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Dear BSC Community,
I write to update you on our continued effort to secure bridge funding for the College, and to thank you for your response to our call for your help.
First, our part of the plan:
We are working closely with allies in Montgomery who understand the legislative process, and with the key legislators mentioned in earlier updates – specifically Sen. Jabo Waggoner ’60, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee; Sen. Rodger Smitherman, who leads the Jefferson County Delegation; and Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who represents the district in which our campus sits.
We believe we have the right people on the team, and we are listening to what they tell us. We learn something new each day – sometimes each hour – that gives us better insight into how we can succeed.
The Alabama Legislature will convene on March 7. Between now and then, each delegation will set its agenda, priorities, and budget recommendations for the General Fund and the Education Trust Fund – the latter of which is the fund with the projected $2.7B surplus from which we are asking for a one-time allocation of $17.5M.
This once-in-a-generation surplus means our request does not dip into other worthy institutions’ shares, and I have had many conversations with other college and university leaders around the state to assure them that this is a one-time ask.
For the next several weeks, we will continue to work the plan:
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- Speaking to decision-makers and the people who influence them to explain our situation, clarify our request, and ensure that as many people as possible understand Birmingham-Southern’s value to and impact on the entire state.
- Working with current students to reassure you that we will have a great spring term, and that when you get back in February, we will be ready to speak to each of you individually in advising sessions that will confirm your progress toward graduation and your options if the worst happens. We are and will be here for you. Under the worst-case scenario, everything at BSC will continue just as it always has through at least the end of the current academic year in May. For more information: click here.
- Connecting with faculty, staff, and prospective students to keep them up to date.
- Taking our story to broader audiences through media interviews.
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Your part of the plan:
Many of you have already joined the effort by writing to your legislators and to the Governor. Our postcard-writing sessions on campus during the first week of January resulted in more than 500 messages dropped into the mail on Jan. 6.
If you have done so outside of those on-campus sessions, please let us know to whom you wrote and when at alumni@bsc.edu. If you’ve have not yet written to key decision-makers, please do so and then let us know you did. Information on how to do this effectively is at bsc.edu/bscforward.html.
Many of you also made year-end gifts to the College, which are always helpful and even more so as we manage through this challenging moment. Gifts came from graduates who haven’t given in years (or ever), and increased gifts came from some of our most loyal donors. Thank you for your generosity, and if you have not made a gift in a while, please consider doing so. Every gift helps.
Many of you were also part of the truly remarkable demonstration of love and loyalty we saw last Thursday on #BSCForward Day. Hundreds of social media posts from alumni, students, parents, faculty, and staff emphasized the personal perspective:
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- What it felt like to be a shy 18-year-old from a small town in Alabama who left here four years later with the confidence to follow a grand vision
- What it’s like to watch your child become a critically thinking, problem-solving young adult who not only brings home a pile of laundry over the holidays, but also brings home big ideas for discussion around the dinner table
- What it’s like to be a professor who, year after year, gets to see that developmental process unfold in the classroom
- The lifelong impact of BSC’s emphasis on learning through service
- Story after story of friendships forged on the Hilltop that have lasted for decades, and of couples who met here and have sent their children here, too
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Those stories prove what I realized when I came here in 2017 to teach and what I have continued to see since I became president in 2018: There is something special here, and it is worth my best effort to ensure that it continues.
As we move toward February, we will reach out to ask you to help in other ways, especially those of you who live outside of Birmingham. We’ll keep you updated as the process unfolds, and we ask that you continue to help share the facts:
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We have a solid plan for financial resilience, with $45.5M pledged toward a $200M goal.
Our ask is for a one-time allocation of public funding that is allowable under state law and will not adversely affect other state institutions.
And BSC is a worthy investment for Alabama.
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Thank you, and Forward, Ever! Daniel B. Coleman President
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