'Southern: Spring/Summer 2018

THE LOVE ISSUE

’SOUTHERN A Publication for Alumni and Friends

Spring/Summer 2018 Volume 43, Number 1

THINGS TO

LOVE ABOUT BSC

BSC

Birmingham-Southern College SPRING/SUMMER FALL 2015 2018 / 1

BSC SNAPSHOTS Junior Zack Holton dives deep down under off the coast of Caines, Australia, during the January Exploration Term. Holton and other students joined faculty on an E-Term exploration of the arts, culture, and natural diversity of the island nation.

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CONTENTS

spring/summer 2018 ‘SOUTHERN MAGAZINE // VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

9

16

FEATURES 9 // Influencing public policy through data David Yokum ’06—this year’s Honors Day speaker—is breaking new ground in applying scientific methods to public problems.

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16 // 100 things to love about BSC As BSC commemorates its 100th year on the Hilltop, we invited alumni, students, faculty, and staff to chime in with anything and everything beloved about Birmingham-Southern.

DEPARTMENTS 2

Editor’s Note

38

Alumni Notes

46

Class Notes

3

Campus

40

Philanthropy

59

’Southern Voices

Panther Pride

44

From the Archives

12

32

39

32 // Heart to heart

39 // 100 Minutes on the Hilltop

We know BSC changes lives. It also unites them. Read the stories of just a few alumni who found their soulmates among their classmates.

As part of the college’s year-long celebration of 100 years on the Hilltop, BSC students, faculty, and alumni gave a series of short, inspiring TED-style talks about leading lives of significance.

BSC

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‘SOUTHERN MAGAZINE // VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1

Editor’s Note

Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, President Denson N. Franklin III, Chair, Board of Trustees

Building on BSC’s entrepreneurial spirit About 100 years ago, two small colleges took a big risk.

’Southern magazine is published by the Office of Communications at Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, Alabama 35254. Non-profit postage paid at B’ham., AL Permit No. 2575. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Alumni Affairs, Birmingham-Southern College, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Box 549003, Birmingham, AL 35254; telephone (205) 226-4912; or access at www.bsc.edu/alumni.

CLASSNOTES They had to try something. The First World War had depleted their enrollment as students rushed off

to fight at the front. The once-prestigious ‘Southern University, waning in the antebellum economy of rural Alabama, and the still-new Birmingham College, still trying to find its footing on the western edge of a booming young city, were both in danger of closing their doors.

So in 1918, the two schools merged, relocating from a sleepy Southern hamlet and sowing the seeds

by Pat Cole for the campus that exists today. It’s easy to look back now from this comfortable vantage point we now call the Hilltop and imagine that the choice was an obvious one. But it most certainly wasn’t. The fear of failure must have loomed large, yet still the leaders made a choice to press forward.

Today, that entrepreneurial spirit is part of Birmingham-Southern College’s DNA. BSC took a calculated risk this fall by resetting tuition and changing the national conversation on college pricing. ©2018 Today, we’re exploring ways to best serve the students of tomorrow – including students from more Birmingham-Southern College diverse backgrounds, students transferring to BSC from two- and four-year schools, and students who will be charged with navigating a world we can barely even imagine.

Editorial Offices: 10 Stockham Building One thing we know: the techniques details may change, the heartfar-sighted of what made that plan for the In 1914, architects W.T.while Warren and W.H. and Kessler created a remarkably master 900 Arkadelphia Road brand-new school a special place will remain the same. As you read this issue, you’ll learn more about campus of Birmingham College. And when four years later that school merged with Southern University Box 549004 some of the things you told us you love about BSC, and about a very small sampling of the hundreds of to form Birmingham-Southern College, thehere subsequent building campaign most of their ideas:Birmingham, AL 35254 people who found their own true love right on the Hilltop.

If you don’t see incorporated the thing (or person) Phone: (205) 226-4922 Fax: (205) 226-4931 a main headed an imposing administrative (Munger), flanked by the library and other mostquad special to you,by please let us know by emailing usbuilding at communications@bsc.edu.

E-mail: hwolfson@bsc.edu Meanwhile, we’ll spend the second half of this year continuing to celebrate that special anniversary – academic buildings, the dorm quad on the western hill, the athletic building and stadium (Munger Bowl, now and finding more ways to apply BSC’s entrepreneurial spirit. Stay tuned as we move, as always, Virginia Gilbert Loftin,

ClassNotes

The BSC campus—as it almost was

demolished), and the President’s Home (although the proposed site was eventually flipped). Warren and Vice President for Advancement Kessler failed in one regard, however; although Ford’s Model T was in full production by 1914, their master and Communications Forward, Ever! plan made no provision for parking spaces!

Executive Editor: Hannah Wolfson, Director of Communications

Managing Editor:

Hannah Wolfson, Director of Communications

Pat Kindall MPPM ’11 Communications Specialist

Art Directors: Traci Edwards, Assistant Director of Visual Content Patrick Bradford, Assistant Director of Visual Content

Contributing Writers: Amy Bickers Dr. Guy Hubbs Pat Kindall Kaden Pounders Kyndall Waters ‘05 Hannah Wolfson

The celebrations continue throughout the year. Check www.bsc.edu/100 years for the latest.

Photography: Scott Butler Wynter Byrd Traci Edwards Jennifer Jones Bradley Spears The Hill Archived photos Submitted Photos

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www.bsc.edu

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L to r: Abbie Riggs, Abby Henken, Colton Hinderliter, and Stephanie Lee

The art of collaboration

“This has been an incredible experience for me. I’ve gained skills and experiences that will be invaluable to me since graduating and venturing into the theatre profession,” said Pecot, who, along with Martignoni, was invited back to the Farm Theater in early June to take part in rehearsals and a staged public reading of the play. “I’m also thankful that the college’s theatre program is always willing to tackle shows that deal with heavy topics such as addictive behaviors and eating disorders—important discussions we should have.”

Never Have I Ever was the Farm Theater’s fourth production in its College Collaboration Project, which commissions an earlycareer playwright to work with two or three schools to create a piece for student actors on a subject relevant to them. Its first project, In the Event of My Death, had a sold-out run in New York City in 2016.

“Our plan is to work with the Farm every other year, so that our students have the unusual experience of developing a new play with a professional playwright,” Litsey said. “The Farm Project allows student leaders, designers, actors, and technicians to support campus-wide conversations about topics we hope are timely and meaningful.”

Students explore group-oriented approach to theatre BSC’s theatre students spent their January 2018 E-Term working on a play that grew out of a nine-month collaboration with the Farm Theater in Brooklyn, N.Y. Never Have I Ever is a drama dealing with addictive behavior around food and body image written by playwright Jan Rosenberg after she interviewed students at BSC and other schools on the subject. Rosenberg, who has twice been a Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist, collaborated electronically during the rehearsal process and was on hand at Birmingham-Southern for the production and post-performance talkbacks. BSC seniors Megan Pecot (who directed the production) and Brennan Martignoni (who designed the lighting), along with professors Dr. Alan Litsey and Matthew Mielke, engaged in three days of discussion and readings of the play in New York City last summer with the playwright, professional actors, and students from West Chester University.

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A nurturing partnership

UAB, BSC team up for accelerated nursing program In its continuing effort to add new programs and new value, BSC has formed a partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham that will allow students who have finished three and a half years of work toward their BSC undergraduate degree to begin earning a master’s in nursing from UAB. The move allows Birmingham-Southern students a direct path to a graduate degree in nursing while exploring their other passions; they can major in a variety of subjects and experience learning hands-on through internships, travel, and service-learning, said BSC President Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith.

“We’ve all heard that there’s a high demand for nurses,” she said. “This will give our students an opportunity to get a head start on their nursing careers while experiencing the full benefits of this personalized educational experience.”

In addition, the partnership—along with a newly-introduced major in health sciences and a new distinction in public health studies—answers increasing demand from prospective students seeking to combine a liberal arts experience with a pathway to nursing and other health professions.

Birmingham-Southern is the first school to team up with UAB in its new Accelerated Masters in Nursing Pathways program. BSC seniors may begin the program once they have completed at least 29 units of their undergraduate coursework. The spring term of their senior year, they will be enrolled at both BSC and UAB while they conduct their first semester of nursing coursework at UAB. 4 / ’southern

At the end of that term, enough credits will be transferred back to BSC for them to graduate from Birmingham-Southern.

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree programs typically require a completed bachelor’s degree—most often in nursing— and require three years of coursework. According to Nurse Journal, MSN holders usually have better job opportunities, receive higher pay, and are more likely to take on management roles, earn a Ph.D., or go into teaching than RNs with only bachelor’s degrees.

“We are excited to be able to offer this opportunity to BSC students whose diverse backgrounds and experiences in the liberal arts and sciences will continue to develop and grow the talent pool in nursing,” said UAB School of Nursing Dean and Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair in Nursing Dr. Doreen Harper.

Some nursing experts say that a liberal arts background is increasingly important as health care providers face more complex challenges, expanding technology, more diverse clientele, and a need for critical thinking.

“Expanding societal and health care complexities demands that professional nursing education be tailored to prepare nursing students as informed, responsible, democratic citizens as well as empowered, competent, compassionate professional nurses,” writes the American Association of Colleges and Universities.

“Given the multitude of conflicting influences, the value of liberal learning continues to hold promise as the best preparation for students to meet the challenges.”

watchword “In many cases, (tuition) resets are being driven by new presidents or ideas from boards of trustees. Birmingham-Southern is a good example. The president of the 1,300-student college, Linda FlahertyGoldsmith, took over in June 2016, although she’d worked with the college earlier as a consultant to its trustees and as chief of staff under one of its former presidents. A tuition reset was on her list of initial strategies to pursue, she said.

The college started work on the idea at the beginning of August 2016, studying it for about a year before announcing its reset Sept. 12. It found that 80 percent of students in Alabama wouldn’t consider a college with tuition, fees, room, and board adding up to more than $50,000. It also found that the South was different from other parts of the country in that more than three-quarters of students preferred public universities to private colleges if the two options cost the same amount.”

— Inside Higher Education “The Tuition Reset Strategy,” Sept. 15, 2017

Key lessons in entrepreneurship Andy Newton ’94, co-founder of Southern Light LLC, outlined the importance of culture in the workplace and managers who value employees in the 2018 Stump Entrepreneurship Lecture at Birmingham-Southern in March.

Southern Light was purchased for $700 million in 2017 by Uniti Fiber. Newton, currently the president of infrastructure and operations at Uniti—a leading provider of infrastructure solutions—spoke on his entrepreneurial journey.

His talk was titled “Culture and Grit.”

Southern Light was co-founded by Newton and Lee Wallace Jr. ’95. Paul Bullington ’94 served as Southern Light’s chief financial officer, and Greg Tapscott ‘94 served as chief accounting officer. The Stump Lecture is part of BSC’s Entrepreneurship Program; it is endowed by Jane Templeton Stump ‘79 and Kevin Stump ’80.

BSC reaches out to Houston A team of students and staff from Birmingham-Southern traveled to Houston during spring break to work with flood victims.

The Alternative Spring Break group spent the last week of March working with Chapelwood United Methodist Church, which has been designated by the United Methodist Committee on Relief to repair houses damaged by Hurricane Harvey. The Category 4 storm hit Texas on Aug. 25 leaving about one-third of Houston underwater.

The BSC team stayed at the church and met with some of the 75 Birmingham-Southern alumni who live in the Houston area and explored the city. Alternative Spring Break, in which students spend their week on service projects, has long been a tradition at BSC. Previous projects have been held in Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Boston, and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

“Not only was I able to spend my spring break with other students, but we were able to make a meaningful use of our time by impacting the lives of others,” said Alexis Nail, a BSC junior political science major. “It means so much to know that you were able to utilize your own blessings to help someone else in need.”

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Faculty achievements Dr. Jason Heaton, associate professor of biology, is part of a team of researchers that unveiled the most complete Australopithecus fossil ever found. “Little Foot,” as the skeleton is called, is the most complete skeleton of a human ancestor older than 1.5 million years. Heaton, who started on the project while conducting his Ph.D. research at the Sterkfontein caves in South Africa, where the skeleton was found, published a reconstruction of Little Foot’s environment in 2004 and said more publications are planned for the coming months.

Dr. Shane Pitts, Jack G. Paden Professor of Psychology, had a paper accepted for presentation at the 2018 Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s Annual Convention. He discussed “You’re Not (Trust)Worthy: Male and Female Atheists and Christians Can Be Differentiated from Their Faces,” at a symposium session on faces in social and personality psychology at the conference in Atlanta in March. His research was conducted in collaboration with Dr. John Paul Wilson ’06, a faculty member at Montclair State University in New Jersey, and BSC senior Caralyn Patton. Only 32 papers were chosen for the session from 2,041 entries.

Dr. Kate Hayden, assistant professor of chemistry, received the 2017-18 Bob Whetstone Faculty Development Award, given by the Provost’s Office. Hayden, who has been at BSC since 2014, teaches biochemistry and medical chemistry, a course in which students complete a significant service-learning component each term.

Her research is centered on the structural and thermodynamic understanding of non-helical DNA structures and their biological functions in the cell.

Dr. Ream Shoreibah, visiting assistant professor of marketing, is one of three authors of a paper in the journal Industrial Marketing Management. “Toward a framework for mixed-gender selling teams and the impact of increased female presence on team performance,”

Dr. Ream Shoreibah 6 / ’southern

Dr. Jason Heaton

works to explain why having gender diversity improves team performance, and how adding women to all-male sales teams reduces turnover and enhances relational skills.

Four biology faculty members—Assistant Professor Dr. Kevin Drace, Assistant Professor Dr. Katie Gibbs, Associate Professor Dr. Melanie Styers ’99, and Professor Dr. Pamela Hanson—gave a joint presentation at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in December. Their paper, “Steel city blues: Leveraging a legacy of pollution for research and reflection in introductory and advanced undergraduate biology courses,” discusses how students engage in authentic research on the biological impacts of heavy metal pollution left behind by the important iron industry, which helped found, build, and sustain the Birmingham metropolitan area.

Dr. Joe Chandler ’03, assistant professor of psychology, is coprincipal investigator on a $797,000 grant from the Department of Defense to conduct research on measuring and identifying fatigue in soldiers. He is spending three months this summer at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego to kick off the effort. Chandler also recently published an article along with others on “Political identity, type of victim, and hate crime-related beliefs as predictors of support for hate crime penalty enhancement laws” in the journal Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.

Professor of Music Dr. Jacqueline Leary-Warsaw was the producer and on-air television host of two concerts that aired on the EWTN cable network: The annual Christmas Concert for Charity at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, D.C., in December and a historic concert with the world-renowned Sistine Chapel Choir, which performed in the same location. She also served as emcee at a post-concert gala honoring the choir.

Dr. Kate Hayden

Panther Partnerships program growing

High-energy performance—A choir of 10 Ugandan children performed traditional and spiritual music and played authentic African instruments on the BSC campus in January in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The children, most between the ages of 8 and 10, were dancing and singing their way through a year-long tour of the U.S. The young performers are representatives of a Christian child sponsorship ministry called Childcare Worldwide, which is focused on education and development across the African continent.

This past academic year, 64 students and Birmingham-area professionals signed onto BSC’s Panther Partnerships Mentoring Program. This intensive, structured program links students of all majors and interests—who are selected through a competitive process—with mentors in their field to help them achieve their educational and career goals.

The 2018 class of mentors included Michael Dean ’05, assistant athletics director at the University of Alabama; Mary Boehm, a member of the Birmingham Board of Education; Scott Berte ’94, lead market partner at Dixon Hughes Goodman; Clete Walker ’90, CEO of Vituro Health; Rev. Jennifer Sanders, pastor of Beloved Community Church; Margaret Ann Renneker Pyburn ’84, executive vice president at Cobbs Allen; and many more.

If you’d like to volunteer as a mentor, contact Katy Smith at (205) 226-3037 or kesmith@bsc.edu.

Planetarium finds a new life The beloved Meyer Planetarium at BSC—an integral part of Birmingham’s fabric and a favorite field trip for area schoolchildren from 1964 until it closed in 2009—was reborn this spring as a high-tech video theater to display Alabama’s natural wonders.

The GeoDome Visual Arts Theatre opened in the former “star chamber,” with a ceremony in April. The GeoDome is the first of its kind in Alabama and will be used by the approximately 10,000 schoolchildren and community members who currently visit the Southern Environmental Center (SEC), said Roald Hazelhoff, the SEC’s director.

“We are excited to offer area children and others this incredible new resource for learning about Alabama’s geography, ecology, and place on the planet,” Hazelhoff said. “This is a great way for BSC to fulfill its mission of encouraging all members of our community to engage with the wider world and for the SEC to take its educational outreach to the next level.”

Inspired in part by immersive experiences like the Soarin’ ride at Disney’s Epcot Center, the GeoDome will use short, interactive

4K (ultra-high-definition) videos that blend geographic information system mapping, drone footage, and more to allow visitors to travel from Birmingham to the Gulf of Mexico along Alabama’s waterways to learn more about the state’s ecology environment without leaving their stadium seats. Another focus will be on educating schoolchildren on their local geography, an important factor in weather and emergency awareness, Hazelhoff said.

In future phases, additions include extensive landscaping, an indoor-outdoor event venue, and an interactive classroom space built around virtual reality. The SEC plans to draw on the work of BSC students—especially those majoring in media and film studies, urban environmental studies, education, and creative and applied computing—to enrich the program.

To learn more about visiting the GeoDome or to support its continued development, visit www.bsc.edu/sec.

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Two alumni receive honorary degrees BSC bestowed honorary degrees upon two of its alumni at its 159th commencement ceremony in May. Ulysses “Skip” Bennett ’67 was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws to acknowledge his lifelong promotion of social change and equality and his contributions to the financial services industry.

