By Hazel Scott/ASU
Soon the auditorium in the Ralph David Abernathy building in the College of Education will officially be named the Dr. Vivian DeShields Auditorium. DeShields, who passed away in 2018, was a longtime University professor, and a dedicated and honored alumna (’55). The change was approved by the Alabama State University Board of Trustees at its meeting in August.
“We wanted the individual tied to this pivotal naming to be one who has – and will continue to – positively impact this campus and its students for decades to come,” said ASU President, Dr. Quinton T. Ross, Jr. “Dr. DeShields was a legend at Alabama State University.”
Ross added that as a longstanding benefactor of the university and as an ASU alumna who used her achievements to cultivate the successes of others pursuing their own education, naming the auditorium “DeShields made perfect sense.”
To support ASU students on their academic journey, DeShields established the Watts Family Scholarship in honor of her father and mother, Simon and Valerie Watts, a teacher in Wilcox County.
DeShields’s academic career spanned more than 60 years with more than 40 of those years teaching generations of Hornets in the College of Education. Widely known as the “teachers’ teacher,” she received her B.S. at Alabama State University, her M.S. at Indiana University and her Ph.D. from the University of Alabama.
DeShields was the first African American elected president of The Council of Presidents in Montgomery. She also served on the boards of the Montgomery Museum of Art, Family Guidance Center, and the ASU Wesley Foundation; and was a member of The Links and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She also published a book titled "Mama's Journey: A Gift to Future Generations,” which she co-authored with her sisters.