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BSC graduate and advisor to Rep. Terri Sewell to keynote Honors Day Convocation
BSC graduate and advisor to Rep. Terri Sewell to keynote Honors Day Convocation
For Immediate Release
Apr. 22, 2019
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Hillary Beard, a Birmingham-Southern College alumna and senior policy advisor at the U.S. House of Representatives for Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), will be the featured speaker at the college’s 2019 Honors Day Convocation on Thursday, May 9.
Honors Day, a celebrated annual tradition in which seniors demonstrate the results of their studies on the Hilltop, is free and open to the public. During the Convocation, which begins at 10 a.m. in Munger Auditorium and includes a procession of graduating seniors and faculty in regalia, students from all classes will be recognized for outstanding academic achievements and leadership roles. Honors will also be bestowed on faculty and staff.
The opening ceremony is followed by a full day of student presentations, musical performances, an art exhibition, and other demonstrations of scholarly and creative work. See full schedule.
Beard, a Guntersville, Ala., native and a 2012 BSC political science graduate, will speak about the current state of affairs in American politics and the role we can all play in improving our country during a time of seemingly unprecedented division and strife, as well as how the college prepared her for her career.
Beard serves as Sewell’s top policy advisor on the House Ways and Means Committee and is responsible for developing and executing the legislative agenda for the office. In her latter role, she works with the legislative, communications, and district staffs to ensure that the policies being advanced are aimed at expanding economic and social opportunity for the residents of the 7th District. She has played a critical role in advancing legislation related to graduate medical education, the opioid crisis, hospital and rural ambulance reimbursements, and increasing USDA wastewater funding opportunities for rural families not connected to municipal water and sewer lines.
As a student on the Hilltop, Beard was involved in the Student Government Association and Chi Omega women’s fraternity. Since graduating from BSC, she has risen through the ranks in Rep. Sewell’s office as an intern to her current position as Sewell’s top legislative staffer. Beard says she is proud to be able to work for the Alabama Congresswoman who represents her alma mater in Congress. The 7th Congressional District of Alabama includes Birmingham, Selma, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, and much of the rural Black Belt.