What is Honors College Assembly?
Honors College Assembly serves as the student representation of the Honors College student body. We seek to build the Honors College community and build relationships among our programs in two ways.
The first branch of HCA is comprised of four thematic groups that each organize four events throughout the academic year. These committees are: Student Life and Outreach; Research and Scholarship; Cultural Engagement; and Service and Civic Engagement. Each committee is led by a director and staffed by four to six committee members from across the Honors College community.
The second branch of HCA is the Advisory Board. This group of students serves as a liaison between the Honors College administration, HCA leadership and the various Honors College programs. Leadership from each Honors or Honors-affiliated program appoint two students to the Advisory Board, which meets once a month with the Dean of the Honors College and once a month with other members of HCA.
Other opportunities HCA provides to the Honors College student body are:
- Honors College block seating in the student section of Bryant-Denny Stadium
- Tailgates throughout the football season
- Donuts with the Deans
- Homecoming Week festivities
Keep up with us in the Honors College newsletter and on the Honors College Instagram, @honorscollegeua.
Interested in getting involved? Freshman, sophomores and juniors are welcome to apply when applications open in the late fall semester. Terms for committee members run from January to December.
Contact Us
If you have ideas for HCA events or questions about HCA, please stop by the HCA office on the second floor of Honors Hall or email honorscollegeassembly@ua.edu.
HCA Leadership
Caleb Buell
President
Caleb Buell (he/him/his) is a rising senior and the Honors College Assembly president for the 2024-2025 school year. He is from Kingsport, Tennessee and is a chemistry major in both the Blount Scholars Program and the Randall Research Scholars Program. On campus, he serves as the president of the chemistry honors society Gamma Sigma Epsilon, the assistant team lead for Serving Bama at the West Alabama Food Bank, and an undergraduate researcher in the Papish Group studying anti-cancerous Ruthenium-Ligand complexes. Caleb has a passion for both science and service, which he seeks to utilize in his future medical career. In preparation for this, Caleb spent the 2024 summer at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, where he studied neurocognitive diseases and HIV encephalitis under Dr. Jordan-Sciutto. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and writing poetry, collecting vinyl and thrifting.
Hannah Hurd
Vice President
Hannah is a rising junior from Tampa, Florida majoring in Biology with a minor in Social Innovation & Leadership. Within the Honors College, Hannah is a member of the 16th cohort of the Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program as well as an Honors College ambassador. On campus, Hannah is involved with the Student Government Association as an Associate Justice for the Judicial Board, and she serves as the Vice President of Membership for UA Greek Ambassadors. This past year, she served as the Secretary of the Honors College Assembly and was elected Vice President for the 2024-2025 school year. This past summer, Hannah interned in Jasper, Alabama as a part of the New College administered Jean O’Connor Snyder Internship Program in partnership with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life and the Walker Area Community Foundation, where she completed an 8-week civic engagement internship with one of the foundation’s community partners.
Aliza Blackmon
Treasurer
Aliza Blackmon is a rising senior from Knoxville, Tennessee majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Liberal Studies through the Blount Scholars Program. Starting this summer, she will be conducting undergraduate research in Dr. Silas Blackstock’s lab. After graduation, Aliza hopes to earn a Ph.D. in Chemistry and work as a researcher and professor, specializing in organic chemistry. Aliza has served as the Treasurer for the Honors College Assembly since 2022. She has also served the Blount Student Organization House of the People as a Freshman Representative, the Director of Operations, the President, and for this upcoming year, as the Treasurer. Aliza is a member of Gamma Sigma Epsilon Chemistry Honor Society and the Treasurer for the 2024–2025 class of Blue Key Honor Society. Aliza has played the piccolo in the Million Dollar Band since 2021, has served as a Section Leader for the past two seasons, and has represented the band and UA as a member of the auditioned Crimson Pep Band since 2021. In her free time, Aliza volunteers as a Recovery Client Case Worker for the American Red Cross. She enjoys running, knitting, reading, baking and watching sports.
Elena Kuehner
Secretary
Elena Kuehner is a rising junior from Nebraska majoring in chemistry and biology with a minor in liberal arts through the Blount Scholars Program. She is on the pre-medical pathway, and hopes to pursue an MD-PhD program after she completes her undergraduate degree. Her ultimate career goal is to become a physician-scientist, and she is very interested in specializing in oncology. She is incredibly passionate about all topics pertaining to chemistry and biology, and she is eager to apply these interests to serve those around her. In addition to her involvement with HCA and Blount, she enjoys participating in many activities and volunteering in the community. Some of these involvements have included volunteering at DCH, being a member of Gamma Sigma Epsilon and playing in the University of Alabama Flute Choir. She also does undergraduate research in the Papish Group within the chemistry department, where she works on the synthesis of light-activated ruthenium complexes for anticancer applications. As secretary of HCA, she seeks to uphold the organization and structure that supports the success of HCA, and she is passionate about fostering connections and creating opportunities for the Honors College community.
Alyssa Thompson
Chair of the Advisory Board
Alyssa is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama on an accelerated masters track to receive an MS in Population Health Sciences. During her time in the Honors College, she has been an Honors College Ambassador for 3 years and a part of the Honors College Assembly for 2 years as the media director. After serving as Vice-Chairperson of the Honors College Advisory Board over the past two years, she is eager to step into the role of Chairperson for the 2024-2025 academic year. Her favorite part of the Honors College is the community it has allowed her to build which has made campus feel so much smaller, especially within the McCollough Institute for Premedical Scholars. After college, Alyssa hopes to attend medical school in Fall 2025. Outside of school, she enjoys reading, baking and trying new restaurants around Tuscaloosa.
Rachael Spillett
Chair of the Civic and Service Engagement Committee
Rachael is from Kingsport, Tennessee, where she has lived most of her life before coming to the University of Alabama. She is double majoring in political science and criminal justice and will be graduating in May of 2025. She is currently studying for the LSAT in hopes of going to law school right after graduation. She is very interested in prosecutorial law, as well as juvenile and family law. Along with the Honors College Assembly, Rachael is a part of the Pre-Law Student Association and Legal Research Club. She is heavily involved with Bama Catholic and is on the Fellowship and Faith Formation leadership team. She enjoys going to bible study and attending silent prayer. She also volunteers remotely with VerbKind, a mentoring program for youths in juvenile detention centers, where she helps with inputting data based on the sign-up sheets.
Jack Armstrong
Chair of the Academic Engagement and Scholarship Committee
Jack Armstrong is an English major with minors in history and creative writing from Memphis, Tennessee. He plans to get his doctorate in creative writing and then teach as a professor. Apart from the HCA, Jack writes for The Crimson White and edits with the University’s Red Rook Press. In his free time, he’s an avid reader and writer. This past summer, he edited romance manuscripts from small-time authors looking to publish their work independently.
Abbi Dempsey
Chair of the Student Life Committee
Abbi Dempsey is a rising Junior from Madison, Alabama majoring in Kinesiology on the Pre-Physical Therapy track. She works at Drayer Physical Therapy here in Tuscaloosa and owns a small business called Abbi D. Macarons. Last year, Abbi served as the Homecoming Chair for the Honors College Assembly, where she led the organization to a decisive win in the Tide division. She is looking forward to another great year in HCA.
Maddy Setser
Chair of the Cultural Engagement Committee
Madelyn Setser, also known as Maddy, is an Econ/Finance major at The University of Alabama. During her time at UA, she has had the privilege of serving as a member of the Honors College Assembly and working as an intern for the University Honors Program. In her spare time, Maddy enjoys reading, running and spending time with her loved ones. Upon graduation, she hopes to further her education by attending law school.
