Huntsville Leader

It all began with a summer spent lifting concrete blocks.

Scott Hightower (B.A. Political Science and Philosophy ‘75) started his college career at another institution as a pre-med major. After ending up on academic probation and spending a summer moving concrete blocks while contemplating his future, however, he transferred to The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, to be closer to home and pursue a degree in political science and philosophy. “It was a summer of reflection, a crossroads moment, and my perspective shifted,” Hightower admits. “There was an expectation that I would go to medical school, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. And there’s nothing wrong with hard labor, but it can give a view of what one wants to do versus what one has to do.”

What he wanted to do was study the humanities, and his formative experiences at UAH and his passion for the liberal arts inspired him to establish the Scott Hightower Endowed Scholarship through a planned gift. The scholarship will cover tuition, fees, books, room and board, and other expenses for undergraduate or graduate students pursuing degrees in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHS). Hightower chose to give because “it’s something we should do to help the next generation of students and hopefully plants a seed of giving back as they make their way through life after college.” He chose a planned gift specifically because “a planned gift like mine from an estate perspective is a great way to allocate your assets according to where you think it will help the most in the future. It feels like an investment into the next generation without the expectation of a thank you. It’s just there for whoever needs it.”

Hightower also recognizes that the cost of a college education is rising. “Knowing the value of an education in my own life, and seeing the rising costs - that’s what inspired this scholarship. This is for folks who don’t have the support or means. If anything happens - a car breaks down or you have a medical emergency - it can throw you financially. I’m so grateful for my education and the affordability of it at the time.”

The education he received at UAH, Hightower says, was life-changing. “The liberal arts is about reasoning and learning, instead of memorization,” Hightower says. “It teaches you a way to think and to use critical thinking skills.” That high-quality education was impacted by talented and engaged instructors. “The professors were really good,” Hightower confirms. “They were intense and had high expectations. Professors like Dr. [Carolyn] White in political science, or Dr. [Robert] Burns in philosophy - they were amazing. In class we had thought-provoking conversations.” The content, too, was influential. His exposure to the Socratic method and symbolic logic has influenced his professional and personal decisions, including his philanthropic convictions. Hightower says the high level of instruction he received “made me curious for life” and promoted a love of lifelong learning that has continued to this day. “Having an education is important,” Hightower explains. “The goal is to be challenged in different ways so you don’t get stuck. It keeps your mind agile.”

This approach to life and the ability to ride the line between interpersonal and technical skills has carried Hightower to professional success. As a senior director for BlueCross BlueShield, Hightower stresses his liberal arts background gave him a unique and valuable set of skills that allowed him to address complex and technical details across multiple groups. “My educational experience provided me the ability to navigate conversations and corporate politics and work with different leaders and leadership styles. I had to work with different types of people and in different states.”

Part of successfully working with different groups of people, Hightower maintains, is learning more about them and their cultures. To accomplish this, he worked with BlueCross BlueShield leadership to create employee resource groups of like-minded, like-cultured individuals in the company, such as a group of people from south Asia. The goal, he says, was to establish a supportive corporate culture that embraced diversity, acceptance and inclusion. “I learned a lot from sponsoring those groups,” Hightower admits. “It really helped me to understand my own biases and cultural ignorance on certain topics.”

Ultimately, Hightower says his liberal arts education gave him a key advantage: “A lot of people I worked with were more educated than me, but I had insights they lacked and they valued that. It gave me the confidence to do what I wanted to do.” That confidence stems from Hightower’s ability to remain flexible in the job market. “You might have instruction on a specific topic, but it’s old news in a few years. The pace of change is so fast.” Hightower says his ability to adapt is what kept him viable in an evolving job market.

Now that he’s retired, Hightower is applying those skills learned in the corporate context to the mounting concern of homelessness in Chattanooga, where he spends much of his time. As a stroke of good fortune, he read an article about UAH alumnus Taylor Reed’s (B.S. Mechanical Engineering ‘16) involvement in the launch of ShowerUp Huntsville. ShowerUp is a 501(c)3 non-profit that provides mobile showers, personal care and hygiene supplies to the homeless and has locations in Chicago, Wichita and Nashville. “I called him [Reed], he drove down and we spent a Sunday talking. I was impressed.” Hightower says he loves the concept: “It’s a fully-integrated service the homeless are missing.”

That conversation inspired Hightower to research how he could implement something similar in Chattanooga. “Homeless numbers in Chattanooga have tripled since COVID, so it’s a growing problem,” Hightower notes. After a conversation with a member of the Chattanooga Sheriff’s Department, however, Hightower shifted the way he thought about the issue. “The bigger question is how do we prevent homelessness in the first place?” Hightower then learned about a California program that offers a recuperative care location for the homeless. “Homeless individuals are often ‘frequent fliers’ in the emergency room,” Hightower shares. “After receiving medical care, there’s no place to discharge them to and there’s no continuity of care with their medication, so they end up back in the ER.” Hightower explains the California program uses a renovated hotel with nurses and social workers to help the individuals recover. “There are also other resources to help that person get a job and a place to live. It’s a 90-day model to help the homeless return to a productive life,” Hightower adds. This formula, Hightower says, is appealing to law enforcement, local government, hospitals and insurance companies and could be subsidized by the costs normally expended in repeatedly treating these patients. “Now I’m contemplating how ShowerUp would be a complement of this bigger system,” Hightower reveals. “This could be an aligning model for everyone to decrease costs and positively impact humanity.”

When speaking to others about the decisions he’s made, Hightower often shares the story of his summer of reflection and his choice to transfer to UAH as one that forever changed the trajectory of his life. “When I was first in college, I went through a period of time where I wondered what was going to happen in the future and what I was going to do,” Hightower acknowledges. “It’s something we all go through at some point in our lives, and we shouldn’t be afraid to have that experience.” In fact, Hightower sees that experience as an opportunity: “If you can look at your failures, you can find your successes.”

One opportunity gained, Hightower asserts, is his ability to give back - both to his community and to UAH. “The only way our country and society can get better is to ensure the next generation of students have a challenging and rigorous environment so they can adapt and change as necessary. Having a thriving and growing university in your community is one of the best resources you can have.” His experience at UAH, he says, was formative and is a major inspiration for wanting to support the university now. “In many ways, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity for a great all-around liberal arts education because it allowed me to pick a career path I enjoyed. I would challenge other liberal arts graduates to share their experiences and support the university in any way that works for them.” As for that summer lifting concrete blocks? “I’m happy I survived it all,” Hightower laughs. “Now I’m having more fun than I ever have before.”

Original source can be found here.