By Design
Posted on June 6, 2025 by Alumni
Everyone in the South family has helped shape our ‘do the right thing’ culture.
FROM OUR EARLIEST DAYS, we were blessed with leaders who created a culture based on integrity, dedication and class and who inspired us all to be ambitious, determined and bold. I have come to think of this culture as The USA Way.
I see the tangible results of our trailblazers’ thoughtful design every day as I travel our campus. Its beauty lifts my spirits as I watch it change through the seasons — with fall foliage, spring blooms and, every once in a while, a surprise like this past January’s record-breaking snow.
At every step in our history, the local businesspeople and elected officials who worked together to create the University, as well as the visionary administrators and faculty who guided its development, have kept a single mission in mind: to be the best we can be in all that we do.
The USA Way shines from every page in this magazine. USA Health medical vans will bring top-quality healthcare to rural areas. Our hospitals and clinics provide art therapy to reduce stress and improve the mental health of seriously ill or injured patients and even their families.
South students received prestigious Goldwater Scholarships (three, more than all but one other university in the state) and took home a first-place trophy from a national cheer competition. As someone who remembers when handheld stopwatches were state of the art, I marvel at the amazing new technologies that our coaches and other athletics staff are using to help our student athletes become the best they can be.
The USA Center for Archaeological Studies dug into its biggest project ever, a study
that spans the full sweep of our region’s history. Thanks to the steadfast support
of the USA Foundation, the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences and
a group of engineering students are designing an open-air classroom that will open
this fall out in the middle of Dauphin Island’s beautiful Aloe Bay. Students will
step right down
into the water to put what they learn in the classroom into action.
And our alumni continue to make us proud in so many ways. Winners of our annual Distinguished Alumni Awards demonstrate that leadership in the business world goes hand in hand with service to others. A 2007 Mitchell College of Business graduate has built an idea he first pitched via YouTube into a fast-growing local coffee chain that specializes in “wow moments.” All three 2025 Teachers of the Year for Mobile County Public Schools are Jaguar alums.
Everyone associated with the University has had a role in designing and carrying out The USA Way. You have all helped us move upward and onward as the Flagship of the Gulf Coast. You will always be Jaguars, and we will always cherish your legacy.
Go Jags!
Jo Bonner
President