UNA To Hold Convocation For Freshmen and New Transfer Students Sept. 15

Sep. 10, 2010

FLORENCE, Ala. – The University of North Alabama will hold its annual Fall Academic Convocation for freshmen and new transfer students at 11 a.m. Sept. 15 in Norton Auditorium. The event, jointly sponsored by UNA and the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, will host UNA history professor Dr. Larry Nelson as keynote speaker.

Nelson, who has taught history at UNA since 1985, is known at UNA for urging his students to become independent thinkers, to make up their own minds and to not be pushed around by culture, the media, friends or even university professors. History, he said, is not a bunch of facts and dates but a great liberator, allowing its students to learn why things are the way they are.

Nelson has been a frequent emcee at various fundraisers at UNA, from Step Sing to Big Man on Campus, UNA’s Got Talent and Pan-Hellenic auctions. He is the recipient of teaching and faculty awards at three different institutions, including Alpha Lambda Delta’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year at UNA. He has also received publishing and service awards, including the Bottimore Outstanding Academic Achievement Award for two published books.