This week, The University of Alabama’s official student ambassadors will celebrate a milestone in their rich history: the golden anniversary of Capstone Men and Women in its modern form.
At a March 7 reunion, a cross-section of more than 300 Capstone Men and Women of the past will mingle with the UA students who currently carry on the group’s work and legacy. Former members will have the chance to get campus tours from current CMWs, see the championship banners Capstone Men and Women hold during football games, and experience a gallery of changing style thanks to uniforms drawn from across the group’s history.
“We’re really excited about it because it’s such a small group on campus and such a prestigious group,” said Assistant Vice President for External Affairs Lucy Arnold Sikes. “I’ve been on a group text recently with a bunch of former Capstone Men and Women, and they are all so excited. It’s been really fun to reconnect with all those people.”
Martha Ray Roby.
Capstone Men and Women traces its origin to 1962, when it was established as an all-female unit called Crimson Girls. The 1976 shift to a co-ed group came because of Title IX, the landmark federal law that opened doors for women in collegiate athletics and campus life. In the case of Crimson Girls, it meant opening membership to men.
Today, CMW’s remit includes visitor tours, welcoming campus guests, assisting with events at the President’s Mansion, helping recruit new UA students, and representing the University at major events, such as the Rose Bowl. In 2025, all that added up to 12,671 hours of service, according to Sikes.
Serving in Capstone Men and Women is a UA tradition. Sometimes it’s a family one, too. It certainly is for third-year Capstone Woman Cate Cooper. Her aunt was a member from 1991 to 1994.
“We would talk about it a lot in high school, and she had always told me about her incredible experience. Her four best friends from college were also Capstone Women with her,” Cooper said.
And when Cooper was selected the spring of her freshman year, her aunt was the second person Cate called — after her mom, of course.
“We FaceTimed and she bawled,” Cooper said. “She was so excited for me.”
A lot has changed since Cooper’s aunt served in Capstone Men and Women. The University is bigger, and the group’s responsibilities have expanded. But CMW’s foundational premise — a knowledgeable, welcoming presence for the University community and its guests — is the same.
Among the former Capstone Men and Women attending this week’s reunion will be some of the original Crimson Girls, including former College of Human Environmental Sciences Dean Milla Boschung and Cathy Randall, namesake of the Randall Research Scholars and UA’s Randall Welcome Center.
“Often when I hear people talk about [CMW], they mention that [fellow] members were their best friends in college,” Sikes said. “It’s going to be really great to see them all find each other again.”
What will Capstone Men and Women look like fifty years hence? Sikes said she hopes the group will still serve as UA’s “front porch,” welcoming visitors and inspiring future students to pick UA as their collegiate home.
“There’s a reason that the Capstone Men and Women are the most outstanding group on campus. It’s because of what people before them built, and the current group has a duty to carry on that same standard of excellence,” she said.
Cate Cooper hopes to pass on the excitement and fulfillment of serving in CMW to the generations that follow hers.
“I think that this group has given me so much,” she said. “Of course, I would encourage any future children or nieces and nephews to apply for Capstone Men and Women because it truly has changed my life.”
More about Capstone Men and Women can be found online at cmw.ua.edu.