Southern Fall/Winter 2022

ONFIDENCETENACITYLEADERSHIPCREATIVITYCARINGRESILIENCECONNECTI 

NPURPOSECONFIDENCETENACITYLEADERSHIPCREATIVITYCARINGRESILIENC 

BSC FORWARD 

YEAR OF THE GINKGO 

ONNECTIONPURPOSECONFIDENCETENACITYLEADERSHIPCREATIVITYCARI 

A Message from the President 

A Special Section 

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TIVITYCARINGRESILIENCECONNECTIONPURPOSECONFIDENCETENACITYLEA 

’SOUTHERN 

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Birmingham-Southern College 

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TREEHUGGERS 

During summer orientation, new students tour campus landmarks as part of the 1856 Tour. 

The tour highlights 10 stops, including the ginkgo trees between Munger Hall and the Stockham 

Building, at which students learn about longstanding BSC traditions. Rumor has it that a 

mischievous orientation leader told students that if they hugged the ginkgo tree, they’d get 

straight As, launching a new tradition. 

Scan the QR code to access the 1856 Tour guidebook and “visit” symbols you might remember from your own days on the Hilltop.

sc snapshots

With your help, 

I believe we 

can persuade 

our elected 

representatives 

that support 

for BSC at this 

critical juncture 

simply makes 

sense.

Letter from the PRESIDENT 

I had planned to write to you today about the ginkgo trees on 

campus and to describe the Japanese shrine that, for the past 1,300 

years, has been torn down and rebuilt every 20 years to the precise 

same specifications. 

But first, we have some rebuilding of our own to do, and we need 

your help to do it. 

As you have no doubt read in our email messages, or perhaps seen 

in the news, Birmingham-Southern College is facing perhaps the 

most difficult set of financial challenges ever in our long and storied 

history. I want to share with you our plan to meet these challenges 

and place the College once again on a sound financial footing. 

Over the past two years, we have quietly worked to secure $45.5 

million in documented pledges toward the $200 million endowment 

we need to ensure BSC’s financial resilience. That puts us on track to 

meet our goal by May 2026. 

An endowment of that size should generate $10 million each 

year — enough to fund 20 percent of BSC’s annual operating budget. 

Colleges comparable to ours have found this level of revenue from 

endowment income makes it possible for them to operate without 

dipping into the corpus of the fund. 

To give us time to meet the endowment goal and to give us 

breathing room in which to operate, the College is seeking a one-time 

contribution of $30 million from the State of Alabama, as well as 

$5 million from the City of Birmingham and $2.5 million from the 

Jefferson County Commission. 

We believe the economic impact BSC generates year after year and 

the immeasurable contributions our alumni and students make to 

Birmingham and the entire State of Alabama more than justify such 

an investment from the public sector. 

State funding for BSC is clearly permissible under state law and 

there is considerable precedent in favor of a state contribution for the 

public good. In fact, state government provides funding to private 

institutions in Alabama every year. 

How did we get here? 

Our financial challenges are easily traceable to an ambitious 

building program during a previous administration. In the mid- 

2000s, BSC drew heavily on its endowment and took on considerable 

debt to fund new facilities. Then the financial crisis of 2008-2009 

made things much worse. 

Subsequent BSC presidents did a remarkable job of funding 

year-to-year operations despite significant challenges. Without a 

healthy endowment, however, the economic model under which BSC 

operates is simply not sustainable for the long term. 

Because we have already raised roughly 20 percent ($45.5 million) 

of our endowment goal without a public appeal to our alumni and 

supporters, we are confident we can reach 100 percent of our goal by 

May 2026. 

Our request for $30 million from the State has been well received 

by the Jefferson County delegation and legislators from around 

the state. Now we need to persuade Gov. Kay Ivey and members of 

the Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate to 

support our cause. 

How you can help 

As a reader of ’Southern magazine, you know that Birmingham- 

Southern College is a special place that plays a critical role in the 

economic, civic, and cultural health of our state. Yet not everyone in a 

position to support our plan is as familiar with it as you are. 

We are meeting with key decision-makers in Montgomery to 

share with them the many reasons funding for BSC will return rich 

dividends. We need your help to make our elected officials aware of 

just how important BSC has been to you and to Alabama. 

To get started, scan the QR Code on the back cover of this issue 

or point your web browser to: bsc.edu/bscforward.html. The BSC 

Forward web page will tell you everything you need to know to 

identify and contact your representatives in Montgomery, as well 

as Gov. Ivey. Please do so today. If you live out of state, write to the 

Governor anyway, and encourage your Alabama friends and family 

to do the same. If you need more information, reach out to us at 

advancement@bsc.edu or (205) 226-4909. 

With your help, I believe we can persuade these decision-makers 

that support for BSC at this critical juncture simply makes sense 

for Alabama. 

Please join in this effort. We need every voice to be heard. Thank 

you for all that you do and have done for Birmingham-Southern. 

Forward, Ever! 

Daniel B. Coleman 

President 

"The annual life cycle of the ginkgo tree is one of the many subtle but unique experiences shared by the 

Birmingham-Southern community. It is an experience that bring alumni back like a 'madeleine de Proust' to those 

feelings of being a student once again. It connects us all to the time of year, academic and otherwise; it connects us 

to each other in the BSC community." 

Scan the QR code to read President Coleman's essay on the Year of the Ginkgo.

CONNECTION 

“I have a yearbook from 1952 that has my grandfather as chairman of the Social Sciences department, 

my grandmother as dean of women, my mother in the choir, and my father. He met my mother, they 

married, and my mother had two children, my older sister and me. At age 23, she unexpectedly died. 

Shortly thereafter, a woman named Mary Griffin Doster gave two trees to the college that were the 

ginkgo trees. They look ancient but they’re actually the same age as me. They were planted the year I 

was born which was the year my mother died. 

And they’ve become a symbol of legacy for the college, and I think a symbol of 

giving to a school that, for so many of us, means so much.” 

– Greer Real Tirrill ’79 

2022-2023 ALUMNI BOARD 

Thomas Waters ’86, President 

Rodney Barganier ’94 

Danzey Burnham ’78 

Devan Byrd ’13, 

Paul Fancher ’97 

Jeris Gaston ’05 

Betty Gunn ’60 

4 / ’southern 

George Lane ’95 

Byron Mathews ’70 

Jeb Pittard ’98 

Leanna Pittard ’98 

Greer Real Tirrill ’79 

Reba Simmons MPPM 2000 

2021-2022 YOUNG ALUMNI COUNCIL 

Denzel Okinedo ’16, President 

Brittany Sturdivant ’13, President-elect 

Kathleen Hillen ’10 

Stephen Wilson ’10 

LaDarius Woods ’11 

Jennifer Commander ’12 

Lauren Miles Kelley ’12 

M’Kayl Lewis ’14 

Rachel Buchan ’15 

Clayton Humphries ’15 

Katie Waters-McCormack ’16 

Derrick Austin ’17 

Jalon Hollie ’17 

Bethany Kuerten ’17 

Shannon Walsh ’17 

Sam Campbell ’18 

Shivkumar Desai ’18 

Kelsey Peake Stapler ’18 

Stewart Fowler ’19 

Amelia Haston ’19 

Andrew Triplett ’19 

Aaron Beane ’20 

Sutton Smith ’21 

Christopher McClintock ’21 

Thornton Muncher ’22 

Tamrah Tucker ’22 

’SOUTHERN MAGAZINE 

VOLUME 47, NUMBER 1 

Daniel B. Coleman, President 

The Rev. Keith Thompson ’83, 

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. ©2023 

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 Abeyta 

Assistant Vice President 

of Communications 

Art Directors 

Patrick Bradford 

Assistant Director of 

Visual Content 

Traci Edwards 

Assistant Director of 

Visual Content 

Contributing Writers 

Alexis Barton 

Cassia Kesler 

Communications Coordinator 

Nicholas Mathey 

Sports Information Director 

Jesse Chambers Roberson 

Elizabeth Sturgeon 

Jordan Taylor 

Marketing and Digital Media 

Coordinator-Athletics 

Photography 

Cameron Carnes 

Photographer and Videographer 

Seth Orme 

Mary Margaret Smith 

Office of Alumni Engagement 

Dana McArthur Porter ’03, MPPM ’11 

Director 

Tucker Carden ’22 

Alumni Coordinator 

www.bsc.edu

CONTENTS 

DEPARTMENTS 

2 

Letter from the President 

6 

Campus Life 

12 

Office Hours 

14 

Off Hours 

16 

A Day in the Life 

18 

The Next Chapter 

60 

Giving to BSC 

63 

Hilltop Tribute 

64 

Lifelong Learner 

FEATURES 

35 

21 

Special Section: 

Year of the Ginkgo 

Throughout 2022-2023 BSC is 

honoring what the ginkgo, a campus 

icon, symbolizes on the Hilltop. 

In this special section, we put the 

spotlight on alumni and students 

who exemplify purpose, connection, 

resilience, caring, creativity, 

leadership, tenacity, and confidence. 

37 

Alumni Stories: 

From BSC to NYC 

Over the years, many alumni have 

made the 962-mile move from the 

Magic City to the Big Apple. Find out 

what led them to New York City and 

what they’re doing now. 

53 

Distinguished Alumni 

Awards 

Meet the 2022 recipients of the 

Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding 

Young Alumni, and Rising Star awards. 

20 

Celebrating Alumni 

Author 

The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, 

Jr. ‘84 released his latest book “A 

Witness to Dignity: The Life and 

Faith of George H.W. and Barbara 

Bush,” and celebrated the launch 

with a signing and lecture in 

Birmingham. 

the Ginkgo Issue 

‘SOUTHERN MAGAZINE // VOLUME 47, NUMBER 1 

43 

16 

14 

FALL/WINTER 2022 / 5

campus life 

U.S. News Moves BSC 

Up 17 Spots In National 

Collegiate Ranking 

(l to r) Queenie Hawkins and 

Allison Brooks 

Birmingham-Southern College is once again included on the list of top 

National Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News & World Report in “Best Colleges” 

for 2023, moving up 17 spots from its 2022 ranking. The rankings were 

released Sept. 12. 

“We are pleased that BSC has once again moved up in the rankings,” 

says BSC President Daniel B. Coleman. “This is a testament to the hard 

work of our faculty and staff who provide a personalized education and a 

meaningful residential experience for students and prepare them for the 

future beyond our campus.” 

The guide lists BSC at #111 — tied with six other national liberal arts 

colleges: Drew, Goucher, Lycoming, Ohio Wesleyan, Saint Anselm, St. 

Norbert, and Susquehanna University. There are about 500 liberal arts 

colleges in the United States, fewer than half of which are included in U.S. 

News & World Report’s “national liberal arts college” rankings. BSC was 

ranked #128 in the 2022 rankings. 

The U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings — considered the 

“gold standard” of higher education rankings — examined 1,500 bachelor’s 

degree-granting institutions in the United States on 17 measures of 

academic quality. Its methodology, which usually changes annually, includes 

a variety of metrics, including student retention and graduation rates, 

faculty resources, and social mobility. 

BSC is one of 45 colleges included on the 2023 U.S. News & World Report 

A+ Schools for B Students (National Liberal Arts Colleges) list. The ranking is 

determined in part by each school’s performance in the 2022-2023 edition of 

the Best Colleges rankings and the average first-year retention rate. 

“One of our primary goals every year is to create a sense of community 

and belonging for all students from the moment they arrive on campus,” 

says Dr. David M. Eberhardt, Vice President for Student Development. “Our 

community is full of mentors, whether that’s faculty, staff, or peers, who share 

and guide students through the transition and challenges of college life. We 

also offer many opportunities for students to identify their interests and goals 

and confirm them through experiences like internships. We provide a rich 

environment that fosters students’ growth and discovery of their potential.” 

BSC is also featured in the “Fiske Guide to Colleges 2023.” Fiske’s annual 

report, published annually for nearly 40 years, provides profiles of more 

than 300 of the “best and most interesting” colleges in the country. The 

guide includes quotes from real students at schools in the United States, 

Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland, and highlights 20 public and private 

“Best Buy” schools. 

The guide describes BSC as a college “striving to prepare students for 

all aspects of the modern world, with a curriculum that prioritizes critical 

thinking, teamwork, and global awareness.” It also highlights the personalized 

educational experience: “Attentive faculty add to a sense of commitment to 

both personal and community growth.” 

MOBILE MARKET 

"BSC has been awarded a grant that has brought to life a 

partnership about a year in the making: groceries for students 

— no cost, with no limit, for any BSC student. No catch. 

The Live HealthSmart Alabama Mobile Market is a 

resource that brings fresh produce, dairy, proteins, and 

pantry staples directly to the community. Through this 

generous grant, I have been able to buy out the market 

for Birmingham-Southern students for regular stops 

throughout 2022-2023. 

Food access needs on a residential college campus 

can look different for each student. This partnership was 

6 / ’southern

Courtney French ‘95, Randall Kennedy, the Hon. Elisabeth French, 

and BSC President Daniel Coleman 

Inaugural Honors Convocation 

designed with a range of needs in mind. There is no proving 

one’s need or self-identifying as food insecure. Through this 

model, we are addressing hunger on our campus without 

assigning unwanted stigma to our resource. 

Ethical, sustainable, and empathetic food access is a 

lifelong passion of mine. It has never been in my job title, 

but I keep finding ways to incorporate it in my work. I’m 

grateful for another opportunity to bring exceptional 

foods in abundance to anyone who wants or needs it.” 

– Hattie O’Hara ’17, assistant director, Service Learning and 

Community Partnerships, The Krulak Institute 

In October 2022, the Harrison Honors Program held its inaugural fall 

convocation featuring speaker Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor 

of Law at Harvard Law School. Kennedy’s talk on the legacy of the civil rights 

movement was titled “Shall We Overcome?” 

A prominent legal scholar and public intellectual, Kennedy has published 

seven books and numerous essays and reviews. Kennedy served as a law clerk for 

Judge J. Skelly Wright of the U.S. Court of Appeals and for Justice Thurgood 

Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. A member of the American Law Institute, 

the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical 

Association, Kennedy is also a Trustee emeritus of Princeton University. 

While in Birmingham, Kennedy conducted research on Walker v. the City 

of Birmingham for his upcoming book, “From Protest to War, Triumphs and 

Defeats in Struggles for Racial Justice, 1950 to 1970” and spoke with WBHM 

about the lasting implications of the case involving Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

His time on campus was spent meeting with Honors students and visiting 

with BSC alumni working in law. The Honors Program is generously supported 

by Dr. Donald C. Harrison ’54. 

WHERE ALL ARE WELCOME: BSC RELIGIOUS LIFE 

Founded through a merger of two Methodist institutions, Birmingham- 

Southern College’s religious roots run deep. Still affiliated with the United 

Methodist Church, BSC remains steeped in that denomination’s tradition 

of demonstrating faith through service, and provides a place where 

students who feel called to ministry can discern that call and determine 

the path forward. 

BSC also remains committed to being a place where students of 

various religions — and those of no religion at all — wrestle with questions 

of purpose in a climate that is open, welcoming, and diverse. 

The Rev. Julie Blackwelder Holly ’01, an ordained United Methodist 

minister, serves as Chaplain, overseeing the Office of Religious Life and 

its calendar of programs and services. “We work with small groups for 

six different Christian denominations, the Muslim Student Association, 

and the Hillel Jewish Student Association to create programming that 

encourages students from all walks of life to learn from each other and 

make meaningful connections through conversation and community 

service,” Holly says. 

The staff holds a weekly worship gathering in Yeilding Chapel, reaches 

out to athletics teams, organizes and supports service activities, brings in 

interdenominational and interfaith speakers, and welcomes visits by campus 

ministry teams from a range of faith traditions. In September, the office held 

its annual dinner for admission representatives from graduate seminaries 

and divinity schools. 

The office also holds social gatherings that are open to all students, and 

which almost always include food — including a now-legendary treat known 

as Smooshie Pie, a combination of chocolate chip cookie dough and fun-size 

Milky Way bars. Wednesdays in the office at Norton Campus Center often 

feature visits from the staff’s dogs. 

“We try to provide opportunities for students to recognize the 

commonalities that they share with people of different faiths and 

denominations,” Holly explains. “We see so much division in the world, and 

people focusing on the divisions and the differences among us, that we think 

it’s very important for us to see how we can cooperate and collaborate. We 

want to help students find their purpose in doing good in the world.” 


Campus Life 

2022-2023 SGA OFFICERS 

Elections for 2022-2023 Student Government Association positions were held in 

September. The executive board, an all-female team for the third consecutive year, includes: 

President Lauren Barnett, a senior double majoring in history and economics with a 

Distinction in Poverty Studies. She is involved in Orientation Team, the Bonner Leader 

program, the Harrison Honors program, ’Southern Ambassadors, Religious Life, Greek Life, 

ARC tutoring, and Cross Cultural Committee. She was 2021-2022 SGA treasurer. 

Vice President Madison Blair, a senior English major. She is involved in Greek Life, the 

Orientation Team, and ’Southern Ambassadors, and is a writing center tutor. She was the 

2020-2021 and 2021-2022 SGA secretary. 

Treasurer Kenye’ Underwood, a senior psychology major with a Distinction in 

Leadership Studies. She is involved in First-Generation College Students, the Black Student 

Union, and Panther Peer Mentor program. 

Secretary Paige Washington, a senior biology major. She is involved in Greek Life and is 

on the BSC Women’s Track and Field team. 

