UA spring commencement ceremonies set for tonight, Saturday
Al.com – May 4
The University of Alabama will hold its spring commencement ceremonies today at 6 p.m. and on Saturday in Coleman Coliseum on campus. Three university-wide commencement ceremonies will be held this year, at 6 p.m. tonight and at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Commencement exercises for students in the colleges of Communication and Information Sciences, Education, Human Environmental Sciences and Nursing will be tonight. Two ceremonies will be held Saturday with students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Social Work receiving their degrees at 9 a.m. and students in the colleges of Commerce and Business Administration and Engineering receiving their degrees at 1:30 p.m. UA’s School of Law will hold its commencement exercises at 5 p.m. on Saturday…The ceremonies will be broadcast live online. The webcast will be archived on UA’s website, www.ua.edu/commencement, and will be available for viewing through the end of May.
Search launched to hire next UA president
Tuscaloosa News – May 4
Members of the University of Alabama’s presidential search advisory committee met for the first time Thursday morning to build the framework for the search and discuss the key characteristics the university is looking for in its next leader. UA System spokeswoman Kellee Reinhart said the 90-minute meeting officially launched the search for a new president and served only as an organizational meeting, with no candidates yet named. While Reinhart said the committee discussed “writing the next chapter in University of Alabama history,” the search will heavily reference the past in its decision. Reinhart said much of the discussion in Thursday’s meeting focused on “carrying on the momentum” of former president and current system Chancellor Robert E. Witt. In Witt’s nine years as president, the university experienced an almost unprecedented level of academic and physical growth. This past fall, the university reported a record-breaking enrollment of 31,747 students, compared with the fewer than 20,000 enrolled in 2002, the year before Witt arrived.
Birmingham News – May 3
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – May 3
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 3
‘A Tale as Old as Time’
Sun Gazette (Williamsport, Pa.) – May 3
…the version of “Beauty and the Beast” that will grace the Community Arts Center stage May 8 and 9 is no mere knockoff of the Disney film, or any other preceding adaptation of the tale…The Sun-Gazette spoke to Bill Martin, who plays Maurice, Belle’s father, about this incarnation of “Beauty and the Beast” and what goes into such a lavish national tour. Martin is a professor of musical theatre at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and spoke to the Sun-Gazette from Detroit, where the show was on a two-week run at the Fisher Theatre…BILL MARTIN:…Part of my job is to keep performing, and one thing led to another and I was invited to fill a niche that’s hard to fill-the older actor, the father. I’m 39. There’s a lot of professional actors my age who wouldn’t want to be on a tour for that long. National tours are something I always thought my students would be doing, and some are, but here I am. The university gave me a leave of absence and it’s a great opportunity.
Fiction writer delivers lecture in bookstore
Drexel Triangle – May 4
Michael Martone, an experimental fiction writer, spoke April 26 at Drexel’s Barnes & Noble bookstore as part of an event co-sponsored by Painted Bride Quarterly and the Department of English and Philosophy. His informal lecture, titled “Homer on Homer, Or a Bunch of Stuff that Happens,” is formulated into various pieces and read at random, so each lecture Martone gives is unique. He usually focuses on coincidences, accidents, plots and story creation. Martone is an English professor at the University of Alabama and teaches a creative writing class. His classroom is unstructured, and he allows his students to choose how they spend their time in the classroom…
Sandra J. Jordan officially named USCA chancellor
Aiken Standard (S.C.) – May 3
USC Aiken has named Sandra J. Jordan as the new chancellor, the university announced today. Jordan currently is the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Georgia College & State University…Jordan earned her bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Alabama, and her doctorate in art history from the University of Georgia. Jordan has been married for 30 years to Michael Jordan, an architect and graduate of Clemson University. They have a son, Matthew, who is a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of Alabama. She will begin her new appointment July 1, pending approval of the Board of Trustees at its June meeting.