UNCA honors former civil rights activist and current athletics board member Alfred Whitesides with building name

Press release from UNC Asheville:

UNC Asheville has named an academic building in honor of Alfred J. Whitesides Jr. The building, previously known as New Hall, was dedicated on Feb. 19, 2016, after a public vote by the Board of Trustees.

“All of our campus community is excited about this opportunity to honor Al Whitesides, a passionate steward of UNC Asheville, a champion in the Asheville community and a dear friend,” said UNC Asheville Board Chair Pat Smith. “During Al’s tenure and through the stewardship of the board, UNC Asheville experienced an unprecedented period of growth and construction, second only to the groundbreaking of the campus in 1959. Buildings constructed during this time include Highsmith Union, the Glass House of the library, Governors Hall, Sam Millar Facilities Complex, Zeis Hall, the groundbreaking of the Wilma M. Sherrill Center and construction of New Hall.”

An ardent supporter of the Bulldogs with more than 15 years of service to the university and many more to the UNC system, Whitesides is a board member of the UNC Asheville Bulldog Athletic Association (BAA), having served as president of both the BAA and the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees. He received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from UNC Asheville in 2012, and as a student at North Carolina Central University, he served as president of the student government association and a member of the board, resuming his service on the NCCU board almost a decade later as an alumnus.

“It’s not many times in the life of the university that you do something like this and have an opportunity to think about and thank those individuals that we honor and those who lead us,” said UNC Asheville Chancellor Mary K. Grant. “New Hall has been a canvas ready for this recognition. It will share Al’s impacts on campus, in our community and around the state, while reminding us that we have much work to do building on the legacy of a great man and a great institution.”

Whitesides is recognized throughout Asheville as a successful businessman, a community leader and a living touchstone to the city’s struggle to eliminate segregation. While attending the segregated African-American Stephens-Lee High School in the early 1960s, he and his classmates joined ASCORE (Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality). The group organized and participated in nonviolent demonstrations to desegregate local businesses. Whitesides remained active in the civil rights movement while attending college, where he met his wife Shirley, a retired art teacher and nonprofit leader, who leads the Delta House Life Development of Asheville. The Whitesides have two daughters.

“As I stand here today, it would not be right for me not to recognize all of those whose shoulders I stand on,” said Whitesides who spoke about the community and family. “One of the things that our families told us is, ‘how you take the name away from home, we want you to bring it back the same way.’ It was that pride that we’ve never forgotten. Another thing I remember my grandfather telling me is ‘what you put between your ears nobody can ever take away.”

Whitesides called on education as the way to level the playing field, and he thanked students while reminding them to go back and help those in need to help themselves. He challenged the community to do more.

“What are we saying, when we name this building?” asked Sarah Judson, associate professor of history. “Since his work with ASCORE, Mr. Whitesides has continued his commitment to justice and equality as a civil rights activist, a veteran and a community leader. He has been a great friend to our university … he has made Asheville a better place for all residents. I think we are saying that we treasure our relationship with you and we think that you set an example of engaged citizenship for our students, our faculty and staff. … and that we are saying that we publicly value justice, social change and equality … and that those values are not frozen in time.”

Whitesides served in the Navy after college and returned to Asheville for a career in banking. After working for 34 years with First Union National Bank, and later Wachovia, he joined with Mountain 1st Bank and Trust, where he served as vice president until retirement. He also has served the Asheville City Schools Board of Education, YMI Cultural Center, the Mission Healthcare Foundation Board, the United Way of Asheville board, Givens Estates, the Boys and Girls Club of Asheville, and the Asheville Jaycees. Currently, he serves as board president of The Arc of Buncombe County, an organization dedicated to serving children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in Asheville, and Buncombe and Henderson counties. His continued leadership serves as an example for UNC Asheville students.

“This is the first building on our campus named after a black individual, and I can stand here today with that individual himself,” said Maya Newlin, student body president and a student trustee. “As a student who highly values the importance of service, inclusion, intersectionality and racial diversity, I look to Mr. Whitesides’ contribution to this community as an example of how to be engaged, influential and a compassionate citizen….It’s also important to note that Mr. Whitesides is not a distant figure or just a name on a building that students see on a map or on their way to class. Mr. Whitesides is here and he’s with us. As students we can talk to him and learn of his struggles, experiences and accomplishments firsthand. We can learn from him directly as a part of the real living history of this community and university.”

Whitesides Hall was constructed in 2006 as part of the North Carolina Higher Education Bond Referendum. The 31,855 square-foot building features an innovative vegetative roof that minimizes rainwater runoff and provides a rooftop park setting. Other green features include geothermal heat pumps for heating and cooling. It is academic home to the departments of Classics, History, Modern Languages & Literatures, Philosophy, and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and houses two of UNC Asheville’s hallmark programs: Arts & Ideas and Humanities.