Alabama State University

History

Alabama State University was founded in 1867 as the Lincoln Normal School of Marion in Marion. In December 1874, the State Board accepted the transfer of title to the school after a legislative act was passed authorizing the state to fund a Normal School, and George N. Card was named president. Thus, in 1874, this predecessor of Alabama State University became America's first state-supported educational institution for blacks. This began ASU's history as a "teachers' college."

The second president, William Burns Paterson, was appointed in 1878. He is honored as a founder of Alabama State University and was the president for 37 of the school's first 48 years. Paterson was instrumental in the move from Marion to Montgomery in 1887.

In 1887, the university opened in its new location in Montgomery, but an Alabama State Supreme Court ruling forced the school to change its name; it was renamed the Normal School for Colored Students. The campus was chosen in 1889 although preparing the buildings at the site took a while longer.

In the decades that followed, Lincoln Normal School became a junior college, and in 1928 became a full four-year institution. In 1929 it became State Teachers College, Alabama State College for Negroes in 1948, and Alabama State College in 1954. In 1969, the State Board of Education, then the governing body of the university, approved a name change; the institution became Alabama State University.

The 1995 Knight vs. Alabama remedial decree transformed ASU into a comprehensive regional institution paving the way for two new undergraduate programs, four new graduate programs, diversity scholarship funding and endowment, funding to build a state-of-the art health sciences facility, and a facility renewal allocation to refurbish three existing buildings.

WVAS-FM was launched on June 15, 1984, beaming 25,000 watts of power from the fifth floor of the Levi Watkins Learning Center for two years before moving to its current location at Thomas Kilby Hall. Today, WVAS has grown to 80,000 watts and has a listenership that spans 18 counties, reaching a total population of more than 651,000. In recent years, the station has also begun streaming its broadcast via the Web, connecting a global audience to the university.

The early 1990s witnessed the beginning of WAPR-FM (Alabama Public Radio), which Alabama State University and Troy University, both of which already held station licenses of their own, cooperated with the University of Alabama in building and operating. WAPR-FM 88.3—Selma's signal reaches the region known colloquially as the Black Belt, about 13 counties in the west central and central parts of Alabama, including the city of Montgomery.

In 2021, ASU received a $24.7 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help Montgomery Public Schools students better prepare for a higher education. This is the largest single grant in the history of the institution. In 2025, MacKenzie Scott donated $38 million to ASU. Her donation is the largest single gift in ASU's history.

Presidents

Interim presidents excluded

1. 1874–1878: George N. Card
2. 1878–1915: William Burns Paterson
3. 1915–1920: John William Beverly
4. 1920–1925: George Washington Trenholm
5. 1925–1961: Harper Councill Trenholm
6. 1962–1981: Levi Watkins Sr.
7. 1981–1983: Robert L. Randolph
8. 1983–1991: Leon Howard
9. 1991–1994: Clifford C. Baker
10. 1994–2000: William Hamilton Harris
11. 2001–2008: Joe A. Lee
12. 2008–2012: William Hamilton Harris
13. 2012: Joseph H. Silver Sr.
14. 2014–2016: Gwendolyn Boyd
15. 2017–present: Quinton T. Ross Jr.

Academics

ASU has eight degree-granting colleges, schools, or divisions:

• College of Business Administration
• College of Education
• College of Health Sciences
• College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
• College of Science, Mathematics & Technology
• College of Visual & Performing Arts
• Division of Aerospace Studies
• Continuing Education

Alabama State offers 47 degree programs including 31 bachelor's, 11 master's, 2 Education Specialist, and 3 doctoral programs. In addition, the university offers the W.E.B. DuBois Honors Program for undergraduate students who meet the above average performance criteria.

Due to Alabama State offering only bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, the university established a dual degree engineering partnership with Auburn University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) that gives qualified ASU students automatic admissions into Auburn and UAB undergraduate engineering programs. ASU undergraduate students who successfully complete the program will receive a STEM related bachelor's degree from ASU and an engineering bachelor's degree from Auburn or UAB in approximately five years.

