Latest news with #UniversityofMontevallo
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
University of Montevallo president to retire
MONTEVALLO, Ala. (WIAT) — The second-longest serving president in University of Montevallo history will be retiring from the position when July ends. John W. Stewart III made the announcement Monday. Stewart was inaugurated as the university's president October 14, 2010. 'Cindi and I are incredibly grateful to the UM community for so many wonderful years together,' Stewart said in a statement. 'We appreciate the many meaningful relationships we've enjoyed with our students, faculty, staff and alumni, and we wish the UM family all the best in the future.' The 15th president in UM history, Stewart focused on developing new academic programs and improving the university's financial health. According to the UM, it increased the number of first-year freshman and transfer applications under Stewart's tenure. More students started living on campus as Stewart continued leading the university. He also improved funding for faculty salaries. Stewart began the UM President's Outdoor Scholars Program. A bass fishing team in that program has claimed four straight Bass Pro Shops School of the Year titles. The Montevallo MADE program for first-year student populations has garnered a 90% retention rate. Man accused of strangling Alabama pageant queen charged in murder-for-hire plot enters not guilty plea Before arriving in Shelby County, Stewart worked as the vice president for institutional advancement at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. Stewart earned his bachelor's degree at Wake Forest University, his master's degree from Washington College and his doctor of philosophy in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. The UM Board of Trustees will handle the search for the university's 16th president. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
B.A.S.S. headquarters moves to Hoover
HOOVER, Ala. (WIAT) — The city of Hoover is home to the SEC Baseball Tournament and now B.A.S.S. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new headquarters of the world's largest fishing organization was held Monday. B.A.S.S. works to promote the sport of bass fishing to all ages. Who is running for governor of Alabama in 2026? 'We're looking for an environment that reflected our brand and our values, what we stand for in the sport fishing industry,' B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson said. 'And it was so special when we found this beautiful natural environment here in Inverness right on Lake Heather.' Celebrating the grand opening was Bassmaster Classic champion Easton Fothergill, who graduated from the University of Montevallo. Elite Series anglers Will Davis Jr. and Justin Hamner, who are Alabama natives, were there. High school anglers from Vestavia Hills, Hoover and Briarwood Christian attended. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
University of Montevallo increasing patrol following knife confrontation on campus
MONTEVALLO, Ala. (WIAT) — University of Montevallo Police report a student was sitting in their car in the Carmichael Library parking lot when an unknown man came up to their door, opened it and confronted them around midnight Tuesday. 'There's been nothing like that that's ever happened,' said University of Montevallo Freshman Kyson Dibble. Dibble said he was feet away from the altercation walking back to his dorm. 'I didn't really see anything crazy and that's what's scary about it,' said Dibble. Thousands flock to Talladega, bringing millions in business University of Montevallo student Ashlynn Romines said she was walking around campus Tuesday night as well, saying she was surprised, as safety hasn't been a concern for her. 'That's why it was kind of a shock when I got back to my room around 12 a.m. I saw the message from police saying this incident had happened and I was shocked because I was over there on the other side of campus,' said Romines. According to the University of Montevallo Police, the man pulled out a knife, but no one was stabbed. Police said the man dropped the knife and fled the parking lot. The student was taken to the hospital and eventually released back to campus. The university has declared it an isolated incident. REAL ID enforcement starts May 7 'I'm hoping that it doesn't happen again. I'm hoping that it was just an isolated incident. I hope that since campus is so small it's going to be easy to patrol it. I've always felt safe on campus,' said Dibble. The university said they are increasing patrol in the area as a result. With no arrest made at the time of this reporting, Romines said she is on alert in hopes the person is caught. 'I already don't walk at night by myself, but I do have a Taser so I might need to start bringing that around now that I've heard that something has happened and it can happen again,' said Romines. UMPD said they are still investigating this incident. If you have any information, you are encouraged to call the number 205-665-6155. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
07-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Bloody Sunday: restored photos show the violence that shocked a nation
Sixty years ago, on 7 March 1965, civil rights leaders and nonviolent activists attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery in a fight for African Americans' rights to vote. But as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, they were met with unfounded brutal violence from Alabama state troopers. This day is commemorated as Bloody Sunday. Among the marchers was photojournalist 'Spider' Martin who worked for the Birmingham News; he documented the violence firsthand, shocking the nation with his revealing images of the reality of voter suppression. Though the march occurred six decades ago, Doug McCraw, a native son of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and producer of the exhibit Selma Is Now, on display in Montgomery, Alabama, until 1 June, argues that the fight for civil and voting rights continues today. McCraw writes in his co-produced book, Selma Is Now: The March for Justice Continues, 'sacrifices