Alumni

Carroll Griffin ('71)

Carroll Griffin remembers his first visit to Union University in the spring of 1967. That meeting with Dr. F. E. Wright began a lifetime love of Union University.

Griffin's years as a student at Union were filled with activities that included participation in youth-led revival teams through the Baptist Student Union, serving as president of the SGA, working various jobs on campus and eventually being elected as "Mr. Union."

After graduating from Union, he went on to teach math and coach track at Houston Junior and Senior High School in Houston, Missouri, for one year. During that time, he married Kay Daniel. Soon, he and his new wife moved back to Jackson to take on the new position as director of activities at West Jackson Baptist Church, a position which encompassed ministries to children, youth and college students.

In 1982, Griffin accepted the position as director of student enlistment at Union. Over the next 36 years, he earned many titles and promotions, as well as his master's degree in education, but his greatest achievement was seeing enrollment increase from 1,282 students to more than 4,000 students. He later served as director of marketing and enrollment in the School of Adult and Professional Studies before retiring in 2018.

The Griffins have been members of West Jackson Baptist Church for all 47 years of their marriage, and Griffin has served as a deacon, trustee and member of several committees.

The Carroll W. Griffin GO Trip Endowment Fund was established in May 2018 to help fund Union's mission efforts around the world.

The Griffins have three children — Meg (and husband Damien Nethery), Scott (and wife Brittany) and Tobey (and wife Bethany) — and nine grandchildren.

Michele Atkins

Michele Atkins joined the faculty at Union University in 1998 after serving nine years in public education as a teacher and administrator. In her role as assistant provost for accreditation and research at Union, Atkins supervises the institution's SACSCOC accreditation processes. Most recently, she led the institution through its decennial reaffirmation process, resulting in affirmation of accreditation through 2027.

Atkins also serves as professor of education, teaching courses in ethics and research design and advising doctoral students in research methodology and statistics. She leads the Institutional Review Board and served as interim dean of the College of Education during the 2017-2018 academic year.

After graduating from Union in 1989, she earned three degrees from the University of Memphis: Master of Education in Special Education, Education Specialist in School Psychology, and Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology and Research.

Atkins has served on SACSCOC peer-review committees throughout the Southeast and is the founding chairperson of Coach Masters, an advocacy organization for individuals with disabilities. She has served as vice chairperson of the Milan Special School District Board of Education and as a member of the Tennessee Department of Education Textbook Commission. She has published and presented her research at the national and international levels. Her research interests include pedagogy, assessment of student learning, data-based decision making, emotional intelligence and leadership.

Atkins is a member of First Baptist Church in Milan. She and her husband Jim have been married for 28 years. They have three children, Zachary, Elizabeth and Emilee, and three grandchildren, Cayson, Lucy and Elly Grace.

Roland Miller Porter

Roland Porter served in West Tennessee as an educator and pastor for almost 30 years. He was born and raised in Covington, Tennessee, and received his bachelor's degree from Lane College in Jackson. He then moved to California and received a master's degree and juris doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. He received his theological training at Golden Gate Theological Seminary.

Porter answered a call to the ministry at North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland, California, and served in several churches there before returning to West Tennessee in 1989 when he was called to pastor the Berean Baptist Church in Jackson.

Porter valued education and taught in the business department at Lane College. He also served at Union as associate professor of business and director of the Center for Racial Reconciliation. He served on many community boards and committees in Jackson, including West Tennessee Healthcare, Jackson Chamber of Commerce and JACOA. He was a lifetime member of the NAACP, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and the Code Red Coalition.

In 2002, Porter became the founding pastor of Agape Christian Fellowship Church in Jackson, where he served until his death in 2018.

He served as moderator of the West Tennessee Baptist Missionary and Education Association and president of the moderators department for the Tennessee Baptist Missionary and Education Convention, as well as dean and treasurer of the Jackson Ministerial Alliance. He was a valued teacher, lecturer, evangelist and preacher.

Porter passed away at his home in Medon, Tennessee, Feb. 8, 2018, with his wife and family members at his side.

James Huggins

James Huggins serves as university professor of biology and director of the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation at Union University.

Huggins began his career at Union teaching human gross anatomy and was instrumental in establishing Union's bequeathment program to meet the growing need for anatomic study. He founded the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation at Union, which primarily deals with birds of prey, and was involved in the design of Union's conservation biology program. He has served as a division chair at the Baptist Memorial Hospital, chair of the biology department and director of the Hammons Center for Scientific Studies. In 1998, he received the Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award.

Huggins holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Arkansas State University and a doctorate from the University of Memphis. He has done additional graduate work in higher education at several institutions.

At the age of 51, Huggins surrendered to a call to preach. He has served as full-time pastor of Unity Baptist Church in Chester County, Tennessee, for the past 12 years.

He has been married to his wife, Cathy Hester Huggins, for 45 years. They have one son, Kyle, and two grandchildren, Blake and Lauren.

Health Care: Florence Jones ('12)

Florence Jones has served more than 25 years in the health care industry. She has served as a nursing executive in hospitals in Utah, Florida, Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. She is passionate about providing safe, high quality care for all patients.

