Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. D ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. Founded in 1856, the college is affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). More than 1300 students from 33 states and 16 foreign countries attend the college.

History

Gingko Tree at Birmingham-Southern College

Birmingham–Southern College is the result of a merger of Southern University, founded in

Greensboro, Alabama Greensboro is a city in Hale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 2,497, down from 2,731 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Hale County, Alabama, which was not organized until 1867. It is part o ...

, in 1856, with Birmingham College, opened in 1898 in Birmingham, Alabama. These two institutions were consolidated on May 30, 1918, under the name of Birmingham–Southern College.

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

recognized Birmingham–Southern in 1937, establishing the Alabama Beta chapter. Only ten percent of the nation's institutions of higher education shelter

chapters, and Birmingham–Southern College is one of only three sheltering institutions in the state of Alabama.

Presidents

Edwards Bell Tower, Birmingham-Southern College

* 1918–21: Cullen C. Daniel * 1921–37: Guy E. Snavely * 1938–42: Raymond R. Paty * 1942–55: George R. Stuart * 1955–57: Guy E. Snavely * 1957–62:

Henry King Stanford Henry King Stanford (April 22, 1916 – January 1, 2009) was the interim president of the University of Georgia (UGA) from 1986 through 1987 and the third president of the University of Miami from 1962 to 1981. Stanford's prior academic administ ...

* 1963–68: Howard M. Phillips * 1968–69: Robert F. Henry * 1969–72: Charles D. Hounshell * 1972–75: Ralph M. Tanner * 1976–2004: Neal R. Berte * 2004–10: G. David Pollick * 2011–15:

Charles C. Krulak Charles Chandler Krulak (born March 4, 1942) is a retired United States Marine Corps General (United States), four-star general who served as the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1999. He is the son of Lieutenant ...

* 2015–2016: Edward F. Leonard III * 2016–2018:

Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...

* 2018–present: Daniel B. Coleman

Academics

The college currently offers five bachelor's degrees in more than 50 programs of study, as well as interdisciplinary and individualized majors and dual degree programs.

Campus

The campus is situated on 192 wooded acres three miles west of downtown Birmingham. The college has 45 academic, residential, administrative, and athletics buildings/facilities. Some highlights: Elton B. Stephens Science Center: Housing the natural sciences, the 100,000-square-foot, $24.1 million Stephens Science Center. Stephens Science Center, Birmingham-Southern College

Stephens Science Center, Birmingham-Southern College

Norton Campus Center: The hub of campus, the Norton Campus Center houses the bookstore, cafeteria, post office, and student lounge areas as well as offices for student development, residence life, and counseling and health services. Munger Memorial Hall: The architectural centerpiece of campus, Munger Hall, built in the 1920s, houses administrative offices and a 900-seat auditorium. Berte Humanities Center: Named in honor of former BSC President Neal Berte, the Humanities Center opened in 2004 and houses the foreign languages lab, the academic resource center (ARC), and classrooms designed for BSC's small student-to-faculty ratio. College Theatre: With a split-revolve-lift stage, the main theatre can host a variety of set designs. Lakeview Residence Halls: The first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) residence halls in Alabama, Lakeview North and South opened in 2010 and offer suite-style living for upperclass students. Lakeview Dorm South, Birmingham-Southern College

Lakeview Dorm South, Birmingham-Southern College

Hilltop Village Apartments: Recently renovated, the Hilltop Village apartment complex contains sixteen buildings that house approximately 350 students. Urban Enviornmental Park, Birmingham-Southern College

Urban Enviornmental Park, Birmingham-Southern College

Urban Environmental Park: The Urban Environmental Park features the 1.5 acre Bennett Lake (named after Class of 2009 Alum John Jennings Bennett, Esq.), The Gilmore Lawn, walking paths, and Wi-Fi internet. The entrance to the park is through the Voltz Flight of Stairs, which is named after Class of 2009 Alum Ingram Voltz. N.E Miles Library: The N.E. Miles Library includes a collection of 257,000 volumes, 57,000 government documents, and more than 20,000 recordings, compact discs, and DVDs. More than 135 online databases provide access to the full text of over 40,000 periodicals and numerous e-books. The library also features an auditorium, study areas, conference rooms, and an electronic classroom. Striplin Fitness and Recreation Center: The main facility for campus recreation, Striplin features two basketball courts, an indoor jogging track, racquetball courts, a golf simulator, an indoor swimming pool, and strength training and cardiovascular workout rooms.

Student life

Greek life

Fraternities

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University, Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) i ...

