Welcome to my Mallet page. I've been a member and resident of
the Assembly since the fall semister of 1996, for more info on me, see
my
main web page, or my bio page. This is
not the official Mallet web page--see links below.
Contents
Mallet in General
Me and Mallet
What's up with the name?
How do I join Mallet?
Selected photos
Mallet links
Contacting Mallet
Mallet is like no other dorm on the face of the earth. Or at least in the United States. (Probably). What makes Mallet special? We are self governing. What does that mean? The Assembly elects officers, holds regular meetings, and votes on issues that concern the Assembly in a democratic fashion (roughly following Roberts Rules of Order, often using the "drunken assemblage" option found in appendix A). These elected (volunteer) officers perform all administrative duties and tasks in running the program and the Byrd Hall. But not only that, we also do things, real things.
As an organization: In recent years, Mallet has won the campus intramural sports champoinship 3 times straight, raised money for and volunetered at the Childrens Hands On Museum, endoresed SGA canidates, held SGA debates, held a play in the basement, sponsored concerts, gotten university administrators demoted, established a permanent internet connection to the building, etc. In past years Mallet has been on CIA watch lists for subversiveness, and investagated by the Secret Service for playing War Games while a former president was on campus. Mallet was also instrumental in getting the SGA brought back in 1996 after it had been disbanded by the university some years before. There are even stories that Mallet burnt down two university buildings 20 or so years ago. More info on our historic activities (both one time events and tratidional events) can be found by following the links below. (Mallet has a longstanding oral tradition with stories passed on by visiting alumni and upperclassmen; the stories are almost always outrageous, but also almost always true and verifiable).
As a residence hall: Malleteers are in charge of day-to-day operations. There are no traditional RA's--Malleteers are elected to offices that perform equivalent tasks. Upperclassmen, the Board of Govenors Chairman, or the Professor In Residence are arround to offer advice. The Senior Monitor and maintenance monitors unlock doors for those who lock themselves out, as well as keep the building running. The Tribunal is our judicial process.
Today, Malleteers have infiltrated--er, work--all kinds of jobs: Academics, Authors, Engineers, Fortune 500 VP's, Poets, Administrators (the computer type and the government type), Army Intelligence, NSA, CIA, NASA, Doctors, Lawyers, etc.
A historically diverse place, in all sences of the word, Mallet is very accepting of individuals.
And it's been this way for nearly 40 years.
As mentioned above, I've been at Mallet since Fall of 1996. When I arrived, I was definitely a freshman with little idea of what college was and what to expect. Mallet helped me adjust very quickly to college life. Currently, I am a Junior, studying Electrical Engineering, but there are Malleteers in all colleges at UA. About 60% of the residents are upperclassmen (grad students included); we have the highest retention rate of any residential program or building on campus.
Since I've been at Mallet, I've heard guest speakers talk about everything from reforming higher education to economics. I've been to parties with the University President, built a working 3/4 scale model of R2-D2, drop tested various electronics and small apliances (most items fail the tests), blown up microwaves, hooked up an old PBX and gotten it working, turned the PBX into a refridgerator, run computer networks, built a potatoe gun and launched potatoes across the Black Warrior River (not a small river), run numerous MOCO operations, installed an ice machine... the list goes on and on.
More than that, Mallet is a community. The people are what make
it special. I live in a building with 80-100 people (varies year
to year), and I know all of them. Most dorms, you are lucky to know
your neighbors, let alone who lives down the hall or upstairs. At
Mallet, knowing everyone is the norm.
The short answer:
John Mallet was a chemist and civil war munitions officer; he was the first of many Malleteers who liked to blow things up.
The long answer:
Mallet Assembly is named for John William Mallet, LL.D., Ph.D., F.R.S.
(1832-1912), a chemist and civil war munitions officer. He taught
at the University of Alabama from 1853 to 1861. After the war, he
taught at Tulane University, University of Texas, and the University of
Virginia. John Mallet helped to found the American Chemical Society,
offered the first course in the U.S. on Industrial Chemistry, was an authority
on general and applied chemistry, and is remembered for his work on the
atomic weights of lithium, aluminum, and gold.
There is an application on our official web site. Or you can call
or write for a paper application and whatever other recruiting literature
we may have laying arround. A minimum ACT score of 27 -OR- SAT of
1200 -OR- college GPA of 3.0+ -OR- outstanding achievement in a specific
field (ex: Art, Debate, Music, etc) is required. You are strongly
encouraged to live with the Assembly, but it is not required. While
Mallet is the University of Alabama's Mens Honors Residence Program, we
do accept female members and have a large number of them.
 John Mallet |
 John Mallet |
Malleteers on the bank of the Black Warrior River, near the sunken Demopolis.
(photo by me). |
Wade Smith attacks Ryan Odom with a steam cleaner in the Mallet Library.
No, we don't usually clean the carpets, the University does--this was a
special occation! (my photo). |
Official Mallet Assembly
web page
Joe's mallet
page (contains a very extensive list of links to Mallet related sites)
Mike's mallet page
Contact Mallet
Interested in Mallet? Allumni? Contact us!
Write: Mallet Assembly
P.O. Box 11092
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
Phone: (205)348-5046 (Assembly phone number)
E-mail: mallet@bama.ua.edu
(official Assembly address; I do not receive this mail)
dkudrav@eng.ua.edu (my e-mail address--I'll gladly answer any questions)