[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16236-16237]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. NEAL R. BERTE

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to pay 
tribute to an outstanding citizen from my home State of Alabama. Dr. 
Neal Berte has been president of Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama 
since 1976. He recently retired, ending his 29 years of service to this 
great liberal arts institution. It has been my pleasure to work with 
Dr. Berte during my time in the Senate on issues affecting higher 
education and community service in the Birmingham area.

[[Page 16237]]

  Dr. Berte recognized early on in his career the need to produce 
future leaders rich in a background of service to others. Therefore, he 
made service-learning a priority for himself and Birmingham-Southern 
students. Almost every student who graduates from Birmingham Southern 
College leaves the Hilltop having had some type of community-service 
experience. From serving food at a homeless shelter to mentoring 
children at the local elementary school, the opportunities are endless 
and involvement is always encouraged. Dr. Berte has led this effort by 
deeds, not words. He is the first to arrive at a service event and the 
last to leave. His involvement in the local community is unparalleled 
and has led to his being awarded Birmingham's Distinguished Citizen 
Award, Citizen of the Year, and the Erskine Ramsey Award for 
Outstanding Civic Service.
  While developing and implementing an aggressive service-learning 
component to higher education has been a great achievement at 
Birmingham-Southern, it is far from being his only accomplishment. 
During the ``Berte years,'' Birmingham-Southern College's student 
enrollment has doubled, the academic profile of the student body has 
increased and regularly leads other Alabama colleges and universities, 
the number of faculty has increased by almost 70 percent, the student-
faculty ratio has lowered from 18-to-1 to 12-to-1, the campus has 
expanded, and the college's endowment has grown from $11 million to 
more than $122 million. It is difficult to fully gauge the impact Dr. 
and Mrs. Berte have had over the past 29 years, however, perhaps it is 
best captured in Dr. Berte's relationship with the students that have 
flowed through the campus. Dr. Berte's support of the student body has 
been unwavering. From attending campus sporting events to carrying the 
boxes of new students on move-in day, Dr. Berte's face has been a 
constant presence at events throughout each school year. Amazingly, he 
has learned the name and face of almost every student who has walked 
the halls at BSC and makes it a priority to greet each person he meets 
by name and to inquire about something occurring in his or her life at 
the moment. I think this commitment to the students, the life of any 
college, is what sets Dr. Berte apart and makes his retirement so 
poignant for so many of the school's faculty, alumni, and friends. For 
many, Dr. Berte is Birmingham-Southern.
  Birmingham-Southern has achieved great success during Dr. Berte's 
time as president. The college has been consistently recognized by U.S. 
News & World Report as one of America's top national liberal arts 
colleges. It is currently a Tier I institution and ranked among the top 
66 liberal arts colleges in the country. Its other recognitions include 
``100 Best Values in Private Colleges,'' ``America's Best Christian 
Colleges,'' ``Most Efficiently Operated Schools in America,'' 
``Colleges that Encourage Character Development,'' and ``Best Values.'' 
The school is home to a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and annually ranks No. 1 
among Alabama schools in percentage of all graduates accepted to 
medical and dental schools.
  When Dr. Berte took over at Birmingham-Southern things were not so 
rosy. There had been several short-term presidents and the college 
faced many challenges. Few would dispute that his leadership has 
guaranteed that Birmingham-Southern is one of the premier liberal arts 
colleges in America and that few, if any, such colleges have had better 
leadership in the past 30 years. Dr. Berte has led with vision, 
compassion, constancy, faith, and courage. His superb graduates daily 
validate the value of the liberal arts curriculum. I have watched his 
success over the years with growing admiration. He has truly been one 
of the best college presidents in America.
  But, as it is with any great thing, Dr. Berte's tenure must end. He 
will remain chancellor of Birmingham-Southern College and go on to 
increase his involvement in the community, as well as spend some much 
deserved time with his wife, children, and grandchildren. As 
Birmingham-Southern begins a new era with a new president, I would just 
like to take a moment to thank Dr. Berte for his service to this 
institution and the State of Alabama. I wish him the best and would 
like to echo his optimism that ``the best is yet to come.''

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