Mal Moore steps down as Alabama athletic director, will become special assistant to UA president
Al.com – March 20
Mal Moore, who has been hospitalized for more than a week with pulmonary issues, has stepped down as Alabama’s athletic director effective immediately, according to a university release. He will transition into the role of special assistant to UA president Judy Bonner. “As many of you may know, due to factors related to my health, I am at a point that I can no longer fulfill my duties as athletics director in the true championship manner the position requires,” Moore said in a university release. “While I have to focus on my health issue, I look forward to maintaining an ongoing working relationship with this great University as special assistant to Dr. Bonner. I know I can count on each of you to continue your unequaled support for me and The University of Alabama.” … Moore, 73, has been hospitalized for more than a week with pulmonary issues. He’s currently at Duke University Medical Center, a hospital well known for its work in pulmonology. Since Moore became Alabama’s athletic director in 1999, the Crimson Tide has won eight national championships and 19 SEC titles. More than $220 million has been raised for the construction or maintenance of athletic facilities under Moore’s watch.
USA Today – March 20
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Sporting News – March 20
Bloomberg – March 20
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Tuscaloosa News – March 20
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… and numerous other media outlets.
UA System trustees to consider Mal Moore’s replacement Friday morning
Al.com – March 21
The University of Alabama System trustees will meet by conference call tomorrow morning to select a replacement for UA’s former athletic director, Mal Moore. The UA system announced today, the executive committee of the trustees will meet via phone at 10 a.m. Friday. The media and the public and can listen by dialing 205-348-2800, according to the release. The only item listed on the agenda is consideration of the recommendation to hire a new athletic director at the University of Alabama. The university has already announced President Judy Bonner will recommend hiring Bill Battle as the athletic department’s new athletic director. Click here for details. Moore, who has been hospitalized for more than week with pulmonary issues, has stepped down as Alabama’s athletic director at the age of 73, the university announced Wednesday. Since he became Athletic director in 1999, the school has claimed eight national championships and 19 SEC titles. Under Moore’s watch, the university raised more than $220 million for the construction and maintenance of athletic facilities.
University of Alabama president to recommend hiring of Bill Battle as new athletics director
Al.com – March 21
University of Alabama president Judy Bonner will recommend the hiring of Bill Battle as the athletic department’s new athletic director, according to a university press release. Battle, a former player under coach Paul “Bear” Bryant who was the head coach at Tennessee during the 1970s, will replace Mal Moore, who stepped down Wednesday because of health issues. “Over the past several weeks, we have had multiple conversations about who should follow Coach Moore as AD,” Bonner said in a university release. “Based on Mal’s strong endorsement as well as Coach Battle’s affiliation with UA as a player, partner and donor, his experience as a coach and his significant business background, I am confident that he is the right person to serve UA in this position. I am looking forward to working with him as we continue to build on the foundation of excellence that is the hallmark of Coach Moore’s tenure.” According to the release, Moore personally recommended Battle for the job.
Tuscaloosa News – March 21
With Mal Moore gone, Alabama loses one of SEC’s longest tenured athletic directors
Al.com – March 20
Mal Moore’s departure necessitates a change at what until now had been one of the steadiest athletic programs in the Southeastern Conference. Moore assumed the role of University of Alabama athletic director near the end of 1999. Since then, 11 of the 13 other schools now in the SEC have made a change at AD. Only Florida’s Jeremy Foley has been at the helm of an SEC athletics program for a greater length of time than Moore. (Mike Alden joined Missouri as AD in the summer of 1998, but his school is a newcomer to the SEC.) Despite the experience advantage Moore brought to the table, it could be argued that he delivered to Alabama one of the conference’s greatest values in athletic administration. That’s because his base pay was lower than all but three other SEC ADs — and less than half that of Florida’s Foley, according to data compiled by USA Today.
ESPN.com – March 20
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Ga.) – March 20
Storify: Fans, Players and Friends share their thoughts and prayers for Mal Moore
Tuscaloosa News – March 20
Fans players and friends react on twitter to Mal Moore’s decision to step down at the University of Alabama’s Athletic Director.
