December 10, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham will hold commencement ceremonies at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010, in Bartow Arena, 617 13th St. South. At least 800 students will participate in commencement exercises; more than 2,100 students are expected to graduate this semester.

The ceremonies will be streamed live at http://www.uab.edu/commencement/video/video-archive-fall-2010 to enable students' friends and relatives who cannot attend the ceremony to be a part of the special event. For more details, visit www.uab.edu/commencement. This year, UAB plans to offer a DVD of commencement for sale; check the commencement website for updates.

Michael Saag, M.D., will be presented with the 2010 President's Medal at the ceremony.

Geraldine Flannigan of Hoover, who is receiving a bachelor of science in nursing degree with departmental and university honors, will be the undergraduate commencement speaker.  At UAB, Flannigan was president of the UAB Ambassadors and a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority, the UAB Student Alumni Association and Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honors Society. She was a top-five finalist for the Ms. UAB Scholarship Competition in 2008 and was awarded the BSN Student Excellence award in August. She works in the RN Intern Program at UAB Hospital. 

Sevante Metcalf of Birmingham, who is receiving a master of business administration degree, will be the graduate commencement speaker. Metcalf received a bachelor of arts in history from UAB and was a minority presidential scholarship recipient as an undergraduate.  He works with the State of Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.

Metcalf also is working on a documentary movie filmed in a small town in Hale County, Ala., about the Fair Hope Benevolent Society of Faunsdale, one of the oldest active African-American benevolent societies at more than 120 years old. These societies originally were started by newly freed slaves to help communities combat illness, poverty and need. Metcalf is working on the film with his brother, who is co-executive producer; both are from Muscle Shoals and their 97-year-old grandmother is a member of the society. A trailer from the film has already caught the interest of several major independent film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, Metcalf says. "This film is about more than American history, Alabama history or black history, it's also part of my family's history," Metcalf says. The movie is scheduled to be released in summer or fall 2011.

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