Gates illustrated the University of Georgia's tradition of service through the story of D.W. Brooks, a UGA alumnus who left his comfortable professor position in 1933 to work directly with rural Georgia farmers devastated by the Great Depression, their income having dropped to an average of $72 a year. Brooks's philosophy of 'do-teaching' over 'talk-teaching' transformed cooperative farming in the state, improved the lives of a generation of Southern farmers, and eventually led him to serve as an agricultural advisor to seven presidents. Gates used this example to show that service doesn't require moving to Washington, D.C. or deploying to a war zone; it requires a commitment to missions larger than yourself.