UA’s University Fellows Perform Service Projects in Perry County

Editor’s/Producer’s Note: A media availability involving the University Fellows’ efforts to repair the historic Lincoln Normal School in Marion will be from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, May 21, at the site of the school. For details and directions, contact Richard LeComte, UA media relations, at rllecomte@ur.ua.edu or 205/348-3782. Students will work at this school from Monday, May 20, to Thursday, May 23.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s University Fellows Experience is partnering for the fifth year with the community of Marion in Perry County through Friday, May 24, on projects designed to address needs within the Black Belt community.

The University Fellows are participating in projects involving a wide cross-section of Marion citizens, organizations and businesses. The experience, now in its fifth year, will consist of 18 projects varying in scope and objectives. Projects include inventorying the signs on Marion streets; assessing health needs of residents through partnerships with local businesses; introducing Marion High School sophomores to the college admissions process; and leading service projects performed by high school juniors and seniors.

In addition, the students will host the Alabama Art Night. The event, which will showcase the Perry County Nursing Home, features a picnic and will highlight newly installed flowerbeds and local student-produced art. The event is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at the nursing home, 505 E. Lafayette St.

For a full list of projects and updates on progress, contact Brianna Adams, University Fellow, at bladams1@crimson.ua.edu.

The University Fellows Experience is a community of elite scholars from diverse disciplines who share a similar passion of being change agents through commitment to leadership and service. Following the classical purpose of education — the production of good citizens — the University Fellows Experience strives to prepare the most able and dedicated students at UA for remarkable lives of leadership in, and service to, their community, state, nation and world.

The students, all of whom are enrolled in UA’s Honors College, spent the academic year researching issues affecting the Black Belt and developing programs to help address some of those issues.