncomfortable,” Hedge reflects. “But that discomfort forced us to find what was buried underneath and to shine.” When law school later demanded long hours and discipline, he already knew how to focus through fatigue and find strength in persistence.
Music offered another rhythm of resilience. Hedge first learned to play the tuba in middle school, though he never owned one. When he auditioned for Reinhardt’s Wind Ensemble, he borrowed a tuba from his high school just weeks before the audition. “The first thing Dr. Dennis McIntyre (then head of Reinhardt’s music department and director of the University choir) said was, ‘That was painful, wasn’t it?’ But then he said he could see my drive and talent and gave me a chance.” That chance came with a music scholarship helping to bridge the gap in tuition and with it, a responsibility to prove he was worthy of the faith others had in him.
Under the direction of Dr. David Gregory, conductor of the Wind Ensemble, Hedge found a mentor who blended high standards with humanity. “He taught me when someone believes in you, it’s your responsibility to make that risk a positive one,” Hedge muses. Carrying those lessons in accountability and caring for others far beyond the stage became a way of life moving forward.
One afternoon in the W. Frank and Evelyn J. Gordy Center revealed how deeply those values had taken root. Hedge noticed a student cut in front of a fellow classmate without a word. “I could see how deflated she looked,” he said. “So, I turned and asked him respectfully, ‘You’re not even going to say excuse me?’” Later, the young woman thanked him quietly; no one had ever stepped in for her before. “It broke my heart. Everyone deserves to be seen, to be acknowledged,” Hedge contemplates. Years later, as a defense attorney, the conviction to stand up for others remains the foundation of his work.
As Student Body President, he discovered the courage to make difficult decisions, even when they disappointed friends. “Saying no can be powerful,” he said. “It creates understanding, boundaries, and opportunities for creativity. You learn to lead with integrity, even when it’s uncomfortable.” That balance, along with confidence and compassion, shaped the path for his future.
After earning his law degree in Charleston, he and his father opened Hedge Law Office in Douglasville, Georgia. Their firm became an extension of the same values Reinhardt nurtured. Hedge often reflects on those who shaped him: Dr. Farmer, who taught perseverance through discomfort; Dr. McIntyre, whose confidence opened the door to the Wind Ensemble; and Dr. Gregory, whose mentorship modeled leadership through empathy. He also recalls the quiet encouragement of Dr. Walter May, who cheered students on from the sidelines of campus life, and Miss Alma, the beloved dining-hall staff member who greeted everyone by name. “Those small, everyday moments of care made a lifelong impact,” he said. “They gave me the energy to invest in others.”
“Leadership and service have a symbiotic relationship,” he wrote recently. “You cannot have one without the other. When we serve others, we put on full display the awesome power each of us has inside.”
Every act of generosity creates another story like Zaine Hedge’s, an alumnus who discovered confidence through Reinhardt’s mission “to educate the whole person with challenge and care.” A gift to the Fund for Reinhardt doesn’t just support the University; it shapes leaders who lead with their heart.
Join Reinhardt in building the next generation of compassionate leaders.
