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The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the public universities in Alabama as well as the University of Alabama System. It is
classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper *The Classified, a 1980s American roc ...
among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university offers programs of study in 13 academic divisions leading to bachelor's, master's,
education specialist The Education Specialist, also referred to as Educational Specialist or Specialist in Education (Ed.S. or S.Ed.), is a specialist degree in education and terminal professional degree in the U.S. that is designed to provide knowledge and theory in t ...
, and
doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
degrees. The only publicly supported
law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
in the state is at UA. Other academic programs unavailable elsewhere in Alabama include doctoral programs in anthropology, communication and information sciences, metallurgical engineering, music, Romance languages, and social work. As one of the first public universities established in the early 19th century southwestern frontier of the United States, the University of Alabama has left a cultural imprint on the state, region, and nation over the past two centuries. The school was a center of activity during the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. The University of Alabama varsity football program (nicknamed the ''Crimson Tide''), which was inaugurated in 1892, ranks as one of the ten winningest programs in US history. In a 1913 speech then-president
George H. Denny George Hutcheson Denny (December 3, 1870 – April 2, 1955) was an American academic and former president at both Washington and Lee University and the University of Alabama. Both a football coach and an educator, he ultimately was appointed Washi ...
extolled the university as the " capstone of the public school system in the state
f Alabama F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...
, lending the university its current nickname, ''The Capstone''. In addition, university alumni and faculty include 59 Goldwater Scholars, 15 Rhodes Scholars, 16 Truman Scholars, 36 Hollings Scholars, and 16 Boren Scholars.


History


Establishment

In 1818, the United States Congress authorized the newly created Alabama Territory to set aside a township for the establishment of a "seminary of learning". When Alabama was admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819, a second township was added to the land grant, bringing it to a total of 46,000 acres (186 km2). The General Assembly of Alabama established the seminary on December 18, 1820, named it "The University of the State of Alabama", and created a board of trustees to manage the construction and operation of the university. The board selected a construction site and an architect to design the campus. The site the board chose was, at the time, outside the city limits of the erstwhile state capital, Tuscaloosa. William Nichols, the architect of the Alabama State Capitol building and Christ Episcopal Church in Tuscaloosa, was chosen to design the campus. Influenced by Thomas Jefferson's plan at the University of Virginia, the Nichols-designed campus featured a wide, high domed Rotunda that served as the library and nucleus of the campus. The university's charter was presented to the first university president in the nave of Christ Episcopal Church. UA opened its doors to students on April 18, 1831, with the Reverend Alva Woods as president. An academy-style institution during the Antebellum period, the university emphasized the
classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and the social and natural sciences. There were around 100 students per year at UA in the 1830s. As the state and university matured, an active literary culture evolved on campus and in Tuscaloosa. UA had one of the largest libraries in the country on the eve of the Civil War with more than 7,000 volumes. There were several thriving literary societies, including the Erosophic and the Phi Beta Kappa societies, which often had lectures by such distinguished politicians and literary figures as United States Supreme Court justice John Archibald Campbell, novelist William Gilmore Simms, and professor Frederick Barnard. The addresses to those societies reveal a vibrant intellectual culture in Tuscaloosa; they also illustrate the proslavery ideas that were so central to the university and the state. Discipline and student behavior were a major issue at the university almost from the day it opened. Early presidents attempted to enforce strict rules regarding conduct. Students were prohibited from drinking, swearing, making unauthorized visits off-campus, or playing musical instruments outside a one-hour time frame. Yet riots and gunfights were not uncommon. To combat the severe discipline problem, president
Landon Garland Landon Cabell Garland (1810–1895), an American, was professor of physics and history and university president three times at different Southern Universities (Randolph Macon, Alabama, Vanderbilt) while living in the Southern United States for hi ...
lobbied and received approval from the legislature in 1860 to transform the university into a military school.


From the Civil War to World War II

Many of the cadets who graduated from the school served as officers in the
Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
during the Civil War. As a consequence of that role, Union troops burned down the campus on April 4, 1865, only 5 days before Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Despite a call to arms and defense by the student cadet corps, only four buildings survived the burning: the President's Mansion (1841),
Gorgas House Gorgas may refer to: *Gorgas Hospital, a hospital in Panama named after William C. Gorgas * USS ''General W. C. Gorgas'' (ID-1365), a United States Navy troop transport in commission in 1919 * USAT General W. C. Gorgas (1902), a United States Army ...
(1829), Little Round House (1860), and Old Observatory (1844). The university reopened in 1871 and in 1880, Congress granted the university 40,000 acres (162 km2) of coal land in partial compensation for $250,000 in war damages. The University of Alabama allowed female students beginning in 1892. The Board of Trustees allowed female students largely due to
Julia S. Tutwiler Julia Strudwick Tutwiler (August 15, 1841 – March 24, 1916) was an advocate for education and prison reform in Alabama. She served as co-principal of the Livingston Female Academy, and then the first (and only) woman president of Livingston N ...
, with the condition that they be over eighteen, and would be allowed to enter the sophomore class after completing their first year at another school and passing an exam. Ten women from Tutwiler's Livingston school enrolled for the 1893 fall semester. By 1897, women were allowed to enroll as freshmen. During World War II, UA was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which offered students a path to a Navy commission. During this time the University of Alabama had extensions in other cities including Mobile; the University of South Alabama was opened in 1963 to replace that program.


