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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2004

Presidential tribute, alumni speakers to highlight Birmingham-Southern College's Reunion Weekend

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—A tribute to retiring President Dr. Neal R. Berte, anniversary celebrations of two college programs, and a mini-college featuring alumni speakers are among the events available to alumni when they return to the Birmingham-Southern College campus April 30-May 2 for Alumni Reunion Weekend 2004.

This year's reunion honors the BSC classes of 1944, 1949, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, and 1999, but is open to all alumni and their families.

Friday, April 30, events include class gatherings, BSC baseball vs. Radford University, an anniversary celebration for the college's Service-Learning and Leadership Studies programs, and the theatre production of The Spitfire Grill.

A Saturday, May 1, Alumni Mini-College will feature BSC alumni speakers Dr. Sena Jeter Naslund, 1964 graduate and best-selling author of novels including Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits; Robert Clem, a 1967 graduate, filmmaker, and former fellow at the Sundance Film Institute; Dr. Stanley Whitsett, a BSC graduate, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Washington University School of Medicine, and specialist in medical psychology including pediatric oncology and pain; Dr. James White II, a 1984 graduate, professor and chair of physics at Rhodes College, and former executive director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific; and Congressman Robert Aderholt, a 1987 graduate who is now serving his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 4th Congressional District.

Following the annual alumni awards luncheon on Saturday will be a special reception of appreciation honoring Berte and his wife, Anne. The longtime BSC president is retiring at the end of the current academic term after more than 28 years at the college.

Also on Saturday, there will be a book signing by alumni including Naslund; Clem; and Dr. Donald G. Shockley, a 1959 graduate and author of Private Prayers in Public Places: The Notebook of an Urban Pilgrim. The book Brown Shoe/Black Shoe: Memories of Two Air Forces, Two Wars and One Military Occupation by Troy Thompson, a 1947 graduate, will be available. Two authors will be featured for recent books published posthumously including Dr. Winston Smith, a 1959 graduate and author of The People's City: The Glory and the Grief of an Alabama Town 1850-1874, and Dr. Wilson Heflin, a 1934 graduate and author of Herman Melville's Whaling Years.

For more information or to register for reunion activities, contact BSC's Office of Alumni Affairs at 226-4909.