REPRESENTATIVES 

Senior Representatives 

Annamarie Armstrong 

Martha Louise Waters 

Junior Representatives 

Honey Green 

Anna Withers Wellingham 

Sophomore Representatives 

Daniel Johnson 

Lauren Overton 

Freshman Representatives 

Nadia Fokkens 

Houston Hartley 

Pyunn Ntwari 

Bill and Lyndra Daniel 

Hall Representative 

Elisabeth Seage 

Bruno Residence Hall 

Representative 

Mollybeth Wilkinson 

Lakeview Residence Hall 


Malcolm Hogan 

Pierce Residence Hall 


Mary Blake Zeron 

Hilltop Apartment 

Representatives 

Jamie Archer 

Wheeler Coleman 

Commuter Representatives 

Xuan Huynh 

Lilia Lopez 

Fraternity Row Representative 

Thomas Curlee 

Sorority Row Representative 

Sadie Bekurs 

BSC RECEIVES 

$1.25 MILLION 

TO DEVELOP 

CURRICULUM IN 

ENVIRONMENTAL 

JUSTICE AND 

CLIMATE CHANGE 

In spring 2022, Birmingham-Southern 

College was awarded a $1.25 million 

from the National Academies of Sciences, 

Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Coast Research 

Program to develop a curriculum focused on 

environmental justice and climate change for 

schools in Mobile, Alabama. 

The grant effort, led by Roald Hazelhoff, 

executive director of the Southern 

Environmental Center at BSC, includes BSC 

faculty members Dr. Vincent T. Gawronski, 

professor of political science; Dr. Kate 

Hayden, assistant professor of chemistry 

at University of Montevallo; Dr Desireé 

Melonas, assistant professor of political 

science and director of the BSC Black Studies 

Program; and Dr. Kelly Russell, associate 

professor of education. BSC education, 

chemistry, and political science students are 

also part of the multi-year initiative. 

The team is partnering with community 

agencies and educators in Africatown, a 

historic community north of downtown 

Mobile, to develop a locally relevant middle 


2022 HESS FELLOWS 

For summer 2022, eight Hess Fellow Interns completed eight-week 

internships at nonprofits across the country. As with all programs 

in the Krulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning, and 

Civic Engagement, the Hess Fellow Internship Program integrates 

classroom knowledge with real-world experiences, in this case 

prompting students to reflect on the role nonprofits play in 

improving people’s lives and addressing social challenges. Through 

this experience, students gain insight into their own values and their 

career and professional aspirations. 

Each Hess Fellow serves with an advocacy or anti-poverty organization 

located in Alabama and elsewhere. The College maintains partnerships

Dr. Desireé Melonas, Roald Hazelhoff, Dr. Kelly Russell, Dr. Vincent T. Gawronski, and Dr. Kate Hayden 

school curriculum focused on environmental 

justice that aligns directly with the Alabama 

State science and social studies standards. The 

curriculum incorporates the disciplines known 

as STEM — science, technology, engineering, 

and mathematics — along with service 

learning to make connections between local 

environment, the community, and individual 

health. The project initially targets middle 

school students at Mobile County Training 

School in Africatown and will expand to 

include nearby Vigor High School. 

Students from Africatown – founded by 

32 formerly enslaved West Africans who had 

been brought illegally to the Mobile Bay area 

in 1860 as captives on the Clotilda, the last 

known U.S. slave ship – and surrounding 

communities will explore the impact of years 

of environmental injustice and pollution 

in their neighborhoods. Specifically, they 

will learn how the local environment 

affects human and community health and 

how public policies, climate change, and 

industrial pollution impact schools and 

neighborhoods. 

Students will partner with community 

leaders and organizations such as 

CHESS (Clean, Healthy, Educated, Safe 

& Sustainable) and the Alabama Coastal 

Foundation to develop and participate 

in service projects aimed at revitalizing 

and restoring neighborhoods, parks, and 

ecosystems. Project leaders are creating 

learning opportunities that allow students 

to achieve the state science and social 

studies standards while also becoming 

change agents in their home communities. 

Findings and outcomes will be shared at an 

environmental justice and climate change 

conference. 

The National Academies of Sciences, 

Engineering, and Medicine endeavors to 

provide independent, objective advice to 

inform policy with evidence, spark progress 

and innovation, and confront challenging 

issues for the benefit of society. The goal of 

the Gulf Research Program is to use science, 

engineering, and medical knowledge to 

empower its citizens and to enhance areas, 

including education and engagement, health 

and resilience, offshore energy safety, and 

environmental protection and stewardship. 

Read the Stemming the 

Tide 2022 Annual Report. 

with Alabama and Washington, D.C., organizations, and, as a member 

of the Shepard Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP), 

places students with anti-poverty organizations throughout the country. 

Hess Fellows work with senior members of the organization to 

conduct research, facilitate coalitions, organize lobbying and other 

efforts, and provide direct services to clients and the community. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2022 HESS FELLOW INTERNS: 

Manasa Chintala, a sophomore from Hoover, Ala. 

YWCA in Birmingham. 

Ashtyn Daniel, a junior religion major from Prattville, Ala. 

General Board of Church and Society in Washington, D.C. 

David El Masri, a junior psychology major from Birmingham. 

Center for New North Carolinians (SHECP) in Greensboro, N.C. 

Lydia Estes, a junior Spanish for the workplace major from Birmingham 

Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama in Birmingham. 

Pearce Kross, a junior from Huntsville, Ala. 

Collat Jewish Family Services in Birmingham. 

Zionne McCrear, a senior biology major from Mount Olive, Ala. 

Lutheran Hospital/Cleveland Clinic (SHECP) in Cleveland, Ohio 

Jake Ogle, a junior urban environmental studies major from Fairhope, Ala. 

AL Coastal Foundation in Mobile, Ala. 

Holden Snyder, a junior from Bessemer, Ala. 

Vermont Garden Network (SHECP) in Burlington, Vt.

JOSH TURNER, A JUNIOR, WORKED FOR SEA ARQUITECTOS. 

“One of the most influential aspects of my internship was the 

number of projects I was given throughout the two months. I was 

one of four employees, so I was treated as a full-time employee. I was 

given my own projects and presented them to my boss for critique 

before he presented them to clients. I thoroughly enjoyed being 

treated as a real employee, not as an intern. I saw tons of amazing 

architecture throughout A Coruña and when traveling around Europe. 

This experience has made me even more excited about becoming an 

architect after college.” 

CASSANDRA PAYNE, A SENIOR, WORKED AT DIAZ Y DIAZ 

ARQUITECTOS. 

“The most memorable experience that I had was being able to travel 

to Paris to look at the architecture. Working at the firm gave me insight 

that this is the field that I want to be in. The piece of architecture that 

most left an impression on me was Torre De Hercules in A Coruña, 

Spain, because it is the only standing Roman lighthouse that is still 

used today.” 

SUMMER 

ARCHITECTURAL 

STUDIES 

IN SPAIN 

During summer 2022, three Birmingham-Southern students 

traveled to Spain for architectural studies internships. They shared 

their experiences working and living abroad. 

JULIA GRACIA SCARINCI, A SENIOR, WORKED AT A2 

ARCHITECTS IN SPAIN AND TOOK SPANISH CLASSES 

THROUGH TRUE SPANISH EXPERIENCE. 

“I was born and raised in Brazil, and I’ve always been interested 

in architecture, but also interested in politics, and in housing 

sustainability and urban architectural studies. The world is changing, 

and we need to find new ways of viewing housing sustainability. I am 

now looking to pursue a master’s degree in order to be a professor. I’m 

very interested in sustainable architecture, affordable homes, and lowincome 

housing. As an international student, I’ve learned, you have 

to find a home wherever you go. BSC felt like home, but A Coruña 

also did. Enjoying Spanish culture on the weekends, and seeing such 

amazing, beautiful architecture throughout my travels in Europe, made 

a lasting impact on me.” 

ZTA CELEBRATES 

100 YEARS ON 

THE HILLTOP 

Bid Day each fall is one of the loudest days on 

campus — the courtyard outside the sorority 

townhomes is filled with cheering, chants, and 

singing. This year, the Alpha Nu chapter of 

Zeta Tau Alpha had extra reason to cheer – the 

sorority celebrated its 100th anniversary on 

campus. The chapter was founded at BSC on 

Oct. 7, 1922. During Homecoming weekend, ZTA 

held a celebratory banquet and an open house to 

recognize the milestone anniversary. 

10 6 / ’southern

PANTHER 

PARTNERSHIPS 

In its 10th year, the Panther Partnerships Mentoring Program continues 

to create connections between current students and professionals in the 

surrounding community. (Read more about the program’s origins and its longlasting 

impact on page 20.) In November, BSC announced the 2022-2023 class 

of 31 students and 31 mentors, including 12 BSC alumni. During the intensive, 

structured mentoring program, volunteer mentors help students achieve 

individualized goals in pursuit of their educational and career ambitions. 

THE 2022-2023 PANTHER PARTNERS ARE: 

• Khalil Almansoob, a senior business 

administration major, mentored by 

Praveena Sundarraj, owner at Dryft Coffee 

• Briahna Ballay, a sophomore pre-health 

major, mentored by Dr. Sharon 

Spencer ’79, professor of radiation 

oncology at University of Alabama 

Birmingham (UAB) 

• Sadie Bekurs, a junior biology major, 

mentored by Dr. Jennifer Kerlin, associate 

veterinarian at Riverview Animal Clinic 

• Madison Blair, a senior English major, 

mentored by Elizabeth Mason ’17, 

attorney at Scozzaro Law, LLC 

• Abby Rose Branham, a senior health 

science major, mentored by Nicole Malegni 

’20, genomics lab specialist at Discovery Life 

Sciences 

• Sam Cortez, a senior psychology major, 

mentored by Bert Pitts ’81, clinical 

psychologist and practice owner at Pitts & 

Associates, Inc. 

• Matthew Dale, a junior biology major, 

mentored by Dr. Adolphus Jackson, 

dentist at West Princeton Dental Clinic 

• AnnaRuth Dorris, a junior health science 

major, mentored by Teirrah Stroman, 

food Scientist and nutrition health coach at 

Health 2 The Tee 

• Aliya Epps, a senior psychology major, 

mentored by Chelsea Brown, certified 

child life specialist at Children’s of Alabama 

• Garrett Frye, a junior business 

administration major, mentored by Jordan 

Cole, financial planner at Nowlin & 

Associates 

• Honey Green, a junior psychology 

major, mentored by Nanci Scarpulla ’99, 

licensed professional counselor at Potentia 

Counseling, LLC 

• Anna Howton, a sophomore chemistry 

major, mentored by Dr. Rupa Kitchens, 

urologist at Urology Centers of Alabama 

• Alex Huggins, a junior psychology major, 

mentored by Tiffany Owens ’07, HR business 

partner at Jefferson County Commission 

• Xuan Huynh, a sophomore business 

administration major, mentored by Mitesh 

Shah ’99, vice president and general 

manager Alabama Division at Vulcan 

Materials Company 

• Michaela Jackson, a senior applied 

computer science major, mentored by Drew 

Scogin, Sr. ’08, engineering manager at 

Motorola Solutions 

• Izzy Lambert, a senior business 


Kate Darden, strategic sales executive at 

Stericycle Communication Solutions 

• Zionne McCrear, a senior biology major, 

mentored by Dr. Lauren Nassetta ’01, 

pediatric hospitalist, associate director of 

Pediatrics Residency Program, and Chief 

Wellness Officer at UAB Department of 

Pediatrics 

• Jalen McDade, a sophomore biology 

major, mentored by Dr. Jamie Aye, 

assistant professor of pediatrics at University 

of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) 

• Byron Millsap III, a sophomore health 

science major, mentored by Gerick 

Marshall, RN nurse manager at UAB 

Hospital (Trauma Recovery Unit) 

• Elia Ortega Arista, a senior business 

administration major, mentored by Dr. 

Sharon Day, optometrist at Day Eye Care 

• Helen Poplin, a junior English major, 

mentored by Albert Key ’92, author who 

writes under the name Watt Key 

• Sydney Scarpulla, a junior psychology 

major, mentored by Dr. Sarah Ryan, 

psychologist at UAB Civitan Sparks Clinics 

• Julia Smiertelny, a senior philosophy, 

history, and law major, mentored by 

Luke Hunt, assistant professor at 

University of Alabama 

• Leah Smith, a junior English major, 

mentored by Carla Jean Whitley, 

communications manager at Brasfield & 

Gorrie 

• Victoria Terry, a senior English major, 

mentored by Tina Mozelle Braziel, poet 

and director of the Ada Long Creative 

Writing Workshop at UAB 

• Kenneth Toledo, a junior business 


McKenzie Shappley ’04, vice president - 

internal audit at Protective Life Corporation 

• Nicole Villavicencio-Garduño, a 

sophomore applied computer science 

major, mentored by Erin Snell ‘17, 

operations specialist at Shipt 

• Martha Louise Waters, a senior 

business administration major, mentored 

by Jennifer Gowers, president at GoPro 

Event Solutions 

• Anna Withers Wellingham, a junior 

political science major, mentored by 

Dagney Johnson, attorney, The Dagney 

Johnson Law Group, LLC 

• Rominey Willner, a senior applied 

computer science major, mentored by Lora 

Vaughn ’04, senior director of security 

operations at Fastly, Inc. 

Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, 

BSC’s 15th president, founded 

— and generously sponsored — 

Panther Partnerships in 2012. 

“It’s a way to give our students handson, 

one-on-one advice tailored to their 

pre-professional needs,” she said on the 

program’s launch. “And it gets them ready 

to land on their feet when they graduate.” 


office hours 

Pamela Venz 

Layered space — the combination of light, shadow, and surrounding subjects — has 

captivated Professor of Art Pamela Venz for decades. 

In her studio, she looks at a photograph taken in Húsavík, Iceland, from her family’s 2012 

trip, where they stayed with Birmingham-Southern soccer families. Windows reflect a pale 

8:30 p.m. brightness over the town, and reflections and angles tell a story inside the room. 

“The unmade bed, the lamp, the little travel clock — those are like little narrative elements,” 

Venz says. “The idea of framing and altering a space and using reflections or shadows so you 

can really put yourself in the scene I find fascinating, with these narrative elements.” 

During a momentous time in Venz’s career — named the Outstanding Educator during 

Commencement in May 2022 and approaching retirement after the spring 2023 term — 

her own space on the Hilltop reflects her talent and her dedication to the College for more 

than 30 years. 

After joining the Department of Art in 1986 and soon undertaking the few 

photography courses offered, Venz fought for and founded the College’s photography 

concentration in 1998. 

“No legitimate art program that offers a BFA can do so without a concentration 

in the most important visual development of the 19th century, as we were knocking 

on the door of the 21st, i.e., photography,” Venz says. “Unlike drawing and painting, 

photography infiltrates every aspect of our existence. You probably see tens of thousands of 

photographic images a day.” 

On her walls, above cabinets, and in corners and nooks of the space, photographs 

span decades and often detail the ways Venz uses her camera “to investigate my place 

within space.” 

Alongside her longtime interest in exploring light, dark, and layered space through 

photographs is a more recent series on alternative processes using x-rays, MRIs, and 

mammograms as image sources. One piece mounts dog tags with medical scans on an 

award plaque, comparing ideas of trauma and identifying brokenness. 

Across from the art annex is Venz’s office in the Kennedy Art Center, which continues to 

display her story through more photographs and other reflections of her life and time at 

BSC. Family photos picture her husband, James Alexander, professor emeritus of ceramics 

at UAB, and her two sons, Colin Alexander ’13, trained opera singer and urban planner 

for the city of Birmingham, and Sean Alexander ’16, New-York based actor and recent 

American Academy for Dramatic Arts graduate. 

In corners of her office, through mementos, books, and photos, you will find Marilyn 

Monroe, with whom Venz has always been fascinated, leading to her longtime E-Term 

class on Monroe’s life. Above Venz’s computer are posters of the men’s soccer team and the 

many players she has gotten to know over her years as the program’s academic liaison and 

“Team Mom” since the program’s start. 

Venz has transformed the Department of Art and influenced countless students, faculty, 

and staff throughout her career, and she looks to her last year at the College with the 

perspective she holds as an artist. 

“Art is a constant evolution, and photography as a discipline has always been in flux — 

change is part of the process.” 

Unlike drawing and painting, 

photography infiltrates every 

aspect of our existence.


off hours 

Alan Litsey 

Not long after his 60th birthday, Professor of Theatre Dr. 

Alan Litsey began his practice in martial arts. In a decision 

that felt antithetical to his academic training, Litsey brought 

up the idea to his wife, Diane Litsey MPPM ’11, without any 

research — not even one Chuck Norris movie, he says — and 

very little direction. 

“I said to Diane, kind of sheepishly, that I think I want 

to study karate,” Litsey says, “and she knew just the person.” 

Immediately, they called Master Joe Schibanetz at North 

Star Martial Arts in Homewood, and Litsey attended 

his first class the next day. After more than four years of 

practice, he now holds a black belt in Tang Soo Do, and he 

sees his practice extending far beyond his classes at North 

Star and his garage turned dojo at home. 

“The arts have taught me to honor my instincts, and 

I feel strongly that my instincts have opened a new, 

exciting door for me,” Litsey says. “Really, I am just at the 

beginning of this learning process.” 

Throughout the summer, Litsey dedicated time to 

prepare for his black belt test in August 2022, which 

served as a kind of vacation for him to study and meditate 

outside of the academic calendar and theatre season. 

Breaking boards was one of the most challenging and 

nerve-wracking aspects of the test, which he practiced with 

guidance from Schibanetz. 

“We know that learning is not graceful, and we have to 

practice in order to grow,” he says. 

Martial arts pairs well with Litsey’s background and 

training in theatre, and it has allowed him to be a student 

again after decades as a professor in the Department of 

Theatre, where he has directed countless productions and 

guided theatre majors and non-majors alike. 

