Media Advisory — UA’s Spring Commencement Exercises

Friday, May 17, 2002, Coleman Coliseum

• Morning Ceremony — 9 a.m.
• Afternoon Ceremony — 1 p.m.
• Law School Ceremony — 5 p.m.

CEREMONIES

Morning Ceremony — (bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees): The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, and the colleges of Communication and Information Sciences, Education, and Nursing.

Afternoon Ceremony — (bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist, Ph.D. and Ed.D. degrees): colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Human Environmental Sciences, and the School of Social Work.

SPEAKERS

Main — Dr. Andrew Sorensen, President, The University of Alabama

This will be Sorensen’s last public speech as UA president. Sorensen, who has served as the Capstone’s president since 1996, was recently named president of the University of South Carolina and will assume that position in July. Sorensen will speak at both the 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. ceremonies.

Law — David Ellwanger, President, Center for American and International Law

A 1962 alumnus of the UA Law School, Ellwanger heads a center that is dedicated to the continuing education of lawyers and law enforcement officials across the United States and throughout the world. Previously, he served as assistant attorney general for the state of Alabama, in the Office of Economic Opportunity Legal Services Program in Washington D.C. and as executive director of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and CEO of the State Bar of California.
AWARDS (9 a.m. Ceremony Only)

Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters: Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Gates is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, where he is also chair of Afro-American studies and director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research. An influential cultural critic, Gates is the author of “Colored People: A Memoir,” which traces his childhood experiences in a small West Virginia town in the 1950s and 1960s; “The Future of the Race,” co-authored with Cornel West; and a 1994 cover story for Time magazine on the new black Renaissance in art, as well as numerous articles for The New Yorker.

Hugo S. Black Award: The Honorable Frank M. Johnson Jr. (Posthumous)

Johnson, who died in 1999, is remembered for his historic contributions to civil rights issues of the last century while a U.S. District Court justice. Following the Montgomery bus boycott, Johnson ruled against segregated city buses. In later actions, he was the first judge to order names of qualified African Americans added to county voting rolls, and he wrote the first statewide school desegregation decree. Also, he outlawed discrimination in Alabama’s libraries, transportation centers and agricultural extension service, and ordered voting registrars to apply consistent standards. The Black Award, named in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice and UA alumnus Hugo Black, recognizes distinguished service to the people of Alabama and the nation and is the highest award given by the University.

NOTEWORTHY/INSPIRING GRADUATES

Sarah Nordlund: Pelham Native Makes Beautiful Music

Sarah Nordlund of Pelham entered the University at age 15 to further her violin studies. She’s graduating at age 19 and has been awarded all three major music awards the University offers — the Wilbur Rowand Award from the UA chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda; the Henry Barrett Memorial Outstanding Senior Award from the faculty; and the Presser Scholarship given by the Presser Foundation and awarded by the president of the University. Nordlund will continue her music education in the fall by starting two years at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She says her academic work has taken priority at UA, and she is looking forward to a continued focus on her music. According to her advisor, Professor Patrick Rafferty, Nordlund has been outstanding in every aspect of academic life while at UA. Look for her on the national circuit in the next few years. She’s just that good.

Contact: Sarah Nordlund, 205/980-8170.
Faculty contact: Patrick Rafferty, School of Music, 205/248-1479 or 205/752-4433 (home).

Tyler Watts and Travis Stinnett: Earn Degrees with Time Left On the Clock

Both Tide quarterback Tyler Watts and basketball player Travis Stinnett will receive their college degrees May 17 and return this fall to play in their respective sports.

UA Contact: Karin Lee, 348-6618 or klee@ia.ua.edu.

Misty Samya: “It at first you don’t succeed …”

After high school graduation, Misty’s future looked bright with an athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. However, things turned grim for the Walker County native when she lost her scholarship due to failing grades and had to drop out of college. For the next 10 years, she worked odd jobs and attended college classes sporadically. After saving money, she came to UA and earned her bachelor’s degree in social work and now will receive her master’s in social work with honors. During this time, she also became a foster parent of a special needs child. Her plans are to either attend law school or pursue a doctorate in social work.

Contact: Misty Samya, 750-0298 (home) or mistyzbamachic@aol.com.
Faculty contact: Dr. Hobson Bryan, 348-1950 or hbryan@bama.ua.edu.

Matthew Howells: Peace Corps Service Now, Graduate Studies Later

First there’s graduation, but on June 3, UA University Honors Program graduate Matthew Howells and his wife, Michele Hyde, will depart for Cameroon, Africa, for 27 months in the Peace Corps where they will teach English and AIDS Education classes to high school or university students. Howells came to UA in the fall of 2000 to pursue a math major. Just last fall, he founded the undergraduate math club and served as its first president. It’s an effort he’s proud of because he wants math to be fun for everyone. Upon return from Africa, Howells plans to pursue his master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics.

Contact: Matthew Howells (May 13 and after), 205/758-7101.

Anne Marie LeBlanc: Living with Sea Turtles

Two days after walking across the Coleman Coliseum floor to accept her diploma, Anne Marie LeBlanc will head to Blackbeard Island, Ga., where she will adopt the nocturnal life of a loggerhead sea turtle. LeBlanc, a Tuscaloosa native and a student in UA’s Honors Program, starts her graduate studies at Georgia Southern University by beginning her research on the island off the coast of Savannah. LeBlanc, who will earn her UA degree in biology, has already spent one summer in Sarasota County, Fla., attempting to make life better for the threatened species. All sea turtles are endangered, except the loggerhead, which is threatened, LeBlanc says. Through researching her flippered friends — which entails following the turtles from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. daily — LeBlanc and other researchers hope to improve the species’ outlook.

Contact: Anne Marie LeBlanc, 205/553-2984.

Kakie Cook: Living in New York, Post 9-11

UA fashion retailing major Kakie Cook moved to New York City on Oct. 21 to complete an internship in the fashion industry. Here is how she described that experience, coming so soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. “It was a definite eye opening, terrifying, shocking, heartbreaking and emotional experience. It was really hard for a lot of the people that I talked to in the fashion industry to continue working after all of this because they felt like they were doing something so worthless and without any meaning.

No one wanted to worry about fashion when our country and friends and families were going through a crisis; it just seemed so superficial. This tragic event hit home for these people-literally, and it really hit home for me when I experienced the after effects living in the city for an extended period of time and observing the slow, but definite, healing process of the city, the people, and the actual World Trader Center site.”

Contact: Kakie Cook, kakie@peoplepc.com.
Faculty Contact: Dr. Brecca Farr, 205/348-8140 or brecca.farr@ua.edu.

Gus McMurray: Student Becomes the Teacher

Paul Augustus “Gus” McMurray Jr., a UA Honors Program student and candidate for graduation, has been accepted into the Master’s of Accounting, Tax Counseling Program at the University of Virginia. McMurray, an accounting major at UA, won a competitive assistantship position and, in addition to his studies, will teach two classes of sophomore accounting at the University of Virginia. After earning his master’s degree, this Roanoke native has plans of earning a CPA and then heading to law school.

Contact: Gus McMurray, 334/863-0145 (cell).

For more information on these graduates or to set up interviews, contact Suzanne Dowling at 205/348-8324, sdowling@ur.ua.edu or Chris Bryant at 205/348-8323, cbryant@ur.ua.edu.