Nick Saban on Mal Moore: “I’m gonna miss him”
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – March 20
Alabama head coach Nick Saban spoke for a few minutes at his news conference Wednesday to talk about his friend and boss in Mal Moore, who announced earlier in the day that he would be stepping down as the Crimson Tide athletics director due to health concerns. Saban was quick to credit Moore with all the success his program has experienced since his arrival in 2007, which includes three BCS National Championships in the last four years. “All the support [Moore] has given to our program, he certainly deserves a tremendous amount of credit for any success that we have had. Because the way he sets the table has served us so well.” Saban said. When asked if he would be interested in becoming an athletic director in the future, Saban quickly squashed any hopes the Alabama faithful may have had of him being both head coach and AD. “I never really have thought much about it. I certainly wouldn’t want to try and do it as a coach. So that’s something I would not even entertain or do.” Saban said.
Al.com – March 20
Crimson White – March 21
Gov. Robert Bentley praises Mal Moore’s leadership as Alabama Athletics Director
Al.com – March 20
Gov. Robert Bentley – a Tuscaloosa native and University of Alabama graduate – praised Mal Moore today for his leadership as UA athletics director. The university announced today that Moore will step down as athletics director to become a special assistant to President Judy Bonner. “I’ve known Mal and his family for many years,” Bentley said in a statement to AL.com. “I appreciate his leadership of UA athletics, and I especially admire his dedication to his family. He was a devoted husband to his wife, Charlotte, and he is a wonderful father and grandfather. I know he will continue to serve the university well in his new position.”
UA law school trumps Notre Dame, Emory in U.S. News and World Report ranking
Al.com – March 21
The University of Alabama now tops the University of Notre Dame in football and in law schools, according to a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report. The publication ranked the University of Alabama School of Law 21st nationally this year, up from its 2012 ranking of 29th. UA beat out Atlanta’s Emory University, Notre Dame and Indiana University – Bloomington (Maurer) in the top-25 category. The publication ranks schools through a weighted average of 12 quality measures, including assessments by lawyers and judges, employment-placement success, bar passage rates, selectivity, spending per student, and student-faculty ratios. According to the report, Alabama’s law school has 10.1 students per faculty member. Notable UA law school graduates, the publications notes, are Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, and Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Harper Lee, author of the classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” also attended UA’s law school, but did not graduate, according to the report.
Researcher compiles survey of Alabama fossil record
Crimson White – March 21
Once half-covered in oceanic predators, Alabama’s terrain has proven conducive to the harvest of more than just cash crops. Since the dawn of civilization, Alabamians have sowed and tilled in a hotbed of cretaceous fossils. University of Alabama paleontology researcher Ikijiri Takehito has compiled a comprehensive survey of what remains of these prehistoric creatures, as well as their land-faring counterparts. Takehito’s paper identifies 8,275 specimens and 92 species of vertebrate fossils found in Alabama’s upper cretaceous rock, a significant contribution to the science of paleontology. “Quite a bit, about 12 percent, of the surface of Alabama is covered by cretaceous rock and young to ancient dinosaurs,” Takehito said. “During the [cretaceous period], a good part of Alabama was under the ocean, so we have a combination of both land and marine fossils.” He said one of the aims of the study, which he co-authored with Jun Ebersole, is to act as a reference material for more research. “This information should help give us what rock we should look for, what county we should go to,” Takehito said. “If we want to find where a dinosaur is, this paper will help.” Alberto Pérez-Huerta, an assistant geology professor at the University, said Alabama’s terrain is especially beneficial to finding fossils. “We have very good exposure in the central part of the state, not much vegetation and rocks that wear away with rainfall,” Pérez-Huerta said. “This allows the fossils to be exposed continually.”