“Creative activity challenges us to be totally present,” he 

says. “Martial arts is a rich opportunity to practice that skill.” 

The discipline of Tang Soo Do has taught Litsey so much 

beyond the forms. He has learned that he can still take 

a punch, that physical activity can teach you a lot about 

yourself, and that you might meet wonderful friends and 

mentors in the place you would least expect. 

Litsey, even after earning his black belt, sees himself as a 

beginner. He has become interested in Eskrima, a Filipino 

form of martial arts that students study at North Star once 

a month, and is eager to continue growing his knowledge 

of Korean culture, language, and history. 

“Whatever it is, everybody’s got their unique path as 

learners,” Litsey says. “I think expanding our capacity as 

learners, whatever it is that’s calling our name, enriches 

us in all kinds of ways and makes us better team members 

and leaders, expands our capacity as problem solvers, and 

expands our curiosity.” 

14 / ’southern

We know that learning 

is not graceful, and 

we have to practice in 

order to grow. 


a day in the life 

Dr. Matthew Evan Taylor ’03 

Matthew Evan Taylor was the music man on campus. No matter the 

scene — the music theory classroom, the pep band on the basketball 

court, or the first concert fundraiser he founded at Birmingham-Southern 

— music found its way throughout Taylor’s college experience, one step 

in his path to being a nationally-recognized composer and musician. 

Taylor declared his saxophone performance major as guided 

unwaveringly by the late Dr. Ron Hooten, former director of bands, and 

Hugh Thomas Professor of Music Dr. Lester Seigel ’79. He began to grow 

his knowledge and talents in performance, composition, and theory. 

Now serving as assistant professor of music at Middlebury College in 

Middlebury, Vt., Taylor’s work in education allows him to explore music 

in an innovative way with undergraduate students and supports his work 

as a composer. He has completed a wide range of solo and collaborative 

projects, one recent project being “Life Returns,” a piece of music 

commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018. 

Due to pandemic-related restrictions, the “Life Returns” premiere 

— originally scheduled for spring 2020 — was delayed and instead 

previewed digitally through “Postcards to the Met,” a cycle of etudes 

released monthly, capturing the all-remote conversation between Taylor’s 

composing process and his ensemble’s response. 

“It’s almost like a documentary, letting people see into my creative 

process in a stylized way,” Taylor says. “I’ve written some notes, typically 

poems, about the piece, and then we have an interview with it. The 

audience gets to watch an interaction between me and a musician I most 

likely have never met, and it was all done remotely and at a distance.” 

Twelve compositions — a dense amount of writing for Taylor — spread 

across 12 months culminated in the full project, which finally premiered 

in March 2022 at the Met. Taylor performed alongside the Metropolis 

Ensemble and Rajna Swaminathan’s RAJAS ensemble in one of the first 

concerts at the museum since its reopening. 

He saw the project become “sonically autobiographical” throughout its 

creation. Over his years of performing, teaching, and composing, Taylor 

has seen his music become more personal and the separation between self 

and his music harder to sustain. 

“Overall, what the whole project was about was how you maintain 

community during a time of high isolation, and how you harness that when 

you are finally able to meet together,” he says. “With the types of elements 

I was interested in and how I was expressing them through music, it turned 

out to be a pretty personal piece.” 

To take a glimpse into his creative process, we asked Taylor to break down 

one day during an artist residency. He most recently attended the Avaloch 

Farm Music Institute in Boscawen, New Hampshire, and usually attends one 

to two residencies a year to develop new pieces and collaborations. 

Use your smartphone camera app to scan the QR code and explore 

“Matthew Evan Taylor: Postcards to The Met,” a 12-part series. 

16 / ’southern

6:30 a.m. – Taylor begins the day with meditation. After 

a 20-minute meditation, he cooks breakfast and takes a 

walk, both of which are continuations of the experience. 

“An important thing for me to remember is that the 

creative process is ongoing,” Taylor says. 

9 a.m. – Taylor answers emails to clear the decks and 

prepare for a full day during the residency. 

10 a.m. – Blocking off two hours for composition, Taylor 

dedicates time to the composing process. He spends that 

time composing, improvising, reading, or exploring other 

ideas that contribute to his composition work. 

12 p.m. – Taylor breaks for lunch, followed by a walk. 

1 p.m. – The ensemble at the residency – which has 

received sketches of his piece – meets with Taylor to 

begin working on the piece together. In a back-andforth, 

collaborative meeting, the musicians discuss ideas, 

concerns, and how he can challenge them more. 

3 p.m. – Taylor spends an hour or two on his syllabi and 

course descriptions for the fall semester at Middlebury. 

5 p.m. - Taylor is actively working on a book, so he makes 

sure to set aside time for that project before dinner. 

7:30 p.m. – In the evening, after dinner, is when Taylor 

has time to hang out with other artists and hatch 

conversations. “I don’t ever go into these residencies with 

any kind of agenda, but I always end up with one or two 

possible collaborations by the end,” he says. Following time 

with other musicians, Taylor spends time composing or 

relaxing his brain by solving chess puzzles, catching up with 

friends, or watching the newest Marvel show. 

Overall, what the whole project was about 

was how you maintain community during a 

time of high isolation. 


the next chapter 

Rachel Buchan ’15 

Rachel Buchan ’15 has taught in Turkey, worked on Capitol Hill, and 

earned her master’s degree in Australia, and now, she has begun her next 

chapter back in her hometown — the Magic City. 

“The more time I spent outside Birmingham — and loved so much of the 

bigger world — I’ve considered what my role in Birmingham looks like,” she says. 

In March 2022, Buchan joined the City of Birmingham as an economic 

development project administrator. She manages development projects 

for the city within her greater goals for equitable social change that are 

inseparable from her educational work, and service experiences. 

Buchan looks to her 2015-2016 Fulbright Award to teach English in 

Karabük, Turkey, as a pivotal point in her public service career. She was 

deeply inspired by her students, many of whom were refugees during the 

height of the Syrian civil war. 

“Getting to know my students and their stories totally changed my life,” 

she says. “I always knew I wanted to do something for the public good, but I 

realized I needed to know a lot more about government to have an impact on 

people’s lives.” 

Buchan returned to the states with her students in mind — keeping a photo 

of them on her desk at every position she’s held since — and continued to 

pursue a career in public policy. She began an impressive series of internships 

at Human Rights First, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and 

the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama, before joining Capstone, a small 

research firm on Capitol Hill. 

In 2018, Buchan was nominated by the Rotary Club of Birmingham for the 

Rotary Peace Fellowship. She applied for and was accepted to The University 

of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, which she chose among Rotary’s peace 

centers around the world for its particular emphasis on good governance as a 

part of peace. 

She began the program in 2020 and earned her master’s degree in peace 

and conflict studies with a focus on equity, inclusion, and sustainable 

development. Her time abroad and her studies made her think more about 

her goals — the ones emphasized in her Karabük classroom and developed 

in D.C. — in the context of her home Birmingham, alongside a team like the 

one Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has put together. 

Buchan’s work in the Department of Innovation and Economic 

Opportunity allows her to work across the vibrant portfolio her office covers, 

including business diversity, workforce development, and business expansion 

and retention efforts. Managing various projects within her role, Buchan is 

developing a system to measure Birmingham’s inclusive development and 

oversees economic development grant funds for public and private entities. 

“I’m compelled by the City’s dedication to equity and liberation and social 

change, and a lot of that starts with equity in an economic context,” she says. 

“All along, I’ve remained passionate about public service as a part of peace 

related to my students. How to honor those stories really colors my own 

dedication to public service.” 

Are you a graduate of the last decade? Tell us what you’re doing next! 

Email alumni@bsc.edu.

Getting to know 

my students and 

their stories totally 

changed my life. 


alumni event 

Distinguished Alumnus 

RELEASES BOOK 

Birmingham-Southern College and St. Luke’s 

Episcopal Church celebrated the Rev. Dr. Russell J. 

Levenson, Jr. ‘84 and the release of his latest book “A 

Witness to Dignity: The Life and Faith of George H.W. 

and Barbara Bush” with a book signing and lecture on 

Nov. 16 at St. Luke’s. 

A BSC Distinguished Alumnus, Levenson is the rector 

at St. Martin’s in Houston, the largest Episcopal church 

in North America. In 2018, he co-officiated and offered 

a homily at the state funeral of President George H.W. 

Bush in Washington, D.C. and in Houston. Levenson 

also officiated the 2018 funeral of First Lady Barbara 

Bush in Houston. Levenson contributed to “Pearls 

of Wisdom: Little Pieces of Advice” by Barbara Bush, 

published in March 2020. 

“A Witness to Dignity” has received praise from 

numerous public figures, politicians, and members 

of the media, including Jenna Bush Hager, cohost 

of NBC News’ TODAY with Hoda & Jenna; 

Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and 

presidential historian; and Gary Sinise, actor and 

chairman of the Gary Sinise Foundation. 

“Reverend Levenson was a dear friend and spiritual 

mentor to both my beloved grandparents. His stories 

of friendship will fill you with hope and inspire grace,” 

says Jenna Bush Hager. 

20 / ’southern


PUR 

“Maybe you didn’t choose to face whatever you’re facing, 

but you have a choice in how you’re going to deal with it.” 

Driven by deeply rooted purpose, both LaKisha Cargill ’00 and Carla Youngblood ’94 — Birmingham natives who have waged successful 

battles against breast cancer and have transcended life’s challenges with remarkable optimism and faith — personify the ginkgo’s ability to 

thrive. 

Today, they’re versatile entrepreneurs, successful authors, and survivors. As they inspire others, pursue personal and professional projects, and 

achieve big dreams, both are in irrepressible bloom. 

At Birmingham-Southern, Cargill was guided by the singular knowledge that she would become a writer. She’d been writing, speaking publicly, 

and performing monologues since childhood. Now, Cargill works as a claim team manager at State Farm and is an accomplished writer and awardwinning 

poet. 

“My purpose hasn’t shifted. I was always going to be a writer, no matter what job I landed in,” she says. “Nothing was going to change that.” 

Youngblood’s purpose has evolved into life as a CPA, comedienne, podcaster, and author. Through it all, she’s harnessed her talents for discussing 

taboo subjects – from money to serious illness – with honesty and humor. 

What nurtured them? 

“It really boils down to having that support system and being able to do the things you want to do that you feel 

will help you thrive. Birmingham-Southern gave me that opportunity to develop the creative spirit I wanted to 

have,” says Cargill. 

“You can do multiple things, but you have to focus on one core thing that’s going to fulfill you. If you can 

combine all of them together, that’s even better,” she adds. “It’s not just about making all the money in the 

world, it’s about finding fulfillment and joy.” 

Youngblood agrees. 

“Being at Birmingham-Southern gave me the freedom to totally be myself. The 

professors were so relatable,” she says. “They wanted to make sure that you 

understood what you were doing and what you really wanted to become.” 

Facing the unexpected didn’t alter their course. 

At 26, Cargill found a lump during a breast self-exam – and knew it was 

cancer before testing provided confirmation. She asked the doctor one 

question: “What are we going to do about it?” 

“That’s how I fought it,” she says. “I’m driven by the fact that at any 

moment any one of us may be snuffed out, for any reason.” 

Youngblood’s triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis seven years ago 

became an opportunity to change others’ outlook. 

She told jokes to lift the moods of fellow patients receiving treatment, 

eventually compiling them into “The Truth About Breast Cancer,” a 

one-woman show. Her first performance was for an audience of over 300 

people, nearly half of whom were breast cancer survivors. 

“I wanted to tell my story, to make it funny without being offensive,” 

Youngblood says. “Afterward, people said they wished they’d 

known my story while going through treatment, because 

they would have looked at their situations differently.” 

During that time, she also obtained a second college 

degree. Now, she is cancer-free and still in pursuit of 

her dreams. 

“Maybe you didn’t choose to face whatever 

you’re facing, but you have a choice in how 

you’re going to deal with it,” Youngblood says. 

“Everything starts in the mind. There is 

nothing I can’t do if I set my mind to it. 

Then it’s a matter of making it happen.” 

Carla Youngblood (left) 

and LaKisha Cargill

POSEPURPOSE 

For Sychem “Sy” Butler, Jr. ’19, coaching is a way of giving 

back to his community. After earning a BA in Sociology from 

Birmingham-Southern and playing football as an outside 

linebacker for the BSC Panthers, he returned to his high-school 

alma mater, Childersburg High, to coach varsity football and girls’ 

basketball. He also teaches sociology, psychology, and world history. 

Butler’s former high-school football coach was the first to hire him 

after graduation, and told Butler in high 

school, “You’re going to be a coach one 

day.” Butler says this helped to give him a 

true sense of purpose, and he now wants 

to offer the same lifelong encouragement 

to his players. 

“Understanding the influence my 

coaches and teammates had on me, I want 

to give that back to these students I’m now 

coaching. That’s something that pushes 

me daily to be the best that I can be.” 

Butler was the first person in his family 

to graduate from a four-year college. 

“I didn’t even know if college was for 

me,” he says. “Who would have ever 

thought a guy like me from Childersburg 

would end up going to Birmingham- 

Southern?” 

He was excited about the opportunity 

to play football while also pursuing a 

liberal arts education, but he describes 

the experience of starting out as an 

“underweight freshman” as intimidating. 

“I quickly realized that there were a lot 

of guys here who had been through similar situations as I had. There 

was a reason we were all here, and it shows. It quickly became like 

family. I had a pretty good career during my time at BSC, and I credit 

all of that to my teammates and my coaches. I couldn’t have done 

that by myself.” 

Butler was the leading tackler in program history, as well as team 

captain for three years. He made the SAA Sports First-Team All- 

Conference, was the SAA Conference Player of the Week, and was 

also named 2019 Man of the Year. He is especially grateful for the 

mentorship of head coach Tony Joe White, and coaches John Perin, 

Anthony Colucci, Cameron O’Neal, and Wil Truelove ’12. 

“I now tell a lot of my players: you have to find a place that feels like 

family, and that fits for you,” says Butler. “There are challenges that 

might make you think, hey, maybe this isn’t for me, or make you want 

to give up, but when you go through those experiences with the people 

you’ve become close to, it makes it all worthwhile.” 

During his football career, Butler faced several personal challenges, 

including injuries. In a 2018 game, he tore the flexor tendon in his 

right ring finger. The surgeon told him he should expect to remain on 

the sidelines for the rest of the season. 

“That wasn’t going to happen,” says Butler, 

laughing. “I ended up playing the rest of the 

year, in a cast. That was really challenging — 

going through the surgery, having my abilities 

limited, and having to manage school life, as 

well. But I didn’t think to myself: I can take off 

because of this injury. I had to be a little better 

than I was, because of this injury — you must 

have that sort of mindset when you’re going 

through something like that. It makes you 

appreciate the experience of your teammates 

having your back, believing in you, and doing 

whatever they could to help you be successful.” 

Butler says his experiences at BSC gave 

him a deeper love for the game and a desire to 

share that with others. 

“I love playing college football, but there is 

nothing like coaching on a Friday night,” Butler 

says. “As a teacher and coach, I get to see 

these players every day in class. I learn what 

they’re going through in their personal lives, at 

home and at school; or I see when they’re going 

through a rough spot; and when I watch them 

overcome those challenges, that’s the greatest 

thing to me about coaching.” 

Coaching high school sports is also rewarding because it’s when 

players learn the core aspects of the game, Butler says, and in some 

ways, face the biggest hurdles in terms of perseverance. 

“The greatest part is that drive and that challenge, every day,” 

he says. “At the high school level, there are a lot of unsatisfactory 

moments and players who are in the process of learning the game. 

I’ve got to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, and I’ve 

got to teach that daily to the players and students. When I’m teaching 

them, I’m actually learning myself. One thing you want in a player is 

someone that can take coaching, and apply it to the field, and to life 

in general. My favorite aspect is when players can take coaching in a 

positive way, and then go out and perform and do their best.” 

“There are challenges that might make you think, hey, 

maybe this isn’t for me, or make you want to give up, but 

when you go through those experiences with the people 

you’ve become close to, it makes it all worthwhile.” 

FALL/WINTER 2022 2022 // 23 23

Viktoria Solfronk ’22 joined the Be The Match blood marrow 

donation registry through an Instagram ad in 2018 — an 

on-the-whim decision she did not think too much about, 

knowing that only 1 in 320 people are contacted for a donation. 

“Most people think that a family member would be an easy way to 

get a donor,” she says, “but only 25 percent of patients have a family 

member who is a close enough genetic match to donate.” 

After receiving a call in June 2021 that she was a potential 

match, Solfronk had bone marrow surgery in August 2021, 

donating 1.2-1.5 liters of blood from the back of her pelvic bone. 

She decided to document her experience so she could inform 

more people about the process. 

“I thought that if I put out the information that I knew and my 

feelings in real time, I could encourage new young people to join,” 

Solfronk says. “I decided to post my journey on my Instagram story. 

I gave some background about Be the Match and then documented 

my doctor’s appointments, flights, time touring the city, surgery date, 

and how I was feeling after surgery.” 

Be The Match covered the costs of Solfronk’s travel to the 

selected city and hospital and provided food stipends during the trip. 

While some donations do have a non-surgical option, her surgery was 

the more intensive option. Solfronk spent one night in the hospital 

and had soreness in her back but felt normal after a few weeks. 

The donation process was completely anonymous — Solfronk 

only knew the recipient’s age, gender, and disease or health concern 

associated with the donation. The recipient could be anywhere from 

the United States. 