Jones currently serves as the president for Methodist North Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, a position she has held since February 2017. She has established a reputation for collaborative and inspirational leadership.

Jones earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from Murray State University and a master's degree in nursing administration from the University of Evansville before completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Union while working full-time as a chief nursing officer.

She has numerous professional accomplishments. Her DNP scholarly project was published in April 2013 in the Journal of Nursing Administration. In 2014, she received the Excellence in Nursing Administration Statewide Award from Tennessee Nursing Association. Jones was elected president of the Tennessee Nurses Association, District 1, in 2015, and in 2017 was selected by the Memphis Business Journal as a Superwoman in Business. Murray State recognized her with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018.

Jones is committed to giving back to the community and has been involved in multiple charitable organizations. She has served as board member and president of the Davis YMCA Board. Her commitment to the YMCA was recognized in May 2017 when she was named the Volunteer of the Year for that organization.

Currently she serves on the board of directors for the Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County and on the board for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis. In addition to her charitable activities, she also engages in fundraising opportunities for the United Way.

Education: Dorothy Louise Myatt ('92)

Dottie Myatt has been an educator for 36 years, teaching kindergarten, fifth grade and sixth grade in Haywood County Schools and preschool in Springfield, Missouri. She came to Union in 1994 as instructor and director of clinical experiences and retired from Union in August 2018 as university professor and assistant dean for teacher education and accreditation. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Lambuth College in 1974, a Master of Education degree at Union University in 1991 and a Doctor of Education degree at the University of Memphis in 1999.

While at Union, Myatt led the School of Education in acquiring accreditation through the National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Education and full approval of all teacher licensure programs by the Tennessee Department of Education in 2000, with reaccreditation in 2005 and 2013. She was appointed to the Tennessee State Board of Examiners for Teacher Education in 1999 and served on site teams for seven institutions, chairing five of those state teams.

The School of Education implemented a year-long internship in 2014 and named the Dorothy Woodard Myatt Intern of the Year Award in her honor. She was named Union's Faculty of the Year in 2007.

Myatt serves in a number of roles at Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson. She and her husband Sam, who retired after 28 years of service to Union, have three children — Bill (and wife Melanie), Lili (and husband Lee Tankersley) and Janie (and husband Ben Williams) — and 12 grandchildren.

Church Ministry: Michael A. Pennington ('74)

Mike Pennington has served as director of missions for the Bledsoe Baptist Association in Gallatin, Tennessee, for 23 years. The association includes congregations in Sumner, Macon and Trousdale counties.

Pennington graduated from Union in 1974 with a degree in sociology and minor in religion. He later received his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as a summer youth minister in Tennessee and pastored in Bonham, Texas, and Sikeston, Missouri, before being appointed a missionary in 1983.

Pennington and his wife, Kristi, served with the Foreign Mission Board as missionaries in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 6 million people, from 1983 to 1995. He served as a church planter and discipleship director for the Venezuelan National Baptist Convention.

Pennington taught at the Venezuelan National Baptist Seminary and invested himself in developing disciples who continue to serve faithfully as pastors, missionaries and church leaders in Venezuela and around the world. In 1994, he directed Operation Close the Backdoor, which studied a cross-section of 20 churches in Venezuela to determine their spiritual health, level of discipleship and how they might lead believers into spiritual maturity. The results of that project continue to be utilized.

In 1995, Pennington joined the Bledsoe Baptist Association. During his tenure there, the association has grown from 28 churches to 41 churches.

Pennington has led mission trips across the United States and in Brazil, China, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Latvia.

He is a founding member of the Network of Baptist Associations and a past president of the Tennessee Baptist Director of Missions Fellowship, and the Executive Team of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders.

Pennington and his wife have two children, Bethany and Blake, and five grandchildren.

Government/Public Service: Lloyd Freeman ('91)

Lloyd Freeman was born in 1967 in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up overseas due to his father's work on the mission field in Thailand. He graduated from Union University in 1991 with a degree in history and French and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve that same year. He went on to receive an officer's commission in the Marine Corps in 1992 and served as an infantry officer for more than 22 years, including a combat tour in Afghanistan and two combat tours in Iraq. He retired from the Marine Corps in July 2014 and is the recipient of two bronze star medals.

In May 2015, Freeman joined the U.S. State Department as a political officer and served a tour in Kuwait as a human rights officer. He served another tour in Kabul, Afghanistan, and will be posted to Berlin, Germany, in July 2019.

Humanities: Jennifer Graves ('89)

Jennifer Graves has been a part of the Union University School of Education since January 2015. She serves as director of the Union EDGE Program, an inclusive post-secondary higher education program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as an adjunct instructor in special education.

Graves previously served for 24 years at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, where she began the Educational Support Services Program for students with learning disabilities. She received her Master of Science degree in School Counseling from the University of Memphis in 2001 and served as a school counselor for BCS until 2014, when she answered the call to her alma mater, Union. While at Briarcrest, she served as a teacher for Michael Oher of "The Blind Side." She is currently pursuing a doctorate in special education at the University of Memphis.

