More Ray Watts Shenanigans

By Ralph Harbison

Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, UAB released a demand that the initial payment on pledges to restore UAB football, rifle, and bowling, shortsightedly killed by Dr. Watts, be made by Sept. 1, 2015, and the 2016 and 2017 payments be made as soon as possible.

Basically, UAB supporters were given a three week notice, at the time of the year when most households are paying for the “back to school” time, to put up the first payment and an additional nine months to pay the next two years. This was in opposition to the original promise deadline of Dec. 31, 2015. Before we get into this issue, let me say that needing an accurate accounting of the money before the start of the fiscal year is logical and required. I cannot fault that. I can however find many serious issues with this letter and, as always, the way UAB is handling this entire event.

First, while I have no issue granting the need to have the money for the budgeting, why was the announcement made when it was made? In the world of public relations (looking at you, Mr. Bakken) a press release like this is made on a Friday so that it will be lost and ignored. This was not done on a day when it could be discussed by the media. And why was it done three weeks before the deadline? Why was it not announced on June 2, when the announcement was made that the sports would be returned? This reeks of an attempt to design failure.

Second, what is the amount needed? How much has been raised? What are the goals? Where did the numbers come from? Are these critical questions ignored for a reason?

Third, and this one is longer term, why should we trust UAB under Ray Watts with the 2016 and 2017 money so far in advance? Will the money be set into a trust? Are we creating the UAB Athletic Department Endowment Fund? What if the department has a budget over-run or shortfall? Will the money for future seasons be raided to sustain the current years? If football winds up not being restored, will the donations be refunded?

Fourth, why are pledges not good enough to figure the budget? That is how the rest of the university and all of the universities in the world work. In fact, everything works by budgeting based on projected income, not on current holdings. Even your personal household budget assumes that you either keep your current job or maintain the current income level. That is why most families are three missed paychecks from bankruptcy. I understand that Dr. Watts has spoken with the authority of Paul Bryant Jr. himself that no more university money can be used, I do, but this change is counter to everything that exists in the world today, and particularly counter to how things work on every other public college campus.

All of that said, the attempt to hide the demands, the lack of a goal or current progress towards it, the fact we are still waiting on a contract for Coach Bill Clark that demonstrates the University is moving forward in good faith, the requirement that we trust the untrustworthy with money in advance, and the new love for cash in hand budgeting, we have no choice but to donate as much as we can now.  Send something now and send more later. This is a call for all of those who support UAB. We must play by the rules of those who seek to destroy us.

For now.

UAB administration again proves it is incompetent and full of liars

Once again, the UAB Adminstration has proved to be liars and thieves. Football supporters were asked to make pledges over three years to support the return of UAB Football, with the first payment due by Dec. 31 of this year. We did that. Now, we are being told those three-year pledges need to be honored within nine months, with the first payment due by Sept. 1. Don't believe me? Here's the letter, delivered by email late Friday. Aug. 14, 2015:


To the UAB community, alumni and friends,

As we announced on June 1, unprecedented pledges of support from private individuals, corporations and government entities have enabled the university to work toward restoring our rifle, bowling and football programs.

We are firmly committed to this process and greatly appreciate the community's support, because as we also announced, UAB's substantial investment in Athletics cannot be increased but will be maintained.

We now are finalizing budgets for our upcoming year, which begins October 1. Prior to that date, we must have a balanced budget proposal for each part of the university, including Athletics.

We now must get pledge payments in hand. We are already working with many of our donors and supporters so we can cover the expenses associated with the restoration of the three sports on schedule. As indicated at the news conference in June, the necessary funding for these programs is critical to support multi-year commitments to our student athletes and coaches. We'd like to get ahead of the curve and stay there. Specifically, we request that donors make initial payments on their pledges by September 1, 2015. In addition, we will be seeking advance pledge payments on January 15, 2016, and July 1, 2016, for those who are able to help us stay ahead of the curve.

We are grateful for the City of Birmingham's efforts to move forward with honoring its commitment of $500,000 to support restoration of these programs at UAB. We will be asking the many municipalities that also passed resolutions of support last spring to join the City in making a financial commitment.

We have made good progress since June 1, working with Conference USA to ensure we remain in that competitive league and with the NCAA to nail down return dates for each sport's seasons, with rifle coming back this year, bowling next and football in 2017. We also are working on a contract with Coach Clark to ensure he continues leading our football team to winning seasons.

To continue this progress, the time is now. A member of the fundraising team will be or may already have reached out to those individuals who have made pledges. For those of you who have not yet made a contribution, please consider a gift. These pledges are above your current level of Blazer Boosters annual support. You may contact UAB Athletics at (205) 996-9969.

Your enthusiasm, loyalty, pride and support are what make this University great.

Go Blazers,
Hatton Smith
Hatton Smith,
Chair, UAB Athletics Campaign Committee

Mark Ingram
Mark Ingram,
UAB Director of Athletics

Ray Watts
Ray Watts, M.D.,
UAB President

Once again, UAB has proved its leadership is monumentally incompetent, and cannot be trusted. By anyone.

The F Word at UAB isn't what you think

By Ralph Harbison
Mr. UAB 1992

In my last post, I introduced many of you to the fact that UAB was named one of the top 150 universities in the world, and the strange truth that the UAB administration is making no efforts to promote that fact. To recap, using a system that factored in accomplishments by faculty and alumni, UAB was ranked as better than 99.4 percent of the universities world-wide.

Fewer schools are ranked between UAB and Harvard (the No. 1 school) than between UAB and the next closest school in the state (the University of Alabama ranked just out of the top 400). The administration has ignored this fact, as has the illustrious University of Alabama Board of Trustees.

The director of public relations for UAB is a University of Alabama alumnus and basketball letterman and is 100 percent loyal to his alma mater and the UA Board of Trustees, to the detriment of UAB. Now, from this starting point, I want to introduce you to the F word and another part of why those in charge are not proud of this ranking.

Forward.
This word, as it is used by the UAB administration, is as vile and reprehensible a word as is any in the English language not related to a racial, sexual, or other epiteth. Before you dismiss this as a tad too much hyperbole, let me explain the rational for this statement in both what is meant and what should be.

