UA’s University Fellows Mark 10th Anniversary with Symposium

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s University Fellows Experience, an elite program comprising 115 students within UA’s Honors College, is celebrating its 10th anniversary Saturday, March 25.

University Fellows will welcome 70 alumni back to campus to join 80 current Fellows, faculty, and University administrators for a day-long symposium on campus starting at 9:20 a.m. in Russell Hall, room 159. A banquet will follow at the Embassy Suites.

Among the alumni presenting at the symposium are Lauren Hardison, analyst at Goldman Sachs; Alan Blinder, reporter with The New York Times; David Bailey, founder of Bitcoin Magazine; Shannon Lindamood, professional dancer and University of Pennsylvania law student; and Sarah Saint, Wake Forest law student who recently was named by the National Jurist as one of the 25 top future lawyers in the nation.

Speakers will address critical issues in society, including technology.

Following the classical purpose of education, the University Fellows Experience brings together exceptional students from diverse disciplines to prepare them to become agents of change through commitment to leadership and service.

The program, which admits approximately 30 students each year, combines a rigorous academic curriculum with civic engagement and two signature opportunities, the Black Belt Experience in Marion, Alabama, for freshmen, and travel to Cuba for juniors.

The program was founded with the mission of creating not only excellent scholars but also good citizens.

“This idea of combining scholarship with character — scholarship with integrity, scholarship with ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’ — really makes a difference,” said Dr. Jacqueline Morgan, associate dean of the Honors College and director of University Fellows.