Racial integration

Until the 1960s, the university admitted only white students. The practice of racial segregation was common in the American South at this time and the university barred all students of color from attending. The first attempt to integrate the university occurred in 1956 when Autherine Lucy successfully enrolled on February 3 as a graduate student in library sciences after she secured a court order preventing the university from rejecting her application on the basis of race. In the face of violent protests against her attendance, Lucy was suspended (and later outright expelled) three days later by the board of trustees on the basis of being unable to provide a safe learning environment for her. The university was not integrated until 1963 when
Vivian Malone Vivian Juanita Malone Jones (July 15, 1942 – October 13, 2005) was one of the first two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963, and in 1965 became the university's first black graduate. She was made famous when George Wal ...
and James Hood registered for classes on June 11. Governor
George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...
made his infamous " Stand in the Schoolhouse Door", standing in the front entrance of
Foster Auditorium Foster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 as a Works Progress Administration project and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports (in the 1970s and 1980s) ...
in a symbolic attempt to stop Malone and Hood's enrollment. When confronted by
U.S. deputy attorney general The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...
Nicholas Katzenbach and
federal marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...
s sent in by
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Robert F. Kennedy, Wallace stepped aside. President John F. Kennedy had called for the integration of the University of Alabama as well. Although Hood dropped out of school after two months, he returned and, in 1997, received his PhD in philosophy. Malone persisted in her studies and became the first African American to graduate from the university. In 2000, the university granted her a doctorate of humane letters. Autherine Lucy's expulsion was rescinded in 1980, and she re-enrolled and graduated with a master's degree in 1992. Later in his life, Wallace apologized for his opposition at that time to
racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...
. In 2010, the university formally honored Lucy, Hood and Malone by rechristening the plaza in front of Foster Auditorium as Malone-Hood Plaza and erecting a clock tower – Autherine Lucy Clock Tower – in the plaza.


2011 tornado

On April 27, 2011, Tuscaloosa was hit by a tornado rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which left a large path of complete destruction but spared the campus. Six students who lived on off-campus premises were confirmed dead by the university. Due to the infrastructural damage of the city (approx. 12% of the city) and the loss of life, the university canceled the rest of the spring semester and postponed graduation.


Campus

From a small campus of seven buildings in the wilderness on the main road between Tuscaloosa and
Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...
(now University Boulevard) in the 1830s, UA has grown to a massive campus in the heart of Tuscaloosa. There are 297 buildings on campus containing some of space. In 2010, the school added 168 acres to its campus by purchasing the land formerly belonging to Bryce Hospital. It also plans to acquire more land to accommodate the continuing growth of the enrollment. The university maintains the
University of Alabama Arboretum The University of Alabama Arboretum is a 60-acre (243,000 m2) arboretum located near the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Pelham Loop Road in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Arboretum's primary emphasis is on Alabama's native flora and fauna ...
in eastern Tuscaloosa and the
Dauphin Island Sea Lab The Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) is Alabama's primary marine education and research center. DISL is the home site of the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium and was founded by an act of the Alabama State Legislature in 1971. It also has a p ...
on
Dauphin Island Dauphin Island is an island town in Mobile County, Alabama, United States, on a barrier island of the same name, in the Gulf of Mexico. It incorporated in 1988. The population was 1,778 at the 2020 census, up from 1,238 at the 2010 census. The t ...
, just off the Alabama Gulf Coast. In 2011, the
Sustainable Endowments Institute The Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that is engaged in research and education to advance sustainability in operations and endowment practices. Founded in 2005, SEI is a special projec ...
gave the university a College Sustainability Report Card grade of "B+".


Landmarks

UA is home to several museums, cultural facilities and historical landmarks. The Alabama Museum of Natural History at Smith Hall exhibits Alabama's rich natural history. The oddest artifact there could be the Sylacauga meteorite, the largest known extraterrestrial object to strike a human being who survived. The
Paul W. Bryant Museum The Paul W. Bryant Museum is located on the campus of the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Founded in 1985, the museum was opened in 1988 to "house the history of Alabama football, with special emphasis on the legendary coach" Bear ...
houses memorabilia and exhibits on the history of UA athletic programs, most notably the tenure of football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Athletic trophies and awards are displayed at the Mal Moore Athletic Facility, named for the university's former athletic director, near the Bryant Museum. The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art at Garland Hall hosts revolving exhibitions of contemporary art, including from the university's own permanent collection. The Ferguson Art Gallery at the University of Alabama Student Center also hosts revolving art exhibitions. The Jones Archaeological Museum at Moundville exhibits the history of
Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Midwestern, Eastern United States, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from appr ...
in Alabama. Numerous historical landmarks dot the campus, including the President's Mansion,
Denny Chimes Denny Chimes is a tall campanile tower on the south side of The Quad at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The tower was named in honor of George H. Denny, who served as university president from 1912 to 1936 and then again fro ...
,
Foster Auditorium Foster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 as a Works Progress Administration project and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports (in the 1970s and 1980s) ...
(a National Historical Landmark), the
Gorgas–Manly Historic District The Gorgas–Manly Historic District is a historic district (United States), historic district that includes and eight buildings on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The buildings represent the university campus as ...
, and Maxwell Observatory. A cemetery next to the Biology building includes the graves of two slaves who were owned by faculty members before the Civil War. Both men died in the 1840s, and their graves went unmarked until 2004. Campus culture facilities include the Allen Bales Theatre, the Marion Gallaway Theatre, Morgan Auditorium, and the Frank M. Moody Music Building, which houses the
Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra The Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is an orchestra based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. It celebrated its twenty-fifth season during 2006–2007. The orchestra performs at the Moody Music Building on the campus of the University of Ala ...
and the UA Opera Theatre, as well as three resident choirs.


Organization and administration

The University of Alabama is an autonomous institution within the University of Alabama System, which is governed by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama and headed by the chancellor of the University of Alabama. The state legislature created the board to govern the university's operations. Its responsibilities include setting policy for the university, determining the university's mission and scope, and assuming responsibility for the university to the public and the legislature. The board is self-perpetuating and composed of 15 members and two
ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
members. The Constitution of the State of Alabama dictates the board's makeup and requires the board to include three members from the congressional district that contains the Tuscaloosa campus and two members from every other congressional district in Alabama. Board members are elected by the board and are confirmed by the Alabama State Senate. Board members may serve three consecutive six-year terms. The president of the University of Alabama is the principal executive officer of the university and is appointed by the chancellor with approval of the board of trustees. The president reports directly to the chancellor and is responsible for the university's daily operations. The president's office is on the third floor of the Rose Administration Building, and the president has the privilege of living in the President's Mansion on campus.
Stuart R. Bell Stuart Ray Bell (born 1957) is an American academic. He was named the 29th president of The University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on July 15, 2015. Early life Stuart R. Bell was born in Abilene, Texas in 1957. The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is the university's college for the liberal arts,
fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
, and sciences. It is the largest of the university's 13 colleges, with approximately 9,800 undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students. Most core curriculum classes and majors and minors are part of the college. There are 12 other academic divisions at the University of Alabama (see the table above). Eight divisions (CAS, C&BA, C&IS, Education, Engineering, HES, Nursing, and Social Work) grant undergraduate degrees. Degrees in those eight divisions at the master's,
specialist Specialist may refer to: Occupations * Specialist (rank), a military rank ** Specialist (Singapore) * Specialist (arena football) * Specialist degree, in academia * Specialty (medicine) * Designated market maker, in the American stock market * ...
, and
doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
level are awarded through the Graduate School. The law school offers JD and
LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
degree programs. CHS provides advanced studies in medicine and related disciplines and operates a family medicine residency program. Medical students are also trained in association with the University of Alabama School of Medicine, from which they receive their degree. The College of Continuing Studies provides correspondence courses and other types of distance education opportunities for non-traditional students. It operates a distance education facility in
Gadsden Gadsden may refer to: Places *Gadsden, Alabama **Gadsden Depot, a United States Army Depot in the city of Gadsden, Alabama *Gadsden, Arizona *Gadsden, Indiana * Gadsden, South Carolina * Gadsden, Tennessee * Gadsden County, Florida * Gadsden Ind ...
. Founded in 1971 and merged into the College of Arts and Sciences in 1996, the New College's stated objectives were to "create an opportunity for a highly individualized education that enables students to draw from the resources of all University classes and faculty" and to "serve as an experimental unit with the expectation of exporting successful innovations to other sectors of the University." The college allows undergraduate students flexibility in choosing their curriculum while completing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in interdisciplinary studies. The ''New College Review'', a non-fiction cultural journal, is written, edited, designed, and published by students. The Honors College is a non-degree granting division that encompasses all the university's selective undergraduate honors programs.


Endowment

The University of Alabama System's
financial endowment A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are o ...
was valued at $1.520 billion in the National Association of College and University Business Officers' (NACUBO) 2019 listings. UA's portion of the system's endowment was valued at $885.7 million in September 2015.


Academics


Admissions


Undergraduate

In fall 2021, Alabama received 42,421 applications for first-time freshman enrollment, from which 33,472 applications were accepted (78.9%) and 7,593 freshmen enrolled, a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 22.7%. Alabama's freshman retention rate is 88.6%, with 72.1% going on to graduate within six years. The university started test-optional admissions with the Fall 2021 incoming class and has extended this through Fall 2024. Of the 63% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submitted ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 21 and 31. Of the 17% of the incoming freshman class who submitted SAT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1080-1370. The University of Alabama is a college-sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 189 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 223 freshman students were
National Merit Scholars The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...
.