Viktoria Solfronk (middle, back row) 

“So many people I talked to were surprised that I was willing to do 

this, to go through lab testing, flights and surgery all for a stranger,” she 

says. “But being a donor has really highlighted how connected we all 

are with each other. The person I donated to had a disease that would 

kill them if they did not have a donor, but with my donation they are 

almost certainly cured for life.” 

Solfronk encourages others to join the Be The Match registry, an 

easy process that requires basic medical information and completing 

a swab kit. It could be years before a registered individual is contacted 

about a match, but the larger the registry, the better the matches are 

for people in need of a donation. 

“There are so many disparities within the donor-recipient 

populations,” Solfronk says. “You have to have certain matching 

genetic markers, and sometimes minority recipients have to wait for 

longer periods of time to get a donor because there are not as many 

donors of color within the system.” 

She admits the process can seem scary, but Solfronk says 

donating is one of the most rewarding things she has done and will 

ever do. 

“Being a part of a group of people who decided to put themselves 

out there to help others that they do not know has been so rewarding,” 

she says. “During COVID, it sometimes feels like we are all trying to 

protect ourselves and our families, but the people at Be the Match and 

the donors all work to protect others around them.” 

Learn more about Be The Match at bethematch.org. 

ONNECTION 

24 / ’southern

(l to r) Tre Butler, Matt Dale, and Dr. Brandon Brown 

“The Black Male initiative is like a brotherhood to me. 

It is an organization where me and other young Black 

males can be vulnerable, show love to each other, and 

encourage each other to have a positive mentality.” 

In 2022, the Black Male Initiative at Birmingham-Southern 

College welcomed its inaugural class, providing a space for 

mentorship and growth among Black men on campus. 

The inaugural class included senior Byron Millsap, 

sophomore Elijah Ealey, senior Jordan Jones, sophomore 

Kyle Kimble, sophomore Demarcus Sweet, Tre Butler ’22, 

Reece Weaver ’22, junior Matt Dale, sophomore Jon Lewis, 

junior Kendall Johnson, and Kobe Martin ’22, who all 

worked closely with Dr. Brandon Brown, former associate 

dean of students, to form the organization. Students were 

inducted into the organization last May. 

Through meetings and social gatherings, the Black 

Male Initiative focuses on academic, emotional, social, 

professional, and personal well-being, fostering fellowship, 

mentorship, and support during the college experience. 

“I saw it as an opportunity to connect with my fellow 

Black male peers and saw the potential positive impact 

this group has not only on the Black males on campus, 

but the Black student population on campus as well,” 

says Weaver. “I valued my experience within the BMI as 

it provides an outlet for us to talk and relate with one 

another on a more personal level, which I believe guides us 

all in the right step to succeed.” 

For Johnson, joining the initiative was important 

because it presented a place for students and young men 

like him to received guidance on navigating life at BSC 

and the world after college. 

“In our world, the Black male is sometimes viewed as 

less than, and it was very important for me to join a space 

where Black males could be vulnerable about their daily 

experiences in life, especially here at a predominantly 

white institution,” Johnson says. “The Black Male 

initiative is like a brotherhood to me. It is an organization 

where other young Black males and I can be vulnerable, 

show love to each other, and encourage each other to 

have a positive mentality.” 

Reflecting on his time at BSC and his gratefulness for 

the initiative during his final year, Butler says that, as a 

transfer student during his junior year, he got involved on 

campus in as many ways as he could. During Black History 

Month in 2022, when Head Track Coach Kenneth Cox 

reached out to him about the opportunity, he made plans to 

attend the first Black Male Initiative meeting. 

“I saw or knew of most of the guys in our group, but 

didn’t really ever speak to them before then,” Butler says. 

“Usually, when there’s a meeting with a group of people, 

students are quiet and don’t volunteer to speak. The first 

meeting we had was supposed to probably go on for about 

one hour I assume, but it went for about two or more 

hours. I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in a group 

of people. I felt like I could express myself and speak about 

how I felt and that they would understand me.” 


“I established lifelong connections at BSC with some of the most amazing, 

impressive, and important people in my life, even 15 years later. Some of 

these have been enduring relationships over this 1.5 decades, and others have 

been new or rekindled connections that are equally as treasured. I have been 

fortunate to cross paths with several BSC connections through work and 

reestablished relationships, mostly based on our common Hilltop bond. Two of 

my BSC friends, Emmaline Walters Barnhill ’07 and Emmie Silvernail Blaze ’07, 

have become my lifelines and support system during the most difficult year of 

my life, and I truly would not have made it without them. We have shared ups 

and many downs, and it is amazing to watch our children now playing together. 

Another BSC friend, Monica Hill Carlson ’08 — we call my “third sister” — drove 

five-plus hours with her husband and two babies to celebrate my youngest 

son’s first birthday and to make the amazing cakes for his party. Yet another 

sweet friend from BSC, Dr. Elizabeth Orr ’07, is my children’s pediatrician, and 

my wonderful friend and former BSC roommate, Dr. Meghan Kilgore Harrison 

’07, is my whole family’s veterinarian. Another of my closest friends from BSC 

(and graduate school), Dr. Coty Hulgan ’07, is our periodontist and serves 

on an HPV vaccination nonprofit board of directors with me. His wife Tara 

Watts Hulgan ’07 is also among my very best friends, and I am honored to be 

the godmother of their daughter. It is actually quite a misnomer to refer to 

these individuals as “friends” since they are most certainly an integral part of 

my family. And all of this is such an abbreviated list and doesn’t 

nearly do justice to the lifelong connections I made and have 

maintained from BSC! I truly do not go a single day without 

talking to at least one of my fellow alums and am so 

blessed to have received not only an amazing education 

on the Hilltop, but also to have been blessed with 

meeting the most amazing people one could ever hope 

to. And my connections go deeper than that. I was a 

“Summer Scholar,” both of my sisters, Dr. Amanda 

Daniel Pendergrass ’03 and Lindsey Daniel Ray ’12, 

are also BSC graduates, and my parents Thomas and 

Lynda Daniel were married in Yeilding Chapel in 

1977. Birmingham-Southern has been and will 

always be a second home to me.” 

– Casey Daniel ’07, Director of Epidemiology and Public Health and 

Associate Professor at University of South Alabama College of 

Medicine, 2020 Outstanding Young Alumna 

26 / ’southern

RESILIENCE 

Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia during her senior year of high school, Emily 

Kyzer Browne ’00 uses what she learned from her experience in her career as a pediatric 

oncology nurse practitioner at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. As a 

survivor, she feels called to support the needs of children with similar diagnoses. 

“When I applied to Birmingham-Southern, an education major was my designated track,” Browne 

says. “But then, as my medical treatment progressed, the nurse practitioners who cared for me made 

such an impact. My mom asked me, ‘Don’t you want to do something in medicine? You’d be really 

good at that. You like science.’” 

Browne finished chemotherapy in April 1998, close to the end of her sophomore year. After 

graduating from BSC with a biology degree, Browne earned a Master of Science in nursing from 

Vanderbilt University in 2002 and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt in 2013. 

In honor of her college advisor and biology professor, the late Dr. Jeannette Runquist, Browne 

endowed a scholarship to BSC. She served as Dr. 

Runquist’s teaching assistant and as a student mentor 

for first-year advisees. 

“I never had the confidence to pursue these things 

on my own,” says Browne, “but, because of her, I gained 

a ton of experience and confidence.” 

After completing chemotherapy, Browne was 

considered cured, with a low chance of recurrence 

after five years. She recognizes her good fortune, 

recalling a time in college when she learned that one of 

her friends had passed away from the same disease. 

“I walked out of my dorm room and looked around 

and thought, ‘I don’t know who to talk to about this, 

because I don’t feel like anybody around me is going 

to necessarily understand.’ Of course, my friends 

were supportive. It’s just that it takes a different level 

to understand this kind of thing, and how it personally 

affected me.” 

It was a formative time for Browne — navigating new 

college experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. 

Browne’s current position as director of the Transition 

Oncology Program at St. Jude allows her to support 

others navigating a similar transition from patient to 

survivor. One common misconception about the end of 

treatment is that it’s an exciting and happy time. 

“It is for sure — you’ve gone through a lot, and you 

survived,” she says. “It’s fantastic to be done with the 

weekly visits to the clinic and the chemotherapy and 

the side effects from medication, but it is also often a 

very scary time. It can be anxiety-provoking, because 

you feel like this safety net has been removed. You’re 

not checking your labs as often. You’re not on that 

medicine that was keeping things at bay, and so in this 

phase, with every little sniffle and cough and bruise, 

you start to think, oh, no, has it come back?” 

She says that, for survivors, everything has changed 

since the initial diagnosis. 

“The biggest thing that we do for families is provide 

anticipatory guidance. Here’s how you might feel; 

here’s what you might experience; and really just trying 

Thoughts on Courage 

Hear Emily Kyzer Browne’s speech 

on courage from 100 Minutes on 

the Hilltop in 2018. 

to normalize that and prepare families for that transition. Otherwise, the patient and their family 

might feel like they’re in a black hole where no one really understands what’s going on. Friends and 

family might be relieved that it’s all over. They see the patient appearing to be healthier and feel like 

there’s nothing to worry about, but the survivor is always worried about disease recurrence, and 

about long-term side effects which may not even appear for months to years later.” 

The program includes making sure that, as children return to school and regular activities, their 

teachers will understand and know how to be supportive. 

“It’s a phase of treatment that’s not really been well studied. We know a lot about the actual 

treatment itself, and we know a lot about the physical aspects of our long-term survivors of 

childhood cancer, but we don’t know a lot about what happens emotionally and socially in those first 

few years off therapy. That’s not been studied as well, so we’re hoping to change that.” 


LEADERSHI 

Leadership skills and a passion for helping 

others to succeed come naturally to Maj. 

Gen. Sheryl Speed Gordon ’79, whose 

parents were military officers and school 

administrators. Originally from Selma, she 

graduated from Birmingham-Southern in 1979 

with a Bachelor of Science in biology, and while 

working at UAB in biomedical research, decided 

to also pursue officer training through the 

National Guard. 

Gordon joined the military in 1980, and was 

promoted to brigadier general in 2009. In 2017, 

she became the first woman to serve as adjutant 

general of the Alabama National Guard. Now a 

member of the governor’s cabinet, she commands 

the Alabama Army and Air National Guard and 

its more than 12,000 citizen soldiers and airmen, 

and advises the governor on military affairs. 

“In Selma at that time, the Craig Air Force 

Base was very active,” says Gordon. “Their 

mission was to train pilots. A lot of the pilots 

ended up going to Vietnam.” 

Her brother joined the Air Force Reserve at 

the time, and later became a brigadier general 

in the Army Guard. Her father, who served as a 

lieutenant colonel for the Air Guard, was also the 

principal of the elementary school on the base. 

Her mother was the first-grade teacher, and then 

later became the school administrator. 

“My father would be at the base on weekends, 

and I would go out and have lunch with him at the 

dining facility at the 117th Air, which is now an 

air refueling wing,” Gordon says. “I would sit in the 

office and visit with him.” 

One day, General Whitehead, a doctor and 

commander at the base, commented, “Hey, as 

much as you’re out here, you ought to get paid 

for it.” 

“I didn’t think anything about it at the time,” 

says Gordon, “but my father did. He called me up 

one day, and said, ‘Why don’t you see if you can 

pass the test?’ I’m thinking, I got a degree from 

Birmingham-Southern; I can probably pass any 

test for the military. 

“My dad knew what he was doing when he 

threw down that gauntlet,” she says. “Of course, 

I had the qualifications to be an officer. I took the 

test and passed it.” 

Gordon decided to pursue officer training 

with the Alabama Army National Guard, which 

allowed her to remain in her full-time research job. 

This is also where she met her husband, (Ret.) Lt. 

Col. David Gordon, and moved to Lake Martin. 

The transition from full-time work to the role of 

housewife did not suit her at all. 

“I went stir crazy,” she says. 

That’s when she decided to return to school to 

pursue teacher certification, and then also earned 

a master’s in administrative education. She 

taught high school chemistry and then worked as 

a school administrator in Alexander City. 

“I retired from the school system after having 

served 25 years in the state. Meanwhile, being 

in the National Guard, I was able to bring my 

experiences into the classroom. The students, 

they were kind of awed by that, I think. Back then, 

28 / ’southern

P 

the ultimate insult was, ‘your mama wears army boots.’ 

They were thinking, ‘Oh, our teacher wears army boots, 

and she’s a drill sergeant — she could kill people with 

her bare hands, so don’t mess with her!’ I never had any 

discipline issues,” she says, laughing. 

There were challenges to being a woman in the 

military. 

“When I first joined, female soldiers often were held 

to more traditional female roles. I was an administration 

and personnel officer. It was challenging because there 

was a pressure to prove you had the skills — it wasn’t 

explicit, but the unit withholds judgment until we prove 

to them that we are competent and capable of doing 

the job with them, unlike males going into a command 

position who are automatically accepted and believed to 

be competent by virtue of their gender. As a female, you 

had to walk that fine line of being assertive without being 

overly assertive. Certain actions that men would take 

— they’re praised for being assertive. If females were to 

take the same actions, we would be labeled aggressive.” 

She says it has improved over the years. “I think it’s 

wonderful that I can be the role model for all women 

to know that they can succeed to the highest levels of 

service in any organization.” 

Recently, Gordon met with National Guard leadership 

in Washington, D.C., to discuss the state partnership 

program, in which each state is partnered with a country 

in a different part of the world to work with them on 

improving their military up to NATO standards. 

“The state partnership program came about and 

started in 1993 after the dissolution of the Soviet 

Union,” she explains. “The former Eastern Bloc countries 

want to learn NATO and U.S. tactics.” 

Alabama National Guard is partnered with the 

country of Romania, which borders Ukraine. 

Gordon believes that mentorship is the most 

important aspect of her position, much in the same way 

that her own mentors throughout her life have helped 

her to succeed. Visiting troops where they are stationed 

is one of her favorite duties as the general. 

“We’re going to be celebrating our 30th anniversary 

with Romania next summer,” she says. “There are really 

a lot of similarities between being a teacher and what 

I do in the Guard, because you’re in charge of training 

and preparing them for a mission. I just love being out 

there seeing what the troops are doing, and hearing 

about what issues and challenges they are facing. 

They’ll be deployed over there for nine months; they’re 

leaving their families and their jobs. An important part 

of my job is to thank them and let them know that we 

back home are supporting their sacrifices. Also, I want 

them to know that we are taking care of their families 

while they are deployed, because the families make 

tremendous sacrifices as well.” 

“Birmingham-Southern College is different than many 

institutions in that it encourages a student’s involvement 

in many different circles across campus. I had the privilege 

of being able to serve as a leader in my fraternity, honor 

council, Quest II, orientation, and Southern Ambassadors. 

After leaving Birmingham-Southern and meeting peers 

from schools across the country, I learned that my level 

of involvement was rare. What’s funny is that it was not 

rare at Birmingham-Southern. The College encouraged 

and challenged individuals to give back to our peers and 

to our institution by becoming involved and serving as 

leaders in campus organizations. This kind of influence 

taught me a great deal about service and leadership, and it 

is something I am continuously grateful for. These lessons 

are perennially valuable for aspiring leaders after they 

graduate. Thank you, Birmingham-Southern, for giving 

your students the gift of involvement and leadership 

opportunities. We are better for it.” 

– Graham Spencer ’16, 2019 Rising Star Award Recipient, 

Principal at EAB, New York City 




According to Don Stewart ’81, he didn’t 

realize he had earned a double major 

in biology and art until the day he 

graduated. He had originally set out as a premed 

student, interested in becoming a surgeon. 

“I was a biology major, and I took an art 

course only in order to fulfill my humanities 

credit,” he says. “As a pre-med, you’re 

supposed to take art history because that 

proves that you can memorize vast quantities 

of information and regurgitate them on 

command, which is basically the prerequisite 

for medical school.” 

But he didn’t want to take another 

academic course; instead, he opted to take 

basic drawing and painting for non-majors. 

It was Professor Raymond MacMahon who 

added the art major to Stewart’s transcript, 

allowing the pre-med student to take 

advanced drawing courses. 

At the time, drawing and painting courses 

at BSC were taught by MacMahon, who 

had been a tank commander under General 

Patton in World War II, and who Stewart 

recalls as “terrifying.” When MacMahon 

asked Stewart why he was taking his class, 

Stewart replied, “I plan to be a surgeon, I need 

eye-hand coordination skills. Besides, I think 

I like to draw. This is the last chance I’ll ever 

have to learn.” 

While it was not an immediate career 

shift, after earning a medical degree from 

UAB, and completing his surgical internship 

at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Stewart

left medicine for good, and established his own 

design firm, DS Art Studio in Birmingham in 

2001. He has since created commissioned 

works for UAB Hospital, the National Museum 

of the Marine Corps in Washington D.C., the 

Wounded Warrior Regiment, Navy Seals, 

and Coast Guard, among others. Many of his 

drawings were created to raise awareness and 

funds for education, medical research, and 

ongoing medical support for service members 

and their families. His work has helped raise 

more than $75,000 for Wounded Warriors in 

all branches of the military. 

Stewart says that during his surgery 

internship, he often returned to drawing as 

a means of therapy and relaxation. Once, 

a nurse asked him, “Dr. Stewart, when’s the 

last time you were happy?” He says that he 

was immediately transported back to the 

Birmingham-Southern art department. 

“The final assignment I had in Bob Shelton’s 

drawing class at Birmingham-Southern 

was to draw a big picture made out of little 

pictures,” says Stewart. “I found a picture of 

Pablo Picasso, and there was all this random 

stuff lying around in that art studio, including 

a great big wine snifter. I turned that upside 

down and it was the same shape as Pablo 

Picasso’s head. And that got me started.” 

