Colleen Trousdale

Dr. Huddleston positively impacted mine and thousands of lives during his time as a professor and the Communications Department Chair at UNA.  He could make students feel at ease when moments before they were stressed out. He is encouraging and kind and known for his funny phrases. Another thing I remember is he ALWAYS dressed up to the nines for class. So much so that when I’ve seen him outside of UNA in casual dress I don’t recognize him at first! When I found out he retired, I felt true disappointment for all future communications students that they would never take his class.

He was key to  “The Story Telling Festival” coming to UNA. Because of him, they started coming to Florence and continue to come each summer. There is such an unexpected fun and hilarity to hearing stories told, an art that seems to be dying and under-appreciated with the rise of TV and Movies. I try to go every year now.

He is the reason I majored in communications; when as a freshman I wasn’t sure what direction to take. As I sat in his office being advised, he told me of all the possibilities that would be open to me with a degree in communications and besides which it was something that is vital in everyday life. He talked about the importance of loving what you study and do. He made classes fun and interesting. He is someone who cares about his students even after they graduate. He still checks in with his students to see how they are doing. His influence is so great that there is a whole group of past students who call themselves “Huddleston Nation” out of love for their dearest professor who was affectionately nicknamed “Wild Bill”. Once he discovered students referring to him that way, he just laughed.  He is one of the only professors of mine to check in with me after graduation just to see how I was doing, and that meant so much to me.

I remember once in college, I let my hairstylist friend give me a haircut. The style she choose for me was a bob cut with chunky blonde highlights. It is an understatement to say it looked horrible on me. Out of love for my friend I bravely wore it for a couple of weeks before going back to get what could be fixed of it. Anyway, while I was studying in the main lobby feeling mortified with this hair that couldn’t be undone without the help of time and a hairstylist, Dr. Huddleston was very encouraging and said: “I love the haircut. I really do.” (Whether or not he really thought that is debatable, but it was a kind thing to say to a young student whose hair had been butchered.)

Dr. Huddleston is a wonderful person and professor and truly deserves to be highlighted in the faculty through the years campaign. When I asked some old classmates of mine they whole heartily agreed and banded together in support. (This is when I was introduced to the Huddleston Nation group.)  I encourage you to read the messages from three others as it will touch your heart and give you a nice laugh as it did for me. I echo their words and felt myself thinking “Me too!” and “That’s so true!” He is a family man who loves his wife and daughter and has a love/hate relationship with his cats.

Roar Lions,

Colleen Trousdale

Jake Brasfield

Dr. Huddleston is UNA. To Whom It May Concern: My name is Jake Brasfield, and I am a 2012 Alumni of UNA. I am writing because Dr. Bill Huddleston deserves every bit of acknowledgement that comes with being a “Faculty through the years, honoree.” Dr. Huddleston’s class was my last class at UNA before I graduated and I’ll never forget it. Dr. Huddleston cares. He would spend a lot of time connecting with us on a personal level. Asking about how things were going outside of the classroom was a common occurrence for him. He cared and that was something that I’ll always remember. Dr. Huddleston knows how to keep his class active. The environment his classrooms had was one unlike any other. Although a lot of the communication department felt like one big group, Huddleston’s class was a division within that. He allowed you to connect with your classmates, encouraged dialogue, and wanted you to feel comfortable. He accomplished every one of those. Dr. Huddleston is consistent. You can ask nearly anyone and they’ll tell you the same thing about him. He’s a good guy, cares about his students, and wants you to do the best that you can. As a member of “Huddleston Nation,” I will never forget taking his class. His class introduced me to some of my best friends, great people, and great memories that I’ll have forever. Dr. Huddleston deserves this recognition and it’s not even a debate.

Roar Lions,

Jake Brasfield

2012 Alumni

Huddleston Nation Member

Zack Miskel

The Man. The Myth. The Legend. Wild Bill. How Huddleston Nation forever changed my life. To say that Bill Huddleston had an impact on my life is a gross understatement, the man changed my life. When I first met Professor Huddleston, I was a 23 year old three years removed from college. I had moved across the country from California and was the head tennis professional at Turtle Point. I owned a beautiful brand new house, had a great paying job, and yet had no ambitions of completing my degree (of which I had spent 3 years on the Dean’s List at Saint Mary’s College of California). In fact, when I first met the man who forever changed my life, I was not even a communications student; rather my emphasis was in Kinesiology. So how did I wind up meeting the man who forever changed my life? I had had a recommendation from both Jerri Bullard and Kenda Rusevlyan, whom I knew outside of the UNA sphere, to meet with Professor Huddleston. They said that if there was anyone I could meet to help me finish my degree, it had to be Huddleston. I was of course skeptical. I felt the reason people went to college was to get a degree to get a job. I had a great job, and thus no need for a degree.

 I met Huddleston in his office, in the building I to this day remember fondly, and immediately felt at ease. We joked about college athletics, what he thought to be the Harvard of the South (Mississippi State), and the fact that if I were to graduate with a Public Communications degree that I would have a record amount of credits for one of his advisees (when you factor in transferring schools and changing emphasis). I told him there that day that I was not only committed to getting my degree, but that I was committed to him and a promise I had made to my mentor and grandfather on his deathbed: that I would get my degree before I turned 25. I was not always the easiest student, something Huddleston and Pitts could surely agree on, but I was dedicated. I took more classes with Huddleston than any teacher or professor in my life. I would even hold off taking classes one semester knowing Huddleston would teach it the next. In fact, if memory serves me well, aside from two classes, I only took Huddleston classes in person and would take online classes for those which he did not teach in person. Huddleston got me. I got Huddleston. I did not want any interference with our plan. Less than one week before I turned 25, I fulfilled my promise to my grandfather and Huddleston and earned my degree as a Lion on the Dean’s List. I have Wild Bill to thank.