made by the marchers in March 1965 paved the way for the liberties we enjoy today, but the struggle for social justice continues.' John Lewis on the ground, on the right, as he is attacked by a trooper with a billy club that resulted in a concussion and skull fracture. As a result of Donald Trump and his supporters spreading false claims of voter fraud after losing the 2020 presidential race, many Republican lawmakers implemented voting laws that disproportionately affect African Americans' ability to vote in the years to come. The new voting laws included redrawing district lines giving Black voters less power at the polls and reducing the number of ballot drop boxes for mail-in ballots. Additionally, states such as Ohio and Idaho imposed stricter ID requirements for in-person and mail-in voting. These restrictions reflect the injustices that marchers risked their lives to challenge. Martin's newly restored photos, on view at the exhibit Selma Is Now, show his work as the only news photographer to capture the moments that occurred on Bloody Sunday and the subsequent marches from Selma to Montgomery. During the 1960s, the public primarily witnessed major events like Bloody Sunday through images in newspapers and magazines. Martin's photographs were so influential that they sparked nationwide protests, prompting President Lyndon B Johnson to order 2,000 national guard troops to escort the marchers from Selma to Montgomery on 20 March 1965, to prevent another Bloody Sunday. 'Spider' Martin takes a photograph of Brown Chapel AME church in the reflection of a reporter's sunglasses. His caption, written in 1965, describes his time on assignment during the Selma marches. Karen Graffeo, a photographer, professor of art at the University of Montevallo, and director of photo restoration for Selma Is Now, points to the importance of the photos today: 'The photographs are particularly alive considering recent challenges to human rights and the rise of self-aggrandizing politicians in a warring world.' The images provoked Andrea Young, daughter of the civil rights activist Andrew Young – who marched across the bridge on Bloody Sunday and later served as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, mayor of Atlanta, and US ambassador to the United Nations – to recall being nine years old when her parents brought her to the third and final march, 13 days after Bloody Sunday. Exuberant marchers make their way with bags and suitcases in hand on the first day of the 54-mile march to Montgomery. From left: arms linked, Bob Mants, John Lewis, the Rev Hosea Williams and Andrew Young sing freedom songs with marchers outside Brown Chapel AME church before beginning the march. 'My parents believed so much in America that they brought their children,' Andrea notes. 'See the hope emanating from the people in these photographs. The adults knew how ugly America could be, and they loved America enough to march in hope, to march in love, to march forward, letting their light shine.' Like Andrea's parents, many African Americans faced disenfranchisement in the years leading up to Bloody Sunday. Jim Crow laws made it difficult for African Americans to vote; they faced poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation tactics that prevented Black people from voting, despite the passage of the 15th amendment granting them that right. Meanwhile, Black people were being lynched by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and on 15 September 1963, the KKK bombed a Black church in Birmingham, killing four young girls. By 7 March 1965, less than 1% of Black people were eligible to vote in some counties in Alabama. John Lewis, who became a US congressman, is quoted in Selma Is Now: The March for Justice Continues as saying in 2018 that Martin's photographs told the story of a people denied the right to participate in democracy. His 'images made it plain and clear that hundreds, thousands, millions of people could not participate in the democratic process simply because of the color of their skin'. Amelia Boynton lies unconscious after being beaten by a trooper. Counter-protesters awaiting the voting rights marchers' arrival in Montgomery demonstrate in front of the Capitol. During the encounter with police, at least 58 people were injured, including several who were hospitalized after being struck with clubs, whips, cattle prods and teargas. Among those injured was Lewis, who suffered a fractured skull from a police baton. In spite of these injustices, an estimated 600 civil rights activists set out to march from Selma to Montgomery to protest racial discrimination in voting rights. Chevara Orrin, the daughter of James Luther Bevel, asked Andrew Young what inspired him to keep marching. 'I once asked Ambassador Andrew Young if the civil rights movement's 'foot soldiers' ever experienced what we now call 'Black fatigue'. He responded, 'Child, we didn't have the luxury of fatigue. We had to press on.'' A marcher's blistered feet bear witness to the grueling nature of the 54-mile route. Under the watchful gazes of federalized Alabama national guard and US military police units, the march makes its way through Lowndes county. Martin's images illustrate the fatigue and determination of all those who marched. Dr Martin Luther King Jr noted the powerful impact of his pictures, telling him, 'Spider, we could have marched, we could have protested forever, but if it weren't for guys like you, it would have been for nothing. The whole world saw your pictures.' He credited Martin's images with influencing the passing of the Voting Rights Act signed by President Johnson exactly five months after Bloody Sunday. Tracy Martin, the daughter of Spider Martin and co-producer of the book, Selma Is Now: The March for Justice Continues, recalls her father's courage, and the current importance of his work. 'Daddy faced beatings and death threats while capturing through his lens the most iconic images of a movement that changed a region and a nation,' she writes. 'As his daughter, I have the privilege and responsibility to continue disseminating his work around the country as a reminder to us of just what was at stake in 1965.'
