Al Sturgeon (JD '11) Honored as Crowley's Ridge Academy 2017 Distinguished Alumnus

December 13, 2017 | Pepperdine Law alumnus, former Dean of Students and Graduate Programs, and current University Minister, Al Sturgeon (JD '11) was honored on December 8 as the 2017 Distinguished Alumnus at Crowley's Ridge Academy (CRA), located in Paragould, Arkansas.

From Terry Austin, CRA Communications and Development:

For his personal and professional accomplishment and his faithful spiritual example, Al Sturgeon has been selected as the 2017 Distinguished Alumnus at Crowley's Ridge Academy in Paragould, Arkansas.

Al graduated from CRA in 1988 as the valedictorian of his class, the president of the student council, co-winner of the basketball award, and — as chosen by the school's faculty — holder of the honorific "Mr. CRA."

Shortly after college, he returned to the school as coach and teacher. His track teams delivered the school's first-ever state championships (1994 and 1995). And his office was frequently a refuge for students quietly wrestling with turmoil within or at home. They naturally gravitated to Coach Al. He was, then as now, a solace for those in pain and need.

While teaching at CRA, Al met his wife, Jody, and they and their daughters, Erica and Hillary, have since journeyed together from Paragould to a pair of coasts, always together, always building or rebuilding, and always serving.

Readers of this blog are likely familiar with Al's work in the years that followed, first picking up the pieces after Hurricane Katrina in Ocean Springs, Miss., and then as student, dean, elder and minister at Pepperdine. Along each step in the Sturgeons' remarkable journey, those of us "back home" have watched with pride and claimed a small, mostly undeserved ownership in it.

And so, at CRA's Homecoming on Friday night, December 8, in the same gym where Al once rained three-pointer after three-pointer, we'll claim that stake once again. If you're in the area, please join us as we honor our friend, Albert Andrew Sturgeon, III, as our 2017 Distinguished Alumnus.