In 1999, the Michael
Figures Leadership Experience (MFLE) was established in honor of
the late Alabama State Senator and Attorney Michael A. Figures by
former State Senator Charles Steele, Dr. Cordell Wynn, President
Emeritus of Stillman College, and Dr. Scott Bridges, Professor of
Music at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The MFLE started
on the campuses of Stillman College and The University of Alabama
in Tuscaloosa because Michael received his B.A. degree from
Stillman College in 1969, and his Juris Doctor degree from the
University of Alabama School of Law in 1972. In 2003, another site
was added at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Michael's
hometown.
The goal of the Michael Figures
Leadership Experience is to encourage young Alabamians who
demonstrate the potential for leadership but may not have had the
opportunity to develop this potential. By choosing rising ninth
graders as participants, program coordinators endeavor to seize the
moment of youth when young people begin developing the self
concept, values, and sense of place that will set the future
directions of their lives.
Each year, students gather for a
three-day series of intensive, residential leadership seminars
designed to provide participants with the skills and knowledge that
will inspire them to seek and develop the leaders within
themselves. The sessions emphasize the importance of education, and
will be followed by a longer-term leadership development experience
in the students' communities. The students are housed on the
college and university campuses.