2015 CCBP Community Engagement Awards Luncheon
- May 8th, 2015
- in News
Lane McLelland, director of Crossroads Community Center since 2013, has been named a Capstone Hero for outstanding service to students.
The award recognizes her work in strengthening Sustained Dialogue and her role in founding Blend, a student organization that promotes diversity. She was also cited for being willing to sit down with students to help them deal with their problems, whatever they might be.
“Lane McLelland has brought a spirit and enthusiasm to Crossroads that has indeed made a difference in so many aspects of life on campus and in the community,” said Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, vice president for Community Affairs, the division that oversees Crossroads Community Center. “We congratulate Lane for her excellent work that has brought honor not only to her but to our entire campus.”
The award, given by the Office of Student Conduct in the Division of Student Affairs, honors those who embody the spirit of the Capstone Creed, which reads: “As a member of The University of Alabama Community, I will pursue knowledge; act with fairness, honest, and respect; foster individual and civic responsibility; and strive for excellence.”
“Having received an honor for something I know others more clearly deserve has made me profoundly aware of the importance of finding a way to thank the many heroes I encounter in my work at UA. Their untold efforts and ongoing devotion to the University make so much possible for us all,” McLelland said on receiving the award.
The purpose of Capstone Heroes is to highlight service and positive actions of members of the UA campus. For more, go to sc.ua.edu/nom.cfm.
By Jessie Hancock
CCBP Graduate Student
Click here for full transcript of Williams’ speech. Click here for 2015 Legacy Banquet Awards video.
On Friday January 16, Fox News political analyst Juan Williams delivered the annual Legacy Banquet lecture at the Hotel Capstone as part of the 26th annual Realizing the Dream celebration. Over 200 guests attended to hear Williams’ speech and witness the Annual Realizing the Dream Legacy Awards.
Williams is a Panamanian-born American journalist whose career spreads across many platforms, including 23 years with The Washington Post before joining Fox News in 1997. He is the author of the non-fiction bestseller, “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954–1965,” which is currently celebrating its 25th print anniversary.
Williams’ lecture focused on the legacy that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left behind, and on what Williams has learned from being the author of a book about the Civil Rights era.
“What I have learned from the experience of being the author of that book is that history changes as people change,” Williams said. “Because people use history’s inspiration, but they also use it to define themselves. They take identity from what took place in the past and of course, history is the basis of memory and tradition. Even for me, as the author, the history never sits still.”
Three individuals were honored with Legacy awards at the banquet. Artist and activist Dr. Arthur L. Bacon, a Talladega College professor emeritus of the natural sciences and humanities, received the Mountaintop Award. Ken W. Swindle, chief investigator for Prince, Glover, and Hayes Law Firm and a former Tuscaloosa Police Department chief, received the Call to Conscience Award. The Horizon Award was presented to UA student Tyler Merriweather, a junior in elementary education and a staff member at the Boys & Girls Club of West Alabama, Inc.
This was the Tuscaloosa area’s 26th annual celebration in honor of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Williams appropriately concluded his lecture by referring to King’s key legacy, that of nonviolence.
Williams said: “When you talk about a principle like nonviolence, you’re not saying that you’re automatically going to change the person who’s hateful, the person who’s racist, the person who is contemptuous of you. No, what we’re talking about, first and foremost, is that you will be changed. That you will have a greater sense of dignity and purpose, and a sense of your own power to control your life because you choose a path of nonviolence and Christian conscience. That gives you power. And then, with that example in front of you, you hope that others might be moved and see that their lives too can be transformed.”
By Joon Yea Lee
CCBP Graduate Assistant
The 26th Annual Realizing the Dream Concert on Saturday, January 17th in the Moody Music Concert Hall on the University of Alabama campus drew a sold-out crowd for multiple Grammy-winning gospel singer CeCe Winans. The concert was one of many events in the Tuscaloosa area honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Following introductions by sponsoring student government representatives Chris Willis, UA, Bayaka Bester Jr., Shelton State Community College, and Joseph Pough, Stillman College, Winans opened the stage with an upbeat song, “Hallelujah Praise.”
“Tonight I realized that I am famous,” said CeCe Winans, “I never saw myself on the same flyer with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And I am honored to be here….”
Winans continued her performance with inspirational speeches and prayers between songs. The audience was moved to sing, dance and pray at their seats along with Winans. At the end of the evening, audience members stood and held hands to sing “We Shall Overcome,” which has become a Realizing the Dream concert tradition.
“Winans was simply the best choice for this special occasion,” said Vice President for Community Affairs Dr. Samory T. Pruitt. “Through her words she provided inspiration and her performance was uplifting.
Among the audience were 20 students from the Center for Community-Based Partnership’s Global Café. Most were international students, invited by the Center for Community-Based Partnerships and Dr. Beverly Hawk, CCBP’s director of program services.
“It gave them an opportunity to learn about American culture and participate in it,” Hawk said. “We like to take them to things in our community and just share our community and culture with them. And Martin Luther King weekend is one of the treasures we have here in Tuscaloosa to share.”
On the evening before the concert, UA hosted the 7th Annual Realizing the Dream Legacy Banquet in the Hotel Capstone Ballroom. “We were honored to have as keynote speaker, Mr. Juan Williams,” Pruitt said. “His speech was remarkable as he described what he believes the ‘living Dr. King’ would have been like today and connected those attributes to the attributes of our honorees. All of the honorees were outstanding and the atmosphere in the Ballroom on Friday night was superb. We are grateful for the many kind notes, emails and comments from those who attended both events. Many of the notes express an appreciation for the opportunity to attend the events and an acknowledgement of the amount of preparation and attention to detail that went into making both events simply splendid. I echo those sentiments. I am proud to have been a part of this effort and even more proud of those who helped to make the events a success. They worked hard to maintain a high standard and because of their efforts, this year’s Realizing the Dream will long be remembered as a special time in the history of the University of Alabama.
UA began the Realizing the Dream concert in 1990 in partnership with Stillman College, when many communities were just beginning to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Several years later, Shelton State Community College and Tuscaloosa Chapter of Southern Christina Leadership joined as sponsors. The Realizing the Dream Committee’s purpose is to continuously raise consciousness about injustice and to promote human equality, peace and social justice.
Still to come in this year’s celebration is Bryan A. Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery and now a professor of law at New York University. Stevenson will deliver the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Lecture March 10 at 7 p.m. on the Stillman College Campus. And June 5–9 at the Bama Theatre, The ACT will perform “Dreamgirls,” this year’s MLK Performing Arts Event. The ACT (Actor’s Charitable Theatre, http://theactonline.com) is a local non-profit.
