Record number of University of Alabama graduates receive Fulbright awards
Al.com – May 3
Fourteen University of Alabama spring graduates have been awarded Fulbright Awards, the highest number of scholarships per class the school has ever seen. The graduates will spend the next year abroad as English Teaching Assistants or researchers. Eight UA students were named scholars last year. The prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program, administered by the U.S. Department of State, typically attracts more than 11,000 applicants each year for some 1,200 Scholar positions.
University of Alabama Commencement Spring 2015 (graduates list)
Tuscaloosa News – May 2
University of Alabama graduates – Bachelor’s Degree: Alabama; Adamsville: Amber Denise Brown, Christian T. Clark, Faith Larenza Merritt; Addison: Jayla A. Robinson; Adger: Quinese J. Leath; Akron: Alexander M. Uptain; Alabaster: Brianna D. Beluscak, Joshua A. Blackwell, Bevin E. Clark, Ryan L. Coleman, Harrison G. Gambill, Donald Reshad Hudson, April Brittany Nicole Hyde, Alex J. Lanter, Mariah M. Lawrence, Caris Pope Mitchell, Natasha T. Patete, Sarah Elizabeth Richardson, Alexis S. Sailes, Steven O. Spencer, Taylor A. Tryon.
Tuscaloosa News (gallery) – May 2
Community colleges lifted via Obama (subscription required)
Politico Pro – May 4
Six years before he proposed making community college free for students, President Barack Obama called for 5 million additional college graduates by 2020, invoking President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the GI Bill and asking for $12 billion over the next decade to reform and strengthen two-year colleges. He called it “a historic step on behalf of community colleges in America.” Martha Kanter was there the summer of 2009 at Macomb Community College in Michigan, just two weeks after becoming under secretary of education. It was, she said, a “stake in the ground to say, education is an investment, not an expense.” But the colleges never got the money. Though the American Graduation Initiative never got off the ground, a combination of Obama administration cheerleading and economic shifts over the past six years has lifted community colleges to new levels of status, significance and public consciousness in the U.S … Even if the funding did suddenly turn up, Alexander and others would probably rather spend it on Pell grants, which are facing impending cuts, Hartle said at a recent meeting of lieutenant governors. Stephen G. Katsinas, director of the University of Alabama Educational Policy Center, believes that by partnering with influential foundations like Gates and Lumina, the Obama administration has, to a degree, taken on private goals that may irk certain lawmakers. “There appears to be a strong urban tilt in the Gates Foundation agenda and to some extent Lumina’s agenda, and that in turn gets reflected in the federal initiatives,” Katsinas said. “I think that is part of the problem why the administration has trouble building broad-based support across the political aisle.”
America’s Cities Mirror Baltimore’s Woes
The Daily Beast – May 3
Amid all the happy talk about the revival of U.S. urban areas, we have ignored the intractable problems of the nation’s inner cities, many of which date back to the ’60s. The rioting that swept Baltimore the past few days, sadly, was no exception, but part of a bigger trend in some of our core cities towards social and economic collapse. Rather than enjoying the much ballyhooed urban “renaissance,” many of these cities are actually in terrible shape, with miserable schools, struggling economies and a large segmented of alienated, mostly minority youths … “Blacks who have relocated tend to be either retirees or well-educated, well-off middle-agers with children,” John Giggie, associate professor of history and director of graduate studies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, told BET.com. They move to the South not because they like the politics (most probably don’t) but because they seek economic progress. Part of the reason may be that sunbelt cities have more broad based opportunites for middle and working class residents than have the increasingly post-industrial economies of California and the Northeast corridor.
Newgeorgraphy.com – May 3
Anniston still struggling with diversity after dropping civil service system
Anniston Star – May 2
White males predominantly hold mid-level and supervisory city jobs. City officials want that to eventually change — for City Hall to better reflect a community that U.S. Census data shows is about 52 percent black. Last year, city officials said relieving themselves from the regulations of Anniston’s civil service system would give them flexibility, among other things, to hire more minorities. A year later and City Hall still struggles with diversity, but officials say not having the civil service system has helped in recruiting more minority applicants, possibly leading to future hires … Anne Williamson, associate professor in the department of political science at the University of Alabama, said Anniston is also not alone in moving away from civil service. “The original idea of civil service when it was created in the 19th Century was that hiring be merit-based and not patronage-based,” Williamson said. “The trend now has been to move away from civil service in state and local government, the argument being that gives more flexibility on hiring and firing positions and even in providing compensation.” Williamson said arguments have been made that white males perform better on civil service tests because they’re mainly developed by white professionals. She said she hasn’t seen evidence to support such arguments though.
Loryn Brown’s parents receive degree for her posthumously
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 1
She was killed four years ago in the April 27, 2011 tornado. Tonight, Loryn Brown received a posthumous communications degree from The University of Alabama. These are her parents, Dwayne and Ashley Mims accepting on her behalf. They fought back tears as they talked about remembering their daughter.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – May 1
John Servati’s parents receive degree for him posthumously
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 2
Thousands of parents wanted to hear their child’s name at graduation today, but one family didn’t get that chance. Instead, parents of the late John Servati were at graduation to accept his degree. Last year, during a severe weather, he was killed after a wall he was holding so his girlfriend could escape fell on him. Emotions took over the family as they walked across the stage to honor their son. Servati was a swimmer for The University of Alabama.
UNA partners with UA for Cuba Project
WHNT-CBS (Huntsville) – May 1
Improved relations between the United States and Cuba are opening up doors in North Alabama. For the past 14 years Dean of Arts and Sciences at UNA, Carmen Burkhalter has partnered with The University of Alabama on the Cuba Project to improve relations on an academic level. “Being able to partner in this part of the state, with a different part of the state we believe gives strength to the state of Alabama being a leader in the relationship.”