College president at odds with Talladega Council

Talladega College President Billy Hawkins is at odds with the Talladega city council over the closure of two streets on campus and the recent council decision to limit a live concert to 9:30 p.m. rather than 11 p.m. The concert is scheduled to take place on May 9 on the baseball field, which the council found was close to residential areas. In remarks made during the college’s Honors Convocation on campus Thursday, Hawkins told students that the only reason he had approached the city regarding the street closures was for the safety of the students.  Councilman Horace Patterson, whose district includes the college campus made a motion to table the street closure request at a recent council meeting, and also insisted that the concert end early. Hawkins said “He said the music had to stop by 9:30, and that was voted on by this same body Hawkins said Thursday that “As long as I am president, no politician, no councilman, will tell me when to stop the damn music. Folks who know me know how I feel about this college.”

Hawkins said that he had already been placed on the agenda for the next council meeting on April 21 and encouraged the students to pack the meeting also. He also threatened to involve attorneys, both locally and from Birmingham. The concert is a scholarship fundraiser, an issue Hawkins said he raised recently with the president of the Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce.

Hawkins said they have already sold out every hotel in the area with parents and family members to commencement,” stating the college was the greatest source of revenue for the area other than NASCAR. He then implied that he might encourage students to boycott local businesses and might suspend a $20 million construction project on campus.