Three Flagler College alumni were recognized during the 21st Annual Alumni Awards Luncheon in the areas of service and professional achievement. Initiated in 1999, the awards honor those who have made significant contributions to their fields, the college or their communities.
The Professional Achievement Award was presented to both Jackie Petty ('05) of Ponte Vedra and Christina (Christy) Fulater ('08) of Tallahassee for their significant accomplishments in their fields.
Petty is the lead of live production with the PGA Tour and serves as the producer-director of PGA Tour Live. She is the only female producer in all of professional golf broadcasting and has directed live tournament coverage across 35 international broadcast partners, in 210 countries and territories, with a total viewership of more than 945 million households worldwide.
Her work has aired on NBC, CBS, GOLF Channel, PGATOUR.com, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon Prime, the NBC Sports Gold app, and Internationally through Discovery on GOLF TV.
"It was such an honor to receive the Profession Achievement Award from Flagler College,” she said. “I truly love what I do and am so happy I get to put my communications in broadcasting degree to use every day. I have worked very hard to carry myself in a way that would make all the people I represent proud, and that includes my alma mater."
In part, she credits her professional success to the small class size learning environment and support and encouragement from faculty and staff she experienced at Flagler.
"It was clear I was not going to be able to hide in the crowd of a 400-plus student lecture hall,” she said. “I was called on by name and attendance was easily noticed. That was the beginning of me always showing up and being prepared. I grew to like speaking in front of groups of people, and I attribute that to the classroom participation that was a clear part of every class I took at Flagler."
Fulater's career has been centered around her love for ESE education. As a special education teacher in Leon County, she has won several Teacher of the Year awards. In 2019, she was named ESE curriculum and instructional specialist for the Leon County School District. In her roles, she has advocated for teachers and students statewide and locally to help increase the educational outcomes for all students with disabilities.
She has spent the last 12 years consistently devoting her time to improving the educational outcomes for students with disabilities. First in her own classroom, and now in the classroom of other teachers she assists through her role with the district, FCEC, and as a Flagler College Tallahassee campus adjunct instructor.
Ellie Baggett ('07) of Tampa was awarded the Community Service Award for her outstanding contributions to serving her community.
Baggett founded an organization that encourages and supports women's participation in their neighborhoods and provides opportunities to give back to their communities. It has more than 2,340 members and has supported Tampa public schools, domestic violence shelters and sexual abuse victims.
