Mass Comm alumni speaks to current students

Story by: JaMirah Borden

On Thursday, March 17th, Mass Communication alumni Beth Chapman was a guest speaker for the COMS Speaker Series. The series was put on hold due to COVID-19, but it is now back in full swing.

According to the program, the COMS Speaker Series is the product of several years of conversation among the program’s faculty, Dr. Sally Hardig, Dr. Ray Ozley, Dr. Tiffany Wang, Dr. Jeff Walker, and Dr. Sherry Ford. They would like to highlight the Department of Communication graduates who can share insight about life after college with their degrees during this series.

A moderated session on the Rebecca J. Luker Stage in the DiscoverShelby Theatre. It was moderated by Dr. Sherry G. Ford, Professor of Communication Studies and Chair of the Department of Communication.

Beth Chapman is a 1984 alumni from the University of Montevallo. As a student, Chapman wrote for the Alabamian, participated in College Night, and was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority. Before attending UM, she was a tennis player and tried out for the university’s team. “I was told I wasn’t good enough to start in the top three seed my freshman year, but if I would come here, I would certainly be on the team and eventually probably work my way up to the number two or one ranking,” said Chapman.

In 1980, she rushed Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority and was asked what she was here for. It was then that she found out the university no longer had a tennis team. After hearing this, Chapman planned to stay at UM only a year and then transfer to the University of Alabama.

That didn’t happen.

“There are three things that really had the greatest influence on my life. The University of Montevallo, Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority, and College Night. Those are the three things that molded my leadership style today.
Beth Chapman, ’84

During her time as a student, Chapman learned that there were some transferrable skills from her extracurricular activities in college. She found a way to make them marketable in the real world. She was even the Purple Side leader for College Night in 1984.

She was a member of SGA as a college student and served as the state executive director for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Chapman was also a state auditor for Alabama and the 51st secretary of state.

When you’re a good leader, you surround yourself with good people.
Beth Chapman, ’84

Chapman wouldn’t be where she is today without the help of her family and professors. One notable professor, Loretta Cobb, “saved her her freshman year academically,” as Chapman puts it.

Cobb would check on Chapman from time to time. She would call her in her dorm and tell her, “there is no reason you shouldn’t make the grades here.” Cobb even gave her tickets to a rock concert one time.

After college, Chapman continued her education and obtained her master’s in Counseling and Guidance in Education for the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She worked in the nonprofit sector and was even appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Montevallo in 2013.

When asked to give advice to her younger self, Chapman said three things: