Mallet Assembly
Encyclopedia
The Mallet Assembly is an intellectual living program at the University of Alabama
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
. Mallet was established in 1961 by John Blackburn
and is the oldest honors program still in existence at the University of Alabama.
The Mallet Assembly takes its name from the fact that it was originally housed in a building known as Mallet Hall, which no longer exists. Mallet Hall itself was named for John Mallet
. The group currently occupies Palmer Hall.
The Mallet Assembly is one of the few self-governing dormitories in the US; much of its internal operation is coordinated by elected student officers. Mallet is listed by the University of Alabama Office of Residential Life as a Special Living-Learning option, and is also a member of the Coordinating Council for Student Organizations (CCSO).
The Assembly was traditionally a men's residence. Although they accepted applications from female students since 1980, women were admitted as "out of dorm" members. In 2007, Mallet became a co-ed living option with men and women living in the same building.
Mallet Assembly has long claimed that Mallet is "not just another conspiracy." The official Mallet website claims that Mallet was "... listed, in the early 1960s, as a subversive organization with capability to build a nuclear weapon. Alas, we (referring to Mallet Assembly) just never got around to that."
In August 2007, the Assembly began a campaign to bring Stephen Colbert
to the University of Alabama campus to speak.
In 2011, the 50th anniversary of the Assembly was honored in a resolution of the Alabama House of Representatives.
Notable Mallet alumni include:
Honorary Members include:
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
. Mallet was established in 1961 by John Blackburn
John Blackburn (educator)
Dr. John L. Blackburn was a former administrator at the University of Alabama who is in many ways responsible for the peaceful racial integration of the school, despite efforts by then-governor George Wallace...
and is the oldest honors program still in existence at the University of Alabama.
The Mallet Assembly takes its name from the fact that it was originally housed in a building known as Mallet Hall, which no longer exists. Mallet Hall itself was named for John Mallet
John Mallet
John William Mallet FRS was an Irish chemist who lived and worked in the United States.-Biography:John William Mallet was born near Dublin to Robert Mallet and Cordelia Mallet . Robert Mallet was a civil engineer and a fellow of the Royal Society and other societies and had an ample scientific...
. The group currently occupies Palmer Hall.
The Mallet Assembly is one of the few self-governing dormitories in the US; much of its internal operation is coordinated by elected student officers. Mallet is listed by the University of Alabama Office of Residential Life as a Special Living-Learning option, and is also a member of the Coordinating Council for Student Organizations (CCSO).
The Assembly was traditionally a men's residence. Although they accepted applications from female students since 1980, women were admitted as "out of dorm" members. In 2007, Mallet became a co-ed living option with men and women living in the same building.
Mallet Assembly has long claimed that Mallet is "not just another conspiracy." The official Mallet website claims that Mallet was "... listed, in the early 1960s, as a subversive organization with capability to build a nuclear weapon. Alas, we (referring to Mallet Assembly) just never got around to that."
In August 2007, the Assembly began a campaign to bring Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
to the University of Alabama campus to speak.
In 2011, the 50th anniversary of the Assembly was honored in a resolution of the Alabama House of Representatives.
Notable Mallet alumni include:
- Jim ZeiglerJim ZeiglerJim Zeigler is an elder care attorney, author, and seminar leader in Alabama. He wrote the 2007 book, "Don't Let the Government take Grandma's Home and Life Savings."...
, elected statewide to the Alabama Public Service CommissionAlabama Public Service CommissionThe Alabama Public Service Commission, commonly called The PSC, was established by an act of The Alabama Legislature in 1915 to primarily replace the State Railroad Commission. The PSC's responsibility was expanded in 1920 to include regulating and setting rates that utility companies charge their...
less than three years after leaving Mallet Hall. Defeated The MachineThe MachineThe Machine, the former Alpha Rho chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon at the University of Alabama, is a coalition of traditionally white fraternities and sororities which formed a secret society with some degree of influence over campus and Alabama state politics...
for SGA president in 1970 while living in Mallet Hall where his room was burned. - Cleo ThomasCleo ThomasCleo Thomas was president of the Student Government Association at the University of Alabama in 1976. Thomas is one of only seven candidates to have ever won the SGA presidency without the support of 'The Machine'. He is the only African American SGA president at the University of Alabama to...
, former UA trustee, the first African-American SGA president at the University of Alabama and CEO of A.G. Gaston Corporation - Dr. Robin Rogers, distinguished researcher
- Mark ChildressMark ChildressMark Childress is an American novelist and southern writer.He has written the novels A World Made of Fire, V for Victor, Tender, Crazy in Alabama, Gone for Good, One Mississippi, and Georgia Bottoms.-Life:Childress grew up in Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, and Louisiana.He graduated from The...
, author of Crazy in AlabamaCrazy in AlabamaCrazy in Alabama is a 1999 comedy-drama film directed by Antonio Banderas, written by Mark Childress , and starring Melanie Griffith as an abused wife who heads to California to become a movie star while her nephew back in Alabama has to deal with a racially-motivated murder involving a corrupt... - Stuart McNair, member of the punk rock music group Pain
- Virgil GriffithVirgil GriffithVirgil Griffith , also known as Romanpoet, is an American hacker, known for his involvement in a 2003 lawsuit with Blackboard Inc. and his creation of WikiScanner. He has published papers on artificial life and is currently a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology...
, author of the Wikipedia Scanner - Kittyhawk, author of Sparkling Generation Valkyrie YuukiSparkling Generation Valkyrie YuukiSparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki is a webcomic by Kittyhawk. It won a Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards for "Best Superhero Comic" in 2004 and was nominated in again in 2005 and 2006. This category was eliminated in 2008...
- Charles McNair, author of Land O' Goshen
- Alexander SotirovAlexander SotirovAlexander Sotirov is a computer security researcher. He has been a researcher at Determina and VMware.He is well known for his discovery of the ANI browser vulnerability as well as the so-called Heap Feng Shui technique for exploiting heap buffer overflows in browsers. In 2008, he presented...
, noted computer security researcher
Honorary Members include:
- William ShatnerWilliam ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, actor, gave a University-sponsored talk in 2000 - Brandon BirdBrandon BirdBrandon Bird is an artist. He was born in 1980 in Carmichael, California, a suburb of Sacramento. He attended University of California, Santa Cruz and was an artist-in-residence from 2004-2006 at Risley Residential College at Cornell University...
, artist, gave a Mallet-sponsored talk on September 27, 2007