Alumni from 11 states recently gathered to honor a beloved professor, Kenneth Bergdolt, and relive college memories during the Boar’s Head Festival Reunion at the University of Mobile’s (UMobile) new Ram Hall.
Affectionately known as “Dr. B,” the professor emeritus at UMobile stood to speak to alumni gathered on campus for the reunion.
“It is said that when word got around that Dr. B would start a Boar’s Head, a celestial conference was called,” he said.
“They decided to surround me with the best students and faculty around to complete the task. I am grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. You were responsible for pulling things together; I am the background.”
Those gathered for the reunion would disagree, however. As alumni reunited to celebrate the spirit of Boar’s Head, it became evident that the true celebration was of the man who poured his life into so many others.
The Boar’s Head ceremony is associated with the 14th-century myth of an Oxford student who was attacked by a wild boar.
The student killed the boar by choking it with a book of philosophy and took the boar’s head back to the college that evening for a feast, symbolizing the death of sin and the coming of the Christ child.
In the years following his retirement in 2000, Bergdolt and his wife, Colleen, longed for a reunion of the Boar’s Head tradition and to see once again the students involved during the course of his career.
With the help of the UMobile alumni office, several alumni organized the day-long reunion filled with laughter, song and remembrances.
Alumni spent the day rehearsing and performing the musical program begun by Bergdolt in 1971.
Former Mobile College (now UMobile) choir president Ken Blakney, ’87, presented a plaque of appreciation to “Dr. B” and Colleen. Blakney remarked, “You know we’re not going to let you out of here with just a plaque, right?”
He said the UMobile Alumni Association set a $20,000 goal to renovate the choir room in Bergdolt’s honor.
Bergdolt’s career at UMobile, then Mobile College, began in 1970 as assistant professor of music. He was awarded a doctorate in music from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music in 1976 and was promoted to professor of music in 1980.
He built an outstanding and well-respected music program at the school, laying the groundwork for today’s Center for Performing Arts. He took the Mobile College choir on tour throughout the United States, Canada and Europe; formed the annual President’s Festival of Music and led the college to obtain accreditation from the National Association for Schools of Music.
Bergdolt retired from full-time employment in 2000 but continued to teach adjunct classes through the Honors Program. (UMobile)
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