Community Affairs Board of Advisors to Meet; Dr. Cathy Randall to Speak at Dinner

Members of the executive committee of the Board of Advisors of the UA Division of Community Affairs stand with Dr. Samory T. Pruitt (upper left) following their first meeting in April. From left, Divya Patel, Americus, Georgia; Katie Boyd Britt, Birmingham and Washington, D.C.; Joseph Bryant, Birmingham; Calvin Han, Stamford, Connecticut; David Bailey, Nashville, Tennessee; Victoria Javine, Tuscaloosa; and Rashmee Sharif, Tuscaloosa.
Members of the executive committee of the Board of Advisors of the UA Division of Community Affairs stand with Dr. Samory T. Pruitt (upper left) following their first meeting in April. From left, Divya Patel, Americus, Georgia; Katie Boyd Britt, Birmingham and Washington, D.C.; Joseph Bryant, Birmingham; Calvin Han, Stamford, Connecticut; David Bailey, Nashville, Tennessee; Victoria Javine, Tuscaloosa; and Rashmee Sharif, Tuscaloosa.
Members of the newly formed Community Affairs board of advisors listen intently to a fellow board member at the inaugural meeting of the group, held on campus in April. The group will return to campus for its next full work session in late September.
Members of the newly formed Community Affairs board of advisors listen intently to a fellow board member at the inaugural meeting of the group, held on campus in April. The group will return to campus for its next full work session in late September.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Division of Community Affairs
The University of Alabama
250 Rose Administration Building, Box 870113
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0113
Email: community.affairs@ua.edu
Phone: 205-348-8376

Sept. 12, 2016

By Diane Kennedy-Jackson
Community Affairs Publications Coordinator

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Community Affairs board of advisors will meet on the campus of the University of Alabama Sept. 25-27 to discuss progress on initiatives and to formulate next steps toward meeting goals.

Formed in early 2016, the board is comprised of outstanding UA alumni committed to community engagement and student success. Members mentor current students and assist in recruiting outstanding future leaders. They also support campus-wide initiatives that increase student success and retention, facilitate student involvement in entrepreneurship and innovative initiatives, and support the development of thoughtful global and community leaders.

“I continue to enjoy working with such a wonderful group of leaders and look forward to the impact they will have on current and future UA students,” said Director of Community and Administrative Affairs Carol Agomo, who is facilitator of the advisory group.

While on campus, board members will participate in committee work groups and spend time hearing from three student panels on topics including academic success, global leadership and entrepreneurship.

“I am enthusiastic about reconvening on campus with my fellow board members,” stated Katie Boyd Britt, president of the advisory board’s executive committee. “I am honored to be working on this board with my fellow alumni and am enthusiastic about our next steps forward in our efforts for our alma mater and her students.”

Dr. Cathy Randall will be the guest speaker for the “Coming Back, Giving Back” board of advisors dinner to be held Monday, Sept. 26, at the Bryant Conference Center on the UA campus. Randall is chairman of the board of Pettus Randall Holdings, LLC, and is director emerita of UA’s Honors Program, as well as the former chairman of the board of Randall Publishing Company and a former news anchor at CBS-affiliate WCFT-TV.

Randall will speak to members of the board of advisors — many of them students at UA during a time of tremendous growth at the University — on the importance of giving back.

“I will be extending appreciation to them, not only for what they did when they were students, but also for what they aspire to do,” said Randall, who went on to note the importance of the University’s commitment to engaging young people and connecting them to the University’s mission.

Randall earned two Ph.D. degrees from UA and has been named one of the top 31 women UA graduates of the century. Her other honors and service roles include national president of Mortar Board, Inc. and chairman of the Alabama Academy of Honor (the 100 most outstanding living Alabamians).

Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, vice president for the Division of Community Affairs, said, “We are very pleased to have someone with the distinguished background of Dr. Randall to speak at our second meeting of the Community Affairs board of advisors. We look forward to hearing the committee reports on the progress they have made toward plans that support their goals for UA students.”

Britt is president of the advisory board’s executive committee. Other members are Joseph Bryant, vice president; Divya Patel, treasurer; Calvin Han, secretary; David Bailey, chair of the entrepreneurship and innovative initiatives committee; Victoria Javine, chair of the academic success and student retention committee; and Rashmee Sharif, chair of the global and community leadership development committee.


The Division of Community Affairs was created in 2004 and is recognized nationally and internationally for its leadership in community engagement. The division provided the leadership for the recent reaffirmation of the University’s Carnegie curricular and community engagement classification. The division also publishes the Journal of Community Engaged Scholarship, one of the leading refereed journals in the field.