Students with state legislatures and administration. Photo by Carter James, editor in chief. By Carter James, Editor in chief
Bright and early at 8 a.m. on Nov 17, 14 selected students dined with state legislators for breakfast.
This is the second year Breakfast with Legislators has been put on by Montevallo’s SGA (Student Government Association,) in collaboration with the Higher Education Partnership.
Breakfast with Legislators is a part of the Higher Education Partnership’s “Dreams to Reality” tour, where all of Alabama’s 14 four-year institutions host events that involve student engagement with local state legislators and leaders. Kat Hughes, SGA Director of External Affairs organized the event with Scott Dillard, Executive Vice President of Advancement,Government Relations and Strategic Initiative.
“Our event is a very professional event, but it’s different than other universities,” says Hughes. “This is a more casual event where you’re sitting next to someone and talking to them instead of speaking in front of them,” an idea Hughes likes more than a traditional speaking forum.
The event itself has students, selected by academic department chairs, and SGA members talking to state representatives from Shelby County about their stories, their aspirations and why the university is important to them.
Dillard says that having legislators hear students’ stories is “to see the importance of additional funding for UM.” Dillard’s role at the university is ensuring Montevallo “receives state funding from the Education Trust Fund Budget.”
The higher education initiatives have had a positive impact on the state funding received by the university. “In 2012 UM received $17,259,107 from the Education Trust Fund Budget. For 2026, UM will receive 33,018,730,” says Dillard. A 7.3 % increase from last year’s fund. Dillard attributes last year’s Breakfast with Legislators to this increase.
Students selected for Breakfast with Legislators because they are deemed to be a very adequate leader and would thrive in a professional setting.
Kooper Rooks is a music major with a psychology minor, member of Phi Gamma Delta , Maven tour guide, residential assistant and cancer survivor. Rooks is a survivor of stage four Gray Zone Lymphoma, a combination of Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
“When I was going through treatment, I was 13 at the time, and so I had just recently got a phone. And so there was little communication that I had with friends and such, so a lot of comfort came to me by watching movies and listening to music,” says Rooks. “And one of the therapies I got was musical therapy.”
Because of his experiences during treatment, Rooks wants to become a musical therapist at St. Jude, the same system he received treatment from. “I would like to use my talents and interests to be able to give back to the hospital in some way,” says Rooks.
When speaking about Montevallo, Rooks says “, I’ve been provided so many opportunities that I feel like at a bigger school I would have gotten faded away from and just kind of lost in the madness.”
The accessibility, opportunity and community Montevallo provides are core tenants that students like Rooks and Hughes value.
“We’re the only public liberal arts college in Alabama, and so everyone feels very deeply about making sure that Montevallo stays accessible for students who would like to come here, prospective students and students who do go here,” says Hughes.
Carter James is the editor in chief of the Alabamian. He is a senior Mass Communication major with a concentration in broadcast production and minor in digital filmmaking. He is an avid cinephile, the occasional gamer and Batman fanatic in his spare time.
