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Making a difference in the lives
that follow
As a young boy growing up west of Birmingham, U.W. Clemon longed to attend
Birmingham-Southern College.
He was elated when the college in 1961, unaware of his race, invited him
for a tour of the campus. But at the end of the tour, college officials politely
informed him that notwithstanding his qualifications, he could not be accepted
for admission because of Alabama’s rigid segregation laws. Even so, Clemon’s
admiration for the college continued.
He later served as a member of BSC’s adjunct faculty and its President’s Advisory
Council. In what he describes as the fulfilment of a dream deferred for 42 years,
the college conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree in 2003
in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments and contributions to his home
state and nation.
Now Judge Clemon—who attended Miles College and Columbia Law School
before becoming Alabama’s first black federal judge—is making it possible for
students with unanticipated needs to continue to benefit from a BSC education.
The Judge U.W. Clemon Assistance Fund, is designed to help students cover
non-tuition expenses related to attending BSC so they can stay at the college and
concentrate on their studies. Occasionally, students find themselves without
means to fully participate in extracurricular activities or even to meet other
financial demands, such as required textbooks or travel for internships. The
Clemon Fund has the flexibility to provide such meaningful assistance.
“I was amazed to find this incredible program existed when I started at
Birmingham-Southern,” BSC President Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith said. “We’ve
helped some students buy textbooks and other students with their study-abroad
and Exploration Term expenses.”
The fund grew out of the college’s earlier assistance fund, called the Seedling
Grants, launched in 2008 and funded by a BSC alumnus. During its tenure, the
grants provided 104 awards totaling $172,000. The alumnus, also a friend and
admirer of Clemon, approached the judge in 2015 to redesign his existing BSC
scholarship to provide permanent funding for the Seedling Grants. Together, their
combined contributions created a fund of more than $500,000 to assist students.
The awards are granted each semester by a committee of faculty, staff, and
alumni, based on recommendations from BSC faculty and staff. Since its launch,
the Clemon Assistance Fund has made 25 awards.
“All of us on the committee find great joy in helping students because of his
fund, and we are so grateful to the donors for making this program possible,” said
BSC Assistant Provost Martha Ann Stevenson, who has overseen the distribution of
the awards.
Charitable bequests:
Giving voice to a
philanthropic spirit
Katherine Davis didn’t attend Birmingham-
Southern—but that didn’t stop her from leaving
the college a generous gift upon her death.
Davis, who passed away in 2014, wanted to
honor her late father, Watts E. Davis ’36, who
studied music at BSC and then earned his law
degree at the University of Alabama. Because
music remained the lawyer’s lifelong love, his
daughter—who had her own success as an
industrial hygienist, working for International
Paper and others—created a scholarship that
allows future Birmingham-Southern students to
pursue their own passion for music.
“Ms. Davis’ generosity is an example of how
including BSC in your will provides one last
opportunity to express your personal values
and wishes,” said Meredith Wolfe ’09, BSC’s
assistant director of development. “It gives
voice to your philanthropic spirit and expresses
confidence that the college will continue to make
a difference in the lives of future generations.”
Charitable bequests can take on a number
of forms. Donors may decide to name a
specific dollar amount, designate a percentage
of their estate, or set aside specific assets for
the college. Davis, for example, set aside
a percentage of her estate to provide an
estimated $15,000/year to cover the cost of
scholarships for BSC music majors.
For more information on wills, including
sample language for making a charitable
bequest, please contact Wolfe at (205) 226-
4977 or
[email protected].