That pencil design was the prototype for 

what is now Stewart’s signature style. “I have 

never been more satisfied in my life with the 

process of doing something,” he says. 

“My training at Birmingham-Southern 

allowed me to walk out of the hospital and 

become a businessperson,” he continues. 

“That’s what liberal-arts training does. It 

gives you experience in a broad variety of 

thought processes and knowledge bases. It also 

forces you to identify yourself as a thinker, a 

historian, a philosopher, and an artist. I have 

BSC to thank for that.” 

Stewart describes some of his work as 

“visual puns,” including a motorcycle made out 

of images of food (“fast food”), or a wolf out of 

knitted items (“wolf in sheep’s clothing”). 

“I draw bad jokes,” he says, laughing. “I put 

dad jokes on paper. That’s what I do.” 

Recently, he has been creating historical works 

involving what he calls “deep dives into a history 

of a place or an entity or a tradition,” including 

pieces for UAB’s Medical Alumni Association, 

and branches of the military, where pieces depict 

historical events within a larger shape, such as a 

war ship, fighter jet, or the Navy Seals emblem. 

For UAB, Stewart made an intricate drawing of 

the new North Pavilion building, incorporated 

out of medical equipment placed in the areas 

of the hospital where those specialties would be 

practiced. He also created a piece portraying the 

former Jefferson Hospital, with the history of 

medicine in Alabama drawn into the shape of the 

building, incorporating the Creek Indian medical 

tradition, all the way up to a depiction of the 

rooftop television antenna as a DNA molecule. 

Each of these projects involve in-depth 

historical research, which can take months. 

“I can appreciate the details and the 

way it all is stacked up in my mind, because 

I learned how to diagnose,” he says. “My 

drawings are a series of several hundred 

problems to solve. Problems of shape and 

content and finding the most meaningful 

images that fit the right space in the right way. 

It also involves eye-hand coordination, which I 

equate to the surgical skill of being able to put 

the ink where I want it, where it does the most 

use.” 

He says his favorite recent project was to 

design the Ginkgo Panther for BSC, which 

portrays the face of a panther in ginkgo 

leaves. 

“I think it took all of two weeks to get that 

one done — it just crystallized. It speaks 

directly to the Hilltop.” 

For the Marine Corps, Stewart incorporated 

380 historical images, in chronological order, 

into a drawing of the famous War Memorial 

statue of the marines on Iwo Jima raising the 

flag at the top of Mount Suribachi in WWII. 

“Another thing I learned at Birmingham- 

Southern,” says Stewart, “if I hadn’t already 

learned it from my family, was community 

service.” 

With the help of the executive officer 

of the Wounded Warrior Regiment, he 

established a means of raising funds through 

his artwork for veterans. 

“Our wounded veterans have value,” 

Stewart says, and this is his way of showing 

that to the world. 

To view more of Stewart’s art, visit dsart.com. 

GinkGO, Panther!© Don Stewart, 2021 

One bright and lazy day, Toucan 

Alarmed his friend the Panther: 

“It’s time to get you up!” he cried, 

And waited for an answer. 

And waited. Then he tried again 

To wake her with his cries, 

And shook his branch and sang until 

She opened up her eyes. 

“You’ve got to go! Get up! Get out! 

Go run and chase your prey!” 

“I do not want to go,” she said. 

Now please, just go away.” 

Toucan was having none of this, 

And shook the tree limb harder. 

“You must be up and catching things, 

Replenishing your larder!” 

“You really must excuse me, 

But I’ve no desire to go. 

I’d rather find a sunny spot 

To watch the ginkgoes grow.” 

“What nonsense,” said the Toucan. 

“You are not right in the head! 

It’s time to get you up to go. 

You should be gone,” he said. 

“You should be up and on the prowl, 

And hunting, should you not? 

You’ve everything a cat should want. 

What has a ginkgo got?” 

“I love the way they pose themselves, 

With leaves like paper fans. 

They move with easy elegance: 

A breeze can make them dance.” 

“I’ve heard enough,” the Toucan sneered. 

“I first thought you were lazy. 

But now that you’ve explained yourself, 

I’m certain you’re just crazy! 

“You should be exercised by now, 

And panting to a wheeze. 

Instead you’re lounging in the shade 

Admiring ginkgo trees. 

“It’s time to leave those trees behind! 

It’s not like they will miss you. 

But if you like ginkgoes so much, 

Why not just take one with you?” 

The cat considered this advice, 

Then gave her friend an answer. 

(She did not want Toucan to think 

Her an ungrateful panther.) 

“I truly do appreciate 

Your energetic rant. 

But ginkgoes do not go,” she said. 

“And panthers do not pant.”

CARING 

Ben Laufer ’22’s first impression of the Ironman 70.3 was how miserable it sounded. On a 

quick second thought, he considered how cool it would be to say he accomplished the longdistance 

triathlon, and his decision was locked in knowing he would swim, bike, and run for a 

reason bigger than himself. 

Laufer, now based in Atlanta, decided to train and raise starter funds for The Ava Grace 

Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to research, advocacy, and education for rare genetic 

differences in children, founded by Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Joe Chandler ’03 

and his wife, Tonya Chandler. 

“I believe great people deserve great things done for them,” Laufer says, “and I’m a big 

believer in helping people during dark times in their lives. Dr. Chandler being such a special 

person, I wanted to make any difference I could.” 

During Laufer’s time as a psychology major— through which he had Chandler as a 

professor — the Chandlers were closely monitoring the health of their daughter, Ava 

Grace Chandler, who was born with a rare genetic difference called Kagami-Ogata 

Syndrome (KOS) that fewer than 100 children have worldwide. Most children with 

KOS do not survive the first week of life. 

The Birmingham-Southern community got to know Ava Grace through Dr. 

Chandler’s updates to a Facebook group called “Baby Girl Chandler,” where he 

frequently referred to her as “Sweet Pea.” She was 10 months old and the “strongest 

little warrior any of us have ever seen,” Chandler wrote, with fiery red hair to match 

her spirit, and she was beloved by her family, her UAB and Children’s NICU nurses, and so many more. 

On Aug. 4, the Chandlers shared this post: “Ava Grace Chandler passed away peacefully, in Tonya’s arms, 

at 12:15 a.m. on August 4th, 2022. We got to take her to the rooftop garden at Children’s, where she felt a 

beautiful breeze on her cheeks for the first time and we read ‘Goodnight Moon’ under an open night sky.” 

Following the news, Laufer was inspired to complete an Ironman 70.3 to help raise start-up funds for 

the Chandler’s foundation. He made the decision just five weeks before the Sept. 25 race in Augusta, 

Ga. Training was not easy, especially after testing positive for COVID-19 the day after he signed up and 

suffering a stress fracture one week before the race. Still, Laufer pointed his friends, family, and social media 

followers to The Ava Grace Foundation. 

With only about two and a half weeks of training behind him, Laufer persevered throughout the Ironman 

70.3, a triathlon consisting of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run. He was on track to finish 

in the top 30 percentile until the wrong amount of Gatorade Endurance disrupted his water and electrolyte 

balance, his muscles cramped, and he had to slow down to keep biking and running. 

Nonetheless, Laufer completed the race and increased awareness of the Chandler family’s dedicated 

work to increase research for genetic differences. He raised more than $2,000 towards an actively growing 

campaign for the foundation, and Chandler credits him for helping the campaign and foundation get on its feet. 

“He fought through hell and high water, literally, to cross the finish line,” Chandler writes in a 

Facebook message. “Thank you, Ben, for honoring Ava Grace’s fighting spirit with your own. You are 

an extraordinary young man.” 

Scan the QR code to 

learn more about The 

Ava Grace Foundation. 

32 / ’southern

“It’s the most rewarding work to know that all of this is 

helping children and their families towards living better lives.” 

Tyler Armstrong ’03 has made caring the focus of his career. 

Armstrong, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater with a 

photography minor, has spent more than a decade raising money 

and awareness for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 

Based in Los Angeles, Armstrong has worked for UNICEF USA for 12 

years, seven of those years as managing director for special events and 

experiences. He has designed fundraisers with such luminaries as Hillary 

Clinton, Matt Damon, Elton John, Katy Perry, and Mariah Carey. 

In his job, Armstrong is able to use his gifts as a producer, writer, 

and designer. His work at UNICEF, which recently celebrated its 75th 

anniversary, is also rewarding, he says. 

“UNICEF has saved the lives of more children than any other 

humanitarian organization on earth.” 

“It’s the work that UNICEF does every day and the stories I hear from the 

children UNICEF serves that keep me going,” Armstrong says. 

His role at UNICEF involves finding those “personal, beautiful stories” and 

“bringing them to American audiences so they can hear and see firsthand the 

strength and resilience of children even in times of unimaginable crisis,” he says. 

Armstrong and UNICEF found a new way to share the organization’s 

story after COVID-19 hit in 2020, bringing live fundraising to “a full 

stop,” Armstrong says. 

With Armstrong serving as a producer, UNICEF partnered with 

Academy Award-winning director Ben Proudfoot to make the 30-minute 

documentary “If You Have.” 

“The film is both the story of UNICEF’s interesting history,” Armstrong 

says, “and a depiction of the role UNICEF plays now in the world every day.” 

“If You Have” was released in June and was a finalist for the Tribeca X 

Award at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. 

“I’m blown away with the impact it has made,” Armstrong says. 

The film has raised $9 million to help children. Actors Lucy Liu, Orlando 

Bloom, and Sofia Carson signed on as executive producers and have been 

“blasting it out” on social media, he says. 

“We hope people feel inspired to be a 

seeker of current events that are shaping 

the lives of children so they can be an 

active, positive part of the improvements 

that should be made towards child survival, 

protection, and rights.” 

When an emergency strikes, such as the war in Ukraine, UNICEF 

frontline workers immediately deploy lifesaving emergency supplies 

where they are needed most. 

“UNICEF drives convoys through deserts, lands cargo planes on dirt 

tracks … spans time zones and works in war zones,” Armstrong says. 

Despite its long history, the organization “operates like a start-up,” he says. 

“Meaning UNICEF will do whatever it takes to save and protect children.” 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF has also been “at the 

forefront of ensuring vaccines reached those who need them,” he says. 

“It’s the most rewarding work to know that all of this is helping children 

and their families towards living better lives.” 

To watch “If You Have,” 

go to ifyouhavefilm.org 

or scan the QR code. 


“After an interim in Zimbabwe, I felt the most connected with people as we 

worked towards something together, something to improve a person’s quality 

of life. Another interim in India taught me so much about socio-economic 

tiers in society and at each person’s heart, we are all the same – we want health 

for our family, enough food to eat, and a chance at some level of happiness. 

In Honduras, during my time in optometry school, I felt that same common 

thread, a desire for contentment and purpose. I felt compelled to seek that out 

professionally and to always strive for that personally. That desire to contribute 

positively to the lives of others – that started right here at BSC. 

My family and I lived seven years abroad in India, where I served as associate 

professor of public health and director of the School of Optometry at a college 

outside New Delhi. My husband and I founded an organization called Make 

Women Safe. We helped pass a law in India to benefit victims of assault. Now, 

you can imagine, getting a law passed in any country seems insurmountable 

– but India? With 1.3 billion people! Even when I doubted – can we really 

do this – he said if not us, then who? It echoed the words of American Civil 

Rights leader John Lewis, and others, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and 

Mahatma Gandhi. We have education. We have enough to eat. We 

have our health. He asked me: are we waiting for the rickshaw 

puller to make these changes? That man is working to feed his 

family for that very same day. That man does not have shoes. 

Again, if not us, then who?” 

—Dr. Sima Lal Gupta ’99, health services director of Aletheia House in Birmingham, 

served as the 2022 Honors Day Convocation Speaker. Each year, a graduate presents 

a message to the next class of alumni.This is a brief excerpt from her speech; the full 

transcript can be found at blog.bsc.edu. 

34 / ’southern

TENACITY 

Forrest Boughner ’09 says that he first started out in 

track and cross country at his mother’s insistence. 

“Basketball was my thing,” he says, “but a week before 

high school started, my mom said, ‘You’re going to try out 

for the cross-country team, and you have to attend at least 

three practices before you quit.” 

Countless practices later, Boughner hasn’t quit yet. Today, 

he works as a running coach and trail guide specializing 

in mountain running in Missoula, Mont. He founded 

Alpine Running Guides in 2018 and has also worked as 

the operations manager at Five Valleys Land Trust. His 

goal is to expose more runners to the joy of running 

trails and to foster an appreciation for wilderness and 

ecological responsibility. Collaborating with several other 

guides including his wife Sara, Boughner’s company offers 

personalized coaching and guided trail-running trips for 

groups of 10 to 14 people. 

“Growing up in Flagstaff, Ariz. at the base of a 12,000- 

foot mountain, trail hiking and running have always been a 

part of my life,” says Boughner. “I also really like exploring 

and finding new places.” 

In 2013 and 2014, Boughner and his then-fiancée 

Sara hiked the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, 

stretching from Mexico to Canada, through New Mexico, 

Colorado, Wyoming, and a small part of Idaho and Montana. 

The trek was a total of five months of hiking. 

“One aspect of a long trip like that is, you have periods of 

ups and downs. There are days where you’re not going to feel 

good,” says Boughner. “You’re exhausted and you’re beat 

down, and your feet are hurting, and you wonder, ‘Why am I doing this?’” 

He says that the mutual support and common shared goal is what 

made the trip possible. 

“Setting strong goals helps. We wanted to complete our goal more 

than we wanted to quit. We just hoped that we both weren’t down on 

the same day. We were able to fully trust the other person to help when 

things got tough.” 

“Anyway, you’re out in the middle of the woods,” he continues, “so if 

you don’t want to do it anymore, you have to hike out, so you have to 

keep hiking, either way. Your only option is to keep going.” 

Partway through the trip, the two faced an enormous challenge when 

they both became sick with giardia. While his wife had a milder case, 

Boughner did not realize he was sick with the same disease until weeks 

later, after experiencing more unusual symptoms of increasing nausea 

and racing heart rate. One day, he passed out while hiking. Emergency 

room doctors warned Boughner that he should stay off the trails for the 

rest of the season. 

“That was a big challenge for our partnership,” admits Boughner. “Sara 

really wanted to continue — she was feeling better — but she was also 

worried about me. I hated to keep her from finishing. That was a big thing 

we had to work through.” 

“...so if you don’t want to do it 

anymore, you have to hike out, so 

you have to keep hiking, either way. 

Your only option is to keep going.” 

The two returned to the trail the following summer, picking up where 

they had left off. 

Boughner says that one of the toughest aspects of being a trail guide is 

also the most rewarding. 

“I take a lot of people out on trails that not many people go on. Sometimes 

I’m guiding people who have never trail-run before, or who have never been 

up a mountain before, or they may be terrified of bears, for example. I’m 

trying to figure out what each individual person in a group is worried about, 

or what their physical limitations are, and trying to blend that all in one day, 

and make sure people still come out with a good experience.” 

However, his favorite part of the job is being able to help others overcome 

obstacles and stretch themselves to accomplish goals they might not have 

otherwise been able to do. 

“As a coach, I get to be a part of people’s lives during training — their 

successes and failures; whether they are struggling with family stuff or work 

stress; and no matter what, they still got out the door and ran. Then, on 

race day, especially if they’re running a 50-mile or 100-mile race, it’s this 

huge emotional event. Reaching the finish line of something that big, a goal 

they’ve had for a long time, is very emotional, especially when it’s been a 

challenging training process. I love seeing those tears of happiness. I get to 

see all that hard work and persistence pay off, and that’s fantastic.” 



Ragan Dillon Cain ’99, BSC Trustee, readily admits she had to grow into her sense 

of style. The former accounting major is now chief administrative officer at Tacala. 

She’s also well-known for her celebrated lifestyle website, The Frances Flair, a 

creative outlet for her “musings” on classic, Southern style. 

“I did not have any style [when I was younger], and I truly mean that,” she says, 

laughing. “Maybe that’s true for a lot of people.” 

When others in her dorm read People or Glamour, she was perusing Southern 

Living, Southern Accents, and other popular home decor titles. 

“I’ve always been very interested in homes and design, but not so much fashion. I do 

like color,” she says. “It took me a while to understand that about myself, but that’s 

always been something that I’ve been drawn to, in my wardrobe and in my home.” 

The vibrant dress she’s wearing (a much-loved favorite that she calls her 

“uniform”), and her home (painted soft yellow) are perfect examples of how Cain’s 

taste has evolved and in how she asserts confidence in her choices. 

“It took me a long time to have the confidence to be that person. I laugh 

because I look back at pictures and my sorority sisters and I dressed like 

we were going to a business meeting,” Cain remembers. “So, I don’t feel 

like I dressed for my true self back then. But who really knows who they 

are when they’re 18 or 19 years old?” 

How did she blossom into a woman with bold style? 

“I think I just grew up,” she says. “I developed confidence, and had some 

professional development and success. I came into my own and became 

comfortable being myself. Then I wished I’d done it much sooner. I think 

nobody really knows who they are until they’re in their forties.” 

Cain, who describes herself as a “simple person at heart” and an “old 

soul,” has been deeply molded by family members — including her late 

father’s “fun sense of style.” Heirlooms and traditions passed down from 

relatives who took nothing for granted are cherished — she shares her 

name, Frances Ragan, with her maternal grandmother. 

“At a young age I felt I was a lot like her,” Cain says. “She loved 

family, and she loved old, beautiful things.” 

Cain feels a deep admiration for her “traditionalist” and 

independent grandmother — “a strong woman who worked back 

when a lot of women didn’t work.” 