UAB Forward, as it is used by the UAB administration, is a designed plan to shift as many students as possible to online classes. These students will pay extra fees for online access and require less student services and student activities. Take note: This is not a plan to maintain or increase on-campus enrollment while at the same time increasing online enrollment.

The plan to is move students from brick and mortar classrooms to virtual classrooms to reduce the need for campus services, all while charging more for a diminished product. As the on-campus student base shrinks, there will be less need for tenured faculty. To be blunt, non-tenured and non-tenured-track faculty do little to no research, have fewer, if any, peer review articles, and are cited less in other research. For a research-heavy campus, this is a kiss of death.

Slowly, one of the top 150 schools in the world will be reduced to a small, local or regional school, a Troy with a medical school at best, a West Alabama with a medical school at worse. The student enrollment might actually increase greatly during this program, and that will be hailed as proof of its success, as the undergraduate side of campus becomes an online degree mill, losing the characteristics that made UAB one of the best values in education. UAB Forward, in a nutshell, is a deLorian with a flux capacitor, ready to go Forward to the Past, when UAB was an extension center for those unworthy of Tuscaloosa for financial or sociological and ethnic reasons.

And as UAB goes, so goes the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area. As the Birmingham-Hoover Metro Area goes, so goes the state. The end result of UAB Forward will be a crushing blow to the economy of central Alabama and the state as a whole. One of the poorest states in the Union will hit the bottom and start to dig.

Now, please, for one minute, cast your memory back to the early 1960s. If you were alive then and can remember, please play along, if not, invoke your knowledge of American history or just imagine for a minute. The United States had the post-World War II high flow into the 1950s, the time of “Leave it to Beaver” as the Baby Boomers passed through childhood. Americans were at the top of the world as far as they were concerned. Life was a Norman Rockwell Painting and it was a good one (note: exaggerated for a reason, again, play along).

Suddenly, a small piece of Soviet equipment started pinging from orbit, and we learned that the USSR had been able to put a satellite in space, then a dog and a monkey. They had developed nuclear weapons a decade before. According to some, they were poised to put nuclear missiles on the moon and end the amazing dream of the American Founding Fathers.

The United States elected a young war hero and senator from New England as president. In April of 1961, the Soviets had a man orbit the earth, and the United States followed with a man in sub-orbit. We were way, way behind and not even close. That young president, in 1961, stood before the American people and stated, no, proclaimed, that it would be the unified goal of the United States to put a man on the moon and safely return him to earth BEFORE THE END OF THE DECADE. We were not ready for this challenge, but it did not matter. Mr. Kennedy had set the bar high, very high, and challenged the people to answer his call.

They did. In July of 1969, the United States had men walk the face of the moon and return safely. This was leadership. This was vision. This was what “Forward” SHOULD mean.  The era under JFK as president was known as Camelot, the mythical kingdom under King Arthur, where it never rained until after sundown and there was no better place for “happy ever aftering.”

The city of Birmingham is on the verge of its own Camelot. The city proper is actually growing in population for the first time since the 1960s. We hosted the Dali Lama. The metro area is surging as well. We have more attractions than ever, from a revitalized water park to a world-class race track, world class dining in categories other than deep fried and barbecue (although we still have that), and every other indulgence your heart could want from music to art and more. To be honest, there is a chance that the Birmingham-Hoover Metro area could reclaim best city in the south from whoever has it today.

UAB, too, should be riding that wave, surfing on the combined crest of that resurgence and the recent events that have galvanized the #UABFamily in ways that we have never seen before. This is what UAB Forward should be. We invest in student life. We invest in the best faculty in the world. We expand on-campus offerings. Yes, we also expand on-line learning, but not at the cost of our ranking.

If UAB had true leadership, a JFK of its own, that president would proclaim, loudly and without compromise, that by 2025, UAB will be one of the Top 100 Schools in the World.

In the next stage, by 2050, UAB would be one of the Top 50 Schools in the World. By 2075, UAB would be one of the Top Ten Schools in the world. That is what UAB Forward SHOULD BE. That is the desire of the #UABFamily. That is what the state of Alabama needs. That is what the world needs. We must demand that from the UA Board of Trustees. We must demand that from UAB. WE MUST HAVE UAB ALWAYS PUSHING TO BE MORE THAN ORDINARY.

I want to address the University of Alabama Board of Trustees directly. Right now, there is at least one member of the Board who has donated to UAB. That is a rarity. I know for a fact that there are Board members who are heavily invested in the Birmingham-Hoover Metro Area. I ask of them: why are you not encouraging UAB to strive to be better? What is it in UAB that prevents you from standing up and making UAB reach its full potential? Take that stand. I will back you. All of us will. The #UABFamily will welcome you and stand with you, side by side.

If I could, if I had the power, I would stop Watts and his owners from using UAB Forward. I would ensure that UAB Forward would be associated with another F Word: FREE.

The Shocking (to some) Truth About UAB Academics

By Ralph Harbison
Mr. UAB 1994

It is assumed by many that UAB is not nearly as good a school as the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa or Auburn University. After all, the enrollment is a lot lower at UAB and has not changed as much over the last two decades as it has at the other two schools. Plus, if UAB was a better academic school, UAB would have a better football team that was supported by the fans.

According to many, that is 100 percent fact. UAB needed to drop football and focus on academics and research, per several members of the illustrious University of Alabama Board of Trustees and many of its sycophantic followers.

At UAB, we (students, faculty, staff and alumni; not necessarily administrators) value academics. More than that, we value the ability to research and separate fact from fiction. In doing some research and separating the fact from fiction, one of the multitude of #UABFAMILY on Twitter shared a link to the Center for World University Rankings for 2015.

According to its system, UAB is ranked 146th in the WORLD. Consider that for a minute. There are only 145 universities in the world ranked higher. To put that into other terms, if universities were companies, UAB is a Fortune 150 firm. That is a HUGE deal. The much higher quality schools in Tuscaloosa and Auburn were 409 and 549 respectively. Again, those are not bad rankings, but it does show how wonderful a degree from UAB actually is.

An excellent question is why is UAB not blowing the roof off of the urban myth of UAB being a second class institution? Since the UAB director of media relations is a University of Alabama graduate, letterman in basketball, and sits on of the advisory board of one of the schools at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, I know the reason and now you do, too.