Bennett, who resides in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area with his wife, is the first African American graduate of the college and a 2013 BSC Distinguished Alumni Award winner. He enrolled at Birmingham-Southern in 1965 as a business major just two years after James Hood and Vivian Malone became the first students to integrate the University of Alabama. He was one of the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement in Birmingham.

Bennett later received an MBA from Stanford University and today operates a financial services company in Fort Worth. He has also served in posts for the Internal Revenue Service, General Mills, and Mobil Corp.

BSC Board of Trustees member Jim Pierce ’74 received the honorary Doctor of Laws for his commitment to public service, children’s advocacy, and to his alma mater. Pierce is an investor, board member, and has held multiple executive positions at Isagenix, a fast-growing health and wellness company headquartered in Gilbert, Ariz. He earned his degree in economics from BSC and later earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Tammy, made a significant gift to the college in 2017 to kick off BSC’s Bridge to Future Campaign; this spring, the Lakeview South Residence Hall was renamed Pierce Hall in honor of their generosity. The couple split time between their homes in Miramar Beach, Fla., and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Pierce Hall dedication

Recycling returns In the fall semester, BSC added 30 outdoor recycling containers around the central campus and residence hall quad. The Student Government Association provided generous financial support to make that possible.

While Birmingham-Southern was an early adopter of recycling as far back as the 1980s—driven by student initiatives and the leadership of what developed into the Southern Environmental Center—in recent years, finding a vendor willing to take BSC’s waste became difficult, especially as many bins were contaminated with mixed materials and trash.

Last year, college representatives met with Birmingham Recycling and Recovery, the city’s main recycling center, to explore options. A priority was to implement a more robust single-stream recycling program that would allow BSC to combine paper, plastic, aluminum, steel, and cardboard in one container, said W. David Miller ’09, BSC’s director of residence life.

“Recycling and better waste management have been at the forefront of student concern for several years,” Miller said. “We’re excited about the potential impact our renewed commitment to recycling will have on our overall waste footprint.”

During a “soft launch” last fall led by the offices of residence life, housekeeping, and landscaping, BSC increased recycling by 51.62% over the previous year. The new blue bins were placed across campus near the end of the fall semester.

Share your news

Send us information about your honors, awards, volunteer work, and other activities of interest.

We also welcome your photographs. Submit photos to communications@bsc.edu.

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fresh off the hilltop Dr. David Yokum: Bringing data to D.C. to shape public policy These days, you can call government a lot of things—but you’d be unlikely to dub it “scientific.”

Dr. David Yokum ’06 hopes to change that.

Yokum heads The Lab @ DC, a groundbreaking office in Washington, D.C., that is dedicated to applying scientific research methods to measure and guide government policy.

“It’s really all about trying to figure out how to bring insights and methods from the scientific field into day-to-day government operations,” Yokum said. After all, scientists are not only good at figuring out solutions to problems—sometimes, they’re also gifted at figuring out the right questions to ask.

Here’s an example that recently made news. When the District of Columbia started to equip police with body cameras, administrators could have prioritized areas with higher crime, or those with a history of difficult interactions between police and civilians. Instead, under Yokum’s leadership, the city set up a randomized trial, much the way scientists test new drugs. By randomly distributing which officers got cameras and which didn’t, they can look at the results more clearly.

From another angle, the Lab works to compile data from disparate administrative departments—overlapping information and then mining it for insights. To prevent the spread of rats in the city, he said, his office looks at information from trash collection, water leaks, and restaurant health reports to see where they need to be before a problem gets big.

“We are often sitting on data that was collected for other reasons that we can leverage and use for other resources,” he said.

Yokum, a native of Monroe, La., who was a biology major at BSC and spoke at the May 10 Honors Day Convocation, credits his undergraduate experience with preparing him to think beyond the box.

“I have been extremely grateful for the type of education that I got at BSC,” he said. “If you think about what I do in my job now, I’m bounding around between a lot of different issues, I’m trying to look at things in a different way to solve problems, I have to deal with people from so many different areas.”

It’s not a job that he imagined as an undergrad—in fact, he says, it didn’t even exist. He was a founding member of the White House’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Team under President Obama, which laid the foundation for much of what he does today; the work he did in 2015 led to the executive order “Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve the American People.”

After deciding at the last moment not to go to medical school, Yokum enrolled in a master’s program in bioethics and medical humanities at the University of South Florida. There he delved more into the cognitive foundations of judgment and decisionmaking—ideas he first started to get interested in as a member of BSC’s Honor Council.

“I started to think about the way we were solving cases, and to question the factors that might be impacting them,” Yokum said.

Now, he says, he has used the same principles to experiment with margins on tax forms to see what makes people more likely to sign, among other things.

After his master’s, he earned a law degree at the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in psychology with a dual specialization in cognition and neural systems and psychology, policy, and law.

But he fondly recalls his faculty and courses from BSC, calling out three favorite biology professors among many others: the late Dr. Jeanette Runquist, Ada Rittenhouse Snavely Professor Emeritus of Biology Dr. Wayne Shew, and Dr. Pamela Hanson.

“They all had very challenging classes and they had very genuine conversations with me,” he said. “I felt like they truly cared about the conversation and wanted to explore it together. I can tell you from experiences I had with faculty at other places that’s not always the case.”

Yokum also said his art professors would be surprised to learn he still paints as a hobby. Indeed, he requires all his employees to spend 10 to 15 percent of their work time on “wild card” time to develop alternative skills and broaden their perspective. He does so for the same reason he prefers hiring people with liberal arts degrees like his own.

“I’m looking for curiosity, and also a hunger to grind down on problems and find answers, a byproduct of reading broadly and talking to people from different backgrounds,” he said.

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Baton Rouge student wins college’s top scholarship At Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, La., Estelle Crawford was a cheerleader, senior class treasurer, a peer leader, a writing fellow for her school’s writing center, a company member in the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, and a member of the National Honor Society and National Dance Honors Society. She also worked in a chemical engineering lab at Louisiana State University to create a procedure to photo-deposit gold nanoparticles onto zinc oxide nanowires for water purification.

All that hard work paid off. Crawford is the 2017-18 recipient of Birmingham-Southern’s highest award for incoming first-year students, the Rushton Scholarship.

The award, now in its 11th year as BSC’s preeminent scholarship, honors Col. William James Rushton, a Birmingham insurance executive and his wife, Elizabeth Perry Rushton.

Rushton Scholars receive full expenses for four years of study at BSC, plus a $2,000 annual stipend to be used for summer travel, internships, study-abroad programs, and special projects. Crawford was chosen by a selection committee from national candidates based on her exemplary record of leadership and service.

The daughter of Barry and Liz Crawford, she graduated from high school with a GPA of 4.02. At BSC, Crawford is studying biology with a long-term career goal to conduct scientific research.

BSC accumulates accolades Birmingham-Southern continued to notch awards and congratulations this year: • The college rose nine spots in the U.S. News and World Report Best College rankings, climbing to No. 123 on the list of top National Liberal Arts Colleges. BSC also ranked No. 84 in the High School Counselor Rankings and in the “A+ Schools for B Students” category, which highlights great options for strong students who may not have the top test scores.

• Forbes magazine again included BSC in its index of the top 100 schools for return on investment. The “Grateful Grads” list is calculated by how much alumni give back to their schools, a measure both of student engagement and alumni success.

• Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked BSC as one of the 100 top values among liberal arts colleges nationwide and among the top 300 values of all colleges and universities in its February 2018 issue.

• WalletHub, a personal finance website, listed BirminghamSouthern as the highest ranking college in Alabama and No. 26 nationally in its 2018 Best Colleges Rankings.

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Alpha Lambda Delta honored BSC’s chapter of the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society for first-year students was honored this fall with the 2017 Alpha Silver Award by the national organization for having a notable increase in membership. The chapter inducted 58 new students this fall. Students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher at the end of a semester to be initiated into the honor society. “We are so excited to be recognized by the national Alpha Lambda Delta organization and are proud to have such a remarkable group of young men and women representing BSC,” said Katie Sullivan Kauffman ’03, director of Exploration Term and contract learning at BSC, who serves as ALD chapter advisor.

Sigma Chi nationally recognized Birmingham-Southern College’s Sigma Chi chapter was presented with the Daniel William Cooper Award by the fraternity’s national chapter for having the most outstanding scholastic achievement program.

The presentation was made last August at the Balfour Leadership Training Workshop—Sigma Chi’s annual summer conference—at Bowling Green State University.

In addition, BSC’s chapter received a $5,000 award to use toward furthering its scholarship program.

“This award is a testament to the hard work that all of our brothers have put into their academics, the high standard of work ethic in and out of classrooms, and holding each other accountable,” said Zack Holton, a BSC junior accounting major who is serving as Sigma Chi’s academic chair.

The annual award is named for a founder of Sigma Chi, who was also the fraternity’s first president. BSC’s Sigma Chi chapter is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2018.

office hours Dr. Sandra Sprayberry The most extensive Elvis collection on campus—and no, it isn’t the only one—began with a velvet Elvis that wouldn’t fit in a dorm room.

“The student who gave it to me said, ‘At the end of four years, I’m going to want it back,’” said BSC Robert E. Luckie Jr. Professor of English Dr. Sandra Sprayberry.

“But then when she graduated, she said, ‘I think it belongs with you.’”

During her three decades at Birmingham-Southern, Sprayberry and her students have added to the collection, which includes a tiny vial of Elvis’s sweat; a silver Elvis decanter; and the latest addition, an Elvis pennant that once belonged to a student’s grandmother.

The collection fills floor-to-ceiling shelves in a walk-in storage closet in Sprayberry’s office on the top floor of the Berte Humanities Building.

The space also boasts an eclectic mix of items reflecting her interests in art and literature: a cardboard cutout of Emily Dickinson, paintings by self-taught Alabama artists such as folk artist Bernice Sims and blues musician Jimmy Lee Suddeth, and walls of books.

“I have to have a creatively inspiring office,” said Sprayberry.

That office has inspired not just her own writing, but also those of generations of BSC students. Sprayberry celebrated her 30th anniversary on the Hilltop this spring; she has held her endowed professorship since 1998.

She said she knew at the start that BSC would be a good fit. Sprayberry came to the college after teaching English, creative writing, and women’s studies at the University of Alabama and Florida State University.

“When I saw the variety of courses I could teach at a liberal arts college, that I didn’t have to choose between literature and creative writing, my gut told me to come here,” she said.

Now, in addition to teaching courses on world literature, poetry, creative writing and English composition, she spearheaded the creation of and coordinates BSC’s Human Rights and Conflict Studies program and has led several Exploration Term trips to Ireland, during which students examine the link between human rights in Birmingham and in Europe and attend and present at an international conference.

She has also led several January trips to South Africa, and has met South African Anglican cleric and human rights activist Desmond Tutu three times—something she calls one of the highlights of her life.

“One of the great things about teaching at BSC is having the opportunity to create life-changing experiences for students and to experience those things myself,” she said.

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PANTHER PRIDE

Other sports awards and achievements: •

SAA All-Tournament team awards were given to senior Trey O’Bryant of men’s soccer and to sophomore Julia Denby and first-year Emmy Kilgore of volleyball.

•

Also in volleyball, senior Rachel Lee was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region and SAA AllConference; Denby was named an AVCA All-American, AVCA FirstTeam All-South Region, and SAA First-Team All-Conference.

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In football, junior Matthew Byers was selected to the Capital One CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District and SAA All-Conference; senior Jamal Watkins was named D3football.com All-South Region, SAA Special Teams Player of the Year, and SAA All-Conference.

Women’s soccer celebrated momentous fall season The 2017 season was a historic one for the BSC women’s soccer team. Compiling a program-best 15-4 overall record and a 7-1 record in the Southern Athletic Association, the Panthers advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament and, along the way, earned many individual honors and awards.

Six members of the team were selected SAA All-Conference. Senior Taylor Andrews and first-year students Abby Kay Choate and Blakley Jones were named First-Team AllSAA. Sophomore Eva Byrum and first-year Nicole Bernal were selected to the second team, and first-year Sydney Barrow was tabbed All-SAA Honorable Mention.

Junior Megan Moser and sophomore Rachael Motamed were named to the SAA AllTournament team.

Andrews, BSC’s leading scorer with 14 goals, was named the SAA Offensive Player of the Year. She was second in the conference in goals, points, shots, and shots on goal, and she led the SAA in game-winning goals with five. Andrews also earned a spot on the United Soccer Coaches (USC) All-South Atlantic Region Second Team.

Choate, who was the team’s second leading scorer with 11 goals, was named the SAA Newcomer of the Year. She was also second on the team in shots and points and scored three game-winning goals during the season. Choate was selected to the USC All-South Atlantic Region Third Team.

With the 2017 season in the rearview mirror, the young team is looking forward to next year, said Head Coach David DiPiazza ’98, who also garnered recognition as the SAA Coach of the Year.

“I think the success we had was a reflection of how hard the players worked and played and how they were so coachable throughout the year,” he said.

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Swimming and diving repeated as SAA champions this year, marking the fourth straight win for the men and second consecutive title for the women. Nine qualified for national championships. The men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team of first-year Patrick Dunne, sophomore Ryan Emili, senior Wil Barton, and sophomore Nico Medina earned All-America honors along with sophomore Becca Erwin.

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Men’s basketball senior Harrison Deneka was named Capital One CoSIDa Academic All-District First Team. He was also named SAA First-Team All-Conference.

Don’t forget to follow BSC sports at www.bscsports.net!

Introducing The B Fund Birmingham-Southern has renewed its commitment to its student-athletes and to the Southern Athletic Association—and now there’s a new name for the college’s athletic fundraising organization, too: The B Fund.

Founded in fall 2017, The B Fund continues the tradition of the Athletic Foundation in supporting the more than 450 talented student-athletes and their coaches across all 22 men’s and women’s sports. Gifts from alumni, friends, and families of players help fund facility upgrades, travel, and other expenses that keep BSC’s teams competitive.

John Dowd of Dothan, Ala., the father of Panther wide receiver and junior business major Buddy Dowd, said contributing to The B Fund was an easy decision for him and his wife, Donna.

“The school has been very generous to us, and has policies that make it easy to send our son there,” he said. “As retired military, I’m grateful that BSC accepted the GI Bill. I felt the need to give back.”

The couple and several of their 10 children are often in the stands at Krulak Stadium cheering on the Panthers. “One thing we enjoy about Birmingham-Southern is that the stadium setting is grand enough to feel like college football, but cozy enough to feel intimate and close to the action,” he said.

For the Dowd family, the successful coexistence of a highquality education and athletic competition is right in line with their priorities. Donna is a Boston marathon qualifier and CrossFit competitor, and an inspiring source for her children’s athletic pursuits.

“We came to a conclusion as a family that BSC was the right place for Buddy,” he said. “BSC made our son feel wanted and needed. It’s always exciting to have someone make you feel that you’re going to be a big part of the team.”

To learn more about supporting The B Fund and the studentathletes who represent BSC, visit www.bscsports.net/information/ athletic_foundation.

Buddy with his mom, Donna

Playing it forward—The Birmingham-Southern men’s basketball team collected more than 1,000 diapers and $300 as part of Bundle of Hope’s “Stuff the Bus” diaper drive last fall. The team helped the entire drive collect 135,000 diapers, 10,000 over its original goal. This spring, the team hosted an Autism Awareness game to raise funds for the Autism Society of Alabama as well as continue its “Turn the Page with Coach Graves” school reading program. “One of the primary goals of our program is to build men of character,” said Head Coach Chris Graves. “BSC basketball has always been about more than just winning championships.”

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PANTHER PRIDE

Thoughts from the AD

By Kyndall Waters ’05 Birmingham-Southern’s sports teams had a wonderful year on the Hilltop, and I want to share with you some of the great things our student-athletes accomplished.

On top of a second-place finish and Southern Athletic Association Coach of the Year nod for the BSC’s women’s soccer team, there were three conference players of the year, 29 allconference selections, six all-region awards, and an All-American. Fall sports finished with a .777 winning percentage overall and a .643 winning percentage in SAA play.

We couldn’t be prouder of our newest coaches. Head Coach Tony Joe White has the football program on an upward swing, and our Panthers are already reaping the rewards. BSC accounted for 13 all-conference football honors in 2017—the most since 2012. Head Coach Haven O’Quinn led the Panther volleyball program to a second-place finish in the league and the program’s second at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament in her first season.

On top of four all-conference nods, volleyball had two all-region selections, and sophomore Julia Denby was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American.

Men’s and women’s swimming and diving combined for 17 conference titles and sent nine to the National Championships, and indoor track and field hosted the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championships for the first time in March with great results.

Our student-athletes continue to serve the community through organizations such as Make-A-Wish, the ALS Society, Wounded Warriors, local elementary school mentorship programs, and more.

Keep an eye on the Hilltop. Big things are on the horizon.

Waters has been the BSC athletic director since June of 2016 and was the first volleyball player inducted into the BSC Sports Hall of Fame.

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Turf Battle—Last fall’s Panther football team celebrated the program’s 10th anniversary by being the first crew to take advantage of new artificial turf on Battle Field. Turf Masters completed construction last summer thanks to the support of BSC President Emeritus Gen. Charles C. Krulak and BSC Trustee Richard Yeilding ’73. Other stadium improvements included fresh paint on the walls (courtesy of student-athletes’ service projects) and new branding on doors and fences. While the college had originally begun football in 1918, the program was disbanded in 1939. It was reinstated in the fall of 2007 as Birmingham-Southern transitioned to the NCAA Division III level.

BSC athletics scores in the classroom The past six semesters have been some of the best ever in the classroom for Birmingham-Southern’s student-athletes.

More than 450 Panthers—reflecting 22 sports teams—combined for over a 3.0 grade-point average, and have continued their streak for nearly three years. The teams’ GPA has never fallen below a 2.95 in the past five years.

“Reaching numbers like these and staying consistent really shows that these student-athletes are just as dedicated in the classroom as they are on the fields and courts,” said Sheri Scholl Salmon ’85, BSC assistant athletic director for academic services.

“Congratulations and thanks to all of our coaches and studentathletes for their effort!”

Tennis icon retires—After more than four decades on the Hilltop, Women’s Tennis Head Coach Ann Dielen—the longest tenured coach in BSC history— retired this spring. She’ll remain at ’Southern as director of tennis and senior women’s administrator; Carlee Petro ’18 is the new head coach. Dielen took over the newly reinstated tennis program in 1977 and started focusing on the women’s team after 2001. Since 1983, she has amassed nearly 680 wins and coached more than 1,080 matches. Dielen is an inductee in the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame; in 2014, the BSC courts were named the Ann Dielen Tennis Complex.

Celebrating BSC sports history The Birmingham-Southern Sports Hall of Fame gained four new members at the annual induction ceremony last fall. Founded in 1981, the hall of fame honors former student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and teams for their contributions to BSC athletics. Pictured (from left): Retired Head Men’s Soccer Coach Preston Goldfarb, Kathryn Conner Carroll ‘09 (tennis), and Bill Cowgill ’73 (basketball). Not pictured are the 1995 men’s soccer team and Dr. Jody Ortega, head team physician for the Panthers, who received the 2017 Bob Strain Distinguished Service Award. The award is named for the late 1940 BSC alumnus and hall of fame founder.

Panthers break records at the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships Birmingham-Southern co-hosted the 2018 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championships in March, and two Panthers made the most of the home field advantage.

Senior Jamal Watkins successfully defended his 60m championship and fellow senior Karmin Shute ran to two AllAmerica honors in the 60m and 200m dashes.

Watkins now has three national titles—two indoor and one outdoor. He concluded his indoor career as the BSC record holder in the 55m, 60m, and 200m dashes.

Shute finished second in the 200m dash in a new BSC record time and earned third in the 60m with a personal best.

Two-time All-American Karmin Shute and national champion Jamal Watkins with (from left) Head Track and Field Coach Kenneth Cox, President Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, and Athletic Director Kyndall Waters ’05.

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FEATURES

THINGS TO

LOVE ABOUT BSC

by Hannah Wolfson

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Our alumni succeed.

And here’s how, according to our database. ministry 4.4% science & technology 4.4% law 11.1%

education 15.7%

government & military 3.3%

other 6.8% health & medical 14.2%

business & industry 40.1%

2. A hilltop home

Close to 90 percent of all BSC students choose to live right here on the Hilltop every year, making BSC more than just a community of learners—it’s a place where students learn to share their personal space with others.

Biscuits & gravy You can’t learn on an empty stomach, so every finals period, a team of BSC staff volunteers to serve “Midnight Breakfast” in the Café to fuel crammers.

“They had the best waffles and pancakes with various toppings!” recalls Mesia Jackson ’09.

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4. Four weeks=flexibility for life

There’s just nothing like Exploration Term (formerly called Interim). Developed 50 years ago in an effort to broaden students’ experiences outside of the classroom, E-Term is now a core part of the BSC experience for all students, who are currently required to take two E-Term sessions during their time on the Hilltop. This past January’s courses, projects, and study-travel included: “The Fringe Benefits of Failure;” “The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates;” “The Natural Beauty and Art of Australia;” “The Bully Pulpit: Presidential Leadership in the 20th Century;” and “Service Learning in Uganda.”

How did E-Term change your life? Tell us your stories of January E-Term adventure by emailing communications@bsc.edu.

5. We changed the conversation about college pricing.

BSC’s tuition reset, which was announced in 2017 and goes into effect this fall, was lauded by education experts, students, and parents for providing a much more transparent system for understanding college costs. And it opened a floodgate of applications from students who never before thought a BSC-quality education might be within their reach.

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BSC’s president traditionally hands out cookies to students studying in the library during final exams!

(The rest of the time, you can find warm cookies in the Admission Welcome Center and the Café.)

6. They’ll even feed your fish. Really.

BSC’s campus police force is second-to-none. The 18-officer team provides 24-hour security for the campus 365 days a year, with patrols on foot, on bicycles, and in vehicles. They’re the main reason BSC has been ranked one of the safest college campuses in the nation. But they go way beyond the basics, providing car safety checks before each holiday break and even picking up students in distress within a 100-mile radius, if staffing permits.

8. Finish in four years.

BSC’s four-year graduation rate is No. 1 in Alabama and beats the national average. Small classes, engaged faculty, on- and off-campus experiential opportunities, free tutoring, and great advising all help ensure that students can finish in four years—which means a faster path to graduate or professional school or a jump start on careers compared to many other schools.

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Swing your partner.

Yes, they still square dance on the quad during Fall Orientation. No one is quite sure why, but the long-standing tradition isn’t going anywhere. “And if it feels incredibly awkward, that’s kind of the point,” said Dean of Students Ben Newhouse. “It’s about tearing down the walls and having a collective experience of the unknown,” he said.

10. Three weeks. $500. Eight new businesses.

Each E-Term, senior business majors enroll in BA 499, a.k.a. the Joseph S. Bruno Capstone Entrepreneurship Competition.

Equipped with $500 in seed money, each team of students has to create an idea, write a business plan, and then run that business in competition with their classmates. This January’s included a soup delivery service, heirloom pound cakes, furniture refinishing and building, and a sports competition company. Winners are chosen in several categories, including overall profits (all proceeds go to charity or back to BSC) and innovation. The lessons—and the chance to implement classroom skills in the “real world”—are invaluable, said Sara Helms Robicheaux ’97, dean of BSC’s business programs.

“While every student will not become an entrepreneur, the concept of starting and running a business lets them use the knowledge they have gained throughout their time at BSC—in marketing, management, and finance—to create a product or service and then convince investors and consumers their product meets an unmet need,” she said.

11. Vulcan lives here.

Okay, it’s a miniature version of the massive Greek god who keeps watch over Birmingham from atop Red Mountain, but it is an official part of the Vulcans on Parade, an innovative outdoor art project designed to celebrate the history and culture of Birmingham. BSC’s 7-foot Vulcan was decorated by art students and stands outside Hulsey Hall, the Admission Welcome Center, where it’s now a part of daily tours for prospective students and makes frequent appearances on social media.

12. We take urban legends seriously.

Thanks in large part to Associate Professor of English Dr. Tynes Cowan ’85, who sponsored a student E-Term project to collect and interpret campus folklore. You can read their findings—from the historic Maypole to “ugly owls” and secret parties—online at www.bsc.edu/bsc-folklore.

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14. There is such thing as a free lunch.

Students can get a voucher to take a professor to lunch at the Café to encourage the one-on-one relationships and mentoring that BSC is known for.

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New majors, new programs

In the past year and a half, BSC has added at least nine new academic programs.

Recently added programs include: Dual-degree program in nursing with UAB Dual-degree program in law with the Cumberland School of Law Refreshed Business major that has students choose a track in finance, management, or marketing Creative and Applied Computing major Health Sciences major History, Philosophy, and Law major Mathematical Finance major

15. There’s a home for everyone here.

BSC’s student population is diverse, no matter how you count it. Of the 1,300 students currently enrolled, more than 20 percent self-identify as being part of a racial or ethnic minority group or mixed-race. And the college has recently taken more steps to increase racial, religious, and ethnic diversity on campus, including offering scholarships for African American students, Jewish students, students from the Birmingham City Schools, and more.

GLOBUS EARTH ICON FREE VECTOR PACK Vol. 2

16. And we make our home everywhere.

Birmingham-Southern alumni roam far and wide after graduation and have made their home all over the globe— from A (Argentina and Australia) to U (Uruguay) and V (Vietnam)— according to their reports recorded in our records.

18. BFFs for real We heard this one over and over again from you—that the best thing about BSC was making bonds that have lasted decades past graduation. “Among my favorite things about BSC would be the friends who helped me in many ways while I was on the Hilltop—and some of them remain my friends for life!” said Betty Scruggs Gunn ’60.

17. We’ll hook you up.

With a place to hang your hammock, that is. The college recently installed two new “hammock groves”— posts with spots to connect up to nine or 10 portable hammocks—on the residential quad and by the lake.

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19. Our grads come back.

More than 50 BSC alumni work at the college as faculty or staff. From the classroom to the soccer field to the library and just about everywhere in between, alumni are making a difference in students’ lives on a daily basis.

Our athletes shine off the field, too.

20. The Concert Choir hits the road.

Thanks to Deborah Mallard Ford ’75 for submitting her fondest memory of BSC—the annual Concert Choir tours. This year the choir and the Hilltop Singers conducted their annual tour in March, with a homecoming concert held on campus in April.

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BSC’s athletes—currently totaling more than 480 students, or about 38 percent of the total campus population—tend to average at or above 3.0 for GPA. Here are some highs for team GPAs last fall: • Women’s soccer-3.40 • Women’s swim and dive-3.40 • Women’s cross country-3.35 • Baseball-3.25

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(1B) Baker Street It’s elementary, my dear Watson: One of the world’s largest collections of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia (a.k.a. Sherlockiana) is housed in the BSC Library, thanks to Richard and Joshua Green, two local men who gave 33+ boxes they collected to Birmingham-Southern on permanent loan.

23. The first-year dorms are old school.

It’s sometimes called the “best year of residential life you never want to do again,” but there’s no question that BSC’s traditional suite-style residence halls (think: communal showers) create a close-knit community that some college students never experience. Sharing space with roommates and hallmates is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many.

24. Our students and faculty take the lead.

BSC counts: 6 Rhodes Scholars 6 Truman Scholars 12 Fulbright Scholars and Grantees

25. Flip-flops in February 26. “Walking through” Each year, after the Commencement Ceremony concludes, faculty rush to line the sidewalk outside Bill Battle Coliseum. As the new graduates recess, they are flanked by their professors, who cheer them enthusiastically. It’s BSC’s way of sending them out into the world.

Last winter was colder than usual, but we’re still guaranteed those days where the mercury hits 70 degrees and students head to class in shorts and sandals. You can’t do that in New England…

27. The occasional snow day There’s no guarantee, but it seems like at least once every few years we get a good snowfall on the Hilltop. This school year, it came on Dec. 8.

28. Puppy therapy Students have multiple options to cuddle therapy dogs during finals periods. We’re not sure that fluffy love guarantees better grades, but it certainly makes for happier undergrads—and pups.

29. There’s something for everyone.

From Spectrum to Women in Leadership Development, BSC’s 80+ student groups create spots for everyone to find their niche— and also plentiful opportunities for leadership development.

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30. We have our own swimming hole.

BSC and the Southern Environmental Center co-manage the 700-acre Turkey Creek Nature Preserve about 30 minutes north of campus in Pinson, Ala. Along with trails, stream restoration, and an extensive environmental education program headed by Charles Yeager ’10, Turkey Creek is also home to one of the region’s best swimming holes—fresh, cool water plunges over the falls to provide a natural waterslide that locals flock to all summer.

31. Spiritual centering Some students will spend four years on campus without setting foot inside Yeilding Chapel. For others, it will become a place of sustenance, offering weekly worship, a special haven in a time of crisis, and a place for weddings and memorial services. Built in 1967 in honor of Frank B. Yeilding ’26 – who sent all six of his sons to BSC – the chapel serves as the center of religious life on campus. As BSC Chaplain Julie Blackwelder Holly ’01 writes, Yeilding Chapel has for 50 years been a place for people to connect with God and with each other. “My favorite time to visit the chapel is when the sun is out, shining through the colorful stained glass windows and lighting up the sanctuary,” she said. “It is a powerful visual reminder of the light and goodness of God that outshines all the darkness and anxiety in the world.”

32. Wild kingdom: the campus is home to plenty of wildlife.

We’re not talking about the campus cats. At least one family of foxes has mated and raised their pups on the edge of the academic quad; owls, hawks, and songbirds are frequently spotted on campus; and coyotes and snakes sometimes get a little bit too close to the residents living in faculty and staff housing on Greensboro Road. Oh, and there was briefly a bear on campus back in the 1990s, but he was just passing through.

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Our Greeks get along.

BSC’s Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Society work together throughout the year on everything from philanthropic efforts to boosting academics to just having fun—fulfilling the Greek community’s mission of “creating an inter-fraternal family among all members.”

33. And a haven for trees Beyond the beloved gingkos, BSC is home to at least 100 species of trees. Just to name a few: the tulip magnolia was reportedly the species Daniel Boone made into a large canoe; Ilex vomitoria (a.k.a. Yaupon Holly), was used

by Native Americans for a ceremonial purgative drink; some of the pines were used as an extract that provided vitamin C; and Eastern Red Cedar is used in medicines and to flavor gin. Students in the Field Botany course use the campus trees and plants as an outdoor classroom to test out their identification techniques.

35. We teach the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

The Southern Environmental Center has always been a groundbreaker—first leading recycling efforts in Birmingham, then creating an interactive museum and treehouse that has educated thousands of area schoolchildren about ecological ideas, and also introducing dozens of pocket parks called EcoScapes around the metro area in an award-winning program.

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Ring my bell.

It’s thought that the tradition of seniors ringing the old college bell on the last day of class started back in the 1980s. Now it’s the highlight of senior spring, with groups coming together to share the experience (and document it on social media, of course), and cake and punch provided by staff to celebrate.

37. Our roots run deep.

Generations of families share a special connection to Birmingham-Southern. Legacy families are undergraduate students and alumni whose families, including parents, grandparents and/or siblings, attended or currently attend the college. On average, legacy families make up between 15-20 percent of the incoming class each year.

38. Echoes from the bell tower The chiming landmark at the heart of campus was only raised in 1999, but feels like it’s been there forever. The preprogrammed bells ring on the hour for the number of hours (3 rings at 3 o’clock) and once every half hour. But at 5 p.m., they play the Alma Mater.

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Black and gold BSC’s official colors

40. A great spot to take a nap Ok, students probably have a lot of favorite locations for a few minutes of shut-eye, but the best may be the BSC Sleep Lab in the Harbert Center. Run by Dr. Joe Chandler ‘03, assistant professor of psychology, the lab is constantly working to find better ways for students and members of the military to make the best of what little sleep they do get. Now stop reading this and get to bed!

42. Farm-to-table dining Bon Appétit, BSC’s current dining services partner, cooks its food from scratch, including sauces, stocks, and soups. The company works hard to source fresh produce, eggs, and meat from farms within 100 miles of Birmingham. “We’re grateful to have been recognized by many leading foundations, nonprofits, and industry associations for our work,” said Jason Hall, general manager for Bon Appétit.

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41. Get oriented Do you remember how intimidating your first few days of college were? Fortunately for incoming BSC students, the offices of Student Development and Admission work hard to ensure a smooth transition – and the Orientation leaders, all upperclass students, play a key role in getting newbies off on the right foot.

43. Students can get their first apartment.

Purchased and incorporated into the campus footprint in 2006-07, the 15 buildings that make up the Hilltop Village Apartments give about 350 students an opportunity to experience apartment-style living without leaving the Hilltop. Each twobedroom unit includes a living area, kitchen with stainless appliances and granite countertops, and washer/dryer; they also offer handy proximity to the Hilltop Village Clubhouse and Pool.

44. Be distinctive.

BSC now offers three special courses of study called “distinctions”—tracks that can be added to a more traditional major and/or minor. In addition to the Distinction in Leadership Studies, a longtime strength, the college has recently added a Distinction in Poverty Studies and a Distinction in Public Health Studies. Each gives students a broad view of a difficult problem that can be tackled from a variety of perspectives.

45. Doff your cap.

Does any other place do a Capping Ceremony just like BSC? Seniors choose someone special—a professor, friend, mentor, or family member—to be the first to place the mortarboard upon their heads. The senior class selects the speaker for the event, held in Bill Battle Coliseum, as a very special preview of the big day.

46. The Union Thanks to the hard work of BSC’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Interfraternity Council, and a group of dedicated students, BSC’s Black Student Union and international students have a real-life location on campus. Called The Union, the former townhouse on sorority row offers students a place to study, collaborate, and hold meetings and events.

47. Before they were big BSC has had performances from a huge range of big-name artists and entertainers, some of whom headlined SoCo or E-Fest back in the day. They include: Eric Church, Naughty by Nature, Jimmy Buffett, Ben Folds, and the Ying Yang Twins.

49. Cornerstones Laying a symbolic cornerstone is a tradition that dates back to 1923 with the college’s oldest standing building, Phillips Administration. Along with the inspirational thought on the outside, many of the cornerstones include a time capsule inside from the era the building was built.

The ex-presidents

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We can’t think of another school where retired leaders—in our case Presidents Emerita Dr. Neal Berte and Gen. Charles Krulak—play such an enormous role in the community.

Giants in Birmingham’s growth and redevelopment, each champions causes of their own, including battling predatory lending and human trafficking. But for both, BSC always comes first.

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51. We take mentoring seriously.

Over and over again, we hear from graduates that BSC’s small classes, engaged professors, and faculty advising program created a natural sense of mentoring that helped students develop beyond what they imagined. The college’s Panther Partnerships Mentoring Program, started by President Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith before she was president, takes it one step further, creating a formal mentoring relationship with students with a professional in the field of their choice and shepherding them through a year of planned activities. If you’re interested in serving as a mentor, contact Katy Smith in the Krulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning, and Civic Engagement at kesmith@bsc.edu.

52. The best carol

In the middle of it all

We’re just a short drive from the world’s fastest speedway in Talladega, the scenic Appalachian Mountains, and the sugar sand beaches and emerald waters of the Gulf Coast. But these days, it seems like students roadtrip less and less because there’s so much happening right here in Birmingham.