“She did things the way she wanted to do them,” she says. 

“I think that is a little lost in our society.” 

This confidence extends to Cain’s distinctive 

taste and creative choices, from an ice cream 

cone-decorated dress worn to children’s 

birthday parties and the Kentucky Derby, 

to her pale-yellow-painted home. 

“Something about turning 40 said, 

‘If I’m going to have a yellow house, why 

not now?’” 

How best to summarize her bold, 

timeless approach to life, rooted firmly 

in authenticity and transcending anything 

shallow? Cain shares a quote from an artist 

she admires: 

“When I grow up, I want to be exactly who I am, 

but a bit nicer, stronger, smarter, a little more resilient and 

open-minded. But most of all, I want to be happy.”

alumni stories 

Nine hundred and sixty-two miles 

from the Magic City, alumni are 

making their mark in the Big 

Apple. They are behind the scenes 

of Super Bowl commercials and 

groundbreaking documentaries, 

seeking change through the 

intersection of social causes and 

art, shaping the architecture of 

the future, and breaking into show 

business. Find out what led them 

from the Hilltop to New York City. 

from BSC to NYC 


JACK DOMINICK ’21 

A big part of improvisational comedy is always saying “Yes!” 

Jack Dominick ’21 says it’s all about “taking your scene partner’s 

suggestion, agreeing with it wholeheartedly, and then amplifying it more, seeing 

where it might go. It’s about asking: ‘What is the situation we’re in? Yes — this is 

the situation, and we’re going to keep going.’ 

“As soon as someone says ‘no,’ that’s when it falls flat. For example, if 

there’s a duck on your head, and somebody says, ‘no,’ — well, that just takes 

all the fun out of it.” 

This characteristic of being open to the unexpected and saying, “Yes!” is true 

of Dominick, who decided to move to New York City with his girlfriend Aislinn 

Cain ’21 in September 2021 to pursue a career as an actor and comedian. He 

has most recently been working with The People’s Improv Theater, performing 

improv and sketch comedy, and working behind-the-scenes with technical 

assistance. He has also been working in production assistance for TV and film 

projects around the city. 

Dominick earned a degree in Fine Arts Production and Performance, a 

contracted individualized major, a program at BSC in which students may craft 

their own degree with faculty guidance, through the Krulak Institute. 

“I knew I wanted to be an actor, but I also love creating film as well, and 

working on behind-the-scenes production,” explains Dominick. “My contracted 

degree combined every area of three different majors: film, theatre, and art. 

The opportunity to combine them all together has really served me well this 

first year out of college. I feel prepared for anything. BSC is a place where the 

opportunities are there — you learn, though, that you have to be the one to 

pursue them. That’s so true of life, too.” 

The Hilltop is near and dear to Dominick’s family. His late grandfather, 

Frank McCoy Dominick ’61 served as chair of the Birmingham-Southern 

Board of Trustees. Other family alumni include grandfather, Charles Tyler 

Clark ’62, father, Frank McNamee Dominick ’91, aunts Susan Dominick 

Doughton ’74 and Elizabeth “Betsy” Dominick Pautler ’86, and cousin Sara 

Marie Doughton ’04. 

Dominick says that in acting and most artistic fields, there is a level of selfawareness 

that needs to be cultivated, as well as the art of storytelling. 

“Even in improv, when you’re spontaneously deciding what stories need 

to be told, or how to tell them — part of that is knowing yourself very 

well,” he says. “We had the wonderful opportunity when moving up here 

to connect with another BSC alum, Martin Landry ’07, who helped us to 

find our current apartment. I asked him what he would do if he were in my 

position, having just moved to NYC, with fresh eyes? He said, ‘Make sure 

you know yourself.’” 

That sort of self-awareness, motivation, and resilience are helping Dominick 

carve out a career trajectory that suits his skills, much like he did while at BSC. 

“The comedy scene here has been rebalancing and recalibrating after 

COVID,” he says. “This community has really been a huge resource and help to 

me. What carries you is to treat people with kindness, and to bring people up 

with comedy. It’s far funnier to laugh at something silly as opposed to something 

demeaning. We need comedy more than ever now, especially a refined type of 

comedy — one that’s bringing people up with us, and not tearing people down.”

Meaghan Fulco’s memories of New York City 

begin at around age five. 

“I have very vague memories that are probably just prompted by photos. 

My parents really loved coming to the city. We began visiting more often 

when I was in high school,” she recalls, when her father’s work brought him to 

the city. 

She knew she’d be comfortable in New York and loved what the city 

had to offer. Fulco, a Birmingham native and former international studies 

major, now works at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her time at 

Birmingham-Southern helped tailor her education to her goals. 

“I loved traveling and being exposed to different cultures. When I pursued 

international studies, I had no idea where that could possibly lead. But I’d 

certainly thought about a career in foreign service,” Fulco says. “I loved New 

York City, even back then. My first interim involved coming to New York. My 

goals were focused around getting to New York, and I was fortunate to find a 

career that aligned to my interests.” 

Fulco moved to New York in January 2004. 

“What attracted me to New York at 23 was the idea that the world is right 

outside. That always felt special to me,” Fulco says. 

She still loves living in New York, where she resides with her husband and 

daughter in a fifth-floor walk-up. Her family enjoys rainy-day trips to the 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, picnics with friends in Central Park, and access to 

Broadway shows, though they often visit Birmingham. 

“I love raising a kid here. From the moment she came into the world, her 

world has always been a melting pot,” Fulco says. “She has friends whose 

families are from all over the world, and her viewpoint has always been 

really broad because of where we live.” 

“I love New York for its openness, and I think it can model what our 

country can look like as far as accepting everybody,” she adds. “That’s what 

drew me to New York.” 

I LOVE NEW YORK FOR ITS OPENNESS, 

AND I THINK IT CAN MODEL WHAT OUR 

COUNTRY CAN LOOK LIKE AS FAR AS 

ACCEPTING EVERYBODY. 

Eighteen years later, New York’s vibrancy and the access it offers still 

hold special appeal for Fulco. Catching the ferry to Governors Island is a 

family favorite for weekend jaunts and holiday excursions. 

“It’s a perfect way to spend the day. You’re still in the city, and the views 

are amazing,” she says. “You have this moment where you’re like, ‘Wow, this 

is where I live.’” 

MEAGHAN FULCO ’02 


Originally from the European nation 

of Georgia, Ana Lejava ’14 has long 

been interested in how to combine 

her knowledge of political science and 

social issues with the performing arts. 

After double-majoring in political science and dance at 

BSC, she moved to New York City and became involved 

with Smashworks Dance, a non-profit dance company that 

advocates for women’s empowerment through performance. 

The company was founded by Ashley McQueen, whom Lejava 

met through the dance department at BSC. Lejava became a 

lead advocacy adviser for Smashworks. 

“We developed a program with the Girl Scouts of New 

York to lead confidence-building workshops through dance 

for young girls,” says Lejava. “We have also made sure to use 

the performing arts as a tool for raising awareness of various 

women’s rights and social justice issues. We turned our 

passion for human rights advocacy into a creative adventure.” 

Lejava is currently involved with Smashworks as a 

development board member. 

While living in NYC, Lejava danced with the prominent 

contemporary dance companies José Limón and Jennifer 

Muller, and taught ballet classes. Simultaneously, she worked 

for the mission of Georgia to the U.N. from 2014 to 2016 and 

then as a Young Ambassador of Georgia to the United States 

from 2016 to 2017 at the United Nations Headquarters. 

She says that experiencing the multicultural international 

environment was the highlight of her time in New York. 

Lejava is now pursuing her master’s degree from the 

Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. 

and working as a program assistant at the Institute of Women, 

Peace, and Security at Georgetown. 

“I am proud of staying true to my ambitions and goals 

and pursuing international affairs and a dance career when 

it sometimes seemed impossible,” says Lejava. “BSC had a 

major impact on my professional development. I would say 

that this liberal arts education allowed me to have a more 

holistic approach to solving problems and gave me a creative 

capacity to pursue both dance and international relationsrelated 

fields.” 

WE USE THE PERFORMING ARTS AS 

A TOOL FOR RAISING AWARENESS 

OF VARIOUS WOMEN’S RIGHTS 

AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES. 

WE TURNED OUR PASSION FOR 

HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY INTO A 

CREATIVE ADVENTURE. 

ANA LEJAVA ’14 

40 / ’southern

ERICH 

MCMILLAN- 

MCCALL ’86 

Erich McMillan-McCall has lived in New York 

for 35 years. But that was never his plan. 

He was performing in community theater in Birmingham and working 

with James Hatcher ’43, founding director of Town and Gown Theatre 

and director of 36 Miss Alabama pageants, when he was called to 

Hatcher’s office one day. 

“The gist of the conversation was, ‘You need to leave because there’s 

nothing else for you to do here in Birmingham,’” he remembers. Hatcher 

handed him a thousand-dollar check. Cherry Woods, Hatcher’s assistant, 

gave him a one-way plane ticket to New York City. 

“There were people in my corner who said ‘You need to expand your 

wings. You need to be pushed out of the nest.’ That’s how I ended up in New 

York City.” 

He thought the move would be temporary. 

“I thought if I found a summer job in New York City, that would be 

enough for me,” he says. “But things just aligned. It was almost like the 

universe conspired for me to end up in New York City.” 

Birmingham, and Birmingham-Southern, had prepared him to find where 

he belonged. 

“I was the first person in my family to attend desegregated schools, and 

that gave me a completely different outlook on the world,” he says. His 

grandparents were one of the first Black families to integrate College Hills. 

"In awe," McMillan-McCall passed Birmingham-Southern on his way to 

Wilson Elementary. 

“It seemed like Birmingham-Southern was always a place that I was 

meant to be.” 

He became the only male in the dance program, auditioning despite 

having no ballet training. He gave himself a crash course in ballet by 

reading all the library books he could over a three-day weekend. 

“In five years in that program, I learned a lot about tenacity, and my 

willingness to just be and to be present,” McMillan-McCall says. Ultimately, 

those years taught him how to survive on his own timetable and how to 

navigate New York City — including time as personal assistant to Vogue 

creative director and editor-at-large André Leon Talley. 

“I saw New York City as just another challenge. Doors opened for me where 

they didn’t for others,” he says. “I think it’s always about being in the right place 

at the right time and also being capable of doing what you say you can do.” 

In 2008 he launched Project One Voice, an organization dedicated to 

helping other Black artists gain equity. Over the last ten years, events 

like One Play One Day have created diversity, equity, and inclusion by 

celebrating under-appreciated Black plays and introducing New York 

City’s “dominant producing culture to narratives they claim didn’t exist.” 

“Once you belong in a place, you have equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

I think my life has always been about finding that place where I fully 

belong,” McMillan-McCall says. “As a kid and young college student, it was 

sometimes difficult. So, Birmingham-Southern prepared me in ways that I 

didn’t even think of when I got to New York City.” 


ALEX O’BRIANT ’94 

Architecture as a means of public benefit is a concept that 

inspired Alex O’Briant ’94 while backpacking through Europe, after 

graduating from Birmingham-Southern with a Bachelor of Fine Arts 

in painting and sculpture. Several years later, he decided to pursue 

architecture as a career. 

O’Briant is now a Principal at Ennead Architects, in New York 

City, where he has been working for 20 years. He received a Master 

of Architecture degree from Rice University in 2001, and taught 

architecture there and at Lehigh Unversity. He occasionally hosts 

groups of BSC business students to his office, which he describes as 

“a rather dramatic 40th-floor perch in One World Trade Center with 

lots of enticing views of New York City.” 

His travels through Europe after college were formative. 

“I was in the act of trying to find myself, and I realized how much I 

was interested in physical space, in public space, in cities,” he says. 

Upon his return, O’Briant worked at BSC in the Office of 

Academic Affairs and the Center for Leadership Studies. (In 1999, 

the Center was endowed as the Hess Center for Leadership and 

Support by Ronne and Donald Hess and moved under the umbrella 

of the Krulak Institute.) He used an opportunity to participate in 

an alumni art show at the Durbin Gallery at BSC to build a design 

portfolio, and then applied to architecture school. 

“For me, I really needed that space between college and a career to 

confirm that becoming an architect was what I wanted to do, and to 

figure out how to get it done,” he says. “The notion of being an artist 

just didn’t feel right to me. I wanted to do something that was a little 

bit more collaborative and communal.” 

O’Briant says that his time at BSC, particularly in the Honors 

Program (endowed as the Donald C. Harrison Honors Program 

in 2008), prepared him to thrive in a career that is inherently 

collaborative. 

“My mentors and professors at BSC taught me how to synthesize 

information across a wide array of sources, think critically, and 

communicate well. I carry these skills with me to this day, and they 

serve me in my profession just as much as the ability to draw or 

knowing how to design a building.” 

While he has worked on various types of architecture on 

different scales, O’Briant says the most satisfying for him are 

large, public structures, which he sees as a means of serving local 

and national communities. 

“I figured out early on that building single family houses wasn’t for 

me, because I didn’t really feel like the impact was what I had hoped to 

accomplish with architecture.” 

Projects O’Briant has worked on with Ennead include the 

Natural History Museum of Utah, which the museum website 

describes as “an architectural marvel and a case study in ‘green’ 

design,” the Engineering Education Research Center at the 

University of Texas at Austin, and the new high school for the 

Seoul Foreign School in South Korea. 

“One of the great honors of being an architect is that you have the 

opportunity to shape and impact the lives of thousands of people,” 

says O’Briant. “Because architecture has such a profound impact on 

the communities in which we work, architects have a real duty to be 

very thoughtful about the work they do. I take great pride in that, but I 

also take that responsibility very seriously.” 

The Natural History Museum was a particularly exciting project. 

“We were designing for one of the most important paleontological 

regions on the planet, in a place that is super important to our 

understanding of the Earth’s history,” O’Briant says. “Place is 

such an important aspect of what we do as architects — to design 

buildings that honor their places. Utah is home to one of the most 

geologically rich and beautiful landscapes in America. The mission of 

this institution is to understand that place. That’s a dream scenario 

for an architect. Being able to contribute to that mission, by giving 

researchers and scientists and exhibit designers spaces that help 

them do their best work, is really one of the absolute best things 

about being an architect.” 

42 / ’southern

New York City, a place of dreams, attracts 

talented young people in search of exciting 

new lives or big career steps. 

Matthew Turke, a 2003 BSC graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English 

and a theatre minor, moved to New York in 2010, and his experience there has 

been an exceptionally good one — professionally and personally. 

Working in his dream career of film and video, Turke is executive 

producer at ODD (Office of Development & Design), a Manhattan 

company that creates commercials for clients like Pepsi and Budweiser and 

works on videos and documentaries. 

He and his wife, Hillary Helmling, met through mutual friends in 2005, 

and reconnected in 2012 at a Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS event 

in New York. They were married in Central Park in 2016 — Turke says, “Fun 

fact: our engagement story was considered one of The New York Times’ 

Best Proposals of 2016.” They have a son, Hunter, born in 2018, and a 

daughter, Hattie, born in 2020. 

Turke loves the Big Apple’s ever-present energy and excitement. 

“You step out of your apartment, and you feel the buzz of the city through 

your body from the ground,” he says. “Every second in New York City 

there are millions of people taking billions of steps, there’s a steady flow of 

transportation above ground and underground — subways, taxis, buses — and 

there’s the constant reminders of construction and jackhammers that the city 

is always changing, which makes New York City one big vibrating island.” 

Turke’s path to New York and ODD began when he directed a one-act 

version of a Mark Medoff play at BSC. 

“It was then that I knew I had discovered my passion for directing, creating, 

and producing,” he says. 

He worked in the industry in Los Angeles before relocating to New York. 

ODD’s recent projects include the Budweiser campaign for the 2022 

Major League Baseball All-Star Game, working with director Joseph Kahn to 

recreate pop singer Rick Astley’s famous “Never Gonna Give You Up” music 

video for InsurAAAnce, and a lyric video for the Taylor Swift song, “Look 

What You Made Me Do.” 

ODD produced Pepsi spots to promote the 2022 Super Bowl halftime 

show, which aired during the NFL playoffs and during the Super Bowl Pre- 

Game show, and a Bud Light Zero ad that aired during the first quarter of the 

Super Bowl, an event that Turke calls the “Academy Awards of commercials.” 

“Creating anything for it is exciting, fun, challenging, stressful, and 

terrifying — especially considering the amount of money spent and attention 

received,” Turke says. 

Turke loves the art of commercials, which he calls “30-second films” and 

“a unique challenge in storytelling.” Turke has also worked on acclaimed 

documentaries, including “Icarus,” “Blackfish,” and “Bring Your Own Brigade.” 

“We’re helping tell a story — and, more often than not, one that is 

informative and educational that highlights something that might not 

otherwise be brought to the light of day,” he says. 

YOU STEP OUT OF YOUR APARTMENT, AND 

YOU FEEL THE BUZZ OF THE CITY THROUGH 

YOUR BODY FROM THE GROUND. 

Turke also continues to appreciate that New York “buzz” he mentioned. 

“The energy pulses through you as you commute each morning, ruminates 

within you throughout the workday, and reprises all over again as you step out 

of the office on your way to dinner, or to a bar, or a show, or a concert, or a 

rooftop, or to your home to find the solitude in a small place you call your own 

in the big city.” 

