What makes this story all the more improbable is the fact that many of the current staff at the University seem to have little to no reference regarding UPC history, nor the impact they made that resonates with thousands of alumni to this day. The Program Council became its members’ social circle, the place that embraced them and made them feel like they belonged, much like a co-ed fraternity or sorority. It exposed them to crucial life lessons such as punctuality, acceptable office etiquette, effective communication, fiscal responsibility, and working as a team towards a common goal. The invaluable lessons learned while being a college student can set an indelible tone.

In the case of the UPC, later renamed Alabama Union Programs, it made a much deeper impact. Information about the events booked, promoted, and executed during the existence of the Program Council is scarce. Sadly, web searches on the era don't result in much of anything. It is as if the organization had left such an enormous impact on so many lives, including UPC members, and the audiences they served during the 1960s and 1970s, disappeared. Such information could benefit researchers, reconnect alumni, and the many people who poured their hearts and souls into the University Program Council to serve the student body, while experiencing an unmistakable comradery, while gaining unparalleled training in a variety of professional and life skills.

This little-engine-that-could student organization was responsible for bringing iconic acts like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, The Band, Frank Zappa, The Eagles, Earth, Wind & Fire, Billy Joel, Elton John, Chicago, and Elvis Presley to campus, some multiple times. Artists performed on stages at UA venues such as Memorial Coliseum, Foster Auditorium, Ferguson Center, and Morgan Hall, as well as outdoors on the steps of the library, Woods Quad, and at other spots around campus. Many acts bypassed larger southern markets for Tuscaloosa in those years. The UPC was a community of young people who grew and learned together. They were exposed to some of the top professionals in the entertainment business and had the opportunity to connect with many of the acts they helped showcase. Working on stage and security crews, publicity teams, and attending to every need, UPC personnel did it all.

In the mid-1970s, UPC shows helped revitalize the historic Bama Theatre, a WPA performance hall located in downtown Tuscaloosa, with a series of intimate concerts by best-selling artists, including musicians Robert Palmer, Leon Redbone, Tim Weisberg, Ry Cooder, and comedian Lily Tomlin. And the list goes on.

Another example is Cleo Thomas, an Anniston native who worked on the UPC during the 1970s running the Emphasis speaker series where he conceived and implemented the Distinguished Alabamians Lecture series. It featured political icons such as Gov. Albert Brewer, Sen. Howell Heflin, Justice Janie Shores, and Judge Frank M. Johnson. Bringing Johnson, a University of Alabama School of Law graduate and landmark civil rights figure, “back to campus for the first time was significant,” reflects Thomas. “As a freshman, I was chairman of Black History Week and brought Angela Davis to campus in the spring of 1974.” The UPC sponsored other well-known newsmakers such as Tom Brokaw, Tony Randall, and Godfrey Cambridge. In retrospect, Thomas says student activities like the Program Council aided in developing skills in budgeting, logistics, management, etc. He was elected the first African American SGA in school history in 1976 and went on to graduate the following year. [It would be another 40 years before another Black student would be elected SGA president at Alabama]. Thomas earned a degree from Oxford University in England and received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1982. He later served on the University of Alabama Board of Trustees. Over the years Thomas has served on numerous corporate and civic boards, including AmSouth Bancorporation and AmSouth Bank Board; Protective Industrial Investment Company); the Birmingham Museum of Art; Alabama Humanities Foundation; and Alabama School of Fine Arts.

Phillip Rawls remembers it all very well; he was the organization’s president from 1973-1974, after chairing a couple of UPC committees as well. “I was a shy introvert when I entered Alabama in the fall of 1969,” he says. “UPC helped me develop confidence and determination and made me comfortable in front of many people.” After completing his undergraduate degree in journalism in 1973, and a master’s degree the following year, Rawls spent the next 41 years in the news business, the last 35 and a half as a reporter with the Associated Press based in Montgomery. Rawls says it also taught him organizational skills and time management. “I look back at my year as president, and I’m not sure when I slept,” he laughs.

Kent Öztekin served as a UPC photographer from 1975-1979, taking candid shots for promotional ads, and as an historical record. At one point, the Birmingham native became part of the act when comedian Steve Martin called him onstage at Memorial Coliseum during a 1977 concert. Öztekin remembers his time at the UPC fondly; it sharpened his professional skills and helped him learn patience with “difficult” people. And best of all, the experience, he says, “Led me to lifelong friends,” a common theme among members. Now semi-retired, Öztekin went on to work extensively in commercial photography, and in a family- business based in Birmingham.

UPC personnel were mostly unpaid volunteer students, guided by faculty involvement, working with booking agents, and promoters, most significantly, Ruffino-Vaughn Productions in New York. Tony Ruffino moved his family and the entire company to Birmingham where he operated successfully for many years.

The students were involved in choosing acts, negotiating contracts, budgeting, ticketing, staging and production, security, publicity and promotion, artist relations, and just about everything connected to bringing big-time entertainment to the town.

Nowadays, successful UPC alumni dot the landscape, many working in leadership roles in fields such as law, medicine, media, retail, advertising, entertainment, government, education, and much more.

It is extraordinary to reflect on the success generated within the walls of the UPC offices of a fairly new Ferguson Center in those years.

For example, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra performed in only a handful of American cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Tuscaloosa during a 1975 tour. When that happens, you must be doing something right.

What makes this story all the more improbable is that the current staff at the University seems to have little reference as to the UPC’s history, nor the impact that resonates with thousands of alumni to this very day.

The UPC became its members’ social circle, the place that embraced them and made them feel like they belonged, much like a co-ed fraternity or sorority. It exposed them to crucial life lessons such as punctuality, acceptable office etiquette, effective communication, fiscal responsibility, and working as a team towards a common goal.