54. You can chase the Golden Snitch.

Harry Potter, eat your heart out: BSC has its own Quidditch Club, and even hosted a Muggle-style match —we assume that means the brooms don’t actually go airborne—on the Quad last fall.

55. Beyond fa-la-la

We may be biased, but we sure think that “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” is one of the greatest Christmas songs ever written. And it happens to be by BSC alumnus Hugh Martin ‘35, who included it in his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. We sometimes forget to mention that he also wrote “The Trolley Song”—one of the world’s greatest earworms—for the same show.

53. Halloween on the Hilltop We all know about BSC’s partnership with the local community, and perhaps nothing personifies it more than Halloween on the Hilltop, when neighborhood children are invited to celebrate safely on the campus. BSC students organize the event, which has morphed from dormthrough trick-or-treating into a full-fledged fair on the Academic Quad, complete with costumes, bouncies, games, and so much candy.

Another great example of BSC’s role in the life of Birmingham, the annual Service of Lessons and Carols, held every year since 1936, has become a beloved holiday tradition. Coordinated each year by Dr. Lester Seigel ’79, BSC’s Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music, the event brings together the college’s Concert Choir and Southern Chorale with the Alumni Choir, and includes readings from faculty, students, and other members of the campus community.

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56. ‘Southern Ambassadors Who was the first BSC student you met? If you’ve graduated any time in the last decade, it was likely one of the ’Southern Ambassadors, the elite team of tour guides selected by the Office of Admission to show visitors around the campus. You can spot them by their yellow polo shirts and penchant for walking backwards.

57. Honors Day Perhaps no other day so points out the strength of BSC’s academic program as Honors Day. Yes, the scholarship awards and other distinctions handed out that morning are exciting. But the real display comes later in the day, when students present their senior projects—from research papers to scientific posters to art exhibitions to musical performances—for the entire campus to see.

58. A living fossil

While BSC celebrates a 100-year milestone, the gingko trees we love so much can trace their lineage back 270 million years; a single tree can claim to be more than 2,000 years old. While the magnificent specimens on the Hilltop aren’t nearly that ancient, they are beloved, and have become a symbol of strength and beauty to many generations of students.

59. “A life of valiant service” Way back in 1861, Southern University President Dr. William Wightman challenged the school’s graduates to consider “not so much what you shall get, as what you shall become—what you shall do to bless your generation.” The students responded by adding a line to what was then the Alma Mater: “A life of valiant service thou hast made our goal.” That focus, not on material gain but on improving the world we live in, has remained part of BSC’s DNA.

Family first

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No matter when you were a student (or the parent, guardian, or grandparent of one), you’re always a part of the BSC Family. That means you’re invited back every fall for Homecoming and Family Weekend – mark your calendar for Oct. 19-20, 2018.

61. Swag City Looking for a BSC dog collar, corkscrew, or even just a t-shirt?

All that—and of course textbooks and other crucial study aids—are at the BSC Bookstore, still independently operated by the college. If you can’t make it to campus to browse, check out the online selection at bookstore.bsc.edu.

62. BSC is always in the Sweet 16.

We’re proud to be a part of the Associated Colleges of the South, a consortium of 16 colleges and universities that include Davidson, Washington and Lee, Morehouse, and several more stellar institutions.

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Your memories online

Can’t find your college yearbook? Did you know that all issues of Southern Accent—along with back copies of the Hilltop News, Compass, and Southern Academic Review— are freely available to browse and print online? Visit http://library.bsc.edu/bscdigitalcollections.html.

64. Service with a smile We know students love their professors, their coaches, their RAs, and their advisors. But one universal who has stretched through the ages is Queenie Hawkins, a.k.a “Miss Queenie,” a longtime fixture of campus dining.

Along with serving up a range of sub sandwiches and salads, her kind and caring nature—she greets students as “sweetie” and “darling”—has earned her the affection of hundreds of students, faculty, and staff over her nearly 40 years of being employed by the various food service vendors at BSC. Willie Williams ’18 said students, especially, gravitate toward Queenie because of her “motherly” and “grandmotherly” qualities. “Her smile is beautiful and lights up the room, and she is easy to talk to and joke with,” he said. “Plus, she can put every topping on a sandwich, and it will stay packed together.”

65. Playing with fire

Each Homecoming, artists from the Sloss Metal Arts Program come to campus and set up a mini-forge for BSC’s Iron Pour, hosted by the BSC Art Students League. Participants can buy a sand mold to carve and allow the artists to fill with molten iron.

66. Real winners Our professors are awesome—and the rest of the world agrees. BSC has had at least five faculty members named Carnegie/CASE Alabama Professors of the Year: Michael Flowers (theatre), Dr. Laura Stultz (chemistry), Dr. Duane Pontius Jr. ’81 (physics), Dr. Natalie Davis (political science), and Dr. Barry Spieler (mathematics).

68. We’re a maker space.

Did you know the BSC Library has a 3D printer that’s free for students to use for class projects or for fun? Stop by to check out a few examples on display.

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You don’t have to start here to succeed.

BSC has been working hard to sign articulation agreements with local and regional community colleges to make it simple for students to transfer their course credits to BSC. And beyond that, the college has a history of welcoming transfer students from either two-year or four-year schools, bringing in roughly two dozen transfers each year. “Transferring to BSC changed my life,” said Millie Nordgren ’19, who came to BSC after time at Gadsden State Community College. “It opened my life to new experiences and I would—in fact, I do—tell everybody to do it.”

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Forward, Ever!

Although it’s unclear just who wrote it or when, the current version of the Alma Mater definitely appeared in the 1919 yearbook, along with the line that has become a symbol of BSC: “Forward, Ever! Be our watchword/Conquer and prevail.” If you’re on campus any weekday at 5 p.m., you’ll hear the tune played on the carillon in the Edwards Belltower.

70. Peer-to-peer support

71. Acknowledging our own

Students struggling with just about any subject can get free tutoring from fellow students through the Academic Resource Center, which coordinates the Writing Center, the Math Lab, and nightly tutoring sessions at the BSC Library in subjects as varied as Arabic, music theory, and political science.

Each year, BSC’s president awards the President’s Medal of Service to an individual or group in the campus community who has given outstanding service to the college.

Recipients over the decades have included student groups, athletic teams, alumni organizations, and individuals who have stood out for a wide variety of reasons.

72. BSC pride

#yeahpanthers, #forwardever, B-S-C!

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Rowdy rocks

73. A stage like no other Well, there is ONE performance space out there that’s like the College Theatre Mainstage: London’s Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre. Built in the 1960s at the then-astronomical cost of $1.2 million, the stage includes three revolving set areas and a complex lift and turntable mechanism that continues to support student performances today.

74. That hyphen, though It’s not Birmingham Southern, it’s Birmingham-Southern.

There’s something about that little mark that seems to sum up BSC’s attention to detail and long tradition. While more and more often the college is officially using “BSC” on first reference to simplify matters, we know there are many of you out there who still have a keen eye for the proper use of that very special little hyphen.

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Move-In Day

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The first day of school can be intimidating—especially if it also means moving away from home. But at BSC, new students get a warm welcome and a helping hand from faculty, staff, and students (including some really strong student-athletes), who unload vehicles and carry all manner of trunks, TVs, and refrigerators into their residence hall rooms.

77. Ministers ’R Us BSC is known for creating clergy, both in the Methodist church and beyond. Some 700 alumni report themselves as being employed by religious organizations; many also attend divinity school (with a large number going straight from BSC to the Candler School of Theology at Emory University). The college offers scholarships for students called to full-time Christian vocation and tuition assistance for United Methodists preparing for ministry.

78. Stirling Lecture The annual speaker series has brought in notable celebrities from all over the U.S. like neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Olympic gold-winning gymnast Shawn Johnson East, politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr., TV personality and criminal investigator John Walsh, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

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79. SSC From bugs to bodies, the Elton B. Stephens Science Center houses it all, providing a headquarters for hands-on learning in the sciences. When it was built, the 100,000-square-foot building was called “one of the finest examples of undergraduate science buildings in the country.” In addition to classrooms, teaching and research labs, and support areas for biology, chemistry, and physics, it houses a greenhouse, BSC’s breakthrough cadaver lab, a radioisotope laboratory, and a museum.

81. BSC’s got talent.

We bring home to the Hilltop.

It started out as a homesick student who really wanted a taste of his mother’s kitchen. Now, Mama’s Home Cookin’ is a 17-year tradition.

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While the Hilltop plays host to a number of visiting artists, some of the best performances and exhibitions come from our own students and faculty. The Durbin Gallery showcases special exhibitions each year by BSC professors and students; BSC music students and faculty shine in performances ranging from large choirs to opera workshops to individual recitals; and theatre and musical theatre students strut their stuff upon the stage – sometimes with help from alumni artists—to great acclaim.

82. One-stop shopping Whether students are interested in exploring the world, serving their community, finding an internship, meeting a mentor, or designing their own E-Term course, they’ll find an easy place to get assistance at the Krulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning, and Civic Engagement. The institute brings BSC’s engaged learning programs—including the Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action, the Herb and Ellie Sklenar Center for International Programs, the Hess Center for Leadership and Service, rise3, the Norton Board, the Panther Partnerships Mentoring Program, the Office of Exploration Term and Contract Learning, and more—under a single umbrella to offer students high-impact learning opportunities.

84. Our future Panthers

83. We change lives.

Ok, so lots of colleges do, but we’re one of just 40 recognized in the book Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College, which says “BSC builds students up from where they begin to places they might never have imagined as eighteen-year-olds.”

We love it when our alumni have children, and love it even more when those children get interested in attending BSC! So much so that we’re launching our new Seedlings Program to connect with the children and grandchildren of alumni. (See more on p. 52.)

BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN

C OL L EGE

85. U.S. presidents have graced the Hilltop.

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We are ’Southern.

This feels like bragging, but we’re pretty proud of this biannual publication, which goes out to close to 20,000 BSC alumni, students, parents, and friends. It’s a great way to share all the news about the BSC Family, so make sure you keep us updated at communications@bsc.edu.

In April 1990, President George H.W. Bush visited campus while in Birmingham to campaign for Senatorial candidate Bill Cabaniss, who ultimately lost to challenger Howell Heflin ’42. President Bill Clinton visited BSC in October 1996 while campaigning for re-election.

87. It’s like a small town…

“I love that you can get to know so many people,” wrote in Rod Moss ’76. “It’s like a small town—but in a good way.”

88. …in the middle of a really great city There’s no question that Birmingham is feeling magical these days, with happening hot spots opening up almost weekly and magazines from around the country putting it on their top places to visit lists.

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89. We are here.

“On the city’s Western border, reared against the sky…” run the lyrics of BSC’s Alma Mater. Despite fears the college would move in the 1970s, we wouldn’t change being right here in Birmingham for anything. BSC now works closely with city government, neighborhood and community leaders, and with organizations working together to protect and promote the western area to strengthen our community.

90. We tweet, Snap, and more.

It’s easy to keep up with what’s happening on the Hilltop by following BSC on social media.

• www.facebook.com/BirminghamSouthern • Twitter: @FromTheHilltop • Instagram: @birminghamsouthern • Snapchat: bhamsouthern

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Splish splash

While the Edwards Belltower is increasingly used as a symbol for the college, the fountain on the plaza is still very much the center of daily life on campus. From lunchtime meetups to rubber duck dumps to post-baccalaureate dives (in full graduate regalia), the fountain persists, like BSC’s own Old Faithful.

92. “Do all the good you can...”

93. That big metal thing Built by the now world-famous artist Herb Williams ’96 during his sophomore year in collaboration with Branko Medenica ’72, “Leeway” is among BSC’s landmark collections of public art. The steel figure outside the Kennedy Art Building provides a backdrop to an everchanging display of student and faculty art.

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Founded from the merger of two Methodist schools— Southern University was founded by the Alabama Conference of Methodists and Birmingham College was originally “North Alabama Conference College”—BSC still hews to its spiritual tradition even while welcoming students of all faiths and no faith. The Hilltop is host to the United Methodist Center, which houses the office of the Bishop and the North Alabama Conference staff; representatives of both the North Alabama and West Florida conferences serve on BSC’s Board of Trustees; and the UMC names BSC’s chaplain and offers generous scholarships for Methodist students and those headed into the ministry.

94. Stretch your legs, and arms, and more.

Who doesn’t need a few leisurely pursuits every now and then? The college’s Physical Fitness and Recreation Department provides all sorts of opportunities for wellness. The Striplin Center is home to a weight room, racquetball court, cardio room with TRX unit, indoor track, basketball/volleyball courts, indoor pool, and golf simulator. Outdoor recreation trips, such as the popular white water rafting, are offered on weekends during the fall and spring terms. And, there are a full range of individual and team intramural sports as well as programs in Zumba, Yoga, and martial arts.

95. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

BSC is home to the largest mechanical-action pipe organ in Birmingham. The Coleman Cooper organ in the Hill Recital Hall was designed by retired BSC Professor of Music Dr. James Cook ’68 in collaboration with Jean-Louis Coignet, a government official in charge of historic pipe organs in Paris, and built by the Canadian company Casavant Freres. It’s used for concerts and events by visiting artists, as a teaching and recital instrument for students, and for the annual Halloween Organ Spooktacular.

97. A star is (re)born.

Starting just this April, BSC has re-launched the new Alabama Geodome in the old Star Chamber, creating a high-tech multi-media experience for schoolchildren, with a focus on the state’s ecosystems and watersheds, that should rival the popularity of the old Meyer Planetarium. (Read more on p. 7.)

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“The Shirt”

It has come and gone since 2016—the garishly-striped polo shirt that current students know by just “The Shirt.” In a tradition started by Russell Galloway ’18, the garment is passed to a new wearer each day—including President Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith—and the results are posted on Instagram. See the latest incarnation at www.instagram.bsc/theshirtbsc.

98. Office of Counseling and Health Services Always there to keep our students happy and healthy!

100. That great day in May When seniors officially become BSC graduates, and our alumni pool grows yet again, we couldn’t be prouder.

Congratulations to the Class of 2018 and to all the classes that have come before.

Forward, Ever!

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Problems and our people ain’t one.

Ultimately, this is what it all comes down to here on the Hilltop—not our buildings, not our accolades, but the individuals who make the campus not just a place but a true community. Whether you’re a staff or faculty member today, or were a student decades ago, you’re always part of the BSC Family. Like any family, the college will always love you and push you to do your best. You should also visit sometime…

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FEATURES

HEART TO

HEART

Alumni LOVE stories Elton Stephens and Alys Robinson Stephens 32 / ’southern

by Pat Kindall MPPM ‘11

We asked BSC alumni couples to share their tales of romance, and we received dozens of interesting stories ranging from an introduction on a blind date to chance encounters—and all ending in lasting love.

They spanned eight decades and included couples who met on campus and knew right away, couples who fell for each other after graduation, and even late-life reunions that led to something more. Choosing just a few stories for publication was tough. Thank you for all your submissions!

Country boy meets city girl

Elton Stephens ’32 and Alys Robinson Stephens ’32 | Birmingham, Ala. They met on the Hilltop—and their love profoundly changed it.

Elton grew up in the small Alabama town of Clio; at the age of 17, he followed his older brother, Harris—who played football at BSC—to Birmingham-Southern College.

There he met Alys, who had grown up in Birmingham’s West End and who became “the love of his life.”

“My parents shared some classes, but I am not really sure when the boy from the countryside got the courage to ask out the girl from the big city,” said their son, BSC Trustee James T. Stephens. “But he found that courage, and they were a pair for at least the last couple of years of their time on the Hilltop.”

Both were active on campus. Alys, an English major, was a member of the Amazons Club for women and served as secretary of the senior class. Elton, an economics major, served as business manager of La Revue and pledged Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, where he found a lifelong friend in Buford Word, who became a beloved obstetrician in Birmingham. Word invited him to join a magazine subscription crew the summer between their first and sophomore years and convinced him to hitchhike to the upper peninsula of Michigan to sell magazines door to door. Elton joined the crew, did well, and worked his way through college.

Meanwhile, Elton had serious competition for Alys, who was receiving mail from a number of suitors between graduating from college and getting her first job in Birmingham. He and Alys saw each other as often as possible after graduation. She got a job with an insurance business, and he traveled as a sales manager before starting law school. After a brief post-BSC courtship, the couple married at her home on Thanksgiving Day in 1935.

Elton went on to found EBSCO Industries, and he and Alys left a legacy with their philanthropic endeavors, including BSC’s Elton B. Stephens Science Center and UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.

“My parents always had a very strong appreciation for the college,” Jim said. “They knew they attended a school where academics were respected. They made friends they kept for life. I and my three siblings owe BSC for putting together our parents and, therefore, ‘us as we are!’”

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A rose by the same name Roger ’10 and Briana Williams ’10 | Hoover, Ala.

Roger and Briana’s families met first, bonding over their shared last name during fall orientation in 2006. Their parents introduced them outside the Norton Campus Center.

“My first thought was ‘wow, she’s beautiful,’” he said. “We spoke briefly, and she was extremely nice, but when I found out we shared the same last name, I had to renege on my thoughts until I could conclude that we weren’t distant relatives.”

Roger, an accounting major, and Briana, a psychology major, remained friends throughout their first semester and began dating at the end of their first January term. Four years after graduation, the couple got engaged, purchased their first home, and were married. Roger is a CPA and audit manager at Warren Averett and Birmingham Business Journal’s 2016 Rising Star of Accounting. Briana attended graduate school at the University of Alabama and is a licensed master social worker at JBS Mental Health Authority. They are celebrating their newest milestone: the February birth of their first child, Zoey.