Under threat of local lawsuit by chain, local restaurant changes name
Crimson White – March 21
Burger U changed its name to Tuscaloosa Burger after receiving a legal notice from the owners of the popular Wings U restaurant…Alan Durham, an expert on intellectual property with the University of Alabama Law School, added insight on the legalities of the case in an emailed statement. “I presume that the owners of Wings U have a trademark claim in mind — technically it would be a service mark because the restaurant is considered a service rather than a good, but the principle is the same,” Durham said. “They would argue that the name Burger U is so confusingly similar that consumers would believe the restaurants to be related.”
Student rewarded with scholarship for LGBTQ activism on campus
Crimson White – March 21
The 2013 Elliot Jackson Jones Memorial Scholarship was recently awarded to Kaylyn Johnson, a junior majoring in English and American studies, for her efforts to advance diversity and acceptance at The University of Alabama. The monetary scholarship was presented by the scholarship board of Capstone Alliance, the University’s official organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered faculty and staff and their supporters. “The scholarship is focused around student activism about LGBT and allied topics,” Jessi Hitchens, president-elect of Capstone Alliance, said. “We look at the work a student has done to create positive change and promote social justice on campus.” Johnson submitted an application and essay to be considered for the scholarship…“Kaylyn went above and beyond the qualifications,” Hitchens said. “What really stood out was the articulate and smart way that she showed how she has grown and changed while at the University.” Johnson has served for the past two years as the political chair for Spectrum, the campus group for LGBTQ students and allies. She is also an active member of the 49, the out-of-state student group where she serves as administrator for foUndAtion, a mentoring program designed to increase retention of out-of-state students. When she is not devoting her time to Spectrum or class, she also volunteers at the Children’s Hands-On Museum with Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society. Johnson also maintains a 4.0 GPA and is a National Merit Scholar.
ESPN host, Alabama native speaks on campus
Crimson White – March 21
In 1994, Mike Hill sent out 75 audition tapes across the nation. He got four calls back. Of those four calls, he got one interview. Hill has now worked for ESPN for nine years, and stressed the importance of perseverance in his keynote address at The University of Alabama’s first annual Sports Communication Symposium. Hill appears on Sports Center and NFL Live, as well as hosting his ESPN radio show, Hill and Schlereth. Hill said he is always himself on camera, but that he has more liberty on his radio show. “On the radio, that’s my name,” Hill said. “That’s my personality.” Hill grew up in Bessemer, Ala., and served for six years in the Air Force after graduating high school. He worked for the National Security Agency, briefing the president and other high-level staff while he went to school and also juggled an internship with Fox News.
Alabama geologist’s research continues to benefit state
Crimson White – March 21
Two men, a horse-drawn buggy, a handful of 19th-century tools and an incomplete map were all former state geologist Eugene Allen Smith needed to save Alabama from economic collapse. Smith, a University of Alabama graduate and geological pioneer, saw opportunity in Alabama’s diverse geography that superseded its failing post-Civil War agricultural market. His solution: a map that would single-handedly rebuild the state using its own natural resources. After securing the state geologist position in 1873, Smtih began constructing his comprehensive survey of Alabama’s rocky foundation in order to produce a geological map of the state’s raw materials – a map that would open the door for the rapid industrialization of Alabama. “In using this map, a lot of men and women were able to find and utilize the state’s natural resources,” naturalist Todd Hester said … Geology professor Fred Andrus said Smith embodied what is now expected of top UA professors. “He was a beloved teacher influencing many student lives,” Andrus said. “He was also an active research scientist who assembled the most coherent and complete understanding of the geology of this region in his day. Teaching, research and service are the fundamental expectations of faculty now and Smith performed them all in exemplary fashion.”
Writers’ Series brings Nikki Giovanni, Trudier Harris to campus
Flora-Ala (University of North Alabama) – March 20
Acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni and African-American literature scholar Trudier Harris read and spoke on campus March 13 and 14 as part of the UNA Writers’ Series…Harris has written several books on African-American literature. The native Alabamian is a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and currently teaches at the University of Alabama.
UA sororities and fraternities hold Easter egg hunt at Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 20
The first day of spring is here and Easter is just around the corner. And a group of University of Alabama sororities and fraternities held an Easter egg hunt at the Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama this afternoon.