The ranking was based upon several criteria, which are listed below from the CWUR website:

CWUR uses eight objective and robust indicators to rank the world's top 1,000 universities:

1. Quality of Education, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have won major international awards, prizes, and medals relative to the university's size [25%]
2. Alumni Employment, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have held CEO positions at the world's top companies relative to the university's size [25%]
3. Quality of Faculty, measured by the number of academics who have won major international awards, prizes, and medals [25%]
4. Publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in reputable journals [5%]
5. Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals [5%]
6. Citations, measured by the number of highly-cited research papers [5%]
7. Broad Impact, measured by the university's h-index [5%]
8. Patents, measured by the number of international patent filings [5%]

These criteria are actually a fair way to look at the schools. First, the schools are judged by the readiness of the graduates to perform in the world and to excel. Second, faculty are judged both by peer recognition and by output of research. This means that a school that is research heavy (like a UAB) is not judged only by the business school and a school known as a business school (like the University of Alabama) isn’t hurt by its lack of research. Yes, it does favor schools that do both, such as Harvard, Yale, and Oxford, but is there really any doubt that those are among the best schools in the world, anyway?

This is a huge deal for a school like UAB, a school that is abused and mistreated by its Board of Trustees and unappreciated in its home state. By the criteria used here, which are fair criteria, UAB is an excellent institution and provides an amazing opportunity, and a far better academic experience than either Tuscaloosa or Auburn.

But the UAB administration is not interested in letting people know that, especially the members of the Board of Trustees. The fact that the director of public relations is not on every news network and posting on every website about this is particularly telling. Does he not care about UAB’s reputation as an undergraduate university? Does he have an interest that lies elsewhere that prevents him from promoting UAB to the fullest level? Can we trust him to “sell UAB” at all times and in all ways?

Dr. Ray Watts and his owners were correct about one thing: there is a school that needs to stop worrying about football and focus on academics. They were incorrect about which school it is.

Blazer Boosters fundraising team now in operation

UAB has recently announced the formation of the Blazer Boosters, a fundraising team of UAB fans and supporters. This is a great concept and something that UAB has needed for a long, long time. The system rewards members for encouraging others to donate. There will be competition and rewards, with recognition going to the Boosters who generate the most donation money.

I cannot overstate how wonderful this program is, and how simple it is for the university to provide. Basically, it allows us, the UAB supporters, fans, students, and alumni, the freedom to help promote UAB.

To be honest, UAB needs all the help that we can get. Since December 2, 2014, we have seen the #FreeUAB supporters control social media, generate buzz, shoot down UAB’s counters to our position, and, with the help of some amazing media people, keep the story alive long enough to salvage football.

In a nutshell, the current UAB administration has no concept how to market in the digital age, how to engage electronic consumers and hold their attention, or how to generate and capitalize on social media buzz. UAB needs us to do that job for them.

No, we still do not have the answers that we demand. We do not have a re-start date. We do not have the contract extension that Coach Clark deserves and needs to have in order to rebuild this program. We are still saddled with Watts and his cronies in power, and we have more than enough reason not to trust anything they say or do.

But we do have this. If this is the first act of Mark Ingram as Athletic Director, it is an excellent one. It should be enough for the UAB Family to believe that he does have some concept of what we need to grow. We should encourage all UAB supporters to get behind this program as we continue to demand information and progress in the return of UAB Football, Rifle, and Bowling.

An upcoming announcement: Saturday, July 15, 2015

By Ralph Harbison

I’ve seen the future and it will be…

Sunday, July 15, 2015, the next stage in the evolution of the #freeUAB movement will be unveiled. While I am aware of what that stage is, I am not going to discuss it here. You will need to be there to see for yourself.

What I am going to discuss is the #freeUAB movement itself. If you believe the movement is mostly about athletics, you are wrong. #FreeUAB is about everything that is the ideal in American life.

• We oppose obfuscation.
• We oppose misrepresentation of facts.
• We oppose oppression.
• We oppose bigotry.
• We oppose elitism.
• We oppose aristocracy and oligarchy in all forms.
• We oppose being forced to live in the past.
• We are about freedom.
• We are about independence.
• We are about self-governance.
• We are about equality.
• We are about fairness.
• We are about integrity.
• We are about representation.
• We are about openness.
• We are about the future.

At its core, #freeUAB is about the things that make us Americans. At its core, #freeUAB is about the promises made in 1776, that all are created equal and endowed by unalienable rights.

Am I being a bit hyperbolic? Perhaps, but if I tone it down, it still sounds the same. #FreeUAB is about one group of people who want their world to be the best that it can be despite the fact that another, smaller group of people would rather they live in a subservient manner.

#FreeUAB reminds me of previous history...

By Ralph Harbison
Mr. UAB 1994

One day, the king died and his son took over. As time went by, the son lost more and more contact with the outside world. Gradually, the son was so insulated and isolated that the only people who he spoke to were his advisors and puppets.

He was out of touch and tone-deaf to the world around him. Some distance away, farther in mentality than miles, the colony started by the kingdom was in a state. Over time, the colony had pushed its limits and tried to force more and more freedom from the old country.

As the upstart colonialists pressed for more, the king, unable to understand why they wanted to be different and afraid to lose the money the colony generated, struck back. With force, the king imposed his will upon the colonials, never once facing them himself or answering directly for why.

Finally, the colonials were DONE. A small group of them decided it was time for a change, and they started the process of gaining freedom from the unjust kingdom.

Care to guess where and when this story happened?

1776. American Colonies of England.

But, I cannot help if it sounds much like the #FreeUAB story. In fact, it is a little too much like the #FreeUAB story.

So, please, this Independence Day, as you reflect upon that group in 1776 who made the decision that it was better to die taking a stand than it was it live on your knees, ask yourself what you are willing to sacrifice to end oppression in your own world.

If we won why does it now feel like a loss?

By Ralph Harbison
Mr. UAB 1994

So, somehow, against all odds, the UAB administration has flipped positions and is now supposedly working to restore the previously terminated football, rifle, and bowling teams. This is due to several factors, the largest of which being the Birmingham Area Business community getting involved.

