TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Twenty-seven incoming ninth-graders from across the state will be on The University of Alabama and Stillman College campuses to learn about becoming the state’s next generation of leaders.

UA and Stillman College are sponsoring the Michael A. Figures Leadership Experience, scheduled for July 24-27. Students will be housed in residence halls at Stillman College and attend seminars at both institutions.

The Michael A. Figures Leadership Experience is named in honor of the late state Sen. Michael A. Figures (D-Mobile) and is designed to develop leadership skills in young people who demonstrate the capacity for leadership, but have not yet held leadership roles.

The seminars focus on Alabama’s history as it relates to issues of social justice, career planning and communication skills. Sessions include topics such as personal and professional etiquette and dressing for success, negotiation and consensus building, public speaking, career planning and interpersonal relations. One of the highlights of the event is student participation in Moot Court with Judge John England on Monday, July 25, from 9:45-11:30 a.m. in the UA Law School.

On Sunday, July 24, from 3:15-4:30 p.m. in the Warner Presentation Room at Stillman College, Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, the widow of Michael A. Figures, will share her late husband’s vision and his “3 Bs: Be prepared; Be there; and Be on time.”

The late Figures was a five-term senator who died of a brain hemorrhage in Mobile in 1996. The 49-year-old legislative leader was only the third African-American to serve in the Alabama Senate. Figures was a Mobile attorney and was widely recognized as a skilled debater whose passionate oratory helped him have an extremely successful political career.

For more information on the Figures Leadership Experience, contact Gregory Singleton at 205/348-1447 or Joe Dantzler at 205/366-8986.