Robert Clem ’67 produced and directed the film “Alabama Black Belt Blues,” which will premiere on Alabama Public Television at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23 and again at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25. The one-hour film explores the Black Belt blues tradition from slavery to the present day and its role in the culture of a region still economically distressed. The film includes a history of the recordings made in Alabama’s Black Belt in the 1930s and 1940s by John and Alan Lomax with the assistance of celebrated Alabama folklorist Ruby Pickens Tartt. It covers the vibrant blues scene, which continues in the Black Belt today, with personal narratives of African American blues musicians performing at festivals, churches, clubs and pop-up juke joints deep in the Alabama woods. Clem will also be featured in a preview of the film and panel discussion at 8 p.m. Oct. 20 on APT for a discussion with several Alabama musicians and educators. His award-winning 1997 documentary, “Big Jim Folsom: The Two Faces of Populism,” will air on APT at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 and is available on Amazon Prime.

Kim Ennis ’91 will soon retire as president of Bevill State Community College. Ennis leaves a legacy as a leader who is passionate about education and the growth of Bevill State over her 35 years of service at the college. After receiving her associate’s degree from Walker College (now a part of Bevill State), she was offered a job there and was then inspired to earn her bachelor’s degree from BSC and her master’s degree and Ph.D. in education from UAB.

Anoop Mishra ’94 and Trey Echols III ’96 were announced as members of Leadership Alabama’s 2020-21 class. The program allows members to learn about the opportunities and challenges facing the state and deepen their connections with Alabama. Mishra serves as vice president and regional executive of the Birmingham branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and Echols serves as president and CEO of Highland Associates. Brooke Coleman, Birmingham philanthropist and wife of BSC President Daniel B. Coleman, and Bryson Stephens, chairman of EBSCO and member of BSC’s Board of Trustees, are also members of this year’s class.

Glenny Brock ’99 is the recipient of a 2021 literary arts fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. In addition to her full-time job at the historic Lyric and Alabama Theatres, Brock teaches at least one class each semester at BSC. As a new member of the Modern Language Association, she recently received a $500 emergency grant established by the MLA to assist part-time faculty members financially affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. In June 2020, Architectural Record published her feature, “Protests Take Aim at Confederate Monuments.”

Wilson Nash ’07 is associate general counsel for Brasfield & Gorrie. Beyond working on the company’s claims and litigation, ethics, and compliance issues, Nash is active on the firm’s COVID-19 response team. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Sydney and J.D. from the University of Alabama. He is active with the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum and Rotary Club of Birmingham and serves on the board of Better Basics, the Young Supporters Board of UAB’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, and BSC’s Norton Board of Advisors.

Damian Mitchell ’18 is now the host of his own sports radio show, “Gameday with Damian & Dunaway,” on WJOX 94.5 from 7-9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Mitchell serves as assistant producer and board operator at Cumulus Media, where he’s now expanding his role. He majored in media and film studies as a BSC student and is now a member of the Young Alumni Council.

Mary Beth Powell Prude ’44 of Birmingham on Sept. 8, 2020. Prude lived her 98+ years to the fullest, devoted to her family, her career in education, and her clubs, travel, and volunteering. She met her husband, the late J. Mitchell Prude ’43, in the Youth Department at McCoy Methodist Church while they were BSC students. Prude taught fifth grade in Birmingham City Schools and later earned her master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Alabama. In 1967, she was instrumental in establishing the Birmingham City Schools Guidance Program. She served as social chair for BSC faculty and staff events for several years, a tutor at Better Basics, and a volunteer at the Firehouse Shelter. The Prudes were longtime members of McCoy Methodist Church and later First United Methodist Church in downtown Birmingham. Her children, Audrey Ann Prude Wilson ’68 and Joseph “Joel” M. Prude, Jr. ’70, their spouses, James W. Wilson, Jr. ’66 and Jayne McCain Prude ’69, and granddaughter Haley Wilson Buchman ’91 also graduated from BSC.

Virgil Paul Snow, Jr. ’53 of Lawrenceville, Ga., on Sept. 7, 2020. Snow served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955, where he was stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio. He later received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from BSC and taught biology for 39 years, retiring from what is now the University of West Georgia. He was a member of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education and served as treasurer for 20 years. While he lived with his family in Carrollton, he was active in the Carrollton High School Band Booster Club and served as a Scout Master at Carrollton First United Methodist Church for six years.

Anna Taylor Brewer ’58 of Atlanta, Ga., on Sept. 29, 2020. Brewer studied biology at BSC and was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. She taught high school biology in Birmingham for a few years before moving to Georgia with her husband, the late Samuel F. Brewer ’61. While living in Moultrie, Ga., she opened a men’s clothing store, Code 3. Brewer and her family moved to Athens, Ga., in 1984, and she studied microbiology at Athens Tech while also working as a lab technician for the University of Georgia. She moved again to Birmingham in 1991, where she worked as a bookkeeper at Steak-Out Restaurant for many years. Her daughter Martha Brewer Ihlbrock ’93 also graduated from BSC.

Nancy Whatley Wingard ’58 of Birmingham on Sept. 8, 2020. After majoring in music at BSC, Wingard taught hundreds of piano students over her 55-year piano career. She instilled a love for music and discipline to succeed, and she saw many of her students become professional musicians, music professors, and concert pianists. Wingard served as a docent at the Birmingham Museum of Art for more than a decade and was a member of First United Methodist Church. She loved to read and send handwritten letters long after most had turned to text and email. Her husband, the late Robert Warren Wingard ’59, and her daughters, Amy Wingard Templeton ’82 and Alicia Wingard ’85, all attended BSC.

Joseph “Joe” McCain ’61 of Birmingham on Sept. 11, 2020. McCain earned his degree at BSC before studying astronomy at the University of Arizona, Phoenix. His entire professional career was in environmental sciences with the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham. He was a member of the National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club and served as an instructor of astronomy at UAB. McCain was also an avid bicyclist who rode his bike to and from work for more than 10 years.

Gussie Arnett ’62 of Birmingham on Sept. 4, 2020. Arnett received bachelor’s degrees in laboratory and medical technology from Auburn University before receiving her master’s degree in biology from BSC. She spent 38 years in virology research at Southern Research Institute, where she was involved in the testing of many antiviral drugs, including the first FDA approved drug for the treatment of herpes viruses. During her retirement, Arnett was a volunteer driver for seniors in Vestavia Hills and was an was an active member of Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church, the Birmingham Audubon Society, and the Alabama Ornithological Society. She was passionate about the great outdoors and environmental causes and was an excellent birder.

Henrietta Boggs of Montgomery on Sept. 9, 2020 at the age of 102. Boggs, longtime Montgomery resident, journalist, and former First Lady of Costa Rica, charted a vibrant and monumental life. She was a junior at BSC when she traveled to see her aunt and uncle in Costa Rica. There, she met her future husband, José Figueres, who became a revolutionary political figure, leading a brief but bloody civil war to install a democratic government in the country. Boggs is credited with numerous policies under Figueres’ leadership, including granting voting rights to women and to Costa Ricans of African descent. Following her divorce and return to the United States, she participated in the Civil Rights Movement, joined multiple political and civic groups in Montgomery, and worked as a writer and journalist, publishing her autobiography and co-founding Montgomery Living Magazine. Learn more about Boggs in The New York Times feature on her life and legacy or in the segment on TODAY for her “life well lived.”