Yes, the “vocal minority” that raised all sorts of Green and Gold hell helped, but, truth be told, we just kept the story in the news to the point that reinforcements could arrive. We were, to be frank, much like the 101st Airborne holding the Bastogne, answering the call to surrender with “Nuts,” and holding the line for Patton to come in and rescue us. And, much like Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe’s bunch, we did just that.

And yet, we do not feel quite like those brave men back in that cold December battle. Or, I should say, those of us who understand the fight in which we are engaged do not feel the same.

While we have broken the siege in a way and forced a change, the underlying issues remain. Ray Watts is still president. The administration is still obfuscating and refusing to be clear about the needs and current position of the fundraising. The University of Alabama Board of Trustees has yet to discuss or even acknowledge the litany of no confidence votes. There is still an overall feeling that, to be blunt, all of this was done for show and nothing is going to change in the end.

The corrupt and ineffective administration is still in place at UAB. For example, AL.com exposed Kahn of no fewer than five years of fraudulent ethics forms being submitted and she is still in charge of the Vichy National Alumni Society and fundraising. The National Alumni Society changed rules to minimize the reach and influence of the alumni, refusing to teleconference and changing the election rules DURING THE ELECTION. We have more information now about the dangerous financial situation facing our sister campus in Tuscaloosa, thanks to Dr. John Knox (a man that could teach Watts no small amount about leadership in academia). And we know what we did not know, although not all of it has been made public at this time.

How do we go from a win in game one to a series sweep? This is where the answer will upset many, if not most, of the UAB Family.

We don’t.

We cannot.

We will not.

There is no way for us to sweep the series. We will not restore the programs fully, rid ourselves of Watts and the other anti-UAB people in office, and gain freedom from the University of Alabama Board of Trustees without a long, hard struggle. That does not mean that we cannot WIN, in fact, we have no choice but to fight until we do. It just means that it will not be a four game sweep. This series will go seven games to say the least.

So what are the next steps? From what I can tell, we actually are still in game one. We just hold a decent lead in the game. We cannot drop into a prevent defense pattern, nor can we run the ball control offence.

What we need to do is to finish this game out by continuing the attack for more openness from the Administration. We need to demand updates on the process. We need to demand a joint presser from Ingram and Clark so that BOTH men are there when certain questions are asked. We need to demand updates on the financial situation as pledges are acknowledged by the university.

In the age of computers, there is no reason that a “running total” cannot be created and presented to us. That way, we can see a DAILY update to the size of Watts’ mythical doughnut hole.
Anyway, we need to press for information, which has been the one thing that Watts has hated to release. This administration is as averse to shared governance and transparency as a vampire is to sunlight, and for the exact same reason.

What about cleaning house in UAB? What about a truly Free UAB? Those take more time. Major steps have been taken and are being taken to accomplish those goals. We cannot discuss all of that at this time for several reasons. Just know that the time will come when the next step is taken.
Until then, we keep the pressure on for information. We must demand openness and clarity from Watts and UAB.  That is our new focus.

Yes, we had a huge win. It feels like a loss because the game isn’t over and we realize that the one huge play is not going to be enough to win it all. We cannot give up hope now. We cannot give up the fight now. We must continue to press. We must continue to attack on all fronts. We cannot score again if we are trying to run out the clock and hope the other team has given up.

What The New York Times Wouldn't Publish About UAB

Power to the Publics:

The Struggle For Autonomy in Birmingham

By John A. Knox

I am a 1988 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), UAB’s first Rhodes Scholar finalist, and I am now a professor at the University of Georgia.

The termination and reinstatement of football, bowling and rifle at my alma mater during the past six months have been misunderstood by many commentators outside of the state of Alabama. Painted as yet another tug-of-war between athletics and academics, this interpretation is shorn of context and misses the deeper point. This pitched battle is instead the latest chapter in a long saga of colonialism and absentee-landlord politics that has dominated the history of my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.

UAB was founded in 1945 as the medical school of the University of Alabama, 60 miles from the main campus in Tuscaloosa. Its first dean, Roy Kracke, was a nationally known hematologist who turned down the dean of pathology position at what is now Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City in order to create something from nothing in Birmingham. Kracke’s dream from day one was a comprehensive public university in Birmingham, the largest city in the state. Against the odds UAB flowered, funded by billions in research grants rather than by sufficient state appropriations. UAB became an autonomous comprehensive research university in 1970; today UAB is one of the top 50 research universities in America (https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd), one of the top 25 U.S. institutions in National Institutes of Health funding (http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligence/the-top-50-nih-funded-universities/77899877/?page=2), and one of the top 10 public universities producing Rhodes Scholars during the 2000s (data compiled from http://www.rhodesscholar.org/winners/winning-institutions/).

Autonomy is an elusive thing in Alabama, however. Despite the miracle story of UAB and its 45 years as a fully fledged university, it is still referred to condescendingly as a “satellite campus” of the Tuscaloosa flagship campus (although UAB has eight times more research funding than the flagship campus does; https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd). The Board of Trustees that oversees the Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville campuses is composed of 80% Tuscaloosa alumni—including the son of Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, the famed football coach of the Crimson Tide from 1958 to 1983 (http://uasystem.ua.edu/members-of-the-board-of-trustees/).

As numerous stories in the Alabama media over the past several years have revealed, basic decisions about UAB are made among a small group of board members huddled around Paul W. Bryant Jr. These decisions extend far beyond athletics, and have led to the ouster of previous UAB presidents (including former CUNY chancellor W. Ann Reynolds) who would not bend to the Board’s desire to hold UAB back. The decisions of the current board-compliant UAB president have led to four no-confidence votes against him, most prominently by the UAB Faculty Senate on January 15.

According to a former member of this Board of Trustees, successive leaders of the Board have had a hidden agenda to shut down the entire undergraduate academic component of UAB (http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/05/uab_football_first_step_in_hid.html). In other words, the termination of football at UAB was just the tip of the iceberg, the beginning of the end for UAB as a comprehensive university after decades of lower-grade obstruction by the board.