Throughout their time on the Hilltop, Norton remained their favorite spot – and not just because it was where they first met.

“It was always filled with a diverse group of people and organizations,” Briana said. “We truly enjoyed our time at BSC. We developed great relationships with many professors and staff members, and the friendships that we made continue to grow stronger today.”

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Connecting in the city of angels

Dr. Jim Blackburn ’68 and Martha Hayes Blackburn ’68 | Palm Springs, Calif.

The Blackburns said they do not recall even a passing conversation during their shared four years on the Hilltop. After graduating—she with a degree in psychology and he with an interdisciplinary degree in history and political science—they went their separate ways, each quite unaware of the other.

“But our alma mater changed all of that when then-President Dr. Neal Berte and then-Vice President for Development George Jenkins decided to host a Los Angeles alumni event during the early ’90s,” he said.

Each single in a city famous for romances, they decided to attend the event, which just happened to be at a hotel overlooking the backlot of 20th Century Fox. “It really was a ‘what have you been doing for 25 years; let’s do lunch moment,’” she said.

After a year and a half of courtship, the couple married in BSC’s Yeilding Chapel on Feb. 27, 1994. Rev. Dr. Mike Harper ’68 officiated, and Audrey Ann Prude Wilson ’68 directed the wedding. The Blackburns now live in Palm Springs; he is retired from California State University as system-wide director of enrollment management, and she continues her long-term practice of psychotherapy. They have one daughter.

“We travel—occasionally with fellow members of the Class of ’68— play golf, restore and maintain our ’30s home, support political issues, and host visiting Alabamians, all the while thanking BirminghamSouthern for having brought us together ‘twice,’” he said.

Three cheers for love

Kelvin Ramsey ’86 and Rena Williams Ramsey ’85 | Birmingham, Ala. Rena and Kelvin first met outside Munger Hall as they finished their math and English placement testing on the first day of their first year at Birmingham-Southern in the fall of 1981.

“We became fast friends, and that friendship developed into a romantic relationship within the first month of school,” said Kelvin, a Birmingham native who majored in political science. “We dated the entire time we were at BSC.” The couple were active members of the campus and had many shared experiences. They were both on the cheerleading squad and were both involved in the Black Student Union, Gospel Choir, and Greek life.

By the time Rena’s commencement rolled around, they were engaged to be married. They tied the knot at her church in Cleveland, Miss., in July of 1986, soon after he graduated.

“He proposed to me in the Margaret Daniel residence hall, while I was studying for finals,” said Rena, who graduated with a degree in biology. “The ring was wrapped in repurposed E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial wrapping paper and taped with a band aid. He’s a big jokester, so at first, I didn’t take him seriously!”

Rena has been employed with Regions bank for the past 22 years, where she is now the human resources manager for diversity, inclusion, and outreach. Kelvin retired last April after teaching middle school in the Birmingham City School system for 25 years. The couple have two sons, Kelvin Jr. and Richard.

“Our experiences at BSC were instrumental in shaping our lives,” said Rena. “We made so many lifelong friendships.”

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Falling in love with service and each other

Kemian Carson ’14 and Sarah Gilkerson ’14 | Atlanta, Ga. Sarah and Kemian met during first-year orientation when a woman on Sarah’s residence hall floor invited her and a few friends to a Saturday night movie with some guys.

“My friends and I, however, decided we weren’t up for a movie that night, so we ditched the guys,” she said. Months later, she attended a pre-trip meeting on campus for an alternative spring break project in New Orleans, hosted by the college’s Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action.

“At the pre-trip meeting, who walks in, but the guys my friends and I had ditched months before!” said Sarah. “The boys ‘called us out’ on ditching them, and then we became friends.

By the fall of our sophomore year, ‘Kemo’ and I were an item.”

During their four years on the Hilltop, the couple participated in many activities together and kept returning to those alternative spring break trips with the Bunting Center. They recently celebrated six years of dating and are still going strong.

“During college, if we weren’t hanging out with each other or with friends in the Lakeview residence halls or at the Hilltop Village apartments, we liked to meet up in the Norton Center between classes—either to get a bite to eat in the Caf, watch TV in the Black and Gold room, or just work on homework on the couches upstairs,” he said. “We loved our BSC experience. We met our closest friends there.”

Sarah, who majored in biology, is working in the finance industry; Kemian, who graduated with a degree in business, is working in the food industry. But they have continued their commitment to service. So far this year, they’ve volunteered at a local food pantry and helped make blankets for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House.

“We love returning to the Hilltop each year for Homecoming and to Birmingham multiple times a year to visit with friends,” she said. “Thanks to BSC, we got to explore the world, learn a lot, meet amazing people, and fall in love.”

A blind date opened their eyes

Robert Callahan ’50 and Virginia “Ginger” Crider Callahan ’48 | Point Clear, Ala. After participating in the U.S. Navy’s V-5 program for over a year, Bob was offered the choice to continue in the reserves or receive an honorable discharge, to which he replied: “Going home; got a girl waiting for me back in Birmingham.”

Those faith-filled words rang true. A Halloween blind date in 1946 turned into platinum love for Bob and Ginger, who will celebrate 70 years of marriage on July 16. They said “I do” two years after their first meeting.

Ginger, who grew up in Birmingham, was a first-year student working on campus as a switchboard operator when she was approached by a friend who asked if she fancied meeting someone who wanted a date.

“On our first date, we attended a party where we bobbed for apples and danced, and then we went to the cemetery looking for spooks,” she said.

“I thought he was really nice, and he was a good dancer.”

Bob began his studies at BSC in September of 1946 as a history major. He played on the basketball team for two years while working part-time at the Birmingham News and became a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. He and Ginger were married before his senior year.

“We have warm memories of our time there. Our favorite spot on campus was underneath the great Oak tree facing Munger,” he said. “The professors were very accessible to students, and we were surrounded by a great group of students, faculty, and staff.”

After Bob graduated, he ventured into business, and Ginger became a homemaker.

Eventually, they moved to Point Clear, Ala., where Bob started and operated a telecommunications consulting firm from 1976-2013. He still works in the real estate business he began in 2013.

In 2011, Bob published his first book on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He is now finishing up the third book in a trilogy about Jesus’ parables, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord’s Supper.

The couple have four children, nine grandchildren—including Matthew Callahan Myrick ’04—and 18 great-grandchildren. Most of the family live within a four-mile radius of each other.

“We look forward to celebrating our 70th-anniversary milestone this summer surrounded by family and friends,” he said.

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Life-changing lesson in Russia

Bradlee Simoneaux ’08 and Kelley Brooks Simoneaux ’07 | Fairfax, Va. Russia in January may not seem like the most logical place for new love to blossom, but for Kelley and Bradlee, that’s exactly where it began.

Kelley, a native of Tennessee, studied political science on the Hilltop, and Bradlee, originally from Louisiana, majored in business. They never crossed paths on campus until they both enrolled in a 2007 Interim (now called E-Term) study-travel project to Eastern Europe to study democratization, led by then-Howell T. Heflin Professor of Political Science Dr. Natalie Davis. Their initial interaction was during a layover in Frankfurt, Germany, on their way to Moscow.

“Bradlee wasn’t feeling well, so I offered him Pepto Bismol from my carry-on,” she said. “This first exchange of words, followed by a precarious off-the-grid cab ride through Moscow, evolved into a relationship once we returned from our travels.”

After graduating from BSC, Kelley attended the University of Tennessee College of Law, and Bradlee moved to Knoxville the next year

to be near her. They were engaged in 2009 and married later that year while she finished law school. The couple then moved to Atlanta, where Kelley practiced law as a civil trial attorney and Bradlee worked for Allstate as an analyst.

After several years of marriage, they began to think about a family.

They adopted a daughter, Mary Brooks, in 2013; Kelley gave birth to their son, Wheeler, in 2016. This past year, the family moved to the Washington, D.C., area where Bradlee is continuing his work with Allstate while pursuing his master’s degree at American University. Kelley plans to return to private law practice soon.

Kelley and Bradlee said they owe the last decade—filled with love, travel, adventure, and building a family—to their time at BSC. “We both graduated believing the college prepared us well for our future careers, and as an added bonus, our future personal lives,” he said.

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ALUMNI NOTES

Ten speakers.

Ten minutes each.

Ten big ideas.

BSC alumni – along with students and faculty – took to the stage for the first-ever “100 Minutes on the Hilltop,” a series of carefully crafted speeches about what it means to lead a life of significance. The event, styled in the fashion of the famous TED Talks, inspired audience members – who laughed, cried, and even meditated right there in the Norton Theatre.

Participants were: Emily Kyzer Browne ’00, director of professional development at St. Jude Research, on the concept of micro-courage; BSC Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Joseph Chandler ’03 on the practical application of mindfulness as a way to cultivate joy in our plugged-in, always-on world; BSC President Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith on the topic of alchemy, and how her own childhood taught her how base materials can be turned into gold with the power of education;

2018 alumni award winners Six Birmingham-Southern alumni were honored with this year’s Distinguished Alumni and Rising Star awards during the college’s 100 Years on the Hilltop Centennial Celebration in April. The awards recognize alumni who have achieved outstanding success in their chosen professions. Those recognized were: Distinguished Alumni Award Joelle James Phillips ’89, Ellen Woodward Potts ’88, and Frances Osborn Robb ’58.

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Outstanding Young Alumni Award Paul Fancher ’97 and Jose Vega ’04

Rising Star Rachel Buchan ’15

BSC sophomore Robin Gulley on how her childhood experiences and her exposure to BSC has taught her how perspective can shift according to circumstance; BSC junior Desi Hall on her selfdiscovery as a black transgender woman and her quest to create spaces for those identities; BSC Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Jason Heaton, part of a research team analyzing one of the most complete pre-human fossils, on how scientific discoveries like his depend on small advances by many;

Desi Hall

Aditi Prasad

Check out additional profiles of news-making alumni at www.bsc.edu/features.

Ronald Johnsey

Dr. Jason Heaton

Ronald Johnsey ’71, founder of Axiometrics Inc., on how a casual conversation on a plane led him to find a purpose bigger than himself – and his company; Joelle Phillips ’89, president of AT&T in Tennessee, on how her quest to understand her father’s life taught her the thrill of being a student well into adulthood; BSC senior Aditi Prasad on how interning and working in an advocacy program helped her find her passion and her purpose; and Lindsay Sheets ’15, a medical student at UAB and 2017 recipient of the Sara Crews Finley MD Endowed Leadership Scholarship, on opening our minds to exploring places people tell us to avoid.

Online extras:

Lindsay Sheets

Emily Kyzer Browne

Robyn Gulley

Joelle James Phillips

Alumnus promoted to brigadier general Learn how David Tabor ’92 ended up coordinating the Department of Defense’s unified special operations center for countering weapons of mass destruction. He credits his BSC experience for leading him there, especially the broad liberal arts approach he experienced on the Hilltop.

BSC graduate honored by health peers Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith

Dr. Joe Chandler

Cleveland Kinney ’67 received the 2018 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association.

Find out how he blends his love of art and science – and how BSC gave him the confidence to pursue his dreams.

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THE POWER OF GIVING

Gift of gratitude for lessons learned at BSC In February 1981, a BSC sophomore named Russell Levenson walked into Yeilding Chapel for a presentation given by then-Chaplain Rev. Dr. Stewart Jackson. He spotted a beautiful blond woman on one side of the chapel; when Jackson invited students to remain if they had questions, both Levenson and the young women stayed.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

“If it weren’t for Birmingham-Southern College or Yeilding Chapel, I would not have met my wife or had my children,” said Rev. Dr. Russell Levenson ’84, who is the fourth rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal in Houston, the largest Episcopal church in North America.

Levenson was in the national spotlight this spring as the personal pastor to the family of former President George H.W. Bush and the officiant at former First Lady Barbara Bush’s funeral. He and Laura Norton Levenson, who attended BSC for two years before transferring to Auburn, have been married for 33 years and have three children: Evelyn, Jones, and Luke, and two grandchildren.

“Birmingham-Southern College wasn’t a big place,” he said. “We had both been on campus and probably seen each other, but had not met until that night. As my mentor used to say, history turns on slim hinges.”

That shared history has inspired the couple to include BSC in their plans for the future. The Levensons have designated a portion of a life insurance policy toward supporting Yeilding Chapel.

The chapel, first dedicated in 1967 in honor of Frank B. Yeilding ’26, was rededicated in October 2017 as part of the celebrations of the chapel’s 50th anniversary. In an interfaith ceremony at the rededication, Levenson delivered the homily.

“Yeilding Chapel is a very special place for us,” he said. “During my time at ’Southern, it was a place I went to pray, think, and reflect.”

Levenson has fond memories of his four years as a student—he says that he’d be happy to do it all over again, excluding trigonometry and calculus—and his years working in the Office of Admission and as an assistant to then-BSC President Dr. Neal Berte.

“My senior year, Dr. Berte awarded me with the President’s Student Service Award, one of my greatest honors, to be quite honest,” he said. “Dr. Berte was an incredible mentor and continues to be to this day.

I still call him for counsel. I’ve often said if I didn’t

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feel called to the ministry, I’d still be working at Birmingham-Southern.”

Levenson has carried the lessons he learned at BSC into his work at St. Martin’s, where he has been rector since 2007. He received his master of divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1992 and his doctor of ministry from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in 1997. He has also served at the historic Christ Church in Olde Town, Alexandria, Va.; as assistant chaplain at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.; at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham; and at Christ Church Parish in Pensacola, Fla., among others.

“Things I brought to the table that I learned at BSC, and more specifically from Neal, were the importance of relationships,” Levenson said. “Development work is about relationships. It’s development in the best sense of the word. It’s not just raising money. It’s about investing. That’s one of the reasons we made our decision about giving back to Birmingham-Southern.”

Levenson said designating a portion of a life insurance policy toward the college is a simple way to include BSC in their financial plans.

“We know if something happens to us, Birmingham-Southern College is going to get a little thank you for all it’s meant for both of us.”

To learn more about providing a planned gift to BSC, contact Meredith Wolfe Alsabrook ’09, director of development, at (205) 226-4977 or mwolfe@bsc.edu.

2017-18 phonathon

by the numbers

20

1,350

student callers

69,980 1,609

219

numbers dialed

total pledges

$249,272

total calling hours

220

firsttime donors

slices of pizza consumed

raised

Birmingham-Southern student fundraisers had a record Phonathon season this spring. They called from mid-March to May to share campus updates, keep BSC’s alumni records and preferences up-to-date, and to raise money for BSC’s Forward Ever Fund, which supports scholarships and all aspects of the student experience. Alumni answered the call in droves, pledging $145,000 in the fall and close to $250,000 this spring— surpassing the overall goal.

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Showing gratitude to those who make a difference Sometimes, it takes a special effort just to say “thank you.”

This spring, the BSC Board of Trustees did just that, issuing a special resolution of appreciation to the Buford Bowen Foundation, which provides endowed scholarship funds for BirminghamSouthern students.

The fund was established by Buford Bowen ’39, who gave generously to BSC in life and in his death. During his life, Bowen set up a scholarship in his family’s name and helped build the SAE house on campus.

Before he died in 2004, he established the Buford Bowen Charitable Foundation, which benefits academic scholarships at BSC as well as the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, N.C. The fund generates more than $100,000 each year for student scholarships.

“Whereas, the college wishes to honor Mr. Bowen for his foresight in providing sustainable resources for deserving students to pursue their dreams through education at Birmingham-Southern College; and whereas, Mr. Bowen’s service to his community and devotion to his faith serve as an example to the BSC family of what it means to lead a life of significance,” the resolution reads.

Bowen, a native of Tallassee, Ala., studied business at BSC. He started working as a stockbroker with Fenner & Bean in Asheville, N.C. and then Jacksonville, Fla., before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1943 to serve in World War II. After an honorable discharge, he returned to Fenner & Bean— now called Merrill Lynch—and retired in 1976 after 37 years of service.

SPRING/SUMMER2018 2018/ /4141 SPRING/SUMMER

PHILANTHROPY

Broadening the base of the BSC Family At Birmingham-Southern College, we often refer to the “BSC Family” of alumni, current students, and the faculty and staff who guide their growth. But there’s another important component: the actual family members of BSC students.

The Hilltop Parent and Family Fund gives the parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and extended families of current students a way to play a role in Birmingham-Southern’s future and the experience it provides students today and tomorrow.

Established more than 25 years ago as the Parents Fund, the fund was renamed this academic year as part of an effort to broaden inclusion and strengthen its mission. It supports priorities in BSC’s budget, benefiting areas such as student

scholarships; academic programs and faculty support; leadership development through the Krulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning and Civic Engagement; facility upgrades; and athletics.

The fund is designed to give families of current and former students a way to support BSC with their time, money, or other talents and also to get to know each other and link to the institution, said Charles Cooper of Houston, who along with his wife, Mary Kathryn, is heading up the fund this year. Their daughter, Claire, is a senior psychology major.

“It provides an opportunity to meet parents and connect with other folks,” he said. “You don’t know where it’s going to go, but there is a greater good that comes out of those connections.

04 04 forward ever day

We’d like to see the fund foster even more interaction as it grows.”

To learn more about the Hilltop Parent and Family Fund, contact SarahKate Roberts at (205) 226-4979 or skrobert@bsc.edu.

Make sure we have your info!

While parents of current and most former students are marked as such in BSC’s database, we may not have you linked to your BSC relatives if you’re their grandparent, uncle, aunt, or other relation. We would love to know the extent of Birmingham-Southern’s family connections as we celebrate our legacies and this special anniversary of 100 years on the Hilltop. Who is in your BSC family?

Let us know at jwaters@bsc.edu.

You did it!

24 hours

$272,359

a new record

Thank you for making a difference for BSC students!

