The story began with Olin “Buddy” H. Davis, who attended Perkinston from 1935 to 1937. A charter member of Phi Theta Kappa and member of the International Relations Club, Davis helped pay for his education by milking the college’s cows each morning. Decades later, his connection to Gulf Coast would help shape the college itself.
As a Jackson County supervisor, Davis was instrumental in establishing what would become MGCCC’s Jackson County Campus. The location made the accomplishment particularly meaningful to his family. The property had once been the homestead of Davis’ maternal grandfather, Walter Havens, and was later owned by Havens’ daughter, Katherine Stine.
Davis’ four children continued the Gulf Coast tradition. Barbara Davis Haygood attended Perkinston from 1962 to 1964, where she was a Perkette, Annual Ball Queen and Hall of Fame member. She later returned to MGCCC as a math instructor and Developmental Department chair, retiring after 22 years of service. She was named the college’s Instructor of the Year in 1992.
Her sister Charlotte Davis Bosarge attended Perkinston from 1964 to 1966 and spent the summer of 1965 working as a receptionist on the property that would become the Jackson County Campus. At the time, the fledgling campus consisted of a single building, a former tavern where the first classes were held. Their siblings Howard Davis, 1969-1971, and Pamela Davis Locke, 1974-1976, later attended the Jackson County Campus their father had helped establish.
The family’s third generation expanded the connection even further. Six of Buddy Davis’ grandchildren attended Gulf Coast: Stewart Bosarge, Kristi Haygood Barlow, Vicki Haygood Zuccarello, April Bosarge Clardy, Justin Sward and J.D. Locke.
For Kristi, daughter of Barbara Davis Haygood, attending the Jackson County Campus from 1990 to 1992 continued a family tradition that was already more than 50 years old. A student leader and Hall of Fame member, she eventually followed her mother into education and has taught at MGCCC for 15 years, currently teaching psychology and social work. Her sister, Vicki, attended from 1991 to 1993 and was also an active student leader and Hall of Fame member. In fact, Vicki followed in her grandfather’s footsteps as not only a member of Phi Theta Kappa, but also an officer in her chapter.
Their cousin April Bosarge Clardy turned her Gulf Coast education into a career of service to the college. After attending the Jackson County Campus from 1991 to 1994, she joined MGCCC and has now worked in Student Services at the campus for 31 years. Cousin Justin Sward returned the family’s story to Perkinston from 1998 to 2000, where he played baseball for the Bulldogs.
The fourth generation arrived with Cody Bosarge, who attended the Jackson County Campus from 2016 to 2018, and Kristi’s daughter, Elisa Barlow, who attended from 2023 to 2025. Elisa participated in Phi Theta Kappa, CELO and BSU, bringing one element of the family story full circle. Nearly 90 years after her great-grandfather helped establish a Phi Theta Kappa tradition at Gulf Coast as a charter member, Elisa became part of PTK herself.
From Buddy milking cows at Perkinston to help pay for college, to his descendants studying, teaching and serving students at the Jackson County Campus, the Davis Haygood Barlow family’s history has grown alongside MGCCC.
“MGCCC is a huge part of my family history and has many special memories for each of us,” Kristi said. “It prepared us well for our further educations and for our careers. We are proud to be Bulldogs.”
Today, Buddy Davis’ legacy includes all four of his children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren who followed him to Gulf Coast. But perhaps the most remarkable part of the family’s story is the place where so much of it unfolded. Land once home to Buddy’s grandfather became a college campus Buddy helped establish, where generations of his family would eventually learn, work and serve others.
Thirteen Bulldogs. Four generations. One family whose history is intertwined with Gulf Coast.
