Our Purpose
We had a shared mission here on the Hilltop: to prepare students for lives of significance. Everything the college did was designed to help our students — and everyone in the community — develop, learn, and engage in the wider world. No matter who you were or where you wanted to go, our faculty and staff were committed to helping you rise to your potential.
History and Tradition
Birmingham-Southern College traces its roots back to 1856, the year the Alabama Legislature chartered Southern University as a Methodist institution; the following year, the school’s cornerstone was laid in Greensboro, Ala.
In 1859, Southern University opened with 52 students—many of whom left two years later to fight in the Civil War, which left the institution depleted. A decade after its founding, only 28 students remained. But, under a renewed commitment by Methodist leadership, Southern University rose again, building to 238 students in 1889 and graduating its first woman in 1897.
A year later and about 100 miles away, the North Alabama Conference College opened on a hilltop west of the young city of Birmingham; in 1906, the school changed its name to Birmingham College. The school began to flourish—the first of six BSC Rhodes Scholars was named in 1910—but, in an echo of Southern University, the United States’ entry into World War I depleted the student body.
On May 30, 1918, Southern University merged with Birmingham College on that hilltop location—the same referred to in the college’s alma mater:
“On the city's western border
Reared against the sky,
Proudly stands our alma mater
As the years go by.”
In 1921, U.S. President Warren Harding inaugurated Guy Snavely as the newest president of Birmingham-Southern College. Snavely set about—and succeeded—building the finest undergraduate institution in the state. In 1931, for the college’s 75th anniversary celebrations, Stockham Hall was built; 1935, the undefeated BSC football team won the Dixie Conference; in 1927, the college received the state’s second Phi Beta Kappa chapter, which it still holds.
But once again, war changed the face of the college. By the end of 1941, the campus had lost most of its male students and faculty. In future years, BSC would not be sheltered from conflict, both local and national. In 1965, the college enrolled its first black students; some BSC students had previously joined their African-American peers from other institutions to fight for civil rights. College leaders contemplated moving the college out of Birmingham in the 1970s, but then-Pres. Dr. Neal Berte held fast to the vision of the college on the city’s western border—and helped build the institution to a nationally-ranked liberal arts college with an innovative curriculum and a commitment to student success.
BSC Ends Normal Operations on May 31, 2024.
Over the last two decades, BSC struggled to stabilize its finances through a series of leadership changes and challenges within and beyond its control. The College focused on raising unrestricted operating funds and drew too heavily on its shrinking endowment without making meaningful progress in increasing that endowment.
The implementation of several ambitious capital projects in the mid-2000s – and the assumption of large debt to fund them – coincided with two factors that led to a decade-plus-long financial struggle:
The crash of the financial markets in 2009, in which BSC sustained a $25 million loss to the value of its endowment.
The discovery in 2010 of a material error in the budgeting of federal student financial aid, which came to about $5 million per year against a budget of $49 million.
These factors led to millions of dollars in budget cuts, the elimination of five majors and 29 faculty positions, and the suspension of the faculty and staff’s generous retirement match. The crisis triggered an additional $12 million draw on the endowment by the end of the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
When BSC’s 16th president, Daniel B. Coleman, took office in December 2018, he saw the financial issues through the lens of 30-plus years of experience in the finance industry. Too-high draws on the College endowment to cover operating losses depleted what should be – and must be – the institution’s most stable resource.
His plan called for raising a new endowment large enough to fund at least 20 percent of annual operating costs. To allow time to raise those funds, BSC appealed to state legislators to create a loan fund using a small fraction of a $2.8 billion surplus in the Education Trust Fund. The Alabama Legislature passed SB278 – the Distressed Institutions of Higher Learning Revolving Loan Program Act – with overwhelming bipartisan support. Although she had opposed the plan, Gov. Kay Ivey submitted executive amendments that were accepted by the Legislature and signed the bill on June 16, 2023.
What happened to the state money?
BSC met the qualifications for the loan and provided two proposals in which the State of Alabama would have had first position on collateral more than sufficient to back the loan. Even so, State Treasurer Young J. Boozer III denied BSC the loan in October 2023 after months of delays.
On February 6, 2024, the College’s legislative champions – Sen. Jabo Waggoner ’60 and Sen. Rodger Smitherman – introduced a bill to amend the 2023 Act. That bill, which moved the administration of the loan program to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, added a layer of review to ensure the state’s position, set the loan terms, and specified a time frame for approval or denial, passed the Alabama Senate on March 5.
On March 20, through the efforts of Rep. David Faulkner, the House Ways & Means Education Committee approved a substitute bill that further strengthened the State’s position. Even so, subsequent conversations with House members and leadership confirmed that the bill did not have enough support to move forward.
At the end of the 2024 Legislative session, the Distressed Institutions of Higher Learning Revolving Loan Fund was repealed and the funds were returned to the Education Trust Fund.
I thought Gen. Krulak saved the College. What happened?
During his four years as our 13th president, Gen. Charles C. Krulak focused on raising enough operating funds to keep the College afloat. He reworked the budget to prevent further cuts to the faculty. When he retired in 2015, he had recruited the largest entering class since 2010, succeeded in moving the College off sanction with its accrediting organization, and, in the eyes of many, had saved the College.
But the endowment had dropped from $122 million to $53 million by the time of Gen. Krulak’s arrival, and fundraising efforts during his years were focused on spendable money. Many donors were asked to liquidate their endowed funds so the College could continue to operate. Most agreed, with the expectation that BSC would restore those funds when it could.
How will closing the College impact the neighborhood?
Until a buyer is found, the campus will be monitored by security officers.
BSC sits on 192 acres – with dozens of administrative and classroom buildings, residence halls, an apartment complex with a pool, a lake, and playing fields.
As the anchor tenant of this part of the city, BSC has provided stability, security, and service to our neighbors in Bush Hills, College Hills, and Smithfield, and vice versa for more than a century. With millions of federal dollars on the way to create affordable housing and a more visible and attractive pathway between downtown and the west, such a large property being left vacant for any length of time is a huge setback to the neighborhoods that surround it.