Do not think this is where this story ends. This story is as much about Huddleston as it is Huddleston Nation. A hashtag I created out of hopes to create a unified front for tweets of the week in the school paper that became a mantra and eventually a representation for a close knit community of people who were all changed for the better by Huddleston. 2,500 miles away and back living in California, I made an appearance on college game day when Saint Mary’s played Gonzaga on national TV. I held a sign that simply said “#HuddlestonNation.” I received texts, phone calls, and social media support from our entire nation saying how awesome it was to see Huddleston Nation on the national stage. Back in Chattanooga just this October, I married the woman of my dreams. Standing beside me at the alter, three of my best friends, all part of Huddleston Nation. If it were not for Huddleston, I would have never met three of my groomsman. We all speak daily and have been doing so for going on six years because of the effects of this one great professor. Now living back in Florence for the first time in five years, I am reunited with the UNA community and my brethren in Huddleston Nation. Just this past weekend I had breakfast at Big Bad and wrote “Huddleston Nation” in chalk on the wall with Jake Brasfield, a fellow member of The Nation. We took our picture and left it at that. However, come to find out Mr. and Mrs. Huddleston had breakfast later that day, were randomly sat in the same booth, and took a picture under the chalk graffiti. Bill Huddleston is forever a game changer. Forever a mentor. Forever someone I will look up to and thank. Bill Huddleston is the only candidate for Faculty Through out The Years. I hope you see this too.

Cheers,

Zack Miskel

Huddleston Nation Class of 2013

James Cochran

Dr. Bill Huddleston is a legend and stands fully deserving of the Faculty through the Years recognition. I first met Dr. Huddleston on the recommendation of a good friend and mentor, Brandon White. Though successful in the classroom, I was missing the most important element of education: direction. I had no idea or clue what I was meant to do with my life, and Brandon knew Dr. Huddleston was the sage to help.

Within ten minutes of meeting with Dr. Huddleston, I knew public communication was the study track for me. I was partially wowed by the man’s sheer oratory talent, but mostly, I enjoyed his succinct advice: you’ve got to study something you WANT to study.

Two and a half years and many classes later, I was sitting in Dr. Huddleston’s office one last time before graduation. I was set to attend the University of Georgia’s j-school with a full assistantship. And I had Dr. Huddleston largely to thank for it.  That’s why I stopped by, for one last thanks and a goodbye.

But our last conversation, on the eve of graduation in his office, didn’t hold life-altering advice as one might expect. Instead, after a few minutes of softballs, Dr. Huddleston counseled me in his trademark semi-high pitched delivery, “Now James, I do want to tell you something. You’ve got to go easy on the caffeinated coffee. I know, I thought the same thing once. ‘No way I’m giving this stuff up!’ Well the good news is you don’t have to. There’s this thing called decaf. Trust me, your insides will thank you ten years from now.” Then, each with a grin, we shook hands and I stepped out of his office.

That encounter perfectly captures why I adore Dr. Huddleston, a man we would come to affectionately call “Wild Bill.” When I think of him, it’s not always the quotes or the individual actions I remember. It’s the persona of the man. A man who always greeted his students by name. A man who asked and genuinely cared how his students were doing. A man who loved sharing what he loved with his students. And a man who loved seeing his students be successful, even if it meant switching to decaf.

Dr. Huddleston is a man to whom I owe a great deal, and I am delighted to pen this message in support of his Faculty Through the Years recognition and as a proud member of Huddleston Nation.

Best,

James Cochran

Bethany Green

I remember the day I actually talked about grad school out loud. I was sitting in Bill Huddleston's office. Stressed out of my mind and in need of some serious guidance. He was the first person to hear it, and one of the few people who didn't look at me like Nonprofit Management was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard of. Instead, he was encouraging. He was patient with my concerns. And he said the one thing I needed to hear... "You're going to be great."

I think Dr. Huddleston is absolutely brilliant. I majored in Public Communications because of him specifically. For the first time in my life, I kind-of enjoyed politics (big kind-of). I became fascinated with nonverbal cues, analyzing how people communicated with one another, and learning how to throw off a lie detector test if the situation ever came up. I could watch Twelve Angry Men every day for the rest of my life. And I pay more attention to not only how I speak, but how I listen. I debated taking some of his Comm classes as an employee of the university just because there were new ones offered that I didn't get to take- and I'm always learning from him. More than anything though, I am confident in myself and in my career choice because Bill Huddleston believed that I could do exactly what I wanted to do and he challenged me to follow through. 

What he may not realize is that I decided on a flat "no" to grad school because quite a few people doubted me and what I wanted to do. Because Dr. Huddleston put opportunities in front of me and showed interest in MY choice, I have the knowledge today to be able to run my own nonprofit (and be confident in it). Doing exactly what I want and feel called to do. Thank you, Dr. Huddleston. You significantly changed my life.

Cheers,

Bethany Greene