October 2 , 2006

University of Mobile Scholarship Banquet Raises Over $300,000;
Zell Miller Praises
Private Christian University

Praising the University of Mobile as “an institution of higher education that has a higher purpose, a higher calling,” former U.S. Sen. and Georgia Gov. Zell Miller delivered an address that brought a standing ovation from approximately 675 people during the university’s second annual Scholarship Banquet.

“There is a great need for the kind of leadership taught at this university,” Miller said during the banquet on Sept. 28 at the Arthur Outlaw Mobile Convention Center in downtown Mobile.

The gala event raised a total of over $300,000 and surpassed the goal of $200,000 for scholarships, netting over $225,000 for scholarships for students at the private Christian university.
Prior to the Scholarship Banquet, Miller spoke at a press conference on campus at the University of Mobile, fielding questions from the media and students. He primarily addressed the challenges America is currently facing.

Miller continued the theme that evening at the banquet, observing that one disturbing trend in America is that a “lack of decency” has “become the norm.” He warned that without strong mediation, a “moral scurvy” will overtake the country. Miller also contrasted America’s present moral decay with the moral climate at its founding, which was strongly based on Christian principles.

“We must reclaim our lost heritage…our times demand it,” he said.

Miller said he seeks to warn the nation’s citizens that the “bridge” protecting America from moral deterioration is out. However, he added that the University of Mobile is raising up a generation that can alleviate disaster.

“What the University of Mobile is doing, and doing so well, is building a strong, new, sturdy bridge, a bridge that connects our past to our glorious future, a bridge to eternity,” said Miller, expressing his pleasure that at UM, “fires are lit with God’s truth and the formation of character.”

UM President Dr. Mark Foley thanked audience members for their investment in and support of the university, and said the university’s motto of “Changing Lives to Change the World” reflects a “high quality educational experience which seeks to integrate the life of the mind, the seeking of knowledge and truth, with the life of the spirit, the seeking of God in Christ, to produce graduates who are confident Christian men and women who demonstrate the mastery of a body of knowledge required by the degree they hold, who know how to think, who know what they believe and why they believe it, who possess the courage to live and work according to those beliefs, and who possess the willingness and the skill to use their influence in appropriate and effective ways to change the world around them.”

He added, “That is how you change a family. It is how you change a community. It his how you change a city…and, given time, it is how you change the world.”

Foley announced the commitment of “a very significant gift” from UM Board of Trustee Ruby Lauzon that will “vastly expand student scholarships through the Edgar and Ruby Lauzon Scholarship Fund” and establish the Ruby Lauzon Faculty Development fund, which will produce an annual yield that will support the professional development of faculty.

The evening literally put the spotlight on the university’s students and faculty. Students from the Center for Performing Arts select ensembles, VOICES of Mobile and RamCorps drum and bugle corps, performed throughout the event. The university’s academic excellence was at the forefront as three professors told why they taught at the University of Mobile and what makes the institution unique.
Dr. Ted Mashburn, professor of philosophy and chair of the Department of Humanities, said ideas have the capacity to change minds.

“At the University of Mobile, we introduce students to the greatest ideas in the history of the Western tradition. It is, to be sure, a Christian tradition—advancing the story of a personal God who seeks communion with all people.

“In assimilating the ‘great ideas,’ students find out who they are in relation to God, others, and the world. This type of learning, coming to know ourselves, qualifies students for the most important examination of all—life,” Mashburn said.

Dr. Sergio Castello, professor of global business and economics, described how the university fulfills its mission of “Changing Lives to Change the World” at home and abroad. He told of a student whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, who was struggling with the challenges of staying in school, playing basketball, and helping friends and family back home. Castello told of the personal relationship he and the student had developed, and the encouragement he was able to offer at a critical moment to a student in need.

“That is why I teach at the University of Mobile, to help our students in their everyday struggles and to challenge them to reach their goals and their full potential,” Castello said. He added that he has the opportunity to present his research internationally, and to work on projects such as a recent one in Argentina that provided small business loans to underprivileged people.

Dr. Sue Gober, professor of education and director of professional laboratory experiences, said the mission, goals and visions that professors in the School of Education have for their students revolve around three words: committed, competent and caring.

“We are committed,” Gober said, “committed to our students, to the integrity of our profession, and to the idea that Christian higher education offers us the best avenue for influencing lives. We are competent – setting excellence as a goal for our faculty and our students. We are caring – we strive to understand each student’s needs, getting to know them on a personal basis.

“I love being a part of the profession that creates all others. I teach at the University of Mobile because it is where I can change the world – one student at a time – and I am so excited to be one small part of that process,” she said.