Sowing a seed of conscience: An alumna's passionate stand conscience

Nobody pressured her. Nobody dared her to do it. Her decision was hers to make.

On April 24, 1963, in a watershed moment in her life, Birmingham-Southern sophomore Martha “Marti” Turnipseed chose to join seven black students who were sitting in for justice at a segregated Woolworth’s food counter in downtown Birmingham.

Little did she know that Birmingham Police Commissioner Bull Conner had spying detectives everywhere. As soon as Marti returned to campus several hours later, she received an urgent summons to appear before college officials. The next day, the college’s acting president asked Marti to withdraw from school immediately.

It was a blow for the young woman, a third-generation BSC student who wrote that it was her dream to graduate from the same college as her father and grandfather, both Methodist ministers. But she knew that she had done the right thing—even if many on the Hilltop disagreed.

Click to read more ...

Pining over her dream: Liz Drugan discusses BSC’s production of Die Feldermaus

Liz Drugan is a sophomore vocal performance major and creative writing minor from Naples, Florida. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and is an Orientation leader, student advisor, member of the Concert Choir and Hilltop Singers, and President of the Music Students Association. Liz stars in BSC’s upcoming production of Die Fledermaus. I got together with her recently to discuss the production. 

Click to read more ...

The Honor Code Effect: What happens when BSC students leave the bubble, unprotected by the Honor Code?

One of the things I love about this school is the honor code. The honor pledge states, “As a member of the student body of Birmingham-Southern College, I realize my responsibility to the traditions of the institution, to my fellow students and to myself. I recognize the significance of the Honor System, and I pledge that I will not lie, cheat, or steal as a member of the Birmingham-Southern College community.” We all had to sign the pledge as incoming freshman and we all stare at the plaque of it in pretty much every class room. I love having this code that basically holds our entire campus community to these set of moral rules and we all trust each other to abide by it. However, outside these black gates, the entire world has not signed this honor pledge.

Click to read more ...

Confidence, Experience, and Talent: BSC Softball Looks to Repeat as Conference Champions

As the regular season winds down for the BSC softball team, there is a certain calm about the Panthers. The defending champions of the SCAC look to repeat as champions in their new conference, the Southern Athletic Association. Around this time last year, the BSC softball team was making it’s way through the conference tournament on their way to a 3-1 walk-off win in the 10th inning against Trinity University.

Click to read more ...

Campus Police Save the Day: Safety Concerns from Third Ave to Greensboro Rd

With the recent spike in Birmingham shootings and murders, the question of safety must be leaping to the minds of many BSC students, faculty, staff, and especially parents.  Just last Tuesday evening (March 26), two young men were hospitalized after a shooting at a gas station just a few blocks from campus.  There have been fourteen shooting-related deaths in three short months, including a teen that was shot and killed in Railroad Park (a popular scene with BSC students) and a two-year-old child (al.com).  Murders in the supposedly safe community of Homewood have citizens questioning how secure it truly is.  On a lighter note, most other Birmingham crime rates are down according to the FBI’s 2012 edition of Crime in the United States.  Only robberies increased by a mere two percent while forcible rapes dropped by thirty percent, aggravated assaults fell by nineteen percent, and motor vehicle thefts dropped by thirty percent.

So where does our precious gated campus fit into this?  According to the 2012-2013 BSC Safety and Security Report, which releases statistics from the last three years, in 2011 there were three incidents of forcible sex offenses, one of aggravated assault, one of burglary, and one of motor vehicle theft.  In both 2009 and 2010 there was one forcible sex offense, and no aggravated assaults or thefts.  Birmingham-Southern was ranked as the fifth safest college in the nation by CollegeProwler.com trailing behind Athens State University (AL), Ava Maria University (FL), Bay Path College (MA), and Biola University (CA).

Click to read more ...