Greetings to all of my UA family. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and is looking forward to the big day on Monday January 9! (ROLL TIDE!!!) J I know that many of you will be returning to school earlier than usual to gear up for the big game. Some of you will also be traveling to New Orleans to watch the big game up close and personal. Good luck with that, and I’m glad y’all were able to get tickets; I’m jealous! I tried to win four tickets for me and three other members of my family, but to no avail. So, if you’re like me and will be in T-Town for the big event, there are many locations on campus where you can go to join your fellow friends and classmates and celebrating and cheering on the Tide. It’s my understanding that the Ferg Theater will be showing the game and there may be free food and drinks provided. Also, guys, there are a number of service projects that will be going on the day before the game and the morning of the game in New Orleans and Tuscaloosa respectively. The service projects are part of a service initiative called “Building Champions through Service,” and they’re great ways you can help out in either community. If you will be in New Orleans and want to participate in the service project down there, you’ll want to register online using the link provided in the uanews email you all should have received before the end of last semester. Check-in time on Sunday will be noon, and lunch will be provided on site. Transportation will not be provided to New Orleans, however. There may be some shuttle services provided to the site from major areas like hotels in New Orleans. The project will run from 1-5 PM, and participants will be helping with Boys and Girls club buildings, including the upkeep of the baseball fields, painting and beautification of surrounding neighborhoods in southeast Louisiana. Space is limited to 200 participants from each school, both UA and LSU.
Additionally, there is need for student volunteers to help with the removal of tornado debris and volunteering in area schools. That service project will be from 9-11 AM on Monday morning, 1/9. The link to register can be found on the same email as mentioned above. Check-in is at 8:30 at the Fergusson Plaza, transportation is provided to the sites, and lunch is provided at the end of the event. Sponsors for this event include the Black Student Union, and our friends at the Fergusson Center.
Now, before we dive into next semester, there are a few things I feel I must address to the UA family. First off, if you’re like me, you love to cheer on the Tide. That goes for football, basketball, swimming, soccer, baseball and so on. You try to support them as much as possible by attending games/meets whenever you can. That’s great; keep cheering them on, Bama fans! However, please remember that academics do come first and foremost. With that in mind, I usually try to go to no more than one event a week. In the spring, there are countless numbers of sports events that happen around here. I go to the website or check my e-mails and see what all is going on during the week and I pick my event if I have time to fit it into my busy schedule, between working, studying and everything else I do. Also, please remember to keep your language clean at all events, no matter how much you dislike the call. You can yell at the blind refs all you want, but don’t let it get crazy; please, NO SWEARING! Remember that bags may be limited and checked at various events. Lastly, and this is important, may I issue a friendly reminder that throwing things onto the playing area for any reason at any time is never allowed. We want everyone to have fun but be safe, and look out for the safety of your friends and those around you.
Finally, family, as we prepare to begin a new semester, I’d like to talk to everyone about something much more serious, and that is this: we here at the University of Alabama strive for excellence in all that we do. We strive to maintain a fun/learning environment that is friendly, comfortable and welcoming for all. We do this by making sure that our words, actions and conversations are appropriate at all times. Folks, we need to look past our differences and understand that people are people. I am proud to attend a university as diverse as this university. Chalking can be fun; it’s a great way to express yourself openly, creatively and freely. However, when we chalk words and pictures that are offensive in any way, then it gets out of hand. So, let’s have fun, but please, let’s keep it clean. Let’s watch how we talk, watch what we chalk, and make sure we treat one another with the dignity, civility and respect that everyone deserves. We’re family, and we want everyone to feel comfortable here and proud to be a UA student.
Guys, I think this semester should be a great one. Keep checking the Ferg website for the latest on upcoming events sponsored by the Fergusson Center. Everybody keep working hard here at the University of Alabama. ROLL TIDE!!
--David Rissling
No comments:
Post a Comment