Category: Student Stories

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Pike Brothers Start Local Organization: Greek Gives

Far too often, someone sees an opportunity to help but gives in to any number of excuses that keep them from making a difference. 

 I don’t know where to begin.  

I don’t have time.  

It’s not sustainable.  

 This give-in mentality is a foreign concept for two brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha, Gamma Alpha Chapter at UA. Brice Shafer noticed the amount of food that was being thrown away at fraternity houses and thought there had to be an opportunity to share their resources with those in need. When he noticed the waste in 2020, he tried to partner with the local Red Cross, but because of restrictions related to the pandemic, nothing came of his efforts.

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Turning Tide Mentorship Program

Students who mentor students – That’s the vision that the UA Student Government Association (SGA) and Madeline Martin, the Vice President for External Affairs has for the Turning Tide mentorship program.

Turning Tide allows SGA members to mentor local high school freshmen

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Meet Kailee Brands, a National Student Exchange Program Student

Kailee Brands got to study at UA through the National Student Exchange Program. She’s a junior double majoring in sports management and strategic communications, and her home campus is the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

See what she had to say about the program:

“I chose to do National Student Exchange because I have always wanted to travel and experience new places. NSE was an opportunity to do that without the large financial repercussions of similar programs like study abroad.

“This program has meant a lot to me – so much so that I decided to go on a second exchange to Hawaii in the Spring 2022 semester. It is a great way to really enrich yourself in a new place and learn their history. NSE exchanges are for a semester or a full year, so you really get the chance to explore everything while on exchange without feeling too rushed. This experience also showed me that I am capable of packing up everything and moving across the country for a job or anything else in the future and I will be able to handle the change!”

Are you interested in participating in the National Student Exchange Program so you can study at another college campus while earning credit toward your UA degree? Visit their website to learn more.

Community Engagement Opens Doors To A Rewarding Future of Service and Success

College is such a fun time in the life of a student. There are opportunities for adventure as well as self-discovery. Some students love it so much that they decide to stay forever … by making a career out of it. That’s exactly what happened to Undré Philips, 2016 UA graduate and current director of the Parker Adams Living Learning Community and First Year Initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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Sammy SAFE Box

When Pedro Reyes became philanthropy chair for Sigma Alpha Mu at The University of Alabama, he knew he wanted to empower his brothers to make a difference, but he had no idea he’d be executing a major collaboration of every Greek organization on campus to raise $9,000 and countless supplies to support the Tuscaloosa SAFE Center.

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TEAM Mentor Program

The office of First Year Experience and Retention Initiatives (FYE) is committed to supporting the academic and social transition of first-year students to The University of Alabama. Being a transfer student at a large university can be overwhelming at times. This is why FYE created a peer mentorship program to help students adjust when transferring to UA. The Transfer Engagement and Academic Mentors (TEAM) connects new transfer students to all aspects of campus life.

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Phriday Phrenzy: Student Collaboration for Philanthropy

At the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester, Sam Rickert and his fraternity brothers partnered with the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and several other fraternities to host an event called Phriday Phrenzy that raised over $2,500 to support the 2022 UA Dance Marathon (UADM) fundraiser for Children’s of Alabama, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in Birmingham.

Sam has been a plugged-in student at UA since he arrived from Louisville, Kentucky his freshman year. Now the treasurer of UA’s Phi Delta Theta chapter and executive vice president of SGA, he’s thrilled to collaborate with his campus connections to make a difference for others.

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