Vanguard

Issue date: 3/26/07 Section: News

The University of South Alabama's Board of Trustees held a meeting last Thursday at the Joseph and Rebecca Mitchell Learning Resource Center, a new business library and facility adjoining the Mitchell College of Business.
Following the quarterly trustees meeting, the $2.5 million library was dedicated and named to honor the parents of Abraham and Mayer Mitchell, longtime contributors to the University.
Abe Mitchell, who donated $500,000 toward the business library, called the project a "labor of love." Private donations secured by an USA alumni committee and federal funds obtained by Sen. Richard Shelby funded construction of the library.
Mitchell College of Business Dean Carl Moore said the library was the number one priority for the business school just three years ago. "Today it is a reality," he said. "This is a hallmark of our facilities now."
Student Government Association President Will Jackson said, "As a business major, I am confident the resources in this center will equip me and my classmates to be the best graduates in our fields."
The 15,000-square-foot resource center features the business library, a computer lab, study space and the John B. Saint Financial Analysis Center, which includes a real-time stock market display and a Wall Street-type of setting.
"The most important thing we do at this institution is educate tomorrow's leaders and professionals," USA President V. Gordon Moulton said at the dedication. "The Mitchell family has been a key component in providing a better opportunity [for our students.] This is an additional way to provide a richer, better environment for learning for our students, and this building will provide a lot of practical opportunities for our students."
Prior to the dedication, trustees approved an honorary doctorate for Mayer Mitchell, which will be given at the spring commencement ceremony on May 5. Trustee Mayer Mitchell will also give the commencement speech.
Policy typically prohibits awarding a current trustee with an honorary degree, but according to a March 19 memorandum to Moulton from Patsy Covey, vice president of academic affairs, the Honorary Doctorate Committee found "Mitchell's extraordinary record of leadership and philanthropic support of the University more than justifies an exception to the policy."
Moulton reported to the trustees that 1,142 degrees will be awarded on May 5, bringing the total number of degrees awarded since the University's inception in 1963 to nearly 60,000.

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