Mallet Assembly

The Mallet Assembly is an intellectual living program at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Mallet was established in 1961 by John Blackburn and is the oldest honors program still in existence at the University of Alabama.

The Mallet Assembly takes its name from the fact that it was originally housed in a building known as Mallet Hall, which no longer exists. Mallet Hall itself was named for John Mallet. The group currently occupies Palmer Hall.

The Mallet Assembly is one of the few self-governing dormitories in the US; much of its internal operation is coordinated by elected student officers. Mallet is listed by the University of Alabama Office of Residential Life as a Special Living-Learning option, and is also a member of the Coordinating Council for Student Organizations (CCSO).

The Assembly was traditionally a men's residence. Although they accepted applications from female students since 1980, women were admitted as "out of dorm" members. In 2007, Mallet became a co-ed living option with men and women living in the same building.

Mallet Assembly has long claimed that Mallet is "not just another conspiracy." The official Mallet website claims that Mallet was "... listed, in the early 1960s, as a subversive organization with capability to build a nuclear weapon. Alas, we (referring to Mallet Assembly) just never got around to that."

In August 2007, the Assembly began a campaign to bring Stephen Colbert to the University of Alabama campus to speak.

In 2011, the 50th anniversary of the Assembly was honored in a resolution of the Alabama House of Representatives.

Notable Mallet alumni include:

• Jim Zeigler, elected statewide to the Alabama Public Service Commission less than three years after leaving Mallet Hall. Defeated The Machine for SGA president in 1970 while living in Mallet Hall where his room was burned.
• Cleo Thomas, former UA trustee, the first African-American SGA president at the University of Alabama and CEO of A.G. Gaston Corporation
• Dr. Robin Rogers, distinguished researcher
• Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama
• Stuart McNair, member of the punk rock music group Pain
• Virgil Griffith, author of the Wikipedia Scanner
• Kittyhawk, author of Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
• Charles McNair, author of Land O' Goshen
• Alexander Sotirov, noted computer security researcher

Honorary Members include:

• William Shatner, actor, gave a University-sponsored talk in 2000
• Brandon Bird, artist, gave a Mallet-sponsored talk on September 27, 2007

External links

• Mallet Assembly Official Page
• Biography of John Blackburn at the homepage of the Blackburn Institute at UA
• Living/Learning Centers at the University of Alabama
• Mallet Assembly Alumni Association Official Page

References

• Childress, Mark (October 14, 1978). "Alabama's Own Animal House". Birmingham News Saturday Magazine. 
• Jones, Adam (August 9, 2005). "UA tears down waterfall outside dorm". Tuscaloosa News. 
• Jones, Adam (May 18, 2007). "UA reins in Mallet Assembly for fall". Tuscaloosa News. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070518/NEWS/705180358/1007. 
• Chinn, Dustin (August 9, 2007). "Crimson Tide Courts Colbert With Shameless Campaign". Comedy Central Insider. http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/cc_insider/2007/08/crimson-tide-co.html.