In the three weeks since this revelation regarding the planned shutdown of UAB’s undergraduate side was made public, the Board of Trustees has had no rebuttal to this claim, and no response explaining what the motives might be for planning to shutter UAB’s 11,679-student undergraduate program. UAB is financially healthy with a $2.4 billion in operating revenues annually; furthermore, UAB carries zero athletic facilities debt. Therefore, financial concerns at the Birmingham campus cannot be the explanation. The spiraling billion-dollar debt at the Tuscaloosa campus may be a contributing factor, however (http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2015/04/ua-board-of-trustees-expansion-efforts-are-ineffective-unsustainable). The board is silent on the reasons why.

Faced with an existential threat to UAB as we know it, supporters across the nation mobilized into the grassroots #FreeUAB movement. #FreeUAB is dedicated not only to reinstating sports wrongly terminated in a process that circumvented NCAA and accreditation procedures, but also is in strong support of reforming the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees. We believe that no major research university in America should be run by the partisan supporters of another rival institution.

Birmingham has a long frustrating history as a city where the shots have been called by outsiders: by U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh, by hostile politicians in Montgomery, and by skybox residents of Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The #FreeUAB movement is for Birmingham as well as for UAB, and is committed to a vision of self-determination for both UAB and Birmingham.

This is why the UAB story is about much more than football, and how this saga meshes with the larger sweep of current events in American higher education. Whether you are in Madison, Wisconsin, where tenure guarantees are at risk and budgets are being slashed in the University of Wisconsin System; or Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where financial exigency may be declared at LSU and other public universities; or Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where political interests are seeking to move faculty out of research at the state’s top research universities, you are aware that your school’s decisions are being made by others, decisions that endanger its excellence and/or existence. The same is true at UAB. Instead of being an athletics vs. academics squabble at UAB, the power play of the Board of Trustees against UAB closely resembles these other ongoing assaults on American public higher education. 

The grassroots revolt for self-determination in Birmingham can also be instructive to those who are battling for their universities’ souls and survival. For example, UW-Madison and UNC-Chapel Hill have enjoyed academic autonomy for generations; at UAB, the struggle for autonomy has been a daily fight since 1945, ever since Roy Kracke arrived in the “Magic City” and worked his own magic to create UAB.  #FreeUAB is a quest for autonomy long deferred; around the nation, the fight is for autonomy regained. There is synergy in numbers. Understanding and uniting with the #FreeUAB movement is power to the publics. 

John Knox is an associate professor of geography at the University of Georgia, a 1988 alumnus of UAB and the 2014 CASE/Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Professor of the Year for the state of Georgia. He earned a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and held a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Football may be back, but Ray Watts still needs to go

Reports are pouring in that UAB football, bowling and rifle will be back at UAB in some form. However, the fact remains that the monumental moron who made the decision to disband the program after its second-most successful season in school history -- and who justified that decision with lies, deception and outright disdain for those it impacted -- still must go. That moron is UAB President Ray Watts.

If reports are to be believed, UAB football (and, we presume the rifle and bowling teams), which were eliminated with an unbelievably callous announcement to the football team (and via email to the bowling and rifle teams, really, Ray?), will be back in 2016. Watts is reversing course after unprecedented support from the city of Birmingham, surrounding municipalities, votes of no-confidence from practically every University constituency, a state representative who has gone full-boar into supporting the cause, and millions of dollars in pledges for the program if it's reinstated. However, the damage by Watts remains.

Dozens of employees who had JUST BEEN HIRED for their jobs were displaced. More than 100 student-athletetes were left looking for new colleges if they wanted to continue playing the sports they loved. The University was left holding the bag for millions of dollars in buy-out clauses for games on the books. It also bought-off the athletic director, presumably to keep him silent about the shenanigans that led to this catastrophe in the first place.

Bringing back UAB football is the right thing to do. But the fact it came to this is based on a string of bad, incompetent decisions that can never be fully rectified. For those reasons, until Ray Watts is fired or has a second brief moment of common sense and resigns, this web site will continue its mantra:

Fire Ray Watts. Today.

The Bible Brush-Up Bill

By John A. Knox

Alabama House Bill 339 emerged from committee last month.  This bill would mandate ethics training for members of the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees (UABOT). But this news was overshadowed in Birmingham by shenanigans at UAB—events that were, not coincidentally, triggered in the first place by ethically questionable actions by that same board.

One TV news account stated that this bill was “stalled.” It isn’t, and it shouldn’t be resisted. Not that it was in the Alabama House, where it passed 96-to-some guy in Finis St. John’s back pocket. Now on to the Senate, where the real aginners reside.

Ethics training is mandatory for many of those associated with higher education already. And in the very buckle of the Bible Belt, in a nation that is said to be Christian, what’s so hard about ethics anyway? Around here, ethics derive from principles that any Board of Trustees member should have learned in Sunday School: the Ten Commandments, and so forth.

For this reason, I refer to HB 339 as the “Bible Brush-Up Bill.” Why is it needed? Because here in Alabama we don’t want the UABOT to take ethics for granite.

Ethics are as simple as Exodus 20 (or Deuteronomy 5, if you’re one of those second-law radicals):

• “Honour thy father and thy mother,” but don’t put someone on the Board just because of his daddy;
• “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor”ing institution’s research funding, nor its medical center, nor its honors program, nor its undergraduate population, nor anything else created by that institution;
• “Thou shalt not steal” resources from the state by permitting an institution to act as a fifth-of-a-billion-dollar piggy bank for Greek activities of a dubious moral nature, unless they are held at the church in Corinth;
• “Thou shalt not kill” football based on grudges, other institutions’ financial needs, or cooked-books financial analyses; and
• “Thou shalt have no other gods” running the Board, including The University of Alabama and Bryant Bank.  (As in the Bible, you can tell when gods are being named by the overuse of capital letters.)

Any “Veggie Tales” veteran could guess the right answers to ethics questions based on these concepts.