Graves says the EDGE Program defines the very heart of all that she believes she is called to accomplish for the kingdom, and it exists because of the prayers of Christ-following grandparents and faculty members who wanted more for students with IDD.

Graves and her husband, Jimmy, attend Englewood Baptist Church. They will be married 30 years next summer and have two children, Joshua and Elizabeth, who are also graduates of Union University.

Business: Bradley J. Owens ('98)

Bradley Owens is a managing member of Hardee, Martin & Owens PLC in Jackson, Tennessee, and co-owner of The Victory 93.7 FM radio station.

After graduating from Union, Owens completed his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Memphis School of Law in 2001.

He is currently a county commissioner in Gibson County and has served as a municipal judge in Medina and Bradford, Tennessee.

Owens has served in a number of community service positions over the years. He is currently a board member for the University of Tennessee at Martin Foundation, the Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse and the Milan Foundation.

He and his wife Alicia are members of Antioch Baptist Church in Humboldt, Tennessee.

Arts/Media: Keli McAlister Miller ('97)

Keli McAlister began her two-decade career as a television broadcast journalist the day after she finished her last final at Union University in 1996. McAlister worked for WBBJ in Jackson for three and a half years, learning all aspects of the television news business by serving as a reporter, photographer, editor, producer and eventually a main anchor.

In 2000, she accepted a job as a reporter and fill-in anchor at KWTV in Oklahoma City, where she earned accolades from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters and the Oklahoma Associated Press for her coverage of Hurricane Lili in 2002, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and other major news events.

After three years in Oklahoma, McAlister accepted a job at KCPQ in Seattle, Washington, where she provided award-winning coverage of the fatal Jewish Federation shooting, the Seahawks Super Bowl XL season and an eruption of Mount St. Helens.

In January 2008, McAlister returned to WBBJ in Jackson. A month later, she stood on the darkened campus of her alma mater, which had been ravaged by an EF4 tornado. Her coverage of the tornado and its aftermath earned her and her colleagues at WBBJ an Emmy nomination.

She spent the next nine years as the lead anchor and executive producer at WBBJ.

McAlister has been an avid volunteer in Jackson, serving on boards of directors for the Foundation, RIFA, Exchange Club-Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse, United Way of West Tennessee, Jackson Exchange Club and the Jackson Arts Council.

In 2015, she married her husband, Tyreece Miller, and they have two sons, Reece and Rhett.

In 2017, McAlister left the broadcast news world and accepted a job as communications coordinator for the Jackson-Madison County School System.

Research/Sciences: Emilie Huffman ('12)

Emilie Huffman graduated from Union University in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in physics. She received her Ph.D. in physics from Duke University in the spring of 2018.

Huffman is now a Humboldt fellow at the University of Würzburg, Germany, and will begin a fellowship at the Perimeter Institute of Waterloo, Canada, in January 2019.

While at Duke, she received teaching awards for being in the top 5 percent of teaching evaluations and earned a certificate of college teaching. She was funded by the National Physical Sciences Consortium and spent a summer working for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Her research interests involve discovering the critical behavior of strongly-correlated quantum many body systems - especially those involving fermions - and improving numerical algorithms to study such systems. She has been awarded millions of core hours of computing time for these projects and has given seminars at Harvard, the Perimeter Institute and the University of Cologne, among other places.

Athletics: William Trevathan ('00)

William Trevathan serves as assistant principal and head junior high and high school girls basketball coach at Greenfield School in Greenfield, Tennessee. He was born and raised in Gleason, Tennessee, and graduated from Gleason High School. He attended Union University from 1996 to 2000, earning a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in secondary education.

While at Union, he was a member of the golf team and was named NAIA Academic All American in 2000. He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. After graduating, he began teaching and coaching at Greenfield School, where he was the head golf coach, head middle school boys basketball coach and assistant high school boys basketball coach. In 2003, he received a master's degree in education from Trevecca Nazarene University and became the assistant principal at Greenfield. He was also named head coach of both the girls and boys basketball teams.

Trevethan continues to serve as assistant principal and girls basketball coach. His 2018 junior high team went 15-0, winning the Weakley County Championship, and the high school team went 34-2, winning the TSSAA Class A State Championship.

Willie and his wife, Leah, have three children, Halle, Lila and Lane, and live in Greenfield.

Not-for-Profit: Danny Song ('09, '10)

Danny Song is the founder and Head of School of Believe Memphis Academy. The school was founded through the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, a rigorous, yearlong, comprehensive training program in urban charter school creation and leadership.

Song holds two degrees from Union University: a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in urban education through Union's Memphis Teacher Residency program. Prior to his work with Believe Memphis Academy, he joined the education reform movement through MTR and helped found three different charter schools in Memphis and Nashville as founding teacher, dean of students and assistant principal. He also worked on the new teacher summer institute teams of Teach for America in Memphis and Nashville as a teacher leadership specialist and school site director. In 2015, he received the national Sontag Prize in Urban Education.