Alabama State is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Specific programs are also accredited by relevant specialized accreditors.

Research centers

Research centers at the university include:

• Center for Nanobiotechnology Research
• Research Infrastructure & Minority Institutions
• Center for Leadership & Public Policy
• East Asian Institute for Business Research and Culture
• Urban Economic Research Development Center
• National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture

Campus

ASU's urban, 172-acre (0.70 km2) campus has Georgian-style red-brick classroom buildings and architecturally contemporary structures. ASU is home to the state-of-the-art 7,400-seat academic and sports facility the ASU Acadome; the Levi Watkins Learning Center, a five-story brick structure with more than 267,000 volumes; the state-of-the-art John L. Buskey Health Sciences Center which is an 80,000 square foot (7,400 m2) facility which houses classrooms, offices, an interdisciplinary clinic, three therapeutic rehabilitation labs, a state-of-the-art Gross Anatomy Lab, Laboratory for the Analysis of Human Motion (LAHM), a Women's Health/Cardiopulmonary lab, and a health sciences computer lab; and WVAS-FM 90.7, the 80,000-watt, university operated public radio station.

Student life

Alabama State University has nearly 6,000 students from more than 40 states and over 20 countries. Approximately 40% of the student body come from outside Alabama.

Athletics

Main article: Alabama State Hornets and Lady Hornets

The Alabama State University Department of Athletics currently sponsors men's intercollegiate football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, track and cheerleading, along with women's intercollegiate basketball, soccer, softball, bowling, tennis, track, volleyball, golf and cheerleading. Sports teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (FCS – Football Championship Subdivision for football) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), which it joined in 1982. The university's colors are black and old gold and their athletic teams are known as the Hornets.

The Mighty Marching Hornets

Alabama State's marching band is officially known as "The Mighty Marching Hornets". The band has been nationally recognized. The Mighty Marching Hornets were featured in the documentary series, Bama State Style, which followed the lives of the students in the band. In 2016, The Mighty Marching Hornets made an appearance in Ang Lee's film Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. In 2017, the band's 2012 halftime performance at the Magic City Classic garnered over three million views on YouTube. The band performed in the 2019 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California on New Year's Day. In 2023, Alabama State became the first HBCU to host the annual Honda Battle of the Bands. The band is traditionally led by four or five drum majors. The band performs at most football games, all SWAC basketball home games, and other special events.

The featured auxiliary is "The Sensational Stingettes", a danceline that debuted in 1977. They were invited to appear in the "Give It 2 U" music video and a live televised performance with artists Robin Thicke, Kendrick Lamar, and 2 Chainz. Also, they were shown in Beyonce's Netflix special "HΘMΣCΘMING: A film by Beyonce".

The most recently added auxiliary is "The Honey-Beez", a danceline composed of only plus-size young women that debuted in 2004. In 2017, they were selected to showcase their talents and compete on America's Got Talent. In 2020, they starred in a docuseries on Snapchat.

The Bama State Collegians

The Bama State Collegians is a big band jazz orchestra sponsored by Alabama State University. In the 1930s, the ensemble was directed by noted jazz trumpeter Erskine Hawkins, an inductee of both the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. After moving to New York City, the Collegians, directed by Hawkins, became the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra and produced a string of national hit records, including "Tuxedo Junction", "After Hours", "Tippin' In" and others. The song "Tuxedo Junction", with its recordings by Hawkins and by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, became one of the anthems of World War II. In 2011, Hawkins' story of and his start in the Bama State Collegians was the subject of a Florida State University Film School MFA thesis film, The Collegians, written and directed by Alabama State University alumnus Bryan Lewis.

Student publications

Students are served by two media publications, The Hornet Tribune (student newspaper) and The Hornet (the student yearbook).