Another part of HB 339 requires the UABOT to familiarize itself with the enumerated accreditation principles of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges for both the Board and the institutions it oversees.  These, too, are no-brainers for anyone who grew up on Bible studies and church pot-lucks.  There’s lots of overlap with the Commandments.  For example:

• 1.1: The institution operates with integrity in all matters.  This means that presidents don’t lie, senior vice presidents don’t fib on their ethics forms for five straight years, faculty athletics representatives aren’t cut out of the loop on athletics decisions, and faculty, staff, students, and alumni are not called names and mocked publicly.  
• 2.2: …The board is not controlled by a minority of board members or by organizations or interests separate from it.  This would preclude a situation in which, for example, more members of the UABOT are related to a bank than to two of the three universities being overseen.
• 3.2.11: The institution’s chief executive officer has ultimate responsibility for, and exercises appropriate administrative and fiscal control over, the institution’s intercollegiate athletics program.  This would mean, non-hypothetically, that a university president would not meet with a small cabal of UABOT leaders to decide the fate of three sports prior to speaking with the university’s vice presidents.  Nor would a Board perform “coachus interruptus” on the tarmac during the endgame of a search process for a new football coach.
• 3.11.2: The institution takes reasonable steps to provide a healthy, safe, and secure environment for all members of the campus community. And so the Board would not permit a situation in which a football team practiced on a field full of holes, without hot water, and in a crumbling stadium. Furthermore, in accordance with SACS principle 3.2.11 the Board would not resist efforts to upgrade these facilities. 
• 3.12.1: The institution notifies the Commission of changes in accordance with the Commission’s substantive change policy and, when required, seeks approval prior to the initiation of changes.  Clearly, the Board could not countenance a situation in which the undergraduate component of a university is slated for termination without prior notice and approval.

Only a vocal few would dare oppose training in such common-sense, duh-hey standards.

(HB 339 also requires disclosure of economic interests as well as business relationships and transactions with other board members.  However, most of the Board members were in the same fraternity at Alabama and their code of omerta apparently doesn’t permit such disclosures, so expect the offering up of an amendment that the Legislature can’t refuse.)

By now, I hope that the reader realizes that HB 339 is sorely needed.  Why?  Because each and every one of the thou-shalt-nots I’ve cited above has actually transpired in the recent past.

The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees needs to be “born again,” and ethics reform is just the first step toward its salvation.

John Knox is a native of Birmingham, the son of a Presbyterian minister, a Presbyterian elder, and the former chair of the board of directors of the Presbyterian Student Center campus ministry in Athens, Georgia.

Sons of UAB Spring Football Game

Ray Watts thinks he killed UAB football, but really, he hasn't:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media inquiries: Lee Miller sonsofuabfootball@yahoo.com)

Follow us on Twitter: @sonsofuab
Facebook game page: https://www.facebook.com/events/898801546831110/
Facebook After Party page: https://www.facebook.com/events/349733395224147/
After Party Tickets: http://www.ironcitybham.com/event/793285-uab-alumni-spring-football-birmingham/


April 2, 2015

UAB FOOTBALL GREATS RETURNING TO BIRMINGHAM FOR ALUMNI GAME CELEBRATION ON APRIL 11

Carolina Panthers teammates Joe Webb and Darrin Reaves among more than 120 former Blazers who will be honored as part of Sons of UAB celebration


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Two current members of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the first UAB football player to make an NFL roster and play in the Super Bowl are among more than 120 former UAB Blazers committed to attend the second annual “Sons of UAB Football” Spring Flag Football Game.

The event will take place at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 11, at Legion Field in Birmingham.

UAB fans, students, supporters and alumni are invited to attend. There will be no charge for admission. Gates will open at 10 a.m., and tailgating is encouraged. Festivities will include a “Dragon March” in which Blazers fans will gather to accompany the players around the perimeter of the stadium and into Legion Field to represent Blazer Football pride.

“As we will not have a Homecoming Football Game in Fall 2015, we hope this opportunity will bring together all UAB students, alumni, fans and supporters to celebrate the history of UAB football,” said event organizer Lee Miller, a former UAB kicker from 1995-97.

The event began in 2014 under the encouragement of Blazers football coach Bill Clark in an attempt to bring back former players into the UAB Football program. A group of former players, supporters and alumni agreed the tradition should carry on in spite of the closure of the UAB football program in December 2014.

“We are excited to bring back former players to the home of UAB football from the start, and the place where we hope it will someday return,” Miller said. “This event is all about honoring our history and celebrating what UAB football meant to us as a part of our university.”

“We hope anyone who was ever involved in UAB football in any way -- as a player, coach, with the support staff, the band, the cheerleaders, students and alumni, media, university clubs or just as a fan -- will come out and be part of this. This is about the UAB Family coming together to honor the players who gave us so many great memories.”

After the alumni football game, fans are encouraged to attend UAB home games in baseball (vs. Rice at 2 p.m. at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field), soccer (Alumni Game at 2 p.m. at West Campus Field) and softball (doubleheader vs. Louisiana Tech at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at UAB Softball Field).

Saturday night, all UAB fans are encouraged to attend the UAB Alumni Spring Football Bash at Iron City Birmingham (513 22nd Street South), featuring The Peytones. Doors open at 7 p.m., with show beginning at 8. Tickets are $15, with 100 percent of proceeds going to the UAB Football Foundation (available for purchase here: http://bit.ly/1MFRUow).

The teams will be led by two special celebrity coaches:  ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann and SiriusXM College Sports Nation talk-show host Rachel Baribeau.

The roster includes players who represented UAB Football from its club inception in 1989 to Division III (1991-92, Division I-AA (1993-1995) and Division I-A (1996-2014).

Among those players scheduled to attend are some of UAB’s all-time greats, including:
-- Carolina Panthers teammates Joe Webb and Darrin Reaves
-- Josh Evans, who was UAB’s first NFL player
--  JJ Nelson, recently the fastest player at the NFL Combine and an All-America selection in 2014

The event is sponsored by Iron City Birmingham, TJC Mortgage, UPS Southside, Jones Sportswear Inc. and BlazerTalk.com.

DISCLAIMER: The Sons of UAB Alumni Football Game is not affiliated with nor does it claim association with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) or UAB Athletics.

EVENT DETAILS
WHAT: Second Annual Sons of UAB Football Alumni Spring Game
WHERE: Legion Field, Birmingham, Ala.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Saturday, April 11, gates open at 10 a.m.
WHO: More than 120 former UAB football players are committed to appear at the event, including several all-time Blazer greats.
ADMISSION: Free through Gate 16
PARKING: Free in Lot M on 8th Ave. West.

