CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Billy and Cathy Goins are surrounded.
After living near the edge of Lee University’s grounds for 14 years, the couple’s home has become an island enveloped by the school’s swelling campus since Lee’s recent purchase of the nearby First Baptist Church property.
“They own the apartments beside us, they own the house next door, they own everything behind us and they own everything in front of us,” Billy Goins said.
He said university officials visited his home last week to take pictures and ask about buying, but he said he won’t sell until the price is right. When that time comes, he said, he plans to move to 14 acres of land he owns in Charleston, Tenn.
The Goins’ neighbor, Wilma Mae Hicks, 94, lives with her 89-year-old sister on the edge of Lee’s campus.