Birmingham–Southern College
Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) was a private liberal arts college in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1856, the college was affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The college's student body was approximately 975 students when it closed at the end of the 2023–24 school year after years of financial trouble.
Birmingham–Southern College
- Name
- Birmingham–Southern College
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) was a private liberal arts college in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1856, the college was affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The college's student body was approximately 975 students when it closed at the end of the 2023–24 school year after years of financial trouble.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Birmingham–Southern College. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.

Educated At · incoming
Glenn Shadix
Person
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amazing_tito/488277175/

Educated At · incoming
Howard Cruse
Artist
Own work
Educated At · incoming
Hugh Martin
Person

Educated At · incoming
Jennifer Hale
Person
Own work

Educated At · incoming
Pat Buttram
Person
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275565477338?hash=item4028fb7
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Birmingham–Southern College • Motto — Pro Christo et Republica (Latin) • Former Names — Southern University (1856–1918) Birmingham College (1898–1918) • Established — (predecessor) (current institution) • Type — Private liberal arts college • President — Daniel B. Coleman • Undergrad — 975 • City — Birmingham • State — Alabama • Country — United States • Campus — Urban • Colors — Black and Gold • Sports Nickname — Panthers • Mascot — Rowdy • Affiliations — SAA (NCAA Division III)
History
History
• Illustration — Ginkgo Tree by Munger Hall Birmingham–Southern College was the result of a 1918 merger of Southern University, founded in Greensboro, Alabama 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 recognized Birmingham–Southern in 1937, establishing the Alabama Beta chapter. In the 21st century, the school suffered from financial troubles, due to errors in accounting and dwindling enrollment. Although the school explored many avenues to keep the school open, including seeking assistance from the Alabama legislature, the school's board of trustees voted to close the college at the end of the 2023–24 school year, May 31, 2024. Analex Laboratories, funded through the De Hoffmann Foundation and Endowment, who had begun operating on the campus beginning in 2016, largely took over most of the facilities, besides those related to athletics, by the College's closure
Academics
Academics
The college offered five bachelor's degrees in more than 50 programs of study, as well as interdisciplinary and individualized majors and dual-degree programs.
Campus
Campus
• Illustration — Bill Battle Coliseum, the home court of Birmingham-Southern women's volleyball team, and the women's and men's basketball teams. The campus was situated on 192 wooded acres three miles west of downtown Birmingham. The college had 45 academic, residential, administrative, and athletics buildings/facilities. The campus has been for sale since spring 2024. In September 2024, BSC entered into an agreement to sell the campus to Miles College, but after repeated extensions, BSC ended that agreement in November 2024. The campus was sold to the Department of Homeland Security for $126.5 million to become the Enlisted Training Center of Excellence for the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Training Center Birmingham-Southern opened on June 5, 2026. The Coast Guard promises to continue to honor the name and traditions - including logos and mascots at the campus. • Illustration — Urban Environmental Park
Athletics
Athletics
The Birmingham–Southern athletic teams were called the Panthers. The college was part of Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) since the 2012–13 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the D-III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) from 2006–07 to 2011–12; in the Big South Conference within NCAA Division I from 2001–02 to 2005–06; and in the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TranSouth or TSAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1996–97 to 2000–01. Birmingham–Southern competed in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports included basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball. The baseball team was 13–10 in the middle of the 2024 season prior to the announcement of closure at the end of the season. They proceeded to go 19–4 and win the super regionals of the 2024 NCAA tournament to advance as one of the final eight teams in the NCAA Division III World Series; the series started on May 31, the day of the closure of the school.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni
• William Acker – United States district judge • Robert Aderholt – United States congressman from Alabama (1997–present) • Tyner Rushing — actress • Laurie C. Battle – United States congressman from Alabama (1947–1955) • Amanda Bearse – actress, best known for her role as Marcy on the television sitcom Married... with Children. • Richmond C. Beatty (BA 1926) – academic, biographer and critic • Harvie Branscomb – Chancellor, Vanderbilt University (1946–1963) • Lewis C. Branscomb (1865–1930) – Methodist minister • Charles Brooks – Editorial cartoonist • Pat Buttram – Actor (sidekick of Gene Autry in films, and Mr. Haney in the TV series Green Acres) • Miles Copeland III – Music and entertainment executive, former manager of The Police and cofounder of I.R.S. Records • Howard Cruse – Cartoonist • Charles Gaines – Author, journalist, screenwriter, editor; Cine Gold Eagle Awards, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Award • Alexander Gelman – Theatre Director, Organic Theater Company, Chicago • Randall Goodgame – Christian singer/songwriter • Rebecca Gilman – American playwright • Jennifer Hale – Voice actress • Walker Hayes – Country singer/songwriter • Donald Heflin – American diplomat • Howell Heflin – U.S. Senator from Alabama (1978–1997) • Perry O. Hooper, Sr. – 27th Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court • Alexa Jones – former Miss Alabama and news reporter • Caitlín R. Kiernan – Paleontologist and fiction aithor • Hugh Martin – Broadway and film composer and arranger, including movie musical Meet Me In St. Louis, starring Judy Garland. • Walter P. McConaughy – Career diplomat and US Ambassador to Burma, South Korea, Pakistan, and Taiwan. • Bucky McMillan – Head coach, Texas A&M men's basketball • Morgan Murphy – Food critic and author • Joe Nasco – Professional footballer • Sena Jeter Naslund – Author • LaFayette L. Patterson – United States congressman from Alabama (1928-1933) • Gin Phillips – Novelist • Howell Raines – Executive editor, The New York Times (2001–2004); Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, 1992 • Ray Reach – Jazz pianist, vocalist, arranger, composer, producer and educator. Director of Student Jazz Programs at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. • Glenn Shadix – American actor • Daryl Shore – Professional soccer player and coach • Morgan Smith-Goodwin – Actress, the "Wendy's Girl" in TV commercials for Wendy's restaurants • Elton Bryson Stephens Sr. – businessman who founded EBSCO Industries • Larry Striplin – college basketball coach and businessman • Luther Leonidas Terry – Surgeon General of the United States (1961–1965) • Butch Thompson – college baseball coach • Martin Waldron (1925–1981) – Winner of the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service • Ray Wedgeworth – college basketball, football, and baseball coach • Frederick Palmer Whiddon – President, University of South Alabama (1963–1998) • Robert Lee Williams – 3rd Governor of Oklahoma (1915–1919) • John H. Yardley – Pathologist • Edward L. Norton – central banker
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 27 September 2026.
Elsewhere in General
22,759 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Birmingham Groves High SchoolOrganisation
- Birmingham Polytechnic InstitutionOrganisation
- Birmingham School of ActingOrganisation
- Birmingham TownshipPlace
- Birni-N'KonniPlace
- BirsinghaPlace
- Birthday PartyWork
- BiržaiPlace
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Birmingham–Southern College?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.