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New sponsored scholarships create immediate impact When Ali and Charles Goodrich learned that BirminghamSouthern now offers a new way to create an immediate positive impact, the Birmingham couple jumped at the opportunity to give deserving students access to BSC’s top-notch liberal arts education.

“A sponsored scholarship is a meaningful way to give back to BSC, while providing the opportunity for another student to have the same excellent education and transformative college experience that I am grateful to have had,” said Ali Dauphin Goodrich ’04.

Through a minimum annual gift of $7,500, a donor can sponsor a scholarship that provides essential support for a student’s tuition and fees. A sponsored scholarship may be awarded based on either academic merit or financial need.

While endowed scholarships are established through a minimum gift of $25,000 and continue in perpetuity, sponsored scholarships are for one year only. However, a sponsored scholarship can be awarded in subsequent years if the donor chooses to continue to fund it at $7,500 or more.

Reflecting their commitment to the growth and support of Birmingham, the Goodriches are directing the Ali and Charles Goodrich Scholarship toward making BSC’s personalized and transformative education accessible to more students who graduate from Birmingham City Schools.

Giving back to Birmingham, and particularly the Woodlawn area, is a family tradition; Charles’s parents created the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation in 2008. Ali and Charles serve on the board, reviewing and approving grant applications and participating in strategic planning. A particular focus of the family’s foundation is education, and that focus shows up in the couple’s personal giving, too.

Josh Tucker-Ellis is the first recipient of the Ali and Charles Goodrich Scholarship, one of BSC’s new sponsored scholarships.

“Statistics show that people with a college degree have more opportunities available to them,” Ali Goodrich said. “Our aim is to provide hope and opportunity for Birmingham City Schools students who, simply by circumstance, may not have the same advantages as others.”

Scholarship recipient Josh Tucker-Ellis, who graduated from Birmingham’s Ramsay High School, said the award has already had a positive impact. He’s entering BSC this fall, planning to join the pre-health program and play on the football team.

“The scholarship has taken a weight off the shoulders of my family,” he said. “And it proved to me that I can go out there and meet the credentials necessary to get something I want.”

A sponsored scholarship bears the name the donor chooses for the academic year in which the funds are awarded. Donors will learn about their impact on the recipient and will have the opportunity to meet that student at BSC’s annual Cornerstone Luncheon.

Sponsored scholarships may be funded with a gift of cash or appreciated securities, or through a donor-advised fund or IRA rollover distribution.

To learn more about creating a sponsored scholarship, contact the Office of Advancement at (205) 226-4909 or advancement@bsc.edu.

Driven to succeed — thanks to you As part of this year’s celebration of “100 Years on the Hilltop,” Birmingham-Southern is launching “Driven to Succeed,” a special scholarship that will be funded by proceeds from sales of college car tags. That makes 2018 a great year to get a new BSC car tag or renew the one you already have.

When you purchase the BSC specialty license plate, the college receives $48.75 as a charitable contribution—and you share your pride in Birmingham-Southern.

“This is a great way to take something we’re already doing and make it even more meaningful in this special year,” said BSC Vice President for Advancement and Communications Virginia Gilbert

Loftin. “Now, by switching to a BSC car tag, members of the BSC Family can know they’re helping put a student on the path to a lifetime of success by helping to fund their education.”

Any Alabama resident who owns a vehicle may purchase a BSC car tag. Note that your individual contribution is not counted automatically. To receive recognition as a donor to BSC, you must provide documentation by emailing a scanned copy of your receipt to advancement@bsc.edu or mailing a copy to the Office of Advancement, Attention: Car Tag Donation, BirminghamSouthern College, Box 549003, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, AL 35254.

BSC18

ALABAMA

Driven to Succeed

SPRING/SUMMER 2018 / 43

FROM THE ARCHIVES

BSC celebrates a half century of E-Term So much can change in a half century.

Founded 50 years ago, Exploration Term (originally Interim) is still expanding its global reach. The goal was to “move the student and the teacher out of the classroom and into the laboratory, the library, studio, faculty study, seminar room, public stage and…off the campus itself,” said the late Dr. Ralph Abernethy ’30 in View from the Hilltop: The First 125 Years of Birmingham-Southern College. Abernethy was academic dean during the time the college transitioned to its 4-1-4 academic system.

In January 2018, 100 students traveled to the Czech Republic and Italy to learn about agribusiness, to Australia to study its beauty and art, to Uganda to teach in a village school, and many more locales as part of international faculty-led travel projects.

Beyond providing opportunities for students to travel with faculty and explore the world, students have many other options: unusual classroom-based courses like “The Sociology of Therapy and Service Animals” and “Intro to 3D Printing;” domestic faculty-led travel projects; laboratory and field research; independent study domestically and abroad; local and far-flung internships and job shadowing; and creative projects in studio art, music, and theatre.

“We were trying to do something about the dreadful winter,” said Abernethy in a 1972 Birmingham News article.

Since its introduction as a five-week mini-semester in 1968, E-Term has become a trademark of the BSC experience.

Currently, students are required to enroll in two January projects (now four weeks long), and one must be completed in the first year.

“The exploratory term—or Interim, as it was called in my day—is one of the truly distinguishing features of a BSC education,” said Brant Phillips ’91 of Nashville. “When I came to BSC, I had never spent any time outside of the Southeast. But I left the college having rafted down the Zambezi River, having fished on the Amazon in the moonlight, having explored the Forbidden City, and having walked along the Great Wall of China. Those experiences were defining for me in many ways and motivate my curiosity to this day.”

44 / ’southern

Students in the “Broadcasting and Announcing” 2018 E-Term course, led by BSC Adjunct Professor of Media and Film Studies Curt Bloom, visit Birmingham TV station ABC 33/40.

SPRING/SUMMER 2018 / 45

CLASS NOTES

BY PAT KINDALL MPPM ‘11

’58

A life in full circle Dr. Kelli Hansen ’07 was 12 years old when she began spending time on the Hilltop and in the nearby community with her mother, Patricia Hansen, who was employed in the college’s Hess Center for Leadership and Service.

Now, 20 years later and armed with a BSC degree and a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree, Hansen works just blocks from the Hilltop as a physical therapist with children in the Birmingham City School System.

“I spent many summer days assisting with BSC service projects — from playground builds and Meals on Wheels to helping at Magic City Harvest and the First Light Women’s Shelter,” she said. “As a junior in high school, I was selected for BSC’s Student Leaders in Service program. It was natural that when the time came for me to start my college search, Birmingham-Southern was at the top of my list.”

Hansen had a busy life as an undergraduate. Her senior paper was published in Compass, the academic journal of leadership and service, and she participated in the LEAD Emerging Leaders Summit. Hansen graduated with a bachelor’s in business and a Distinction in Leadership Studies.

“The Hilltop was my home away from home, complete with dedicated faculty and staff who care about the success and well-being of every student,” she said. “My role as the physical therapist for all Birmingham City Schools brings me full circle to marrying my healthcare career with the focus on service and leadership that I learned at BSC.” Hansen started out working in marketing after college, but said she longed for something more meaningful.

“I’ve always been interested in the human body, science, and functional movement, so I applied to several DPT programs,” she said. “I was good at physics and had an engineer-like approach to solving problems, which is essential in physical therapy. At the same time, I love working with people.”

She graduated with her DPT degree from the University of St. Augustine with high honors in August (her Zeta Tau Alpha sorority sister and best friend, Genny Keywood ’06 of Douglasville, Ga., attended the ceremony). Hansen now works for Cobb Pediatric Therapy Services as the sole physical therapist for Birmingham City Schools. She is also employed at Champion Sports Medicine.

As a physical therapist in the school system, Hansen helps children access their educational environment. Tasks such as climbing stairs, sitting at a desk or a table, and getting on and off of a school bus are important functional tasks for children to be able to perform. Many of the kids she works with have neurological diagnoses such as cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, which often result in developmental delay. Deficits in gross motor movements often prevent these children from being able to perform tasks such as sitting or walking like their typical peers.

She admits that her schedule can be overly demanding; in her spare time, she enjoys high intensity interval training and barre method classes, and she recently started tap dance.

“Like most people, I face adversity, but those experiences have helped me to develop into a strong, independent woman, eager to turn the next corner,” said Hansen. “I realize the value of education, and I am humbled to be the first woman in my family to earn a bachelor’s and doctorate.”

46 / ’southern

Dr. S T Kimbrough Jr.’s newest publication, Alphabetical Index to the First Lines of ALL Stanzas of Poetry by John and Charles Wesley, was released last fall by Wipf and Stock Publishers. It is the first complete first-line index of every stanza of the Wesleys’ poetry—with more 34,000 entries. Kimbrough is a professional singer, scholar, churchman, and author with widespread experience in these fields. He resides in Durham, N.C.

’63 Dr. William Hall Hodges has published Third & Eighteenth, a “portfolio of dream-like images of Birmingham,” writes BSC Professor Pamela Venz in the book’s foreword.

“Black and white photographs of urban street scenes have always fascinated me,” said Hodges. A native of Marianna, Fla., he graduated from the University of Alabama School of Dentistry. Hodges practiced endodontics for 24 years in Dothan. After his 2000 retirement, he developed an interest in photography. His collection has been exhibited in the Elton B. Stephens Science Center on campus.

’66 Gaye Duncan Holman’s first book, Decades Behind Bars: A Twenty-Year Conversation with Men in America’s Prisons, was published last year by McFarland Press. Beginning in 1994, she began recording the personal

stories of 50 incarcerated felons.

Holman is a retired professor of sociology and resides in Louisville.

Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Robert H. Smith was named “Trial Judge of the Year” for 2017 in November by the Alabama chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

reissued in paperback last year.

Brown retired as professor emerita in the department of art and art history at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is also professor emerita at Tulane University, where she taught in the Newcomb Art Department for 27 years.

’74

’67 How They Got Over: Gospel Quartets and the Road to Rock & Roll, a documentary film by Bob Clem of Stone Ridge, N.Y., won the Killer Soundtrack Award at the 2017 Chicago Movies & Music Festival, which called the film “a long-overdue look at the journey of young black men who found a way out of poverty through spiritual music in the first half of the 20th century.” Clem and the film have been featured at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival, and World Cafe in Philadelphia, and were featured in the EKO Film festival in Lagos, Nigeria, in March.

’72 Dr. Marilyn Brown’s fourth book, The ‘Gamin de Paris’ in Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture: Delacroix, Hugo, and the French Social Imaginary, was published

by Routledge in May of 2017. Her edited volume Picturing Children: Constructions of Childhood between Rousseau and Freud (2002) was

Advancing oral health education Jim Pierce and his wife, Tammy, were honored as Man and Woman of the Year 2017 in the December edition of Emerald Ladies Journal.

Pierce, a member of the BSC Board of Trustees, is an investor, board member, and has held multiple executive positions at Isagenix, a fast-growing health and wellness company. The couple split time between their homes in Miramar Beach, Fla., and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Dr. Kevin Alexander ’81 was inducted into the Academy of Dentistry International (ADI) at the American Dental Association meeting in Atlanta last fall, along with 45 other dental professionals. Along with ADI’s sponsorship of dental education, research and patient care projects, the organization directly aids in the improvement of the dental and oral health and well-being of people worldwide. Fellowship in the academy is bestowed on dentists with outstanding professional, civic, and related accomplishments. Alexander, who graduated from the UAB School of Dentistry, owns a private dental practice in Mountain Brook, Ala. In his spare time, he says he enjoys charitable activities such as coaching youth sports, serving meals at a downtown men’s shelter, and doing dental mission work. He is pictured with his wife, Maria Adlercreutz Alexander ’86.

’85 Michael Bell was recognized as a “Litigation Star” in the 2018 edition of Benchmark Litigation. The distinctions are based on extensive interviews with litigators and clients. Bell is an attorney at Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC in Birmingham. He graduated cum laude from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. Theo “Ted” Davis earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in May of 2017.

Davis, who resides in Baltimore, is organist and choirmaster at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church as well as an active concert artist and private instructor.

’89 Hall Bryant III of Bradley Arant Boult Cumming law firm has joined the board of directors of Bryant

Davis

Bank. Bryant, who practices law in the areas of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, securities law, corporate finance and general corporate advice in Bradley’s Huntsville office, is representing the Huntsville and North Alabama areas for the Tuscaloosa-based bank.

SPRING/SUMMER 2018 / 47

CLASS NOTES Wayne Hutchens (MPPM) was named president of AT&T Alabama in December. Hutchens began his career in 1971 as a lineman for South Central Bell. His previous position was assistant vice president of regulatory and external affairs for AT&T Alabama. Hutchens and his wife, Sharon—who is retired from AT&T—reside in Birmingham; they have eight children and 15 grandchildren.

Hutchens

’92 Beth Martin is a senior lecturer in environmental studies and a Gephardt Institute Community Engagement Faculty Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis. She teaches a range of other courses, including a firstyear student seminar focusing on the environment of St. Louis and a senior level seminar that prepares students to attend annual international climate negotiations.

’98

October. INROADS is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and placing talented underserved youth in business and industry and preparing them for corporate and community leadership. Simmons is also executive vice president and executive director of Talent and Culture Partners at BBVA Compass.

She has more than 25 years of experience in human resources and is a former INROADS director.

Simmons

’01 Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has hired former Assistant U.S. Attorney Scarlett Singleton Nokes for the firm’s Nashville office.

Nokes is a member of Bradley’s Government Enforcement and Investigations practice group.

She served as a federal prosecutor for more than 12 years, working in Nashville, Birmingham, and Savannah, Ga.; she represented the government in more than 20 trials.

Nokes earned her JD from Harvard Law School.

Wiley Mathews spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January on the topic “Telecommunications and Blockchain Technology.” Mathews, who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., recently formed a consulting business for blockchain technology and crypto-currency.

’00 Reba Thompson Simmons (MPPM) of Birmingham was appointed to INROADS Inc.’s national board of directors in

48 / ’southern

Carolina State University in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (also see Births).

’03

Kerri Fox Banks is senior interpreter at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville. She is a certified medical interpreter and Spanish translator.

’04 Veronica Wehby-Upchurch is executive director of Susan G. Komen North Central Alabama following several years of serving in a broad range of leadership roles with the organization. Her involvement with the nonprofit began more than 11 years ago when her friend was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 24. She lives in Homewood with her husband, Burton, and their two dogs.

’07 Ephraim McDowell Health in Danville, Ky., welcomed endocrinologist Dr. Kelly Craft Pacitti to its medical staff last fall. Pacitti earned her medical degree from Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg, Va. She has a special interest in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, pituitary, adrenal, and thyroid disorders. Pacitti lives in Nicholasville, Ky., with her husband, Andrew. During her free time, she enjoys horseback riding and spending time with her family.

Amanda Janis Stewart of Apex, N.C., is on the faculty at North

Dannele Ferreras graduated with an M.Ed. in educational psychologyapplied developmental science from the University of Virginia last August. She now works for ICF, an international consulting firm in its Fairfax, Va., office, where she is a research and evaluation associate for the child welfare and education line of business.

Ferreras

’14 Kyle Doiron has joined the Nashville law office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. Doiron is an associate attorney in the firm’s litigation practice group. He graduated from Duke University in 2017 with a JD and master’s degree in psychology.

’12 After moving to New York and working in retail for several years, Lillian Jones has returned to Mountain Brook, Ala., to work at her dad’s specialty toy store, Snoozy’s Kids.

Nokes

’13

Julia Guyton Kamps has joined Ducks Unlimited as a wetland conservation biologist in northwest Missouri. An urban environmental studies major at BSC, she received a master’s in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences from the University of Missouri in 2017.

Cullen

’15 Last summer, Cate Cullen, thencommunications director for Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL, District 6), earned a slot as one of the political newspaper The Hill’s “50 Most Beautiful.” Cullen recently announced she’ll be leaving politics to become manager of strategic communications for the Cruise Lines International Association.

Photo credit: The Hill

Enjoying life’s fourth act Lester Gingold ’43, who turned 96 on Jan. 1, continues to amaze doctors with his healthy and active lifestyle.

The storied journalist and publisher emeritus of The Best Times news magazine in Memphis continues to pen a monthly column that keeps him abreast of the latest senior living trends. Though his mobility is limited, his mind is not.

Gingold vividly remembers his encounters with six American presidents. In 1967, as incoming president of the Memphis Cotton Carnival, he was invited to the Oval Office, where he met thenPresident Lyndon B. Johnson. But perhaps the most memorable, he said, was meeting former President Harry S. Truman during a visit to Kansas City in the 1970s to speak at a sales rally.

“I was employed with Sears then and had asked someone at the local newspaper how I might get to see Truman,” said Gingold.

“They told me to be at his mailbox at his home in Independence, Mo., at 6 a.m. I was there at 5:45, and promptly at six, Truman came out in a flannel robe. After introducing myself and handing him his newspaper, I asked him what advice I should give to people at the rally, to which he replied, ‘Well, just tell them to be sincere, to be honest, and to be enthusiastic.’”

Gingold was employed for 34 years as an executive for SearsMidsouth, followed by 14 years as the advertising director for the Scripps Howard Publishing Co. He owned and published The Best Times for the next 18 years. He also did motivational speaking; he said he has addressed at least 40 audiences in 20 cities.

In the mid-’60s, during a trip to Atlanta, he sat down for coffee with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after they met on a hotel elevator.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Gingold was advised by his

high school teachers to consider one of the finest small colleges in the country. It was an easy choice to select BSC, said Gingold, who is one of a small number of alumni to remember life on campus during the Great Depression.

“The Depression played another role in my decision to attend BSC,” said Gingold. “I was able to work four jobs to help pay my monthly tuition. I was also very involved on campus, including as a member of the Hilltop News staff and the leadership honorary Omicron Delta Kappa.

