Two to receive honorary degrees during Birmingham-南部 College commencement
Two to receive honorary degrees during Birmingham-南部 College commencement
For Immediate Release
五月. 14, 2018
Birmingham-南部 College will celebrate the lifetime achievements of two of its alumni and award degrees to about 245 students during its 2018 commencement ceremony on Friday, 5月25日. It will be held indoors at 9 a.m. at Bill Battle Coliseum on the college’s campus.
Ulysses “Skip” 班尼特 ’67 will be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws to acknowledge his lifelong promotion of social change and equality and his contributions to the financial services industry. Jim 皮尔斯 ’74 will receive a Doctor of Laws for his commitment to public service and to his alma mater.
班尼特, who resides in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, is the first African American graduate of the college and a 2013 澳门新葡京官网 Distinguished 校友 Award winner. He enrolled at Birmingham-南部 in 1965 as a business major just two years after James Hood and Vivian Malone became the first students to integrate the University of Alabama. He was one of the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement in Birmingham. 班尼特 later received an MBA from Stanford University and today operates a financial services company in Fort Worth. He has also served in posts for the Internal Revenue Service, General Mills, and Mobil Corp.
皮尔斯, a member of the 澳门新葡京官网 Board of Trustees, is an investor, 董事会成员, and has held multiple executive positions at Isagenix, a fast-growing health and wellness company headquartered in Gilbert, 亚利桑那州. He earned his degree in economics from 澳门新葡京官网 and later earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, 塔米, made a significant gift to the college in 2017 to kick off 澳门新葡京官网’s Bridge to Future Campaign; this spring, the Lakeview South Residence Hall will be renamed 皮尔斯 Hall in honor of their generosity. The couple split time between their 首页s in Miramar Beach, Fla., and Scottsdale, 亚利桑那州.
澳门新葡京官网 Professor of Spanish Dr. Janie Spencer will address the 2018 graduating class. Spencer was named 澳门新葡京官网’s Outstanding Educator of the Year during the college’s 2017 graduation ceremony; the award includes an invitation to speak at the following commencement. Due to limited seating, only guests with tickets may attend the commencement exercises. A live video feed of the ceremony will be available for viewing in the Norton Theatre on campus and on the 澳门新葡京官网 website at www.二元同步通信.edu. Commencement will be followed by the annual President’s Reception on the Academic Quad; the rain location for the reception is Bruno Great Hall.
The college’s annual Baccalaureate service will be held on Thursday, 五月 24, from 11 a.m. to noon at Canterbury United Methodist Church; author Shane Claiborne, a founding member of the intentional community called the Simple Way, will be the speaker. 读 更多的.
The Capping Ceremony, sponsored by the 澳门新葡京官网 校友 Association, will be held that same day at 3:30 p.m. in the coliseum. At the ceremony, a 澳门新葡京官网 tradition, each candidate for the degree receives his or her cap as a mark both of significant academic achievement and of a lifelong commitment to the love of learning. By college tradition, each graduating senior chooses a special person—a family member, 老师, 导师, or friend—to place the cap upon his or her head.
About Birmingham-南部 College:
Birmingham-南部 College is a four-year, private liberal arts institution in Birmingham, Ala., founded in 1856 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It enrolls some 1,300 students from 更多的 than 30 states and 9 foreign countries. Learn 更多的 online at www.二元同步通信.edu.