MATTHEW TURKE ’03 


BSC 

COMING 

October 

AND FAMILY WEEKEND 

14-15 

On Oct. 14-15, the campus community welcomed alumni, family, and friends to the 

A Hilltop Celebration for two days of celebration for the and Birmingham-Southern connection. Weekend events included Family 

the Hilltop 

Farmer’s Market, featuring student and alumni vendors, an opening reception for an 

art exhibit by Julie St. John ’11 and Christian Strevy ’10, open houses across campus, 

“The Big Tailgate,” BSC Football vs. Millsaps, and more. BSC also celebrated milestone 

reunions for the classes of 1972, 1982, 1997, and 2012. 

44 / ’southern


46 / ’southern

hoco 

2022 


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50 / ’southern

52 / ’southern

20 

22 

Distinguished 

ALUMNI 

AWARDS 

Birmingham-Southern College honored the 2022 Alumni Award recipients during the festivities of 

Homecoming and Family Weekend. The Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding Young Alumni, and Rising 

Star awards recognize graduates who have achieved outstanding success. The awards were presented 

at the Alumni Awards Brunch on Saturday, Oct. 15, in Bruno Great Hall in Norton Campus Center. 


DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA 

Louise Hall Beard ’71 

20 

22 

Behind every great show and its ensemble of actors, 

directors, and creatives is a great producer, and the lucky ones 

have producers like Tony-Award winning Louise Hall Beard. 

Based in Birmingham, Beard invests in projects from 

Hollywood to Broadway and beyond. She is one of several 

producers of “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” at 

the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London’s West End and left the 

August 2022 opening night delighted. 

“I can’t ever recall being part of something I wasn’t proud 

of and wasn’t happy to be involved in,” she says, “and this is a 

fabulous show.” 

Before her career as a producer for film and stage, 

Beard was always drawn to music. She studied organ at 

Birmingham-Southern before becoming the assistant 

director of music at Independent Presbyterian Church, 

where she is a longtime member and sang and attended 

throughout her childhood. 

“Musical memory was always easy for me,” she says. “If I 

hear music, I know exactly what steps to add onto it. Along 

the way, I just decided I had to learn how to tap dance.” 

Tap dance classes eventually led Beard to open Time Step 

Studio, a tap school with classes for adults and children, all 

while she stayed involved in Birmingham’s thriving music and 

theatre scenes, including roles with Terrific New Theatre and 

Birmingham Festival Theatre. 

Investing in Broadway is a different side of the business 

but one she enjoys just as much as performing. In 2009, she 

founded her production company, SwineStars Productions. 

One of her most frequent collaborators has been 

filmmaker, playwright, and producer Del Shores. Among 

Shores’ films, plays, and comedy specials, Beard co-produced 

“Blues of Willadean,” the film version of Shores’ play “The 

Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife.” Beard 

played small acting roles in both productions. 

In 2013, Beard received a Tony Award for producing “A 

Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.” She has produced 

several other Tony-nominated productions, including “A 

Christmas Story, The Musical” and “Dames at Sea.” In 

London, she received an Oliver Award in 2019 for the revival 

of “Company,” which found its way onto Broadway and won a 

Tony in 2022. 

Beard’s starstruck moments and show business fun 

have always drawn her to this world, from her screen time 

with fellow Alabama native Octavia Spencer in “Blues 

for Willadean” to handing Hugh Jackman a rubber pig – a 

German symbol for good luck and Beard’s signature “calling 

card” – on the Radio City Music Hall stage right after she 

won her Tony. 

“It’s been a wonderful fun thing for me,” she says. “It’s just 

funny how your world becomes smaller in a good way.” 

“I can’t ever recall being 

part of something I wasn’t 

proud of and wasn’t happy 

to be involved in.” 

54 / ’southern

When Jennifer Hatchett talks about YouthServe Inc., she 

begins with the organization’s vision. She starts there because it 

aligns exactly with her own vision for youth as engaged citizens 

leading positive change in their communities. 

“It’s representative of all aspects of what I have come to 

understand about positive social impact in my life in one place,” 

says Hatchett, who has served as the executive director of 

YouthServe since 2013. “Everyone has to have a voice at the 

table, and YouthServe creates the space for that to happen.” 

Hatchett has dedicated her career to service and community, 

tracing back to classes and service learning on the Hilltop. She 

and other students took leftover “caf” food to the early start of 

First Light women’s shelter in the basement of First Presbyterian 

Church, where Hatchett would play cards, hear stories, and get 

to know women experiencing homelessness in the city. 

“It is really my time at Birmingham-Southern that started 

my love for community and service and my understanding of 

community structures that, if you want to get down to root 

causes of issues we experience, you have to learn from the 

ground,” she says. 

Hatchett’s interests in social justice and storytelling 

eventually led her into journalism and public relations. She 

began her career at NBC 13 and then worked in media and PR 

at the Birmingham Museum of Art in a role focused on diversity 

and accessibility of exhibitions and events. 

Hatchett left the museum when she had her first child, which 

intertwined with her growing interest in serving youth. She became 

the director of marketing at Junior Achievement of Alabama and 

was part of the mission to improve financial education for youth in 

the state for eight years before joining YouthServe. 

YouthServe’s model is an unusual one, Hatchett says. While 

many youth-centered nonprofits are focused on providing 

direct service for children from low-income households, 

YouthServe hinges upon a community of young leaders from 

all walks of life, including low-income, middle-income, and 

affluent youth. 

“It is our belief, and my belief, that when diverse groups 

of people get together to work on shared challenges the 

diversity of perspective will always lead to the greatest 

innovation,” Hatchett says. “I also like to remind people 

that every youth regardless of background is at risk of not 

fulfilling the promise of their full potential, in turn affecting 

the potential of the community.” 

YouthServe is a place for youth ages 13 through 18 to learn 

about leadership and community engagement through councils, 

camps, and service days. The programs give youth the resources 

and connections they need to make change, leaving room for 

their own ideas and voices. 

Hatchett shares a story of a student-led “Changemaker” 

group at Carver High School focused on pollution in their 

community. While some environmental pollutants they could 

not control, they could do something about the loss of the 

recycling program. After countless hours of work and research, 

they won two Altec Innovation Challenges and additional 

grant funds to install water chillers at Carver, reestablish the 

school recycling program, which they manage themselves, and 

purchase reusable water bottles. This group of students is one of 

many who match Hatchett’s vision for a world that supports the 

creativity, ambition, and dreams youth hold. 

“The only way to make real change is to go into the 

community and go beyond the surface – that’s something I 

learned at Birmingham-Southern,” Hatchett says. “The biggest 

impact comes when these kids have the opportunity to serve 

together, learn together, and build friendships and social capital 

they will hold long into the future.” 

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA 

Jennifer Hatchett ’95 

20 

22 


DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS 

The Hon. Robert H. Smith ’66 

20 

22 

“Your empathy has 

the greatest impact 

on people.” 

He argued so much and so well, said one of Robert Smith’s 

high school teachers, that he should consider being a lawyer. 

Little did Smith know that his teacher’s observation would 

lead him to spend nearly 50 years as one of Alabama’s most 

distinguished attorneys and judges. 

For both Smith and his brother, Malcolm Glen Smith, Sr. 

’65, who were the first in their family to graduate college, 

Birmingham-Southern was a daunting but formative step in 

their lives. 

“It was all exciting and new, both of us being from Mobile, 

it was a step up in the size of the city,” he says. “Not knowing 

really what I wanted to do, I did know education was going to 

be part of the formula.” 

Smith majored in business administration and economics, two 

of his strongest subjects. He met his future wife, Anne Sisson 

Smith ’67, when they were paired as chemistry lab partners. 

Smith was the business and history buff opposite Anne Smith, 

the science buff who would have a career as an educator. 

After graduating from BSC, Smith earned his J.D. at the 

University of Alabama School of Law and began his 37-year 

career in private practice. His Mobile-based practice focused 

on admiralty and maritime suits while maintaining a diverse 

range of defense work that took Smith across the country. 

Motivated by his desire to change what he saw happening 

in the state government, Smith decided to run for office 

in 2004 when a seat opened on the Supreme Court 

of Alabama. Though he did not win the seat, he loved 

campaigning across Alabama. 

“I got to travel all over Alabama and see people I wouldn’t 

have had any opportunity to meet, and saw little towns and 

courthouse lawyers, and that was very beneficial,” Smith says. 

He decided to run again when a circuit judge seat opened 

in Mobile County. He took the bench in 2006 as 13th 

Judicial Circuit Court Judge. Smith spent 12 years on the 

bench in both civil and criminal trials. 

The criminal cases Smith saw often revealed injustice, 

and his position allowed him to address these injustices on a 

case-by-case basis and on a larger scale. During his time on 

the bench, he was involved in reform for the Alabama prison 

system, including rehabilitation projects and fair sentencing 

protocols, that are still ongoing and continue to need 

improvement, he says. 

Now retired, Smith maintains his lifelong love for history – 

reading constitutional history among his other favorite genres 

– and remains proud of his work, and hopeful for the great 

lawyers and judges who want to create change through law. 

Smith’s experiences on the bench and his own past taught 

him an important lesson, he says: 

“Your empathy has the greatest impact on people.” 

56 / ’southern

As Jennifer Lee Commander recounts her life 

between college, law school, and her career as an 

attorney, Birmingham-Southern always finds a way 

into the story. She has learned that alumni are quick 

to support each other when they recognize their BSC 

connections – a thoughtful and encouraging quality she 

saw on the Hilltop as soon as she arrived. 

“Birmingham-Southern showed me that I could come 

here and be an athlete, get involved in Greek life, excel in 

academics, and still be very successful, and they would 

support me along the way in every endeavor I pursued,” 

Commander says. 

Commander played golf all four years at BSC while 

double majoring in English and Spanish and staying 

involved in other student activities. She knew early on 

as a student that she wanted to go to law school, leading 

her to earn her J.D. from Washington & Lee University 

School of Law. 

Upon graduation from law school Commander made an 

important BSC connection in Andy Robison ’99, partner 

at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, who introduced 

Commander to the firm where she spent six years as an 

attorney. At Bradley, she also met Denson D.N. Franklin 

III ’85, and Franklin became an important mentor for 

Commander early in her career. Now, they work together 

at Vulcan Materials, Commander as attorney and 

assistant corporate secretary, and Franklin as senior vice 

president and general counsel. 

“I didn’t overlap with Andy or D. at Birmingham- 

Southern, but they are examples of why alums think 

BSC is a very special place,” she says. “I don’t think I 

appreciated until I was in law school just how much BSC 

meant to alums and how much they would go to bat for 

fellow alums.” 

In her 10 years since leaving the Hilltop, Commander 

has been a leader in her field and community. She served 

as editor-in-chief of the Washington & Lee Law Review, 

graduated at the top of her class, served as the president 

of the Young Alumni Council at BSC, and has excelled in 

her role as an attorney. 

Above everything else, however, is her proudest 

accomplishment – when she and her husband, Keith Gray 

’10, adopted their son, Avi (known as “V”), in 2021. She 

sees BSC as a part of that story, too. 

“In a lot of ways, it goes back to a conversation at the 

fountain outside of Norton that still stands today, when 

I told Keith that I knew I felt called to adopt someday,” 

Commander says. “V is the most resilient person I know, 

and we’re so proud to be his parents.” 

“I don’t think I appreciated 

until I was in law school 

just how much BSC meant 

to alums and how much 

they would go to bat for 

fellow alums.” 

OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNA 

Jennifer Lee Commander ’12 

20 

22 


OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNA 

Dr. Susan Chesley Fant ’09 

20 

22 

Dr. Susan Chesley Fant built her career around 

blending disciplines. Her research and teaching 

background, her marketing consulting work, and her 

entrepreneurial spirit all work together in her innovative 

and community-building business practices. 

“I really believe that creating a business is about creating 

positive change in the world,” Fant says. “You can solve 

problems by creating a business or nonprofit organization and 

using that as your voice.” 

Fant’s most recent venture, with cofounder and friend 

in the industry Laura Cabaniss, is eMarketing Director. 

For Fant, the company represents the direct application 

of her recent doctoral research on adult social and 

emotional learning for authentic leadership development, 

and a culmination of her work in marketing. 

“eMarketing Director is a learning and developing 

company,” she says. “It’s going to focus on helping 

entrepreneurs with marketing, leadership development, and 

working through the anxieties that running a business can 

bring people.” 

Fant earned her Ed.D. from the University of Southern 

California and studied organizational change and leadership. 

Stemming from her 10-plus years working in marketing and 

higher education, Fant examined promising practices across 

the United States of how social and emotional learning 

can positively influence authentic leadership development 

alongside the growing anxiety of current college students. 

She is now creating resources for professionals facing 

similar anxieties of growing a business. 

“As a person and an academic, I view social media both 

positively and negatively, but I hope to help people find the 

positive in marketing themselves and their business and 

utilize the positive to make change,” she says. 

In addition to her doctoral research, which she 

completed in August, Fant brings a wealth of experience 

in marketing to every project. She previously created the 

digital and social media marketing specialization for the 

University of Alabama’s Master of Science in Marketing 

program. Currently, she leads research in global and 

entrepreneurial foresight as the executive director of the 

Foresight Education and Research Network, and maintains 

marketing-and publishing-focused consulting businesses 

— one influential project is the University of Minnesota’s 

The Mono Project, which is developing the first vaccine to 

prevent Epstein-Barr Virus. 

Fant’s impact through teaching, research, and marketing 

all goes back to blending disciplines, which she learned to 

embrace as a Birmingham-Southern student. She was a 

business major, member of Zeta Tau Alpha, and editor of 

the Hilltop News – one of the few non-English majors to hold 

the position. She praises Dr. Byron Chew, professor emeritus 

of management, for his guidance throughout her four years of 

business education. She learned to “see the art and science of 

business” and focused on the ways good businesses improve the 

world and the future. 

With so many accomplishments behind her, Fant says that her 

proudest moments are in the classroom with her students, as a 

TA for Chew, in her eight years at the University of Alabama, and 

now by creating a classroom of her own with eMarketing Director. 

Teaching allows her to help people through her expertise, a 

common thread linking her projects to one mission. 

“Teaching is the opportunity to take what I know as a 

professional and academic and work with people to understand 

how to grow their businesses or organizations,” she says. “It’s all 

about helping people utilize real marketing tools while finding 

a balance in the process, so they can enjoy both their work and 

their life while reaching their goals.” 

58 / ’southern

RISING STAR 

Denzel Okinedo ’16 

20 

22 

Before Denzel Okinedo joined Burr & Forman as an 

attorney — and before he became Birmingham-Southern’s 

Young Alumni Council President and a member of the Board 

of Trustees — he was a leader in both his undergraduate and 

law school classes as a two-time SGA president. Backtrack 

a little further, and he was a biology-turned-political science 

major discovering his true passions as a student. 

Okinedo’s journey as a student, leader, and attorney is what 

motivates him now — to give back, bring people together, 

and support education. He often articulated these goals as 

Southern Ambassador in the Office of Admission, where he 

began to realize his BSC story is less about the reason he 

chose the College and more about the reasons he stayed. 

Initially a biology major, Okinedo’s goal was to go into the 

medical field and follow the footsteps of his father, whose 

career as a physician moved his family from Nigeria to the 

United States. Okinedo soon uncovered his own passion for 

political science with guidance from BSC faculty and staff, 

including Denson N. Franklin Professor of Religion Dr. Amy 

Cottrill and President Emeritus Gen. Charles Krulak. 

Okinedo aimed to live a life of significance — a BSC 

quality instilled by Krulak — by doing his best to help the 

people around him and make the world a better place. 

Okinedo quickly took on “any opportunity that allowed me 

to give back” and became involved in SGA, serving as SGA 

President his senior year, and was an active leader in student 

activities and religious life. 

“Being able to bring people together was what I liked to 

do,” he says. “There’s an opportunity for people to come 

together on common ground. I learned a lot about myself 

and my peers. It allowed me to foster a sense of community.” 

After graduating from BSC, Okinedo earned his J.D. 

from Cumberland School of Law and soon began his law 

career at Burr and Forman, where he worked as a pre-law 

and law clerk since his junior year of undergrad. He started 

in litigation but has now transitioned his focus to workforce 

development and economic opportunities, an area that has allowed 

him to keep learning about community impact. 

“It allows me to understand more about what’s happening in the 

state, county, and city and help people find ways to benefit,” he says. 

Okinedo is always looking forward, and influencing the future 

is an important part of his community involvement. He worked 

on Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin’s campaign, inspired by 

Woodfin’s goals for the city, and Okinedo supports the education of 

future generations as a trustee for both BSC and Randolph School 

in Huntsville. 

“Those roles give me the opportunity to have a voice in the ways 

we can build community through education,” he says. “I look back 

sometimes and think that if my dad had decided to do something 

else, I would have a completely different life. Education is the key 

and the door that can change a life. That happened for my family, 

and I think it can happen for a lot of people.” 

“Education is the key and 

the door that can change a 

life. That happened for my 

family, and I think it can 

happen for a lot of people.” 


giving to BSC 

ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP PROVIDES 

OPPORTUNITY, PATH TO MEDICAL CAREER 

“There’s a lot of variety in what I do 

each day, which I love,” says Dr. Natalie 

Ausborn Lockney ’09, a radiation 

oncologist at Vanderbilt University 

Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. 

“I spend time seeing my patients; I teach 

residents and medical students; and then 

I spend time actually designing patients’ 

treatment plans, which is very technical 

and hands-on.” 

Lockney graduated summa cum laude 

from Birmingham-Southern College 

with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. 

She was able to attend BSC thanks to a 

scholarship endowed by Charles Hugh 

Hudgins ’62 in 1989. Every year since 

graduation, Lockney has contributed to 

the College. Hudgins and Lockney are 

members of the Ginkgo Society, which 

is an exclusive designation that honors 

alumni who have given five years or 

more consecutively to the College. 

