- 2021
- The Alabama Forensics Council won two national championships in speech and debate during the virtual Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament.
- 2021
- The Million Dollar Band performed in the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- 2021
- UA launched its largest-ever fundraising campaign, The Rising Tide, with a goal of $1,500,000,000.
- 2021
- Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy.
- 2021
- UA won the NCAA national football championship, defeating Ohio State 52-24.
- 2021
- For the fifth time in six years, The University of Alabama was recognized as a Top Producing Institution for Fulbright U.S. Student Awards while setting a new University record with 17 students receiving Fulbright Award offers in the 2020-2021 cohort.
- 2020
- UA successfully navigated the coronavirus pandemic with robust precautions, vigilant testing and health care resources, and swift realignment of teaching methods. Hybrid and online options for classes were offered, and the academic calendar was adapted.
- 2020
- The UA Department of Advertising and Public Relations was named the Most Outstanding Education Program by PRWeek.
- 2020
- UA saw the highest fundraising year to-date during fiscal 2019–20, which included charitable gifts and pledges in excess of $222 million from nearly 60,000 donors.
- 2020
- The President’s Advisory Committee for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion released its comprehensive report, which includes strategies for ongoing coordination and expansion of UA’s DEI efforts. The division also opened the new location of its Intercultural Diversity Center.
- 2019
- For the third time in four years, The University of Alabama was recognized as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution.
- 2019
- The University of Alabama men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams won national championships, the third for the men and sixth for the women.
- 2019
- The University of Alabama honored its first civil rights trailblazer at May commencement ceremonies, bestowing an honorary doctoral degree upon Autherine Lucy Foster, the first African American to enroll and attend the University.
- 2018
- Among UA’s gifts to help celebrate the city of Tuscaloosa’s bicentennial were a timeline and a statue representing Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, installed at Manderson Landing on the Black Warrior River.
- 2018
- The University of Alabama ranked second nationally among public universities and fifth among all universities nationwide in enrollment of National Merit Scholars for the 2018 entering class.
- 2018
- The University of Alabama earned another national football championship beating University of Georgia in overtime 26-23.
- 2018
- The $10 million Stran-Harden Arena, the vanguard for adapted sport on campus, opened.
- 2018
- The University of Alabama achieved Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity status, formerly known as the R1 category, in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
- 2017
- The University of Alabama had a record year in sponsored funding for fiscal year 2018, reaching almost $100 million in sponsored funding through external grants and contracts.
- 2017
- The University of Alabama’s men’s wheelchair basketball team won its second national championship, holding off the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 69-65.
- 2017
- The University of Alabama officially broke ground on construction of a $10 million, first-of-its kind Adapted Athletics Facility.
- 2016
- The University of Alabama football team wins their 16th College Football National Football Championship.
- 2016
- The first University of Alabama student wins a Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellowship.
- 2015
- The University of Alabama dedicates its Center for Cuba Collaboration and Scholarship. The new research center will build on the activities of the Alabama-Cuba Initiative, a 13-year effort to establish educational opportunities for UA students and faculty.
- 2015
- Derrick Henry wins the Heisman Trophy.
- 2015
- The University of Alabama becomes smoke-free.
- 2015
- Dr. Stuart R. Bell becomes the 29th president of The University of Alabama.
- 2014
- The following new or renovated buildings open on The University of Alabama campus: renovated and expanded Ferguson Student Center; new Presidential Village II residence hall; new Student Activity Center at Presidential Village; new stand-alone location for Fresh Food Co.; renovated Bryant-Jordan Hall (former Bryant-Jordan Chapel on Bryce Hospital property), new home of the performing arts venue for The University of Alabama Opera Theatre; new facility at Manderson Landing for the women’s rowing team; and Sidney McDonald Hall, new administrative building for The University of Alabama System.
- 2014
- The University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences held the grand opening for its 40,000-square-foot Digital Media Center, located on the two floors below the North Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Digital Media Center is a high-tech teaching laboratory that houses the College’s professional media operations: Center for Public Television and Radio, WVUA-TV and Alabama Public Radio. It is also home to Crimson Tide Productions, part of The University of Alabama Intercollegiate Athletics.
- 2014
- The University of Alabama’s Jones Museum at Moundville Archaeological Park celebrates its 75th anniversary.
- 2014
- The Woods Quad Sculpture Garden is dedicated. The garden will feature works by faculty and students.
- 2014
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) opens it's new National Water Center on The University of Alabama campus.
- 2013
- The University of Alabama celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Holtkamp organ with a premiere music and dance performance. Installed in 1988 in the concert hall of the Moody Music Building, the 86-rank, 65-stop Holtkamp Organ, Opus 2005, is considered a milestone work by the Cleveland-based organ maker and is featured prominently on its website.
- 2013
- The University of Alabama commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door. The “Through the Doors: Courage. Change. Progress” event recognizes and honors the courage and dedication of Vivian Malone and James Hood, the two African- American students who enrolled at The University of Alabama on June 11, 1963, and also recognizes The University of Alabama’s ongoing commitment to change over the past 50 years and its commitment to continued progress in the future.
- 2013
- The University of Alabama Adapted Athletics program creates the nation’s first collegiate adapted golf program.
- 2013
- The University of Alabama and the Bryant Museum commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Coach Bryant would have celebrated his centennial milestone on September 11, 2013.
- 2012
- A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrates reopening of the first floor of the Rodgers Science and Engineering Library. The project involved moving more than 25,000 bound volumes and installing new technology.
- 2012
- Presidential Village I residence hall opens doors.
- 2012
- The University of Alabama’s Rose Towers demolished July 4 to make way for the second phase of the Presidential Village Residential Community. Built in 1969, Rose Towers had been home to thousands of students, and it also housed a child care center for many years.
- 2012
- The University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band celebrates 100 years, kicking off its centennial celebration with a September 21 concert featuring directors from the past 100 years.
- 2011
- The University of Alabama cancels final exams and the last week of classes and postpones spring commencement until August after an EF4 tornado created a six-mile path of destruction through the city of Tuscaloosa on April 27. Although the mile-wide tornado spared the campus, six of The University of Alabama’s students and one faculty member were among the 53 individuals in Tuscaloosa who lost their lives as a result of the storm. Many students, faculty and staff were displaced when their homes were damaged or destroyed.
- 2011
- The University of Alabama acquires public radio station WHIL-FM 91.3 from Spring Hill College in Mobile. The University paid $1.1 million for the station, which will remain known as WHIL.
- 2010
- The Capstone College of Nursing opens for classes in its new building. The 64,000 square foot facility is The University of Alabama's first building specifically designed for nursing instruction.
- 2010
- Newly expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium opens as the fifth-largest football stadium in the country, with a capacity of 101,821 seats.
- 2010
- The Malone-Hood Plaza and Autherine Lucy Clock Tower at Foster Auditorium are dedicated. The plaza and tower are a tribute to James Hood, Vivian Malone Jones and Autherine Lucy Foster, the three African-American students whose enrollment represented The University of Alabama's first steps toward desegregation.
- 2010
- