Alumni gift to enhance UNA’s Disability Support Services

FLORENCE – Col. Milton Looney, a University of North Alabama graduate and longtime Athens resident, has provided a gift to the Disability Support Services department at UNA to boost accessibility resources for students.

In honor and in tribute to Looney’s parents, the program is now called Aubrey and Annie Looney Disability Support Services. Looney and UNA leadership made the official announcement in an on-campus ceremony.

“Col. Looney’s gift to create an endowment for Disability Support Services will allow us to enhance the offerings, resources, and programs provided to students registered with DSS,” said Dr. K.C. White, vice president for Student Affairs. “With this increased financial support, UNA can offer more robust resources, designed to coordinate with academic accommodations, enhance academic success, and ensure access to all phases of university life.”

Now known as Aubrey and Annie Looney Disability Support Services, the department is overseen by Jeremy Martin. He said the gift supports an ongoing and growing need among UNA’s student population as an additional 143 students registered with the office during the last academic year for a total of 382 students.

“We have seen a 15 percent increase in students served by DSS in the last year, and, overall four percent of UNA’s student body is served by DSS,” Martin said. “In fall 2023, 94% of students registered with DSS graduated or were retrained in spring 2024. This gift allows students to fully participate at UNA through enhanced services which support accessible pathways to academic success.”

Looney spent 30 years in the Army and another 20 at the Pentagon, and after retirement from the military, he taught at UAH and worked with students who had disabilities.

Aubrey and Annie Looney Disability Support Services has a long history of serving the UNA community, providing 15 programmatic events during the 2023-2024 academic year, including partnerships with Student Counseling, Health and Well-Being, the Mitchell-West Center for Social Inclusion, and Student Engagement.