1882 *

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

1885 *

Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 collegiate members across Nort ...

1942 *

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

1991 *

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

1924 (closed 1983) *

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

1878

Sororities

Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its Internatio ...

1922 *

Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international women's fraternity founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AOI ...

1925 *

Alpha Chi Omega Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across ...

1926 *

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

1927–1989, recolonized 1991 *

Gamma Phi Beta Gamma Phi Beta (, also known as GPhi or Gamma Phi) is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874, and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Man ...

1930–1957 *

Kappa Delta Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, wh ...

1930 *

Delta Zeta Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 170 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 200 alumnae chapters in Cana ...

1963–1974 *

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...

1989 *

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

1979–2006; 2021

Athletics

Birmingham–Southern athletic teams are the Panthers. The college is a member of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Southern Athletic Association The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is a college athletic conference in NCAA Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and indepe ...

(SAA) since the 2012–13 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the D-III

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. Difficulties related to travel distanc ...

(SCAC) from 2007–08 to 2011–12; in the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

of the Division I ranks of the NCAA from 2001–02 to 2006–07; and in the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TranSouth or TSAC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 1996–97 to 2000–01. Birmingham–Southern competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

Overview

Birmingham–Southern enjoyed a successful run in the NAIA prior to joining the NCAA. After three years as a Division I member, the college moved to Division III in 2006. Panther Stadium, home to the college's football program, hosted its first home football game on November 8, 2008. The stadium features an athletic building that includes a press box, coaches' offices, meeting rooms, athletic training room, officials' dressing room, and locker rooms for football, lacrosse, track and field, and cross country.

Notable alumni

William Acker William Marsh Acker Jr. (October 25, 1927 – June 21, 2018) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Education and career Acker was born in Birmingham, Alabama and served in ...

–

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

Robert Aderholt Robert Brown Aderholt (; born July 22, 1965) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 1997. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes most of Tuscaloosa County north of the Black W ...

–

United States congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Alabama (1997–present) *

Laurie C. Battle Laurie Calvin Battle (May 10, 1912 – May 2, 2000) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama. He was in the United States Army Air Forces and served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II. Biography Born in Wilsonville, Alabama, Battl ...

–

from Alabama (1947–1955) *

Amanda Bearse Amanda Bearse (born August 9, 1958) is an American actress, comedian and director. She starred in the 1985 supernatural horror film ''Fright Night'', and later starred as Marcy Rhoades D'Arcy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987- ...

– actress, best known for her role as Marcy on the television sitcom '' Married... with Children''. *

Richmond C. Beatty Richmond C. Beatty (January 6, 1905 – October 9, 1961) was an American academic, biographer and critic. He was the author of several books. Early life Richmond C. Beatty was born on January 6, 1905, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He grew up in Birmingham ...

(BA 1926) – academic, biographer and critic *

Harvie Branscomb Bennett Harvie Branscomb (December 25, 1894 – July 23, 1998) was an American theologian and academic administrator. He served as the fourth chancellor of Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1946 to 1963. P ...

– Chancellor,

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

(1946–1963) * Lewis C. Branscomb (1865–1930) – Methodist minister * Charles Brooks – Editorial cartoonist *

Pat Buttram Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram (June 19, 1915 – January 8, 1994) was an American character actor. Buttram was known for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry and for playing the character of Mr. Haney in the television series ''Green Acres''. He had ...

– Actor (sidekick of

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

in films, and Mr. Haney in the TV series

Green Acres ''Green Acres'' is an American television sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first broadcast on ...

) *

Miles Copeland III Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producin ...

– Music and entertainment executive, former manager of

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

and cofounder of I.R.S. Records *

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he wa ...

– Cartoonist * Charles Gaines – Author, journalist, screenwriter, editor; Cine Gold Eagle Awards, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Alexander Gelman Alexander Gelman (born December 21, 1960), born: Aleksandr Simonovich Gelman (russian: Алекса́ндр Си́монович Ге́льман) is an American theater director and the current Producing Artistic Director of Organic Theater Comp ...

– Theatre Director,

Organic Theater Company Organic Theater Company was founded in 1969 in Madison, Wisconsin by artistic director Stuart Gordon and his wife Carolyn Purdy Gordon. Its first play was a production of ''Richard III'' but harassment from the local officials of Madison caused ...

, Chicago *

Rebecca Gilman Rebecca Gilman (born 1965 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American playwright. Education She attended Middlebury College, graduated from Birmingham-Southern College, and earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop at the Univers ...

– American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Jennifer Hale Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', ''Mass Effect'', ''Metal Gear Solid'', ''BioShock Infinite'', ''Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Star Wa ...

– Voice Actress *

Walker Hayes Charles Edgar Walker Hayes (born December 27, 1979) is an American country-pop singer and songwriter. He has released three studio albums: ''Reason to Rhyme'' in 2011 on Capitol Records Nashville, and ''Boom (Walker Hayes album), Boom'' and ''Co ...

– Country Singer / Songwriter * Donald Heflin – American diplomat *

Howell Heflin Howell Thomas Heflin (June 19, 1921 – March 29, 2005) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States Senate, representing Alabama, from 1979 to 1997. Early life Heflin was born on June 19, 1921, in Poulan, Georgia. He at ...

– U.S. Senator from Alabama (1978–1997) * Perry O. Hooper, Sr. – 27th Chief Justice of the

Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...

* Alexa Jones – former

Miss Alabama The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition. Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf ...

and news reporter *

Hugh Martin Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland ...

– Broadway and film composer and arranger, including movie musical ''

Meet Me In St. Louis ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' is a 1944 American Christmas film, Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith famil ...

'', starring Judy Garland. * Walter P. McConaughy – Career diplomat and US Ambassador to Burma, South Korea, Pakistan, and Taiwan. * John B. McLemore – (Dropout after 3 years) Antique clock restorer, and focus of "This American Life" podcast "S- Town" * Morgan Murphy – Food critic and author * Joe Nasco – Professional Footballer * Sena Jeter Naslund – Author * LaFayette L. Patterson – United States Representative *

Gin Phillips Gin Phillips (Birmingham, Alabama) is an American author. Her first novel, ''The Well and the Mine'', was awarded the 2009 Barnes & Noble Discover Award, a $10,000 prize for a first novel. Her second novel, ''Come in and Cover Me'', was published ...

– Novelist *

Howell Raines Howell Hiram Raines (; born February 5, 1943) is an American journalist, editor, and writer. He was executive editor of ''The New York Times'' from 2001 until he left in 2003 in the wake of the scandal related to reporting by Jayson Blair. In 20 ...

– Executive editor, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (2001–2004);

Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1979 for a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high liter ...

, 1992 *

Ray Reach Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO of ...

– Jazz pianist, vocalist, arranger, composer, producer and educator. Director of Student Jazz Programs at the

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (AJHF) was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and dis ...

. *

Glenn Shadix William Glenn Shadix (April 15, 1952 – September 7, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his role as Otho in Tim Burton's horror comedy film ''Beetlejuice'' and as the voice of the Mayor of Halloween Town in ''The Nightmare ...

– American actor *

Daryl Shore Daryl Shore (born January 6, 1970 in Peekskill, New York) is an American former soccer player and current assistant coach of the Puerto Rico national team. Player Shore attended Birmingham-Southern College where started on the men's soccer team ...

– Professional soccer player and coach * Morgan Smith Goodwin – Actress, Spokesperson for Wendy's *

Luther Leonidas Terry Luther Leonidas Terry (September 15, 1911March 29, 1985) was an American physician and public health official. He was appointed the ninth Surgeon General of the United States from 1961 to 1965, and is best known for his warnings against the dan ...

– Surgeon General of the United States (1961–1965) *

Martin Waldron Martin Oliver "Mo" Waldron (February 2, 1925 – May 27, 1981) was an American newspaper reporter. His 1963 series of articles in the ''St. Petersburg Times'' exposed the state's "reckless, unchecked spending" on the construction of the Sunshine ...

(1925–1981) – Winner of the

1964 Pulitzer Prize The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1964. Journalism awards *Public Service: **The ''St. Petersburg Times'', for its aggressive investigation of the Florida Turnpike Authority which disclosed widespread illegal acts and resulted in a major r ...

* Ray Wedgeworth –

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree, master's, educati ...

head coach: basketball (1951–1953), football (1953), and baseball (1964–1970) *

Frederick Palmer Whiddon Frederick Palmer Whiddon (March 2, 1930 - May 1, 2002) was the founder and long-time president of the University of South Alabama, the first four-year state-supported university in Mobile, Alabama. Whiddon was born in Newville, Alabama. He was a g ...

– President,

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...

(1963–1998) * Robert Lee Williams – 3rd Governor of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

(1915–1919) * John H. Yardley – Pathologist

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham-Southern College Buildings and structures completed in 1921 National Register of Historic Places in Birmingham, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1856 Universities and colleges in Birmingham, Alabama 1856 establishments in Alabama Universities and colleges formed by merger in the United States Private universities and colleges in Alabama