GAMEDAY EVENT SCHEDULE
10 a.m. -- Gates Open
10:15: Photos, autographs
10:30 a.m. -- Dragon March
10:40 a.m.  -- Player warmups
11 a.m.-1 p.m. -- Sons of UAB Football Spring Game

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
-- Media are welcomed and encouraged to cover and attend the 2015 Sons of UAB Football Alumni Spring Football Game.
-- If you would like to interview players or organizers in advance of the game, contact Lee Miller at sonsofuabfootball@yahoo.com
-- On game day, field access will be granted to visiting media. Please enter stadium parking lot M and proceed to Gate 16.
-- Large gathering of UAB football alumni ranging from members of the original club team to members of the 2014 team, as well as many coaches from teams through the years.
-- The rosters include several players who made the NFL or who are responsible for some of the most memorable plays and victories in UAB’s football history.
-- The alumni game will include Darrin Reaves Sr., and his sons, Darrin Reaves and Marcus Reaves. They are the only father-son legacy players in UAB football history.

2015 TENTATIVE ROSTER FOR UAB FOOTBALL ALUMNI SPRING GAME
(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Shamar Abrams, NG, 2001-2004, Vincent HS, Harpersville, AL
Nick Adams, WR, 2009, 2011-2012, Colleton County HS, Walterboro, SC
Rob Adams, TE, 1990, Berry HS, Hoover, AL
Alexander Adamson, WR, 1993-1996, Homewood, AL
Sean Alexander, DB, 1994-1996, Ramsay HS, Birmingham, AL
Tim Alexander, TE, 2012-2014, E.B. Erwin HS, Birmingham, AL
Jeffery Anderson, TE, 2007-2010, Southside HS, Selma, AL
Jake Arians, K, 1996-1999, Starkville HS, Starkville, MS
Bill Autrey, OL, 2011-2013, Columbus HS, Columbus, MS
T.J. Ballou, CB, 2010-2011, NE Lauderdale HS, Russell, MS
Steve Banks
Joe Bento, QB, 2011-2012, The Woodlands Christian Academy, The Woodlands, TX
Alvin Binion, OL, 1992-1995, John Carroll Catholic HS, Birmingham, AL
Kyle Bissinger, DE, 2003-2006, North Cobb HS, Atlanta, GA
Donald Blackmon, DB, 1991-1994, Gadsden, AL
Brian Bozeman, DB, 1995-1997, Hewitt-Trussville HS, Trussville, AL
Rodregis Brooks, CB, 1996-1999, Dadeville HS, Dadeville, AL
Anthony Brown, WR, 2001-2005, Carver HS, Montgomery, AL
Chris Brown, CB, 1999-2002, Avondale HS, Atlanta, GA
Cedrick Buchannon, WR, 1992-1995, Auburn HS, Auburn, AL
Pat Burchfield, DB, 2000-2001, Maben, MS
Marvin Burdette, LB, 2009-2012, Batesville, MS
Marlon Bush, DE, 1998-2001, East Limestone HS, Athens, AL
Greg Calhoun, OL, 2008-2011, Benjamin Russell HS, Alexander City, AL
Albert Calloway, OL, 2011-2013, Shades Valley HS
Jeremy Carter, FB, 1998-1999, Billingsley, AL
Adam Chandler, K/P, 2000-2002, Stanhope Elmore HS
Marquis Coleman, DB, 2008-2011, Chester HS, Chester, SC
Percy Coleman, RB, 1997-2000, Vestavia Hills HS
Derrick Colley, WR, 1995-1996, Bessemer City HS, Bessemer, AL
Jhun Cook, WR, 2002-2005, Huffman HS, Birmingham, AL
Nick Coon, WR, 2003-2007, Wetumpka HS, Wetumpka, AL
Thomas Cox, QB, 1999-2002, Jess Lanier HS, Birmingham, AL
Justin Craft, DB, 1994-1996, Alexander City, AL
Logan Creel, OL, 2007-2010, Grayson HS, Loganville, GA
Undrae Crosby, TE, 1997-2000, Stanhope Elmore HS, Millbrook, AL
Chuck Dietzen, QB, 1989, Kokomo, IN
Byron DeVinner, OL, 1991-94, Calera, AL
Caleb Dyck, RB/LB, 2008-2010, Dothan HS, Dothan, AL
Nigel Eldridge, LB, 2001-2004, Montgomery, AL
Marculus Elliott, RB, 2003-2006, Tate HS, Cantonment, FL
Vince Elliott, DE, 1989-1991, Pinson Valley HS, Birmingham, AL
Josh Evans, DL, 1991-1994, Lanett, AL
Curtis Falany, QB, 2003-2005, Vestavia Hills HS, Vestavia, AL
Tommy Fincher, LB, 1991-1993, Loxley, AL
Frantrell Forrest, WR, 2007-2010, Mobile, AL
Wes Foss, SS, 1998-2000, Darlington HS, Rome, GA
Rhett Gallego, K, 1998-2001, Hueytown, AL
Andy Galloway, OL, 2001-2003, Dothan, AL
Nick Haddad, Snapper, 2004-2008, St. Pius X HS, Atlanta, GA
Jason Hamlin, DL, 2003-2006, Thompson HS, Alabaster, AL
Joe Happe, DE, 2006-2008, Cherokee HS, Canton, GA
Dedric Hardrick, FB, 1999, North Jackson HS, Bridgeport, AL
Quinton Harris, OL, 2004-2006, Courtland, AL
Tommy Harrison, DB, 1990-1993, Columbiana, AL
Patrick Hearn, WR, 2009-2012, Quitman, MS
Tristan Henderson, TE, 2013-2014, Los Alamitos, CA
Carlos Hendricks, DB, 2001-2005, Sidney Lanier HS, Montgomery, AL
Dio Hill, DB, 2001-2003, New Smyrna Beach, FL
John Hix, OL, 2011-2012, Auburn, AL
Joey Hunter, FB, 2006-2007, Wetumpka HS
