Struggling Birmingham-Southern College says it will close at end of May
The College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the longtime institution, officials announced in a news release. The announcement came after legislation, aimed at securing a taxpayer-backed loan for the 168-year-old private college, had recently stalled in the Alabama Statehouse.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Birmingham-Southern College, a private liberal arts college in Alabama, will close at the end of May after running into financial difficulties and being unable to secure a financial lifeline from the state, officials announced Tuesday.
The College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the longtime institution, officials announced in a news release. The announcement came after legislation, aimed at securing a taxpayer-backed loan for the 168-year-old private college, had recently stalled in the Alabama Statehouse.
“This is a tragic day for the College, our students, our employees, and our alumni,” the Rev. Keith D. Thompson, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said in a statement from the college. “But it is also a terrible day for Birmingham, for the neighborhoods who have surrounded our campus for more than 100 years, and for Alabama.”
The college of about 1,000 students is located on the west side of Birmingham, one of Alabama’s principal cities. The college had run into financial difficulties over a series of years. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the college’s bonds.
The private college had hoped to secure a financial lifeline from the state. The Alabama Legislature created a loan program last year to provide financial help to distressed colleges, but state Treasurer Young Boozer denied the school’s loan application.
New legislation was introduced this year. The college said in a news release that conversations with House leadership “confirmed that the bill did not have enough support to move forward.”
Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin said news of the closure is “disappointing and heartbreaking to all of us who recognize it as a stalwart of our community.”
“I’ve stood alongside members of our City Council to protect this institution and its proud legacy of shaping leaders. It’s frustrating that those values were not shared by lawmakers in Montgomery,” Woodfin said Tuesday.
The school dates to 1856, when Southern University was founded in Greensboro, Alabama. That school merged with Birmingham College in 1918 to become Birmingham-Southern, with a campus west of downtown Birmingham.
Small private colleges nationwide are struggling with a declining number of traditional college-aged students and competition from larger, richer institutions. Judson College, a women’s college, shuttered its campus in Marion in 2021.
‘Bomb cyclone’ forecasted to bring heavy snow, blizzard conditions and dangerous travel
A 'bomb cyclone' is intensifying severe winter weather for millions of people across the U.S. The system is expected to knock out power and disrupt holiday travel.
Russia sends 3 Iranian satellites into orbit, report says
The report said that a Russian rocket sent the satellites on Sunday from a launchpad in eastern Russia.
Viral global TikToks: A twist on soccer, Tanzania’s Charlie Chaplin, hope in Gaza
TikToks are everywhere (well, except countries like Australia and India, where they've been banned.) We talk to the creators of some of the year's most popular reels from the Global South.
This painting is missing. Do you have it?
An important work from a rediscovered artist has been absent from public view since the 1970s. A New York curator is hunting for it.
Memory loss: As AI gobbles up chips, prices for devices may rise
Demand for memory chips currently exceeds supply and there's very little chance of that changing any time soon. More chips for AI means less available for other products such as computers and phones and that could drive up those prices too.
Brigitte Bardot, sex goddess of cinema, has died
Legendary screen siren and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at age 91. The alluring former model starred in numerous movies, often playing the highly sexualized love interest.