He studied economics and business on the Hilltop, then served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a combat engineer. In 1945, while stationed in Germany, he wound up snapping pictures of the fateful car crash that claimed the life of Gen. George Patton.

Those historic photos are housed at the Patton Memorial Museum in Los Angeles.

Gingold has received countless honors and accolades over his career. He remains active in the civic life of Memphis and has served as board chair of the former Memphis College of Art. His wife, Joyce, 92, who often accompanies him on forays around the city, is a retired school teacher-turned-sculptor; she held her first public art exhibition at the age of 80. The couple has a daughter who is an artist and publisher (they lost two sons); six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

To keep his muscles limber, Gingold takes regular spins on his exercise bike. When asked about his main ingredients to longevity, he advises: “You’re never too old to learn, never too old to forgive, never too old to love, and never too old to pray,” he said.

SPRING/SUMMER 2018 / 49

Roberts (on right) holding trophy

Lindsay Sheets was selected as the 2017 recipient of the Sara Crews Finley, M.D., Endowed Leadership Scholarship at the UAB School of Medicine. The scholarship, which supports students who demonstrate exceptional academic and leadership abilities, includes full tuition for the third year of medical school and is renewable for the fourth year.

The Big Meal marked David Strickland’s first solo experience as a theatre director in Birmingham, although he has assistant director and dramaturgy credits in regional theatres across the country. The production, which spans five generations in the lives of one family, was held in November at Terrific New Theatre.

Strickland had an acting role in Alabama Story with Red Mountain Theatre Co. in March.

’17 Patrick Pittman joined Birmingham’s Cobbs Allen Associates as an employee benefits consultant in September. Pittman is licensed in both life and health and

Pittman

50 / ’southern

property and casualty.

Chris Roberts Jr. fulfilled his dad’s legacy by leading “Team Redstone” to a double repeat championship at the 33rd annual Army Ten-Miler near the Pentagon in October. Redstone won its 11th straight championship in the government agency division and ninth consecutive title in the all-comers division. Roberts ran his first 10-mile race in 58 minutes.

He ran for BSC from 2013-17. He now works at Publix Pharmacy in Huntsville as a technician and serves as assistant cross country coach at Huntsville High. “I was allowed to run for the team because my father retired as a government engineer for the Army,” said Roberts.

FRIENDS The Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce awarded BSC President Emeritus Dr. Neal Berte with the 2018 Jemison Award for significant contributions to the community.

Each year the community provides nominations for the award, which is named for Mountain Brook planning visionary Robert Jemison.

Hatton C.V. Smith of Birmingham was among the recipients of the 2017 Vulcan Award for community commitment, initiatives or heroism that have or will have a significant impact on the quality of life in the region. Smith, a former BSC trustee and CEO emeritus of Royal Cup Coffee, was credited for helping save UAB football. He was named a Game Changer at the Spears level— one of two categories; the Vulcans are recognized for life achievement, while the Spears honor “works that have been initiated and will have promised capabilities.”

Ball (on right) with Amorin

Award-winning leadership—Roger Ball ’03 was honored with the 2017 President’s Award from the Appraisal Institute during a ceremony in Chicago in October. Ball, who is employed as a real estate analyst with Commercial Valuation Services in Birmingham, is the youngest person in the 80-year history of the organization to receive the award. The Appraisal Institute is the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers with nearly 19,000 members in almost 60 countries. Ball is 2018 president of the organization’s Alabama chapter; he also serves as education committee chair and as a regional representative. “This young professional has been almost single-handedly responsible for turning his chapter from one that was in the throes of a death spiral into one of the most dynamic, member-oriented service providers in the country,” said Appraisal Institute President and Acting CEO Jim Amorin during the event.

Ball also serves on BSC’s Norton Board of Advisors.

Class Notes submissions You can send news of weddings, births deaths, job changes, career highlights, honors, and awards directly to BSC through the college’s online alumni community at www.alumni.bsc.edu; you can also view all of the recently submitted class notes. Or, you may submit them via email to alumni@bsc.edu.

If you would like to make a gift to honor or memorialize a classmate, contact the Office of Alumni Affairs at (205) 226-4912, or, you can mail a check with a note of tribute to: Alumni Affairs, Box 549003, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, AL 35254.

Hittin’ the Big Easy A group of BSC Zeta Tau Alpha sorority sisters and their husbands converged on New Orleans by train, plane, and automobile in December to enjoy a five-day adventure.

Since the year they graduated, these ’Southern alums have journeyed together to places like France, Italy, and Costa Rica as well as destinations across the U.S. One highlight of their trip to New Orleans was a field trip to the historical Cajun fishing village, Jean Lafitte, where the group met up with Brent Bourgeois (in the fur cap). Bourgeois claims ancestors who fought alongside the pirate the town is named for. “His

stories were rich with colorful lore and broad knowledge of working in the ecosystem of the southern bayous,” said Henrietta Speaks ’68 of Hoover, Ala. The group also explored New Orleans’ varied parishes and spent hours in the National World War II Museum. Shown with Bourgeois (from left to right) are: Audrey Ann Prude Wilson ‘68 and Jim Wilson Jr. ’66 of Birmingham; Speaks; Martha Hayes Blackburn ’68 and Dr. Jim Blackburn ’68 of Palm Springs, Calif.; Diane Appleyard ’69 of Pensacola, Fla.; Marline McCargo Sellers ’68 of Florence, Ala.; Susan Bethea ’69 of Birmingham; and Dr. Jack Sellers ’68 of Florence, Ala.

HOMECOMING

ON THE HILLTOP

Friday, Oct. 19 and Saturday, Oct. 20 Come to BSC’s celebration for families and cheer on the Panthers v. Austin College. Look for more information on the BSC website early this fall.

SPRING/SUMMER SPRING 2018 2018 // 51 51

Introducing

BLAST FROM THE PAST!

Make the college a part of your family tradition by signing up your child, grandchild, niece, or nephew (ages 0-15) for the BSC Seedlings program: • Newborns will receive a special gift from the Office of Alumni Engagement.

• Your child will receive a birthday card from BSC each year until he/she turns 15.

• You’ll be invited to special family friendly events throughout the year, such as our Easter Egg Hunt and on-campus sporting events.

Sign up online via bsc.edu/goto/seedlings.

Questions? Call Director of Alumni Engagement Jennifer Howard Waters ‘86 at (205) 226-4912.

BIRTHS 1 A son, Andrew Gorden, on July 18, 2017, to Amanda Janis Stewart ’01 and husband, Chris, of Apex, 2 N.C. A daughter, Flora Bellenger, on July 23, 2017, to S. Gaillard Ladd Jr. ’02 and wife, Blair, of Mobile. Big 3 sister, Peggy. (Not pictured.)

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A daughter, Anne Elizabeth “Libby,” on Sept. 27, 2017, to Melissa Martin Burton ’04 and husband, Walt, of Nashville. Big brothers, Jeb and 4 Liam.

Forget about digging around in your attic for that BSC yearbook. Take a nostalgic peek at your former classmates through cyberspace. The college has preserved its history through a digital collection of yearbooks at http://library.bsc.edu/ bscdigitalcollections.html, including several editions from BSC’s parent institutions.

Yearbooks online include:

Birmingham-Southern College from 1919-2010 Southern University from 1914-1917 Birmingham College for 1907 52 / ’southern

A son, Jacob Stanley, on Sept. 18, 2017, to Shelley Scarbrough Hodges ’04 and husband, Hunter, of 5 Boise, Idaho.

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Twin boys, Grey Alexander and Hudson Gilbert, on July 6, 2017, to Tyler Sasser ’06 and wife, 6 Alexandra Lupo Sasser ’13, of Birmingham.

A daughter, Georgia Elizabeth, on Aug. 22, 2017, to Amy Yearwood 7 Petty ’08 and husband, Kevin, of Ponte Vedra, Fla. A daughter, Camille Rose, on Dec. 29, 2017, to Meghan Olivier ’14 and

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degree in chemistry from BSC and then earned his master’s and Ph.D. at Emory University. He joined DuPont in Wilmington, Del., in 1950 as a research chemist, received several patents, pioneered standards for the use of plastic pipe in gas distribution, and ultimately led the company’s Stren fishing line business. Originally from Montgomery, Cogdell was an avid sport fisherman, golfer, and “rock hound.” Survivors include two children, including Martha Cogdell ’75 of Arlington, Va., and two grandchildren.

husband, Andrew, of Salem, Ore. Big brother, Henry.

bsc.edu clearly titled with your name.

WEDDINGS

IN MEMORIAM

Casey Grier ’97 to Markus Doering, Nov. 12, 2016. Pictured are Grier and Doering following a bilingual ceremony in Alys Beach, Fla. Doering is a native of Germany.

Matron of Honor was Ashley Grier White ’02.

Correction: In an expanded obit about the death of Rev. Denson N. Franklin ’58 that appeared in the fall issue, we want to point out that the director of the BSC Concert Choir in 1958 was the late Raymond Anderson, not Hugh Thomas ‘33. We regret the error.

Zachary Daniel ’09 to Deborah Anderson, Sept. 3, 2017.

Amanda Cazort ’14 and Brendan McInerney ’17, Nov. 18, 2017.

To submit a photo of your wedding for consideration in ‘Southern magazine, send a digital photo (as a JPEG or TIFF file) to alumni@

Kathryn Ivey Briggs ’37 of Middletown, Ct., on April 2, 2017.

After graduating from BSC as a French major, Briggs sailed for France to teach English to French students. She later married and joined her husband at Harvard University. Their next move was to Middletown, where they joined the Wesleyan University community; they also traveled the globe. She taught French in local schools, worked at Wesleyan’s Honors College, and was active in many community organizations. Briggs died a centenarian and is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Dr. James Franklin Cogdell, Jr. ’48 of Alexandria, Va., on Nov. 27, 2017. After completing active duty overseas as an Army master sergeant in World War II, Cogdell received his

Helen Bowman Chandler ’49 of Montgomery, on May 11, 2017.

Chandler graduated with honors from BSC and Tulane University, where she received her master’s in social work. She was also a member of Alpha Chi Omega fraternity.

In her career as a social worker, Chandler was a highly respected advocate for neglected children. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Montgomery. She is survived by a host of friends.

Dr. Milton Perry Brown, Jr. ’50 of Memphis, on Nov. 10, 2017.

Brown was a retired Presbyterian minister and a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Rhodes College. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from BSC. Brown did graduate studies in classical languages at the State University of Iowa, earned a bachelor of divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, and completed his Ph.D. from Duke University. In 1958, he joined the faculty of Washington and Lee University as chaplain and assistant professor of religion.

His long association with Rhodes began in 1960. In 2005, Brown was honored by Louisville Seminary as a Distinguished Alumnus. He is survived by his wife, two children, six grandchildren, and one greatgrandchild.

Euel Simpson Laughlin ’50 of Bay Minnette, Ala., on Sept. 27, 2017.

Laughlin served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Afterward, he married and enrolled at BSC. Laughlin retired in 1995 after a 45year career with the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, rising through the ranks from firefighter to assistant chief. He also taught in the fire science degree program at Jefferson State Community College. Before and after retirement, he and his wife traveled the world with family.

Among survivors are his wife, three children, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and one greatgreat-grandchild.

Margaret Enslen Sherrill ’51 of Birmingham, on Oct. 5, 2017.

Sherrill graduated Phi Beta Kappa from BSC and was honored with the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006. She received a second degree in medical technology from the Medical College of Alabama (now UAB School of Medicine) and supervised the laboratories at Simon-Williamson Clinic and Princeton Baptist Medical Center before retirement. She was active in the Methodist church and taught Sunday school for 40 years. Her interest in mission work took her to many places of service in the U.S. and abroad. Survivors include her three children and four grandchildren.

Kathryn “Kitty” Holder Stanford ’51 of Fairhope, Ala., formerly of Birmingham, on Aug. 3, 2017.

Stanford was a singer, teacher, artist, innovator, and coach. She studied drama and music at BSC and was runner-up to Miss Alabama in 1950.

Following her graduation from BSC, she taught music at West End Elementary. Her husband’s work as a coach took her to Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, and back to Alabama. At each location, she would teach music, sing in the local choir, and perform in regional musicals. She also participated in sports, especially golf and tennis.

Stanford and her husband retired

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CLASS NOTES

IN MEMORIAM ’44

Evelyn Perling Allen, one of the early women who made a foray into advertising and public relations, and the first woman on television in Birmingham, passed away on Sept. 26, 2017. She was 94.

Eager for learning all her life, Allen attended Austin Peay State University, the University of Alabama, and BSC, where she majored in speech. She participated in theatre, and sang with the Birmingham Civic Chorus in her younger years.

She was an avid supporter of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, was a docent at the Birmingham Museum of Art, and served on the board of the Alabama State Council of the Arts. The walls of her home showed her support of and appreciation for artists far and wide, and especially of local artists.

Allen was the mother-in-law of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.

She is survived by two children, six grandchildren, and three great-granddaughters.

to Fairhope, where she continued her love of painting. She is survived by three children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Ann Bairnsfather Lambert ’54 of Birmingham, on June 24, 2017.

Lambert spent more than 30 years teaching ballet. After retiring from ballet, she became a travel agent, which allowed her and her husband, the late James Lambert Jr. ’51, to travel the world. Lambert was a gourmet cook and loved to entertain. She was also a supporter of the Children’s Theater, Botanical Gardens, and Birmingham Museum of Art. Survivors include her husband, three daughters, six grandchildren, and four greatgrandchildren.

Arve Benton Baker, Jr. ’55 of Birmingham, on Nov. 12, 2017. Baker worked alongside his wife in her

54 / ’southern

family’s business for more than 50 years and won several awards within the commercial roofing industry. He served on the BSC Alumni Board and was one of the founding members of the Bessemer Rescue Mission (now the Foundry Rescue Mission and Recovery Center). Baker enjoyed golf, travel, the arts, and supporting local athletic teams. Among survivors are his wife; three daughters; including AnnaGrace Baker Baldwin ’95 of Birmingham; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Ruth Smith Maise ’55 of Decatur, Ga., on July 30, 2017. Maise worked as a clerk-typist at Brunswick Marine during World War II. After the war, she served as a church youth counselor before enrolling at BSC. She graduated cum laude and continued her work as a youth counselor in Brunswick, Ga. Maise

later moved to Huntsville and took a job at Redstone Arsenal. She and her family eventually moved to Saudi Arabia—she wrote two self-published books about her experiences there—before settling in Decatur. Survivors include her husband, two children, and two grandchildren.

The Rev. Charles Robert Walker ’55 of Navarre, Fla., on June 27, 2017. Walker earned a master of divinity from Emory University in 1958. He spent more than 55 years in ministry serving churches in the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, including congregations in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. He was also active in youth missions in the U.S. and Cuba. He retired in 1999 and moved to Navarre. Walker was recognized as pastor emeritus at

Mary Esther UMC in 2006. He served on various boards and agencies of the conference over the years. He is survived by his wife, two children, and four grandchildren.

John Curtis Grabowski ’56 of Pinson, Ala., on Aug. 11, 2017.

Grabowski was an Army drill sergeant during the Korean War. He was a partner in Garner & Grabowski Realty, Homecraft Builders, and Cumberland Lake Golf Course.

Grabowski was past president of the Birmingham Area Board of Realtors and past chair of the both the board of Medical Center East and the board of Eastern Health System. He was a member of Palmerdale United Methodist Church. Grabowski is survived by his wife, son, and five grandchildren.

The Hon. John Lister Haislip ’56 of Scottsboro, Ala., on Oct. 3, 2017. Haislip graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and four grandchildren.

Deborah Smith Bledsoe ’57 of Hershey, Penn., on Dec. 19, 2017.

Bledsoe graduated from BSC’s Conservatory of Music. She was a piano teacher, organist, choir director, soloist with the thenBirmingham Symphony, former president of the Birmingham Music Teachers’ Association, and member of the Alabama Federation of Music Teachers. Bledsoe also learned to fly, raised horses, and enjoyed travel.

Among survivors are two children.

George “Buddy” Milton Higginbotham ’59 of Bessemer, Ala., on July 4, 2017. Higginbotham graduated from the University of Alabama Law School and practiced in Bessemer from 1961-2017. He was a state bar commissioner for 20 years. Higginbotham was known for protecting the rights of those with no voice and no money and for fighting discrimination. He is survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren, and eight great-

grandchildren.

James Grant Parris Jr. ’59 of Foley, Ala., on Jan. 8, 2017. After graduating from BSC, Parris enlisted in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged as a sergeant. Survivors include his wife, two daughters, two grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

Nancy Watson Wilson ’62 of Birmingham, on Oct. 3, 2017. After college, Wilson was active in the Charity League, served as its president, and successfully lobbied the Alabama State Legislature for funding to expand the EPIC School. She and a group of friends founded the Discovery Place, now the McWane Science Center. She then embarked on a career in alumni development, serving in a number of roles at UAB and her alma mater before retiring from BSC in 1998 as associate vice president for alumni affairs and development. Wilson is survived by her husband; two sons, including Chris Powell ’90 of Carbondale, Colo.; two step-sons; and 11 grandchildren. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to BSC’s Bridge to the Future initiative, Box 549003, 900 Arkadelphia Rd., Birmingham, AL 35254.

George Yarchak ’62 of Columbiana, Ala., on Aug. 17, 2017. After graduating from BSC, Yarchak served eight years in the U.S. Marine Reserves. He was licensed as an air transport pilot and completed training to become a certified network engineer. Yarchak was employed for 30 years at BellSouth, retiring as district manager overseeing aviation and travel, before he worked for 20 years with FEMA. His community involvements included the Birmingham Aero Club and Civil Air Patrol. Survivors include his wife, two children, a granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, and four greatgrandchildren.