Greg Irvin, LB, 2009-2012, Demopolis HS, Demopolis, AL
A.J. Johnson, OL, 1993-1996, Irwin County HS, Ocilla, GA
Paul Johnson, LB, 1991-1992, Cordova, AL
Lee Jolly, QB, 1997-1999, Cedartown, GA
Chris Jones, LB, 1993-1994, Trinity, AL
Mike Jones, OL, 1994-1995, Jones County CC, New Augusta, MS
Michael Ketchum, DB, 1997-1998, Briarwood Christian
Andrew Kopecky, CB, 1998-2001, Vestavia Hills HS, Vestavia, AL
James Lewis, DE, 1997-1998, Birmingham, AL
Ty Long, K, 2011-2014, Roswell HS, Roswell, GA
Chris Maye, P, 1991-1994, Daleville, AL
Marc McCluney, OL, 1991-1994, Emma Sansom HS, Gadsden, AL
Jermaine McElveen, DE, 2003-2006, Atlanta, GA
Elliott McGaskin Jr, Saftey, 2009-2010, Mobile, AL
Tamar Mickens, RB, 2011-2014, Spain Park HS, Birmingham, AL
Lee Miller, K, 1997, Starkville HS, Starkville, MS
Chris Moon, DT, 1993-1995, Hewitt-Trussville HS
Chris Moreno, OL, 1990
X-Zavier Morris, WR, 2014, Prichard, AL
Benji Morrow, RB, 1995-1998, West Jefferson HS, West Jefferson, AL
Will Morthland,
D'Andre Mostella, RB, 2009-2012, Chatham HS, Danville, VA
Hunter Mullins, P, 2011-2014, Tallassee HS, Tallassee, AL
Derrick Murphy, DB, 1998-1999, Birmingham, AL
J.J. Nelson, WR, 2011-2014, Midfield HS, Midfield, AL
William Nichols, TE, 1991 & 1994, Meadowview Christian, Selma, AL
Shane Pearson, TE, 2000-2002, Athens, GA
Todd Pelkey, SS, 1999-2001, Pelham HS, Pelham, AL
Johnathan Perry, QB, 2010-2013, Dunbar HS, Baltimore, MD
Trey Ragland, P, 2008-2011, Hewitt-Trussville HS, Trussville, AL
Tony Ramirez, EQUIP. MGR, 2001-2007, Trussville HS, Clay, AL
Darrin Reaves Sr., RB, 1991, Birmingham, AL
Darrin Reaves Jr., RB, 2011-2013, Clay-Chalkville HS, Birmingham, AL
Marcus Reaves, WR, 2014, Clay-Chalkville HS, Birmingham, AL
Mark Reaves, OL, 1994-1997, Oxford HS, Oxford, AL
D.J. Reese, DT, 2007-2010, Daphne HS, Daphne, AL
Brandon Register, DB, 2003-2006, Seminole HS, Seminole, GA
Anquan Rimes, DT, 2010-2011, West Port HS, Ocala, FL
DeMarcus Rodgers, LB, 2001-2004, Southern Choctaw HS, Gilbertown, AL
Nick Salyers, OL/DL, 2008, Huntsville, AL
Paul Schoolar, WR, 2006-2009, Jemison HS, Jemison, AL
Jake Seitz, OL, 2006-2009, Vestavia Hills, AL
David Sigler, TE, 2004-2007, Albertville HS
Shawn Sims, WR, 1995-1998, Cherokee HS, Marlton, NJ
T.J. Simmons, WR, 1999-2002, Chipley HS, Chipley, FL
Adrian Singleton, FS, 1998-2001, Mobile, AL
Eddie Sinclair, LB, 1992-1994, Leeds HS, Leeds, AL
Rashaud Slaughter, RB/WR, 2006-2009, Minor HS, Adamsville, AL
Darion Smith, C, 2010-2011, Brookhaven, MS
Julian Smith, TE, 2005-2008, E.B. Erwin HS
Nolen Smith, TE, 2010-2013, Oneonta HS, Oneonta, AL
Jason Southall, WR, 2001-2004, Midfield HS, Birmingham, AL
Alan Spooner, LB, 1991-1993, Hewitt-Trussville HS, Trussvile, AL
Terrell Springs, CB, 2008-2011, Chester HS, Chester, SC
Ferson Stafford, DB, 2007-2010, Central HS, Phenix City, AL
Nick Stewart, LB, 1998-2001, Jefferson Davis HS, Montgomery, AL
Mike Trammell, OL, 1991-1994, Birmingham, AL
Adam Truitt, OL, 2004-2007, Hoover HS, Hoover, AL
Chuck Tuggle, OL/DL, 1989-1990, Birmingham, AL
Jake Vest, WR/QB, 1993-1995, Daleville, AL
Nathan Wade, OL, 1994-1996, Etowah HS, Gallant, AL
Julius Wainwright, DB, 2002-2005, Central HS, Tuscaloosa, AL
Daniel Walters
Shalin Waterford, DB, 2012-2014, Harvest, AL
Joe Webb, QB, 2006-2009, Wenonah HS, Birmingham, AL
Justin Whitmore, DB, 2002-2004, St. Edward Central Catholic HS, Elgin, IL
John Whitcomb, QB, 1992-1994, Chipley, FL
Daniel White, LB, 2009-2010, Apopka HS, Apopka, FL
Jackie Williams, WR, 2010-2012, Vigor HS, Prichard, AL
Jestin Williams, LB/DE, 2009-2011, Gordo HS, Carrollton, AL
Alan Willis, DB, 1994-1997, West End HS, Altoona, AL

UAB USGA issues damning report on Watts' decision to disband football, other decisions

I'll let the report speak for itself:

http://www.uab.edu/usga/images/2014-2015/Projects/USGA%20-%202014%20Athletic%20Decision%20Process%20Report.pdf

New page added, includes links to prior coverage of death of UAB football, fallout

I've added a new page to the site. It contains links to any and all media coverage regarding the death of UAB football, rifle and bowling and the fallout. I will update it as stories become available and time permits. You can see it here:

http://www.fireraywatts.com/p/prior-media-coverage-of-freeuab.html

There's also a link in the right sidebar to the main FireRayWatts.com site.

Ray Watts does it again, this time lies to School of Medicine Faculty