UM working group studying campus building naming criteria

June 7, 2021

​

Following consultation with Board of Trustees leadership, University of Montevallo President Dr. John W. Stewart III has appointed 13 Montevallo leaders to a trustee-led working group to review the naming criteria for buildings on the UM campus.

Upon completion of their work, the group will make recommendations to the University’s Board of Trustees.

The working group’s formation comes after the UM Board of Trustees voted in 2020 to remove the names of Comer Hall and Bibb Graves Hall. Both buildings were named after former Alabama governors from the early 1900s who were staunch supporters of segregation and white supremacy.

The following individuals will serve on the working group:

LeRoy Nix (chair of working group); UM Board of Trustees; director of federal government affairs, Southern Company; Bachelor of Science, UM (’03); Juris Doctorate, University of Alabama School of Law

Karen Kelly (vice chair of working group); UM Foundation Board president; retired vice president of corporate benefits from Protective Life Corporation; Bachelor of Science, UM ’80

Tim Lupinacci; UM Board of Trustees; chairman and CEO of Baker Donelson; Bachelor of Arts, UM (’88); Juris Doctorate, Vanderbilt Law School

Libby Queen; UM Board of Trustees; retired Alexander City Board of Education coordinator of programs for exceptional students; Bachelor of Science, UM (’59); Master of Arts, University of Alabama

Brian Hamilton; UM Board of Trustees; CEO of Trillion Communications Corporation; Bachelor of Science, Morehouse College; Bachelor of Science, Georgia Institute of Technology; Juris Doctorate, Birmingham School of Law

 

Scott Dillard; UM vice president for advancement and external affairs; Bachelor of Science, Western Kentucky University; Master of Business Administration, UM (’17)

Tracey Morant-Adams; UM Foundation Board; Renasant Bank senior executive vice president; Bachelor of Science, UM (’88); Master of Business Administration, Samford University; Ph.D., Alabama State University

Carey Heatherly, UM Archivist and Special Collections librarian and professor of information literacy; Bachelor of Arts, Samford University; Master of Arts, The University of Alabama

 

Cynthia Todd; UM National Alumni Association president; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama operations manager; Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, UM (’88); Master of Arts, Birmingham-Southern College

 

Anakate Andrasko; UM Student Government Association president; Bachelor of Science, UM (’22)

 

Emily Gill; 2020-2021 UM Faculty Senate president; UM associate professor of theatre; Bachelor of Arts, Rollins College; Master of Fine Arts, The University of Georgia

 

Dr. Gregory Samuels; 2020-2022 UM chief diversity officer; UM assistant professor of elementary and secondary education; faculty, UM African American Studies; faculty, UM Peace and Justice Studies; Bachelor of Science, Clarion University of Pennsylvania; Master of Education, University of South Florida; Ph.D., USF

 

Michael Grainger; retired president and chief operating officer of Ingram Micro Inc.; Bachelor of Science UM (’73)

 

Administrative liaison: Dr. Kristalyn Lee; UM vice president for administration and liaison to the Board of Trustees; Bachelor of Science; Auburn University; Juris Doctorate, University of Alabama School of Law; Ed.D., University of Alabama