New Alumni Scholarships Awarded to Some 300 UA Students, Including Grandson of Grad Who Waited 50 Years for Diploma

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Andalusia’s Ryan Mitchell is one of nearly 300 University of Alabama students participating in the first year of a new scholarship program based, in part, on a parent or grandparent’s graduation from UA.

And Mitchell, a pre-med student, is confident he will receive his UA diploma more quickly than did his grandfather, who graduated with honors in 1951, but received his diploma 50 years later.

UA’s National Alumni Association has awarded the new Alumni Heritage Scholarships to 278 students, including Mitchell, who are enrolled as freshmen this semester, according to Pat Whetstone, director of UA’s alumni affairs. The new scholarships provide 10 percent of the cost of tuition to incoming freshmen who have at least one parent or grandparent who earned a degree from UA and who have been an active member of the National Alumni Association for three of the last five years.

“The new scholarship program our executive board voted to establish has been popular,” Whetstone said. The Board wanted to send a clear signal that we want our graduates’ children and grandchildren to look at The University of Alabama first. I expect the program will grow in popularity in coming years.”

The program is already quite popular with Mitchell’s grandfather, John Hill, not only because it added another scholarship to his grandson’s lengthy list of academic awards, but also because the program led to him finally obtaining the sheepskin he earned five decades ago.

Hill said he had always considered himself a graduate of the class of 1949.

“I lacked five hours graduating, and during the spring quarter of 1949 I ran out of money, so I went out and went to work,” said Hill. “At the time, the University offered correspondence courses, and I took one in rural sociology.” He completed the course in 1951, satisfying all the requirements for his bachelor of arts degree, with a journalism major and an industrial management minor.

“It never occurred to me to go back and get my diploma,” Hill said. When his grandson began filling out his Alumni Heritage Scholarship application, he asked his granddad which year to list as his graduation date.

Hill phoned UA to check and during the course of the conversation, mentioned he never received his diploma, explaining the circumstances to a UA representative.

“She suggested if I indeed had completed the requirements for my degree, they would graduate me,” Hill said. So, he verified his standing with UA’s academic records office. “The University still had all my records,” Hill said.

So, Hill, at age 75, and 50 years after he completed his degree requirements, was invited to attend the December 2001 graduation ceremony.

“I would have come to see a few jaws drop, but I was not feeling well at the time and all the motels were booked,” said Hill who turned 76 in January. The University mailed his diploma to him.

For 30 years, Hill worked as general manager of the Covington Electric Cooperative, a position he held following stints at the Monroe Journal newspaper and the Alabama Electric Cooperative. He said he’s pleased to see his grandson follow his path to UA.

“He always associated me with the University,” Hill said. “People say that Ryan and I look alike and act alike. Ryan is very intense in whatever he does,” said Hill.

As for Mitchell, he recalls accompanying his granddad and other family members to UA football games. The Andalusia High School valedictorian said it has crossed his mind that one day he might have a child who would follow in his and his granddad’s footsteps at UA, while receiving an Alumni Heritage Scholarship.

“School is coming along fine,” Mitchell said, “and my grades are where they are supposed be.”

UA’s Graduate School is in its first year of a similar program. Qualifications for the parent and grandparent are the same as with the undergraduate scholarships, and it pays for 10 percent of tuition for one year. The Graduate School has awarded 15 scholarships through its program.

The Alumni Heritage Scholarships are the newest awards made possible by UA’s National Alumni Association. Each year, the Association awards more than $2 million in scholarships. For more information about the Heritage Scholarships, telephone the UA National Alumni Association at 205/348-5963.