Over the last few months, Birmingham-Southern has welcomed three new staff members to the Offices of Advancement and Alumni Engagement: Shelley Puckett, Danielle Buchanan, and Dana Porter. All three will help the College grow through fundraising, event planning, and a strong alumni network.

We’re excited to welcome these new (and not so new) faces to the Hilltop.

Shelley Moor Puckett ’98 joined the advancement services department in May as the prospect research coordinator. In this role, she will research and create reports on the individuals, families, and organizations connected to BSC so the College can know members of our community at a deeper level.

Puckett comes to BSC – where she studied math – after working in customer service and the banking and legal industries and spending time as a busy mom to her two sons, Marshall and Isaac.

“I loved my time as a student on the Hilltop and am very excited to return and see the College from a different perspective,” Puckett says. “Working on staff as a graduate provides me opportunities to remember my own time as a student and make connections again with other alumni and staff.”

This position is a new role in advancement services, directed by Kim Burnett, that will build upon work for the Office of Advancement and the President’s Office. Puckett is looking forward to being in a role that actively gives back to her alma mater and help other advancement staff strengthen alumni support.

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Danielle Ivey Buchanan will lead our annual advancement campaigns as director of annual giving. She brings more than six years of experience in annual giving at UAB, which began when she was an undergraduate student caller for the university.

“I would call alumni and talk to them about campus updates, student scholarship needs, and ways to contribute to support current students,” Buchanan says. “I heard so many great stories and got so much good advice from those conversations. It got me excited about annual giving.”

Buchanan most recently served as the annual giving program manager for the Benevolent Fund, UAB’s hub for community outreach and charitable giving, and has worked in Birmingham ever since she was a student.

On the Hilltop, Buchanan will coordinate Forward Ever Day, Giving Tuesday, and Phonathon – all focused on communicating stories to inspire alumni, parents, and friends and share the ways our community can continue supporting BSC. She has also recently welcomed Ahnaf Khan – fellow UAB graduate – to her team as the assistant director of annual giving, and he will start in mid-August.

“The whole campus seems so tight-knit and interconnected, and everyone has been so warm and friendly,” she says. “It definitely has a small town feel on campus, which feels just like home to someone like me, who grew up in Nauvoo, one of the many small communities across Alabama.”

Buchanan holds bachelor’s degrees in English literature and communication management and an interdisciplinary certificate in nonprofit leadership, all from UAB. She loves keeping up with her houseplants and playing board games, and she married her husband Alex Buchanan in January.

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Dana McArthur Porter ’03 (MPPM ’11) returned to the Hilltop in June as the assistant director of alumni engagement. In this role, she will plan and promote meaningful programs and events for BSC alumni.

After studying theatre at BSC, Porter has spent most of her career performing and teaching theatre and music. She’s used her theatre degree and master’s degree in public and private management with nonprofits for more than 15 years, living in Birmingham with husband Lars Porter ’04 and her family.

Porter worked in BSC’s Office of Admission from 2007 to 2012, then spent three years working part-time in athletics before taking time off to stay home with her three children, Boyd, Doc, and Arthur. She always knew that, for her next full-time role, she would be back at BSC.

“Being on staff as an alum adds an extra spark to the job,” Porter says. “I’ve always taken pride in my work – no matter where my career path has taken me – but there’s nothing better than being a part of the community that helped mold me into who I am today.”

She has played a role in most parts of BSC student life: She’s recruited students, coached students, and will now build relationships in their next chapter as alumni. Porter has already led one of the office’s summer virtual book clubs and is planning this year’s Homecoming calendar with Jennifer Waters ’86, director of alumni engagement.

“We are a small part of this universe, but if you look closely, you can find a BSC connection that has and will continue to make a difference in this world.”

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We’ve welcomed quite a few other staff members since January 2021 who are all playing important roles in the BSC community:

Abby Bouldin, assistant athletic trainer
Hattie O’Hara ’17, assistant director of service learning and community partnerships
Angela Rizzo, academic programs assistant
Fredrick Wagner, assistant volleyball coach
Chad O’Melia ’19, assistant football coach
Patrick Hill, assistant football coach
Kendra Owens, admission counselor
Sandra Foster, assistant director of accessibility services
Whitney Hall, assistant director of admission
Ashlyn Rooney, assistant cross country/track coach
Leslie Jackson, associate director of admission marketing
Amanda Locke, head softball coach
Nicholas Mathey, sports information director
Jacques Shelby, assistant director of social media and game management