“I relied on scholarship and financial 

aid to attend Birmingham-Southern,” 

Lockney says. “I try to continually give. Birmingham-Southern had 

a huge impact on me, preparing me for what I decided I wanted to 

do and where I am today. A thousand times over, I would choose 

to go to Birmingham-Southern again. I wouldn’t have changed that 

experience for anything.” 

Lockney earned her medical degree from Vanderbilt University 

School of Medicine, and now is an assistant professor and 

residency program director in the Department of Radiation 

Oncology. She specializes in the treatment of patients with 

malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract, head, and neck. She says 

that her broad liberal-arts education prepared her for a career that 

incorporates a variety of skills. 

“There is a lot of anatomy involved in what I do,” she says. “We 

have to know how to position the patients in a certain way, and then 

we actually draw with our own hands using software to target the 

tumor and indicate where the normal critical organs are, so that we 

can make sure not to go above certain radiation dose thresholds for 

those organs, in order to minimize toxicity.” 

Physics and technology are also involved. 

“I obviously received a strong background of physics at 

Birmingham-Southern, as well. We treat patients with linear 

accelerators to deliver therapeutic X-rays. We’re also trained to 

delivery proton therapy, brachytherapy, and some radioactive 

isotopes. It definitely helps to have a strong background in a range 

of sciences.” 

Lockney became interested in oncology during her time at BSC. 

“I did a research elective focused on cancercell 

biology in Dr. Gretchen Repasky’s lab” she 

says. “I entered medical school not totally sure 

about what I wanted to do, but then did some 

additional shadowing and research experiences 

in the field, and just kept coming back to that. 

I also really love the patient population.” 

Lockney trained in radiation oncology 

at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 

in New York City, and then worked as an 

assistant professor at the University of 

Florida in Gainesville. 

“Working within oncology, I get to interact 

with patients and their families at a difficult 

time in their lives, and it’s just a very special 

experience,” she says. “I was drawn to those 

patients, and I was also interested in the 

technological aspects of radiation oncology, as 

opposed to medical oncology. It’s the perfect 

fit for me, in terms of integrating what I like 

about patient care, technology, and science.” 

Lockney says it takes a lot of different 

experiences and training for someone to be a 

good doctor. 

“I think having physicians who are well-rounded, being trained in 

a liberal-arts background can really help them to better care for their 

patients. I’m so grateful for all my professors and mentors at BSC.” 

A HALF-CENTURY 

OF GIVING BACK 

Charles Hudgins ’62 graduated from Birmingham-Southern 

College summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics, 

before attending the University of Virginia as a Thomas 

Jefferson Fellow, receiving his master’s degree in economics in 

1963. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was featured 

in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. Hudgins 

had a long, successful career in data processing and technology 

communications, and was on faculty at the University of Virginia 

and at the University of California San Diego. He passed away 

on Aug. 23, 2022, in San Diego, Calif. 

60 / ’southern

CLEARY ENDOWED FUNDS 

SUPPORT PRE-LAW, ECONOMICS STUDENTS 

“Establishing new businesses was 

how my dad expressed his creativity,” 

says Dr. Johanna Cleary of her late 

father, James R. Cleary ’48, who helped 

to launch a construction company, a 

television station, a newspaper, a bank, 

and a savings and loan in Huntsville. 

Before stepping into his varied 

career path, Cleary earned a Bachelor 

of Science degree with a double major 

in economics and history at BSC, then 

earned a law degree from Northwestern 

Law School in 1951. Cleary practiced law 

in Huntsville for 56 years and served on 

the BSC Board of Trustees from 1969 to 

1981. He passed away in 2010. 

In 2021, to honor his legacy, his wife, 

Voncille James Cleary, and daughters 

Johanna and Susan Cleary Sommers 

established two endowed funds at 

Birmingham-Southern. The James R. 

Cleary Endowed Support Fund in 

Pre-Law Studies provides advisor 

support for the pre-law studies program. The James R. Cleary 

Endowed Honors Day Award in Economics is presented to an 

outstanding economics student. The first award was presented in 

May to Kobe Lewis Martin ’22, a summa cum laude graduate now 

Hudgins established The Hudgins Endowed Scholarship 

to provide, as he called them, “enablement awards,” since his 

attendance was enabled by the financial aid he received. He 

was a donor to the school for 58 consecutive years, making 

him the longest Ginkgo Society giver. 

Hudgins reflected on his days at BSC as the happiest and 

most rewarding of his life, and it was his desire that the funds 

he provided, both during his lifetime and through a generous 

testamentary gift, bolster the education of countless 

individuals who might not otherwise be able to attend BSC. 

For information about creating a lasting legacy on the 

Hilltop, or if you have already included BSC in your longterm 

plans, please email plannedgiving@bsc.edu or call 

(205) 226-4909. 

working as an analyst for Goldman Sachs in 

Salt Lake City. 

“My father really set the standard for 

us by how he lived his life,” says Johanna 

Cleary, who described her father as quiet 

and industrious, with a great sense of 

humor. “He worked harder than almost 

anyone I have ever known, along with my 

mother. I once asked my father why he was 

involved in setting up so many businesses 

in Huntsville, and he said he guessed he just 

saw opportunities for the city.” 

Cleary was born to Bertie Jones Cleary and 

Bereman Leroy Cleary in Springville, Ala., in 

1926. The first person in his family to attend 

college, his studies in economics inspired and 

shaped many of his entrepreneurial activities. 

“Birmingham-Southern College opened 

the possibilities for a bigger life for my dad. I 

think he would have been a successful person 

without the opportunity to go to college, but 

BSC made his horizons so much broader,” 

says Johanna Cleary. “His experience at BSC 

gave him a much broader perspective on how things work and gave 

him the context and knowledge to pursue his professional dreams. My 

mom, my sister, and I thought that an award to honor outstanding 

economics students and a fund to help the pre-law program would 

really reflect the opportunities that BSC provided to him.” 

She credits her father with inspiring her own interests — he 

even helped her to earn a Federal Communications Commission 

license at age 14. She earned degrees in journalism and mass 

communication from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. from 

the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and worked for 

Alabama Public Television for 16 years. Now an associate professor 

emeritus at the University of Florida, she lives in Gainesville, Fla. 

Voncille Cleary, a homemaker for much of her marriage to James 

Cleary, was the first registered dietitian at Huntsville Hospital and 

Fox Army Hospital in Huntsville. Susan Cleary Sommers, like her 

father, worked in banking and enjoys studying 18th century history 

and needlework. 

“We are honored to have the opportunity to support the great 

work that Birmingham-Southern College does,” says Johanna Cleary. 

“This is an important school with a long history of touching and 

improving lives. As a family, we believe in the power of education 

and its ability to shape lives and lead to a better future.” 


PAYING IT FORWARD 

Karen McKoy ’71 

When dermatologist Dr. Karen McKoy ’71 met her husband, he 

was working as a gastroenterologist at Cambridge Hospital in Boston. 

“I joke that I do the outside, and he does the inside,” she says. 

The couple soon discovered that they shared a deep desire to 

serve others in their professional and civic capacities, and both have 

taught and mentored students throughout their careers. In 2021, 

they founded the Karen C. McKoy and Paul B. Lesser Endowed 

Scholarship in the Health Sciences at Birmingham-Southern 

College. The scholarship is designated for students who would like 

to go into healthcare-related fields, especially under-represented 

first-generation or minority students. McKoy attended BSC on a merit 

scholarship. Her volunteer efforts over the years include working on 

Project HOPE, a U.S. Navy hospital ship that provided relief after the 

2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami disaster, and participating 

in the MAVEN Project (Medical Alumni Volunteer Expert Network) 

through teledermatology. 

McKoy earned a degree in chemistry from Birmingham- 

Southern, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi, and her M.D. 

from the UAB School of Medicine. During an internship at 

Yale University, she decided to pursue dermatology as a subspecialty. 

She then earned a Master of Public Heath degree from 

the Harvard School of Public Health in 2006. She worked as a 

dermatologist for 40 years at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center 

in Boston before retiring. 

“I never went back to practice in Alabama, but there is a dearth 

of healthcare professionals there,” she says. “The scholarship is 

another way to give back to the state of Alabama, not only to 

Birmingham-Southern, because I also received a state-funded merit 

scholarship for medical school.” 

Her graduating class of 1971 recently celebrated its 50th reunion 

and established The Class of 1971 Endowed Scholarship Hilltop 

Tribute, to which McKoy has also contributed. 

McKoy says that she was drawn to dermatology as a sub-specialty 

of medicine because of how it’s practiced. “It’s not emergency-room 

medicine,” she says. “You have a lot of time to think about what is 

happening with a patient. You can serve all ages of patients, from 

newborn to geriatric, and all sorts of diseases which are related to 

internal medicine in terms of showing signs of internal disease. I’m 

a visual learner. I like to see what’s going on, rather than listening 

through a stethoscope and trying to guess what’s going on.” 

She recalls her years at Birmingham-Southern as being very 

influential in terms of the civic mindset that she and Lesser 

continue to embody. 

“I feel that I’ve been given a good chance to do what I’ve wanted 

to do in life, and Birmingham-Southern was a huge part of that.” 

62 / ’southern

A HILLTOP TRIBUTE 

REMEMBERING DIANE MCNARON 

Diane McNaron was a force of nature. I first met her in early 2003. At the 

time I was organizing a local event for The Lysistrata Project, a world-wide 

project of planned staged readings of Lysistrata on 03/03/03 to protest 

the war in Iraq. She called me to volunteer to play the statue at the end of 

the show – a singing role. Until then I was unfamiliar with her but gladly 

accepted her offer, this being a community-based project. Since it was a 

comedy, I figured it wouldn’t matter how good the song was! 

A little research revealed how lucky I was to have such a professional artist 

volunteer her talents for the show. I soon became very familiar with her 

musical talent and passion for social justice and community-building. Thus 

began almost 20 years of performing and protest, collaboration and conflict, 

together as we, along with fellow founder Andrew Duxbury, began the 

journey that became Politically Incorrect Cabaret. 

Aside from her vast talents as a performer and teacher, a tireless and 

fearless supporter of social justice, a devoted follower of true cabaret, Diane 

was, I think, most gifted at bringing people together for the cause of the 

common good. She was intentionally inclusive always, and respectful of 

talent, if not always of time. She never met an envelope whose edge she 

wouldn’t push. Outrage was her comfort zone. 

A loyal supporter of longtime collaborators, Diane was also always 

embracing new talent and expanding her circle of influence. Offbeat only 

in her friendships, never her musical performance, she taught us all a deep 

respect for the true purpose of cabaret as political commentary as well as 

performance – the more outrageous the better. Diane was not satisfied with 

only entertaining her audiences – she was committed to educating them. 

From that first meeting for the Lysistrata project, Diane brought me and 

Andrew into her circle of artists, protesters, and good folk. I became familiar 

with potluck dinners for Birmingham Peace Project, Doctors Without 

Borders, the Birmingham Improv Festival, and the amazing community of 

avant-garde artists that she supported and built. 

She was difficult and daring, relentless, opinionated, and she certainly 

persevered. She showed me that a show could happen anywhere – from a 

pier in Biloxi, to a corner of a coffee shop, an abandoned factory, a roadside 

stand, and even a stage every now and then. There never was anyone like her, 

and I daresay I shall never meet another. I am so very grateful to have been 

part of her circle and will miss her. 

Birmingham-Southern should take particular pride in having been part of 

the incredible, exemplary, and accomplished life of Diane McNaron and, as 

a fellow alum, I feel honored to have been a small part of it. She truly lived 

the life of informed inquiry and meaningful service that BSC aspires to in 

its mission statement. I hear her in the current motto – Forward, Ever – and 

hope to find a way to follow without the bright light of her shining example. 

Ellise Pruitt Mayor MPPM ’11 is 

a Birmingham actor and director 

and a teaching artist in the UAB 

Arts in Medicine program. She 

began teaching creative dramatics at 

the Birmingham-Southern College 

Conservatory in 1997. 

Photo by Kim Riegel 

DIANE ROEBUCK MCNARON ’70 

Diane Roebuck McNaron of Birmingham passed 

away on Feb. 20, 2022. McNaron studied voice at 

BSC and earned master’s degrees in stage direction 

from FSU and IU. 

A prominent singer in the operatic tradition, she 

studied under famous teachers, held academic posts, and 

performed as a soprano across the U.S. and abroad. 

In 1988, McNaron retired from academic life and 

returned to Birmingham, where she embarked on a career 

as a voice coach, performer, and director of jazz, art song, 

and cabaret material. She formed Masters’ Cabaret in 

1998 and launched her critically acclaimed Politically 

Incorrect Cabaret, a staple of the Birmingham arts scene, 

in 2004. She also recorded two CDs: “Music in Flight” 

(2000) and “Rosas de Pulpa, Rosas de Cal” (2011). 

McNaron was known for combining her musical 

endeavors with human rights activism and was an 

accomplished painter – her portrait of tenor Michael 

Ballam as Rodolpho in “La Boheme” still hangs in the Utah 

Festival Opera’s Museum.

lifelong learner 

Suzanne Montgomery ’86 

Suzanne Montgomery graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of 

Science in Elementary Education, but her experience on the Hilltop 

was just the beginning. 

“I’ve always been a lifelong learner,” she says. “I’ve been a sponge for 

things that interest me, particularly artistic subjects.” 

After graduation, Montgomery taught third grade and art classes 

at Pinson’s Kermit Johnson Elementary. In 1990, in search of new 

experiences, Montgomery moved to the intellectual hotbed of Boston. 

She became assistant to the director of environmental medicine at the 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first in a series of jobs that 

exposed her to cutting-edge scientific research. 

In 1992, Montgomery became laboratory administrator for the 

Center for Blood Research at Harvard Medical School and, in 1999, 

laboratory administrator for Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute. 

Throughout the years, Montgomery took classes and workshops and 

attended lectures, exhibitions, and concerts, while her professional life 

I’ve been a sponge for things that interest 

me, particularly artistic subjects. 

allowed her to pursue both her passion for making visual art and a 

strong interest in science. 

In addition, Montgomery began taking classes and learning new 

methods at Harvard University’s ceramics studio. 

In 2005, she moved back to 

Birmingham, where she served as director 

of the Samford after Sundown program, 

which offered non-credit courses. 

In 2014, Montgomery returned to Boston to work as administrative 

lab manager at Harvard’s Department of Molecular and Cellular 

Biology and the Center for Brain Science (CBS), where researchers are 

“trying to map the human brain.” 

Montgomery says her laboratory positions have been “tremendously 

rewarding and exciting.” 

Though she lacks scientific training, Montgomery makes positive 

contributions to research efforts using her administrative and planning 

skills, writing and editing abilities, and attention to detail. 

“I share myself – my talents, my strengths, and, I guess, a bit of my 

confidence – in helping them stay on track,” she says. 

Montgomery also nurtures her interest in science by watching 

documentaries and “learning about the people doing research about 

our world and the solar system, about things way beyond us.” 

Montgomery says there is an important similarity between art and 

science: “Scientists have to be creative in the way they think, or they 

won’t be good scientists.” 

Montgomery continues to take art classes at Harvard and has 

created thousands of pieces, including pottery, jewelry, prints, and 

marbleized paper and fabric. 

The cellular images she sees at the lab have greatly influenced her 

art. Her ceramic pieces feature “asymmetrical carving” and are rarely 

standard shapes, such as squares or rectangles. 

“It’s very random,” she says. “It’s just a flow, like cells.” 

64 / ’southern

Stay in 

TOUCH! 

Keep up with news from the Hilltop – and let 

us know what’s happening with you. 

THE BSC BLOG 

At blog.bsc.edu, you’ll find stories about 

alumni, student life, faculty achievements, 

and upcoming events. 

CLASS NOTES 

Monthly updates about BSC alumni and 

friends of the College are now online at 

blog.bsc.edu. 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! 

@birminghamsouthern 

@bscalums 

@birminghamsouthern 

@bsc_alumni 

FIVE EASY WAYS TO ENGAGE 

1. Update your contact information 

at bsc.edu/alumni to provide a current 

address, phone, or email, share your current 

employment information, or notify us of a 

name change. 

2. Submit a Class Note, news of career 

updates, weddings, births, and other life events 

at bsc.edu/alumni. 

3. Honor a classmate. Nominate a graduate 

for the Distinguished Alumni Award or 

the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. 

Nominations are made online beginning in 

January at bsc.edu/alumni. 

4. Send us a future BSC student. Email our 

Admissions staff at admissions@bsc.edu with 

the names of the best students you know. 

5. Help us tell BSC stories during the Year of 

the Ginkgo. Tell us about alumni, faculty, staff, 

or students who embody each of the words 

of the year – purpose, connection, resilience, 

caring, creativity, leadership, tenacity, and 

confidence. Who in your BSC circle exemplifies 

purpose? Who has shown tenacity or resilience 

in the face of challenge or has excelled as 

a leader? Who keeps you connected to 

the Hilltop, or demonstrates creativity or 

confidence? Who is living a life that shows 

caring for others? Email us at alumni@bsc.edu. 

Jack Dominick ’21, featured in Alumni Stories beginning on 

page 37, returned to campus to reprise his role as Dr. Herman 

von German. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 

2020, Dominick’s Herman von German character helped the BSC 

communications department educate students, faculty, and staff on 

health tips and protocols. In fall 2022, he returned to share fun facts 

about the ginkgo tree. Scan the QR code with your smartphone to 

watch his latest video. A special thank you to Logan Lowery ’22 and 

Adam Martin, a BSC senior, who collaborated with Dominick on the 

catchy theme song.

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EFFORT TO SECURE BSC’S FUTURE.

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