Classification

The University of Alabama is
classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper *The Classified, a 1980s American roc ...
among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It is a large, four-year primarily residential university accredited by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...
. Full-time, four-year undergraduates comprise a large amount of the university enrollment. The undergraduate instructional program emphasizes professional programs of study as well as the liberal arts, and there is a high level of co-existence between the graduate and undergraduate program. The university has a very high level of research activity and has a "comprehensive doctoral" graduate instructional program in the liberal arts, humanities, social sciences. health sciences (medical school), and STEM fields. UA began offering engineering classes in 1837. It was one of the first universities in the nation to offer an engineering degree. Over the last decade, UA has greatly expanded its science and engineering programs, in terms of numbers of students, faculty hired, and number and size of new academic/research facilities (almost 1 million in new square footage). UA's College of Engineering enrolls more students than any other engineering program in the state as of 2016. UA's freshman engineering classes have also had the highest average ACT score among all state of Alabama engineering programs for the last several years.


Degrees conferred

Ten of the university's thirteen academic units (see above) offer degree programs in at total of 117 areas of study. Two areas, economics and health care management, are offered jointly by separate units (Commerce and Business Administration and Arts & Sciences for both), and one area (material science) is offered jointly by the other universities in the UA system. UA conferred 7,905 degrees in the 2020-21 academic year, including 7,367 bachelor's degrees (3,579 with Latin honors), 1,859 master's degrees, 245 doctorates and 119 professional degrees. Latin honors are conferred on graduates completing a bachelor's degree for the first time (including at other universities) with an overall grade point average of at least 3.5. ''Cum laude'' honors are conferred to graduates with a GPA of 3.5 or greater and less than 3.7 (without rounding). ''Magna cum laude'' honors are conferred with a GPA of 3.7 or greater and less than 3.9. ''Summa cum laude'' honors are conferred with a GPA of 3.9 or higher.


Academic calendar

The university follows a standard academic calendar based on the semester system, which divides the
academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...
, starting in mid-August, into two 15-week semesters (fall and spring) and the summer. The fall semester ends in December and the spring term lasts from January to early May. The summer, which lasts from mid-May to August, is divided into a 3-week "mini-semester" in May and two four-week sessions in June and July, respectively.


Rankings

In the 2021 '' U.S. News & World Report'' rankings, UA was tied for 143rd in the ''National Universities'' category (tied for 65th among "Top Public Schools"). Additionally, in the 2021 ''U.S. News'' rankings, the
law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
was tied for 31st in the nation, the business school was tied for 41st, the education school tied for 84th, and the engineering school was tied for 119th. In 2016, ''Business Insider'' ranked the UA law school as the third best public law school in the nation. In August 2020, the University of Alabama's College of Communication & Information Sciences was recognized for having the nation's top public relations program. The UA Department of Advertising and Public Relations was named the Most Outstanding Education Program by PRWeek during the 2020 PRWeek Awards. It is the department's ninth recognition as a finalist for the award and first selection as the top program. As of 2021 '' The Princeton Review'' ranks University of Alabama first in the nation as a
party school The term party school is used to refer to a college or university (usually in the United States) that has a reputation for heavy alcoholic beverage, alcohol and drug use or a general culture of licentiousness at the expense of educational credi ...
, and first for having lots of Greek life. The university is also ranked the 8th most LGBT unfriendly school in the nation.


Libraries

The University of Alabama has 2.9 million document volumes, along with nearly 100,000 uncataloged government documents in its collection; of these 2.5 million volumes are held by the University Libraries. The University Libraries system has six separate libraries. The Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, which sits on the Main Quad, is the oldest and largest of the university libraries. Gorgas Library holds the university's collections in the humanities and social sciences, as well as the university's depository of US government documents. The library opened in 1939 as a four-story Greek Revival structure on the site of the original university Rotunda and was named after the long-time university librarian and wife of eighth university president Josiah Gorgas. A seven-story addition was built behind the library in the 1970s. The Angelo Bruno Business Library, in the Business Quad, is named after the co-founder of the
Bruno's Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC was an American chain of grocery stores with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. It was founded in 1932 by Joseph Bruno in Birmingham. During the company's pinnacle, it operated over 300 stores under the names Br ...
grocery chain who gave the university $4 million to create a library focusing on commerce and business studies. Opened in 1994, the , three-story facility holds over 170,000 volumes. Bruno Library also houses the Sloan Y. Bashinsky Sr. Computer Center. The Eric and Sarah Rodgers Library for Science and Engineering, in the Science and Engineering Quad, is named after two popular, long-time professors of engineering and statistics, respectively. It opened in 1990, combining the Science Library collection in Lloyd Hall and the Engineering Library collection in the Mineral Industries Building (now known as HM Comer Hall). Rodgers Library was designed with help from IBM to incorporate the latest in
informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...
. McLure Education Library was founded in 1954 in a remodeled student union annex (across the street from the old Student Union, now Reese Phifer Hall) and named in 1974 after John Rankin McLure, the longtime dean of the College of Education. The William Stanley Hoole Special Collections Library, which holds the university's collection of rare and historical documents and books, is in Mary Harmon Bryant Hall. The Library Annex holds seldom-used books and journals, as well as other volumes which need special protection, that would otherwise take up valuable space in the libraries. Other libraries on campus are independent of the University Libraries. The Bounds Law Library, at the Law Center, holds more than 300,000 volumes. Established in 1978, the Health Sciences Library, at the University Medical Center, serves students at the College of Community Health Sciences. Its 20,000-volume collection includes clinical medicine, family practice, primary care, medical education, consumer health, and related health care topics. Located in Farah Hall (home of the Department of Geography) the Map Library and Place Names Research Center holds over 270,000 maps and 75,000 aerial photographs. The William E. Winter Reading Room of the College of Communication and Information Sciences is in Reese Phifer Hall and holds over 10,000 volumes. The School of Social Work Reading Room is in Little Hall and just around 200 volumes. UA is one of the 126 members of the Association of Research Libraries, which yearly compiles internal rankings. In 2011, the University of Alabama ranked 56th among all criteria, a marked improvement over a 2003 ranking of 97th. In the fall of 2011, the University of Alabama Trustees approved a resolution to expand Gorgas Library by , doubling the seating capacity from 1,139 to 2,278. This expansion also signaled the beginning of the construction of an Academic Honors Plaza, between the library and Clark Hall. The plaza includes green-space, fountains, benches, and decorative lighting.


Research

In academic year 2014–2015, UA received $76 million in research contracts and grants. The
Alabama International Trade Center The Alabama International Trade Center was created in 1979 as one of the first ''international Small Busicness Development Centers (SBDCs)''. Since its inception, the AITC has provided export trade research, education, finance, and training throu ...
and the Center for Advanced Public Safety are two research centers at UA. The US Department of Homeland Security has selected The University of Alabama as a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Information Assurance Education and Research.


SECU: SEC Academic Initiative

The University of Alabama is a member of the SEC Academic Consortium. Now renamed the
SECU Secu is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the wes ...
, the initiative was a collaborative endeavor designed to promote research, scholarship and achievement amongst the member universities in the Southeastern conference. The SECU formed its mission to serve as a means to bolster collaborative academic endeavors of Southeastern Conference universities. Its goals include highlighting the endeavors and achievements of SEC
faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States) * Faculty (instrument) A faculty is a legal in ...
, students and its universities and advancing the academic reputation of SEC universities. In 2013, the University of Alabama participated in the SEC Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia which was organized and led by the University of Georgia and the UGA Bioenergy Systems Research Institute. The topic of the symposium was titled "The Impact of the Southeast in the World's Renewable Energy Future".


Student life


Student body

In fall 2021, the university had an enrollment of 38,320 students, consisting of 31,688 undergraduates and 6,152 postgraduates, from all 67 Alabama counties, all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, and 78 foreign nations. Alabama residents comprised 41.4% of the undergraduate student body; out-of-state residents comprised 55.4%, and international (non-resident alien) students comprised 3.2%. The five Alabama counties with the highest enrollment of students were Tuscaloosa (3,158 students),
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
(2,836),
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
(1,295), Shelby (1,290) and Mobile (988), while the five states (beside Alabama) with the highest enrollment of students were Georgia (2,518 students), Texas (1,709), Illinois (1,649), Florida (1,550), and Tennessee (1,465). In 2013, UA ranked 1st in the nation among public universities in the enrollment of
National Merit Scholars The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...
.


Residential life

The board of trustees chose to locate the UA campus in a field a mile away from the center of the town of Tuscaloosa (which was a considerable distance in early 19th century Alabama). The board consciously chose to make on-campus residence an integral part of the student experience at UA. Dormitories were among the first buildings erected at Alabama (the remains of one ranklin Hallis now the Mound on the Quad), and student residential life has been emphasized at UA ever since. Dormitories at the university include Blount Hall, Bryant Hall, Burke Hall, Harris Hall, John England, Jr. Hall, Lakeside Hall, Parham Hall, Paty Hall, Presidential Village I and II, Riverside Hall, Tutwiler Hall, and Ridgecrest East, West, and South. There are also two on-campus apartment complexes, Bryce Lawn and the Highlands. Today nearly 30% of students live on campus, including over 90% of first-year freshmen.


Student government

The Student Government Association is the primary student advocacy organization at UA. The SGA is governed by the SGA Constitution and consists of a legislative branch, an executive branch and a judicial council.


SGA controversy

Since its founding in 1914, a secretive coalition of fraternities and sororities, commonly known as " The Machine", has wielded enormous influence over the Student Government Association. Occurrences of harassment, intimidation, and even criminal activities aimed at opposition candidates have been reported. Many figures in local, state, and national politics have come out of the SGA at the University of Alabama. ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'' devoted its April 1992 cover story to an exposé of The Machine. The controversy led to the university disbanding the SGA in 1993, which wasn't undone until 1996. "Machine" fraternities and sororities have traditionally accepted only white pledges, with only one documented case of an African American student being offered entry, in 2003. Controversy surrounding The Machine reemerged in August 2013, when sororities and fraternities were mobilized to elect two former SGA presidents, Cason Kirby and Lee Garrison, in closely contested municipal school board races. Before election day, questions about illegal voter registration were raised when evidence emerged that indicated eleven fraternity members fraudulently claimed to be living in a single house in one district. And on election day, leaked emails suggested that sorority/fraternity members may have been provided incentives to vote—including free drinks at local bars. As a result of possible voter fraud, Kirby's opponent filed a lawsuit challenging the election results and University of Alabama faculty have questioned whether The Machine has corrupted the democratic process in the City of Tuscaloosa.


Greek life

Greek letter organizations (GLOs) first appeared at the university in 1847 when two men visiting from Yale University installed a chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon. When DKE members began holding secret meetings in the old state capitol building that year, the administration strongly voiced its disapproval. Over a few more decades, 7 other fraternities appeared at UA:
Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in Cli ...
in 1850,
Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...
in 1855, Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 1856 (this was the founding chapter), Kappa Sigma in 1867,
Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlva ...
in 1874, Sigma Chi in 1876, and
Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...
in 1877. Anti-fraternity laws were imposed that year, but were lifted in the 1890s. Women at the university founded the Zeta chapter of Kappa Delta sorority in 1903. Alpha Delta Pi soon followed.
Hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...
at UA fraternities, as in most American colleges, has been common. The Atlanta Constitution newspaper reported students receiving "100 licks with a paddle" by fellow students multiple times in the 1890s. In fall 2009, the university sanctioned 29 men's and 23 women's GLOs. Additionally, an unknown number of non-sanctioned GLOs existed. Four governing boards oversee the operations of the university-sanctioned GLOs: the
Interfraternity Council The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of college, intercollegiate men's List of social fraternities and sororities, social Fraternities and sororities, ...
(IFC), the
National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's Fraternities and sororities, sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek alphabet#Use ...
(NPC), the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and the Unified Greek Council (UGC). The number of men in GLOs more than doubled from 2002 to 2009, with fifteen fraternities reporting active memberships of more than 100 (where as recently as 2001 none reported memberships greater than 100). Following 2008 fall recruitment, almost all Panhellenic sororities participating through all rounds had potential new member class sizes of 80 or more; nearly all Panhellenic sororities also now have more than 200 total members. To accommodate growth in the student population since 2005, the university has sanctioned three new fraternities and two new sororities. Additionally, four new sorority houses were added, built behind the President's Mansion. Despite having the first non-white student initiated into a historically white Greek organization on campus in 2000, high segregation within Alabama's Greek system has long been considered a major point of concern due to many other public college Greek systems becoming more integrated.
John P. Hermann John Patrick ("Pat") Hermann (born 17 April 1947) is an American academic who specializes in Old English poetry; he is an emeritus professor at the University of Alabama. He is the author of ''Allegories of War: Language and Violence in Old English ...
, a now-retired English professor, tried in the 1990s and 2000s to end what he referred to as "taxpayer-supported segregation". Controversy erupted again in September 2013, when a story in the campus paper, '' The Crimson White'', revealed that alumnae of Greek organizations had prevented a black student from being accepted in an all-white sorority. As a result, the Alabama Panhellenic Association allowed recruitment to continue through continuous open bidding. According to ''TIME'', a deal that would allow black students to join historically white sororities was announced by the university as "the first step toward ending more than a century of systematic segregation in the school's sorority system". With over 10,000 active students, UA has one of the largest Greek systems in the nation. Since 2003, Greek organizations at UA have spent over $200 million renovating and building new multimillion-dollar Greek mansions to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining members. In 2019, 29% of male undergraduates were in university-sanctioned fraternities; 44% of female undergraduates were in university-sanctioned sororities. In 1987, the Theta Sigma chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha became the first historically black Greek organization and only historically black sorority with a traditional house on Greek row. The previous year before moving to the sorority side of Greek row, the house AKA was making arrangements to acquire had burning crosses on the front lawn. UA officials claimed it was a distasteful prank but the local black community disputed that claim saying it was a serious threat against integrating Greek row. Two white male students were briefly detained for questioning but they were not charged with anything and their full identity and Greek affiliations were never released. The Kappa Alpha chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is the first and only historically black fraternity with a traditional house on fraternity row. The eight National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations represented on campus are listed below. ;Fraternities *
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 ...
* Kappa Alpha Psi *
Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...
*
Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...
;Sororities *
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 ...
*
Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...
* Zeta Phi Beta *
Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922, by seven educators on the Irvington campus (1875–1 ...


Honor societies

Several honor societies are present at the University of Alabama. Some honor societies are national organizations with a local chapter while others are local organizations. * Alpha Epsilon Delta * Alpha Lambda Delta *
Alpha Psi Omega Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society () is an American recognition fraternity for participants in collegiate theatre. History The ''Alpha Cast'' (Alpha Psi Omega's term for "chapter") was founded at Fairmont State College (now Fair ...
*
Arnold Air Society The Arnold Air Society (AAS) is a professional, honorary, service organization. AAS is open to officer candidates in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) and at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), and is formally affiliated ...
*
Blue Key Blue Key Honor Society is an American national honor society for college upperclassmen. Blue Key has over 50 chartered collegiate chapters within the United States. History Blue Key Honor Society was founded as Blue Key National Honor Frater ...
* Jasons Senior Men's Honorary * Kappa Kappa Psi * Lambda Pi Eta *
Lambda Sigma Lambda Sigma () is an American college honor society for second-year students. Originally named the Society of Cwens, the society was established at the University of Pittsburgh in Fall 1922 as a women's honors society, and became a national orga ...
*
Mallet Assembly The Mallet Assembly is an intellectual living program at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Mallet was established in 1961 by John Blackburn. The Mallet Assembly takes its name from the fact that it was originally housed in a buildi ...
* Mortar Board * National Society of Collegiate Scholars * Order of Omega *
Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...
*
Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha Theta () is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. It has more than 400,000 members, with new members numbering about 9,000 a year through its 970 chapters. Founding Phi Alpha The ...
* Phi Beta Kappa * Phi Eta Sigma * Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia *
Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of education ...
* Pi Mu Epsilon *
Sigma Alpha Lambda Sigma Alpha Lambda National Leadership and Honors Organization () is a National Leadership and Honors Organization with 70 chapters in the US. It was founded in 2001.Sigma Delta Pi * Sigma Tau Delta *
Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...


Student media

The ''
Crimson White ''The Crimson#Emblem colors, Crimson White'', known colloquially as "''The CW''," is a student-run publication of the University of Alabama published twice a week under The Crimson White Media Group. Its circulation in the fall and spring is about ...
'' is the student-produced newspaper. Published two times a week during the academic year and weekly during the summer, the ''CW'' normally distributes 15,000 copies per publication. The ''CW'' received a 2010 Mark of Excellence Award for "Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper at a Four-Year College or University" in the Southeast region by the
Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...
. The CW won the Mark of Excellence Award again in 2011 and a Gold Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for its spring 2011 issues. The Crimson White was also inducted into the College Media Hall of Fame for its coverage of the April 2011 tornado that caused massive damage in Tuscaloosa. Other UA student publications include the "Blount Truth Literary Journal", "Marr's Field Journal", and "Alice".


Athletics and traditions

The University of Alabama's intercollegiate athletic teams are known as the ''Alabama Crimson Tide'' (this name can be shortened to ''Alabama'', the ''Crimson Tide'', or even the ''Tide''). The nickname ''Crimson Tide'' originates from a 1907 football game versus
Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
in Birmingham where, after a hard-fought game in torrential rain in which Auburn had been heavily favored to win, Alabama forced a tie. Writing about the game, one sportswriter described the offensive line as a "Crimson Tide", in reference to their jerseys, stained red from the wet dirt. Alabama competes primarily in the Southeastern Conference (Western Division) of the NCAA's Division I. Alabama fields men's varsity teams in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, basketball, baseball, golf, cross country, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. Women's varsity teams are fielded in basketball, golf, cross country, gymnastics, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The athletic facilities on campus include the Bryant–Denny Stadium, named after legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former UA President George Denny, and the 14,619-seat Coleman Coliseum. Alabama's women's rowing team competes in the Big 12 conference of the NCAA's Division I. Alabama maintains athletic rivalries with
Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
and the University of Tennessee. The rivalry with Auburn is especially heated as it encompasses all sports. The annual Alabama-Auburn football game is nicknamed the '' Iron Bowl''. While the rivalry with Tennessee is centered around football for the most part, there is no shortage of acrimony, especially given the recent history between then-UT Coach
Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...
and his relationship to the Tide's most recent NCAA probation. There are also rivalries with Louisiana State University (football and baseball), University of Mississippi (football and men's basketball),
Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...
(football, men's basketball), University of Georgia (women's gymnastics), and the University of Florida (football, softball).


Football

The
University of Alabama football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...
program, started in 1892, has won 25 SEC titles and 18 national championships (including 12 awarded by the Associated Press and 8 by the Coaches Poll). The program has compiled 36 10-win seasons and 59 bowl appearances, winning 32 of them – all NCAA records. Alabama has produced 18 hall-of-famers, 97 All-Americans honored 105 times, and 4 Heisman trophy winners ( Mark Ingram II,
Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). His imposing rushing game and larger stature than the average running back earned him the nickna ...
, DeVonta Smith, and
Bryce Young Bryce Christopher Young (born July 25, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He holds the record for most passing yards in a single game by an Alabama quarterback (559) and was the recipient of the 2021 Heisman ...
). The Crimson Tide's current home venue, Bryant–Denny Stadium, opened in 1929 with a capacity of around 12,000. The most recent addition of the stadium was completed in 2010. An upper deck was added in the south end zone, completing the upper deck around the stadium. The current official capacity of the stadium is 101,821. The previous addition was the north end zone expansion, completed 2006. The Tide has also played many games, including the Iron Bowl against rival
Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
, at Legion Field in Birmingham. Nearly synonymous with Alabama football is legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant whose record at the University of Alabama was 232–46–9. He led the Crimson Tide to 6 national titles in 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979, which is tied with Notre Dame's legendary coach
Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...
. Alabama's current head football coach Nick Saban has won a total of 7 national titles, including six at Alabama. Additionally, the 1966 team was the only one in the country to finish with a perfect record, but poll voters denied the 12–0 Alabama team the three-peat as Michigan State and Notre Dame played each other to a 10–10 tie in what was considered the "Game of the Century" and subsequently split the national championship. On December 12, 2009, sophomore running back Mark Ingram II was awarded the
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
as college football's best player. In being so named, Ingram became the first Heisman Trophy winner for the University of Alabama. Alabama defeated Texas 37–21 in the BCS Championship game on January 7, 2010, capping a perfect season, an SEC Championship, and winning its first national championship in the BCS era. Alabama defeated Louisiana State University 21–0 on January 9, 2012, to win its second BCS National Championship. Alabama won its third
BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college foot ...
in January 2013 defeating Notre Dame 42–14, becoming the first school to win three BCS Titles. On January 1, 2015, No. 1 Alabama lost to No. 4 Ohio St. in the second game of the first College Football Playoffs 42–35. On December 12, 2015, running back
Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). His imposing rushing game and larger stature than the average running back earned him the nickna ...
was awarded the Heisman Trophy, becoming only the second winner for the University of Alabama. On January 11, 2016, Alabama defeated Clemson to win the National Championship, 45–40. In January 2017, Alabama lost to Clemson 35–31 in the National Championship. They beat SEC rival Georgia 26–23 in overtime during the 2018 National Championship in January 2018. In January 2019, Alabama lost to Clemson 44–16 in the National Championship. In the 2020 season, Alabama earned a 13–0 record against an all-SEC schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic including winning the SEC Championship against Florida, the Rose Bowl against Notre Dame, and the National Championship game against Ohio State. Crimson Tide Wide Receiver DeVonta Smith was awarded the Heisman Trophy, the program's third winner. In the 2021 season, the Crimson Tide would post a 13-2 record, including a 41-24 win over Georgia in the SEC championship game to win their 29th conference title. They would then go on to beat the
Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...
27-6 in the Cotton Bowl, culminating in an eventual loss to Georgia in the National Championship by a score of 33-18. Along with a successful football season, Alabama's starting quarterback,
Bryce Young Bryce Christopher Young (born July 25, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He holds the record for most passing yards in a single game by an Alabama quarterback (559) and was the recipient of the 2021 Heisman ...
, won the Heisman trophy - becoming the 4th player from the university to win it, and the 1st quarterback from the University to win it.


School songs

The school's fight song is " Yea Alabama", written in 1926 by Lundy Sykes, then editor of the campus newspaper. Sykes composed the song in response to a contest by the Rammer Jammer to create a fight song following Alabama's first Rose Bowl victory. The song as it is played by the Million Dollar Band during games and known to most people is simply the chorus of the larger song. The Alabama Alma Mater is set to the tune of ''
Annie Lisle "Annie Lisle" is an 1857 ballad by Boston, Massachusetts songwriter H. S. Thompson, first published by Moulton & Clark of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and later by Oliver Ditson & Co. It is about the death of a young maiden, by what some have sp ...
'', a ballad written in the 1850s. The lyrics are usually credited as, "Helen Vickers, 1908", although it is not clear whether that was when it was written or if that was her graduating class.


Alumni

University of Alabama graduates include 15
Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, 59
Goldwater Scholars The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by the United States Congress in 1986 in honor of former United States Senator and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Its goal is to provide a continu ...
, and 16 Truman Scholars. UA graduates have also been named to the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team. The University of Alabama is the alma mater of numerous notable people in politics, sports, business, entertainment, science, art, and literature. Among UA's alumni are
Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numero ...
,
Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...
, Mel Allen,
Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...
,
George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...
, Jim Nabors, Joe Scarborough,
Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A ...
, E. O. Wilson, poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, and Wikipedia founder
Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known on Wikipedia by the pseudonym Jimbo, is an American-British Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader. He is a co-founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedi ...
. File:HugoLaFayetteBlack.jpg, Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A ...
File:Photo portrait of Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird dust jacket, 1960).jpg, Author
Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numero ...
File:George C Wallace.jpg, Former Governor of Alabama
George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...
File:Joe Scarborough (NBC News).jpg, News anchor and former Congressman Joe Scarborough File:Bear Bryant 1977 (cropped).jpg, Football coach
Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...
File:Gay Talese by David Shankbone.jpg, Writer Gay Talese File:Julio Jones Titans.jpg, Football player Julio Jones File:Richard Shelby, official portrait, 112th Congress (cropped).jpg,
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alabama. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, h ...
File:Jimmy Wales - August 2019 (cropped).jpg, Co-founder of Wikipedia
Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known on Wikipedia by the pseudonym Jimbo, is an American-British Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader. He is a co-founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedi ...
File:Joe Namath.jpg, Former football player
Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...
File:Jeff Sessions, official portrait.jpg, Former United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions File:C. J. Mosley (linebacker).JPG, Football player C. J. Mosley File:Senator Doug Jones official photo (cropped 2).jpg, Former
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
Doug Jones


Notes


References


External links

*
University of Alabama Athletics website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama, University Of Educational institutions established in 1831 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Tuscaloosa, Alabama University of Alabama Flagship universities in the United States Buildings and structures in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tourist attractions in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama 1831 establishments in Alabama University of Alabama