Robert Conrad Parrish ’63 of Des Moines, Iowa, on July 22, 2017. After graduation, Parrish served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam conflict.

He had lived in Birmingham and

IN MEMORIAM ’51

Frieda Roser White, one of the founding members of the Birmingham Opera Guild, passed away on Oct. 18, 2017, at the age of 88. A lifetime resident of Birmingham, she grew up in the West End community.

White was a talented singer and pianist and majored in music at Birmingham-Southern. She was a member of the college’s choir under the direction of Raymond Anderson and sang with the Hugh Thomas Chorus.

White was also a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.

She was crowned Miss Alabama in 1949 and went to Atlantic City to compete in the Miss America pageant.

Soon after receiving her BSC degree, White married, but she never lost her passion for music. In 1952, she won first place in the Birmingham Music Club competition.

In 1955, White became a part of the newly formed Birmingham Civic Opera (now Opera Birmingham). She was a founding member and served as the first president of the Birmingham Opera Guild, which was formed in 1977; she remained active until 2011.

White was an honorary lifetime member of the Opera Birmingham board, and received the Opera Birmingham Star Award in 2009. She also served on the board of the Birmingham Music Club and as a member of the Ballet Women’s Committee, and was a patron of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. White was a generous and consistent supporter of BSC. She and her husband were charter members of the Vestavia Country Club, where they remained active for decades. They attended Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church.

Among her survivors are three of her four children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Washington, D.C., but resided in Iowa for many years, where he was affiliated with a local college. Among survivors is a son.

Anthony Louis Cherry ’64 of Anniston, Ala., on Oct. 25, 2017.

Cherry attend BSC on a basketball scholarship and was captain of the team for two years. He was instrumental in building the first Kappa Alpha house on campus. In 1966, Cherry moved to Anniston for a career with Lederle Laboratories; he stayed with the company for

more than 40 years, winning 11 Gold Cup awards and a Golden Oval award in pharmaceutical sales.

He was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church for more than 50 years. Survivors include his wife, daughter, and a granddaughter.

Eston Harmon Stead, Jr. ’64 of Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 16, 2017.

Stead was a former member of the Alabama Air National Guard.

He had retired from Eastern State Hospital, where he was director of operations. He is survived by two

children and two grandchildren.

Millicent Breedlove Albright ’66 of Birmingham, on Dec. 4, 2017.

After graduating from BSC, Albright returned to her hometown and taught biology, physics, and English at Opp High School.

After retirement, she moved to North Carolina before settling in Birmingham. Albright is survived by her husband, two children, and four grandchildren.

Carolyn Jeanne Salay ’66 of

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CLASS NOTES two daughters, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

IN MEMORIAM ’49

Dr. Andy Hunter Rowell Jr., who lived a life dedicated to education and family, passed away on Nov. 22, 2017, at the age of 77.

Rowell spent 43 years of his career in Alabama K-12 education. He began his career in the Birmingham Public School System, serving as a teacher at Banks High and Woodrow Wilson Elementary.

Later, he became principal of Charles Brown Elementary. During those years as a teacher and principal, Rowell also served as president and treasurer of the Birmingham Education Association.

“He never thought twice about sitting on the floor with children to actively engage in play with them or why he laughed at all of their jokes (even the bad knock-knock jokes),” said his wife, Marilyn Smith Rowell ’60.

Rowell studied history on the Hilltop and was active in sports and Greek life; he joined Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and played intramural football and softball. After receiving his master’s in education and his doctorate in educational administration from the University of Alabama, Rowell served as associate professor at UAB for 13 years. Following UAB, he became superintendent of Midfield City Schools. He made it possible for the Midfield High School band to travel to Europe to experience history and music. The school, in turn, renamed its performing arts center in his honor.

During his tenure as superintendent, Rowell served his alma mater as a member of the Education Committee on BSC’s Norton Board of Advisors. He was also an active member of Westwood Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday school.

After a three-day retirement, Rowell continued his devotion to education by joining Rick Lathan Architects, Inc. to partner with school systems to build new schools. He was an avid supporter of the college.

He is survived by his wife; two sons, including Dr. Clay Rowell ’92 of Cumming, Ga.; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Birmingham, on July 18, 2017.

Salay was an advertising copy writer in Montgomery. Among survivors is a sister.

Dr. Clarence L. Mohr ’68 of Mobile, on Aug. 5, 2017. Mohr had a distinguished academic career as a historian and produced many notable publications. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia; his dissertation culminated in his acclaimed first book, On the

56 / ’southern

Threshold of Freedom: Masters and Slaves. After short stints at Yale University and the University of Mississippi, Mohr divided his career between Tulane University and the University of South Alabama, where he chaired the history department for 19 years before retiring in June.

Survivors include his wife, daughter, and three grandchildren.

Joyce Knight Hadden ’74 of Birmingham, on Sept. 2, 2017.

Hadden graduated from BSC summa cum laude. She loved children and taught fourth grade at Pinson Elementary School for more than 20 years. Hadden was a member of Huffman Baptist Church, where she participated in many church ministries.

She also volunteered with Rotary International; she was a Paul Harris Fellow and was recognized by Rotary International for her participation in the Jamaican Low Vision Project.

Hadden is survived by her husband,

Noccalula M. Moon (née Martha Jeanne Weaver) ’77 of Asheville, N.C., on July 13, 2017. Moon’s appreciation of Earth’s natural beauty led her to engage others in kayaking, hiking, and swimming.

Fluent in Spanish, she enjoyed traveling to natural and historic sites in the U.S. and abroad. An avid outdoorswoman, she hiked the entire southern half of the Appalachian Trail. Among survivors are her mother and siblings.

Lolete Dew Wilson ’81 of Birmingham, on Aug. 5, 2017.

Wilson earned her master’s in elementary education at UAB in 1983. She began her teaching career at St. Mary’s Catholic School and later taught at Lincoln Middle and then Wilkerson Middle School, where she was named Teacher of the Year for 2000-01. Wilson was a member of several educational associations and committees. She retired after 30 years of teaching. She is survived by her husband and son.

Marilyn Douglas Mullins Merkle ’82 of Birmingham, formerly of Faunsdale, Ala., on Aug. 10, 2017.

While living in the Black Belt for more than 30 years, Merkle was a community and church leader, librarian at Judson College, organist for Faunsdale Presbyterian Church, and Faunsdale City Council member. She enjoyed playing bridge and painting. An artist, she was a supporter of the Birmingham Museum of Art. She is survived by six children, including Scott Merkle ’82 of Hillsdale, Mich., Melanie Merkle Atha ’86 of Birmingham, David Merkle ’90 of Birmingham, and Dr. Jonathan Merkle ’92 of Indian Springs; and 10 grandchildren.

Johnny Nelson Woolen Sr. ’85 of Birmingham, on Nov. 27, 2017.

Woolen was employed with Alabama Public Television in its Department of Finance. His prior career was with Booker T. Washington Insurance

Co. as an auditor. He was a U.S. Army veteran and graduate of BSC’s former Adult Studies Program. Among survivors are his wife, three sons, and two stepchildren.

William “Butch” A. Crooks ’88 of Birmingham on Oct. 3, 2017. After graduating from BSC’s former Adult Studies Program with a degree in accounting and finance, Crooks worked in association with the petroleum industry for 29 years. He is survived by his wife, two children, and four grandchildren.

Philip Marion Bailey ’89 of Huntsville, on Oct. 6, 2017. Bailey was an accountant with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He valued family and was an avid outdoorsman who especially loved hunting and fishing. He is survived by his daughter, Meagan Bailey ’17 of Hazel Green, Ala. John H. Berryhill ’89 (MPPM) of Pleasant Grove, Ala., on Oct. 20, 2017.

An Eagle Scout, Berryhill earned a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University in industrial engineering. Commissioned a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, he served as an instructor at Lowery AFB in Denver. Following his time in the service, Berryhill worked for U.S. Steel’s Fairfield Works for 32 years, serving primarily as a supervisor. He was active at Martin Memorial United Methodist Church and later Pleasant Grove UMC. Survivors include his wife, Sally Lewis Berryhill ’61; two sons; and four grandchildren.

Elizabeth Kerper Heinzman ’89 of Hoover, Ala., on Dec. 25, 2017.

Heinzman had a beautiful singing voice. She sang in choruses and in church choirs at St. Francis and St. Peter’s. Heinzman worked at Publix and volunteered at Her Choice Women’s Clinic in downtown Birmingham. She is survived by

IN MEMORIAM ‘66 Dr. Peter Douglas Bunting, who generously supported BSC’s servicelearning program and the college as a whole, passed away on Jan. 15, 2018. He was 73.

Born in Roanoke, Va., Bunting spent his early years in Jackson, Miss., before his family moved to Birmingham. He studied biology on the Hilltop and graduated in the top 10 percent of his medical school class at the University of Alabama.

In 1971, he and his wife, Derry Brice Bunting ’69, moved to Boston for his residency. Their next stop was San Antonio, Texas, where he served as a major in the U.S. Air Force and as a staff plastic surgeon at Wilford Hall Medical Center. They returned to Birmingham in 1978, where he opened his practice as a boardcertified plastic surgeon.

Peter was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and served as president of the Alabama Society of Plastic Surgeons. Before retiring in 2006, he performed more than 10,000 plastic and reconstructive surgeries, each one inspired by his motto of “behind every patient, there’s a person.” Committed to education, he took on volunteer leadership positions at The Altamont School, Highlands School, and BSC. Over the years, the Buntings have supported their alma mater in many ways, including being members of the Endowment Builders Society and funding the Derry Brice and Peter Bunting M.D. Endowed Scholarship that supports a pre-medical student from a single-family home. In 2006, during the college’s Sesquicentennial celebration, they initiated the Bunting Challenge to match dollar for dollar up to $50,000 to all alumni who made new or increased gifts to the Annual Fund. Since the founding of the college’s Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action a decade ago, hundreds of Birmingham-Southern students have experienced engaged service through their coursework, with community partners, and across the world during Exploration Term. The endowed fund continues to support and sustain the advancement of the college’s service-learning program.

Peter Bunting also gave back to the community through volunteer and leadership roles with Independent Presbyterian Church, Gateway, and Leadership Birmingham. He was a patron of the arts, supporting the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Red Mountain Theatre Co., and the Alabama Ballet.

He loved Broadway plays, Elvis Presley ballads, and tennis. He especially treasured his close friendships and was devoted to his family.

Peter is survived by his wife, who is a current member of the BSC Board of Trustees; four daughters; and 11 grandchildren. The family requests that memorial contributions be sent to the Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action at BSC, Box 549003, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, AL 35254.

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IN MEMORIAM ’71

Barbara Allyn Thomas Boucher of Wilsonville, Ala., formerly a longtime resident of Birmingham, passed away on Oct. 12, 2017. She was 66.

Hailing from a musical family background, Boucher was the daughter of late BSC Professor Emeritus of Music Hugh Thomas ’33, a pianist, conductor, and educator. Her mother, the late Barbara Dorough Thomas ’37 was a prominent Birmingham musician and teacher.

Boucher graduated from Birmingham-Southern with a bachelor’s in nursing and a Master of Arts in Public and Private Management, both cum laude. Following her career as a registered nurse in several area hospitals, she worked for ProAssurance, a property and casualty company. She retired as senior claims specialist in 2014 after 25 years with the company.

A longtime member of Unity Church of Birmingham, she was devoted to helping others, as evidenced by her service as a counselor at the Crisis Center, as a volunteer for numerous animal rescue organizations, and as a participant in animal rescue in Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. She also enjoyed horseback riding and competing in dog shows throughout the country.

Survivors include her husband; brothers Dr. Madoc Thomas ’66 of Lubbock, Texas, and Dr. Tim Thomas ’71 (Carol Teague Thomas ’68) of Hoover, Ala.; and a niece and nephews, including Dr. Adam Thomas ’95 of Chevy Chase, Md.

IN MEMORIAM FRIEND The Rev. Dr. Belon O. Friday, a United Methodist minister for 60 years, died on Sept. 27, 2017, in Birmingham. He was 89.

A graduate of Auburn University and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Friday held an honorary doctorate in humanities from BSC. He was a sergeant in the U.S. Army during WWII, and he served honorably in the Pacific Theater in the Battle of Peleliu and in Japan.

Friday was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in 1954 by the North Alabama Conference. During his ministry, he served as pastor of several Methodist congregations, including in Pinson, Albertville, Ashville, and Highlands-Birmingham. He was pastor emeritus of St. Mark UMC upon his death.

“Dad loved BSC. He was grateful for the school’s United Methodist connection,” said his son, Rev. Patrick Friday ’91 of Mountain Brook. “And he was especially fond of the Hilltop because that’s where he met the love of his life, Ann Barr Friday ’54.

Survivors also include another son and a daughter, Dr. Kenneth Friday ’77 of Indian Springs, Ala., and Lea Ann Friday Strickland ’84 of Birmingham, and seven grandchildren.

three children.

FRIENDS Emily Cade Hunt of Birmingham on Nov. 5, 2017. Hunt taught at Samford University, Southeastern Bible College, and BSC. She

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concluded her career as a private communication consultant for various companies and individuals. Later in life, she and her husband served in youth ministry in Zimbabwe, Africa. Hunt is survived by her husband, two children, and five

grandchildren.

Gail Morris of Helena, Ala., on Oct. 6, 2017. Morris was a former staff member who had retired from BSC after 18 years of service; she was secretary of the Behavioral Sciences Division. Morris was a lifetime member of Hunter Street

Baptist Church, where she taught children’s Sunday school and was a choir member. Survivors include her husband, two children, and a granddaughter.

‘SOUTHERN VOICES

A century of service

BY DR. GUY HUBBS I am always struck by the quiet and repeating pattern that seems to blanket the Academic Quad. The grass turns green in the spring and the brilliant yellow gingko leaves drop in the fall. Students shuffle between classes at the same appointed times. Occasionally someone will throw a Frisbee, or a snowfall will prompt a snowball fight. ’Twas not always so.

Things were in turmoil a century ago. Two of Alabama’s Methodist institutions were in crisis, on the verge of failing. Southern University had been founded with great fanfare in 1856 only to see its endowment eviscerated by the Civil War and its enrollment decline in the isolated cotton town of Greensboro. On a hilltop 90 miles to the northeast, the 20-year-old Birmingham College seem ideally situated overlooking Alabama’s booming New South city, but its resources were less than meager. Both schools were nearly without students after America entered World War I. Their only solution was to abandon Southern University’s campus and merge the two on the Birmingham College campus. Thus was born BirminghamSouthern College.

The new school that opened in May 1918 still struggled. But in 1921 a new president arrived. Dr. Guy Snavely was as much a visionary as president.

He attracted renowned new faculty. He established the state’s second Phi Beta Kappa chapter. He persuaded backers—mostly Methodists—to replace inadequate frame buildings with impressive brick ones. In short, Snavely turned BSC into a liberal arts college with a national reputation. The campus was soon awash with students.

They were nothing like their predecessors. At old Southern University, one year’s exciting event came when a student refused to ride her horse sidesaddle through Greensboro. Such drama could hardly compete with the excitement surrounding Birmingham-Southern football, including parades through downtown Birmingham and heated games against archrival Howard College (now Samford University) at Legion Field. During those years, the quad was used for Homecoming reunions, May Day festivities, and for training some 1,500 cadets who came from across the nation during World War II to learn to fly at a nearby airfield.

Meanwhile, BSC had become known as one of the South’s leading small liberal arts colleges, a “study school” with a “serious atmosphere,” according to a 1959 article in Harper’s Magazine. But studying was not enough. Dr. Henry King Stanford, BSC president at the time, judged that the college’s mission was to be “a kind of academic conscience for the community.” A student speaker at Stanford’s inauguration had noted that people “look to such institutions as Birmingham-Southern College for guidance.” And its graduates were becoming increasingly prominent in such professional fields as law, medicine, and the ministry.

Preparing students for service was not a new notion to BirminghamSouthern. Back in 1861, as the country entered its greatest crisis, President and Bishop William Wightman presented a challenge to Southern University’s second graduating class: “The great point to be considered is not so much what you shall get, as what you shall become—what you shall do to bless your generation.” The Southern University students responded enthusiastically, even adding to their alma mater the line, “A life of valiant service thou hast made our goal.”

This plainly resonated with President Snavely, who called for “education for service” in his inaugural address. During those years, students could sometimes be found in Birmingham settlement houses helping to improve the lives of

the immigrants working in the nearby iron and steel mills. (This work continues today with BSC’s service-learning program.) By the early 1960s, civil rights issues were creating wrenching conflicts throughout the whole of society. One courageous BSC student—Marti Turnipseed ‘65, daughter and granddaughter of Methodist ministers, Kappa Delta sorority member, and popular campus figure—became the first white person to join in a Birmingham lunch counter sit-in after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. She was ahead of her time and her college, for the dean asked her to withdraw; she defiantly returned her senior year to graduate.

Turnipseed was the most dramatic example of the real changes that Birmingham-Southern has been making in its first 100 years on the Hilltop. Amidst the growing grass and falling leaves, the Frisbee throwing and the snowball fights, students are being asked to do something extraordinary. They are being asked to do something good for their generation, as President Wightman put it, to leave the world a better place than they found it. And if they commit to this worthy goal, this quiet revolution, then those students will join generations of other BSC graduates who have done so before.

Hubbs is BSC professor emeritus and archivist.

He has published extensively on the college and mid-19th-century Alabama.

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ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED www.bsc.edu

Savor the moment—An excited BSC senior flashes a smile as the Class of 2018 marches into Munger Hall Auditorium on campus for the annual Honors Day Convocation, which was held May 10.

The convocation was followed by the 25th annual Honoring Scholarship Conference, during which students presented their research projects and creative endeavors to cap off their undergraduate careers.