TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama awarded 1,352 degrees at the fall commencement ceremony held Monday, Dec. 16, in Coleman Coliseum on the Tuscaloosa campus.
Brandt Ayers, editor and publisher of The Anniston Star, gave the commencement address. During the ceremony Ayers received the Henry and Julia Tutwiler Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his exceptional service to the people of Alabama and to the University.
Ayers, a 1959 UA alumnus, has had articles, essays and reviews appear in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and many other newspapers and magazines. In October 2000, he was inducted into the UA Communication Hall of Fame. His honors also include a Nieman fellowship to Harvard University and serving as a Pulitzer Prize juror.
With this graduating class, UA has awarded more than 183,000 degrees since its founding in 1831 as the state’s first public university. UA holds commencement ceremonies three times a year.
The following students from the Mobile area were listed as candidates to receive degrees:
JURIS DOCTOR DEGREE
MOBILE — Amy Emiline Beckerle, Eric Whitney Butler.
MASTER’S DEGREE
BAY MINETTE — Matthew Wade Horton.
DAPHNE — Nancy L. Seale.
DEMOPOLIS — Sean Michael Smith.
EVERGREEN — Nefeteria Richardson.
MOBILE — Eric Whitney Butler.
MONTROSE — Muriel D. Nero.
SEMMES — Mary Beth Blair.
SILVERHILL — Tonja Le Young.
BACHELOR’S DEGREE
ANDALUSIA — Laura Shay Popwell.
BAY MINETTE — Dancy Brock Mosley.
BON SECOUR — Adrienne Paige Collins.
BREWTON — Carl Byron McInnish II.
BUTLER — Kenneth Nathan Aldridge, Jay Devin Dearmon, Wallace Andrew Scurlock.
CAMDEN — Marla Rene Simpkins.
DAPHNE — Kenneth Bernard King.
DAUPHIN ISLAND — Angela Helen Coffee.
DAYTON — Robert Edward Poole.
DEMOPOLIS — Malinda Louise Bennett, Christopher Lee Collins, Kathryn Elizabeth Etheridge, Karl Anthony Smith.
DIXONS MILLS — Khonda Nicole Stephens.
FAIRHOPE — Bixler Lyons Cunningham, April Lindsay Dawson, Jonathan Randall Passman, Kimberly Brooks Wood.
FLOMATON — Vicki Holt Barrentine.
FOLEY — Christopher David Parker.
FRANKVILLE — Iris Yanette Merida.
GREENVILLE — Martha Alice Faulk, Walton Ward Hickman, Erwin Mykale Lewis.
GROVE HILL — Tawona Lenice Davis, Michael Kurt Hutto.
JACKSON — Christy Dawn Beverly, Mary Catherine Bounds, Van Wilson Sims, Courtney Elizabeth Skipper, Shain Raywood Werther, Talana Lachelle Witherspoon.
LOXLEY — Jason Michael Webster.
MOBILE — Thomas Fitzgerald Benton, Brian Jeffrey Birch, Michael Clark Blankenship, Mary Anastasia Coleman, Kathryn Elizabeth Cypert, Mark Jason Dabbs, Rashawn Norman Figures, Sophronia Irene Hairston, Margaret Walsh Lott, Howard Francis Mathis IV, Maryella Gainer Matthews, Melvin Jerome McCann, Natalie Marie McDonald, John Allan McLeod, Byran Colin McMeans, Edward Armfield Merrell III, Bradley Hay Miller, Merrill Wright Miller, Vanessa Brook Ogle, Jonathan Merrill Patterson, Mary Haas Peake, Andrew Peters III, Haley Ann Rayford, Robin Lynn Reed, Jason C Richardson, Hafeeza Jamilah Shahid, Melissa Anne Smithweck, John Everett Stone III, Christian Ryan Summer, Sarah Louise Tapper, Brandi Carol Vance, Leland Glenn Weaver, Lee Sebastiano Whatley.
OPP — John Michael Reed.
ORANGE BEACH — Samuel Brian Gehri, Rachel Hodgson Slaughter.
PINE HILL — Sabrina Godwin.
ROBERTSDALE — Melissa Leigh Baggett.
SATSUMA — Brendon Heath Morris.
SEMMES — Alan Christopher Dodd, Melissa Lorea Wilson.
SILAS — Joshua Gene Kesling.
SILVERHILL — Julie Kristen Madden, Melissa Jaet Manjone.
SWEET WATER — Roland Sage Davis, Sheila A. Rodgers.
TOXEY — Dallas Jay Adams, Scarlet Michelle Mosley.
WAGARVILLE — Kara Lee Dees.
WHISTLER — Keith Breian McCants.
Contact
Linda Hill, Office of Media Relations, 205/348-8325, lhill@ur.ua.edu