'Southern Winter 2019

Letter from the President
After more than a decade in Connecticut, Brooke and I moved home to Birmingham 10 years ago.
We wanted our children to grow up in our hometown, and we were eager to become involved in ways
that could make a difference.
Brooke soon joined the boards of several nonprofits and, on a regular basis, she ran into graduates of
Birmingham-Southern College. She would argue that no other institution is as well represented as BSC
in nonprofit leadership positions in Birmingham.
I soon understood what she was talking about. As I invested in Birmingham businesses and real estate,
I encountered alumni at law firms, commercial real estate development firms, and start-up companies.
All of the alumni we met seemed to have one trait in common: They were purposefully engaged in
our community. There must be something about the BSC experience that is different because there is
something different about BSC graduates. They have an outsized impact on the world around them.
It is unlikely that everyone shares the same sense of community engagement when they arrive, but
there is something about learning, exploring, and growing on the Hilltop that inspires young people to
become involved in the surrounding community even before they graduate.
Even as campus traditions and culture have evolved for today’s world, they remain true to the mission
of the College established by the Methodist Church and built on the teachings of John Wesley:
“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your
families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and,
indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind?”
That fundamental mission is as strong as ever – more than 85 percent of our students participate in
community service projects – and it will remain the lodestar of our educational process for the next
100 years.
In this edition of ’Southern, you will read about graduates, from many professions and backgrounds,
who share a common sense of purpose: They all strive to make Birmingham better.
From what I see of our alumni and our students, the work they do and the efforts they make on
campus and off, I am optimistic for their future as well as the future of my hometown.
Daniel B. Coleman
President
BSC’s 16th President
Daniel B. Coleman was appointed Birmingham-
Southern College’s 16th president in November
2018. Coleman, who was CEO of the global financial
services firm KCG Holdings until its 2017 sale, has
been a member of the College’s Board of Trustees
and an adjunct professor of finance. Coleman earned
his B.A. in English at Yale University and an M.B.A. at
the University of Chicago. In his four years at KCG,
he raised more than $1 billion of debt, cut costs,
restructured businesses, and after four years sold the
company with an 80% return for investors. Coleman
and his wife, Brooke, a fellow Birmingham native, have
three children. They returned to Birmingham in 2009.
The BSC Black Student Union hosted two voter
registration events in September.
’SOUTHERN MAGAZINE
VOLUME 44, NUMBER 1
Daniel B. Coleman, President
Denson N. Franklin III, Chair,
Board of Trustees
’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 Engagement,
Birmingham-Southern College,
900 Arkadelphia Road, Box
549003, Birmingham, AL 35254;
telephone (800) 523-5793; or visit
www.bsc.edu/alumni.
©2019
Birmingham-Southern College
Editorial Offices
10 Stockham Building
900 Arkadelphia Road
Box 549004
Birmingham, AL 35254
Phone: (205) 226-4922
E-mail: communications@bsc.edu
Virginia Gilbert Loftin
Vice President for Advancement
and Communications
Executive Editor
Amy Bickers
Director of Communications
Art Directors
Traci Edwards
Assistant Director of
Visual Content
Patrick Bradford
Assistant Director of
Visual Content
Contributing Writers
Elizabeth Sturgeon
Communications Coordinator
Samantha Wallace
Advancement Communications
Coordinator
Photography
Cameron Carnes
Photographer and Videographer
Dustin Massey ’12
Office of Alumni Engagement
Jennifer Waters ’86
Director
Mackenzie Quick
Assistant Director
www.bsc.edu
2 / ’southern