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

Notes

References

References

1. "The Hornet Tribune – Official student newspaper of Alabama State University".
2. Jones II, Arthur. (17 May 2024). "Alabama State University receives Wall Street firm's historic endowment assistance".
3. "University Enrollment Totals". Alabama State University.
4. (July 28, 2008). "Alabama State University".
5. Ogren, Christen (2005) [https://books.google.com/books?id=mUDHAAAAQBAJ&dq=OGREN+Christine&pg=PP1 ''The American State Normal School: 'An Instrument of Great Good'''] Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-5, 213-235
6. "About ASU {{!}} Alabama State University".
7. (1930). "William Burns Paterson: "Pioneer as well as Apostle of Negro Education in Alabama". The Alabama Historical Quarterly.
8. "ASU gets record $24.7 million federal grant to prep MPS students for higher education".
9. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/29/mackenzie-scott-alabama-state-university-donation/86960403007/
10. "President George N. Card".
11. (2020). "An African American Educator in the Context of His Time: George Washington Trenholm, 1871–1925". Alabama Review.
12. (July 3, 2017). "Trenholm, Harper Councill".
13. "President Levi Watkins, Sr. Collection - President Levi Watkins Collection | Alabama State University - Library".
14. "W.E.B. DuBois Honors Program : Alabama State University".
15. "Programs | Alabama State University".
16. "Agreement to establish a dual-degree program of study between Alabama State University and the School of Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham".
17. Alabama State University. "Accreditation". alasu.edu.
18. "Research & Centers {{!}} Alabama State University".
19. "The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African American Culture".
20. "Our Campus | Alabama State University".
21. "College Scorecard: Alabama State University". [[United States Department of Education]].
22. "Enrollment Maps | Alabama State University".
23. "Alabama State University Colors | NCAA Colors". U.S. Team Colors.
24. "Mighty Marching Hornets Band Appears in New Movie : Alabama State University".
25. "BAND BIO of the Mighty Marching Hornets Band Boosters, Alabama State University".
26. Sutton, Amber. (August 25, 2013). "Watch Robin Thicke's new video featuring the Alabama State University Stingettes".
27. (April 19, 2019). "Opinion | Beyoncé's "Homecoming" is an ode to black culture — and HBCU greatness".
28. (March 13, 2013). "Honeybeez History".
29. "ASU's Honey Beez to star on 'America's Got Talent'".
30. "Nationwide ASU Honey Beez Snapchat Docuseries Debuts April 25! | Alabama State University".
31. "Full Student Awards List | College of Motion Picture Arts".
32. (July 12, 2012). "The Collegians Trailer".
33. "Facebook". Facebook.
34. "The Hornet Tribune".
35. "Student Life | Alabama State University".
36. "Clarence Carter Biography, Songs, & Albums".
37. (September 28, 1969). "Miss Hayes Is Designer In New York". [[The Montgomery Advertiser]].
38. Roberts, Regina. "Guides: Black Graphic Design History Collections Initiative: Dorothy Hayes". [[Stanford University]].
39. "Tarvaris Jackson".
40. ref=IMDB.com
41. Wilkerson, Isabel. (December 3, 1987). "Man in the News; A Calm Voice For Chicago: Eugene Sawyer Jr". [[The New York Times]].
42. "About Troy".
43. "Double Reverse Scholarship program for whites becomes a test of preferences", by June Kronholtz, ''The Wall Street Journal'', December 23, 1997
44. "CIR News: Legal Battles Against Reverse Discrimination". adversity.net.
45. (2020-08-30). "Auburn University's first Black student Harold Franklin gets master's degree at 86". [[The Washington Post]].
46. "Alabama State Legislature: Alabama House of Representatives- Alvin Holmes". [[Alabama State Legislature]].
47. "Bio of Stewart, Tonea". AEI Speakers Bureau.
48. Penn, Irvine Garland. (February 22, 1891). "The Afro-American Press and Its Editors". Willey & Company.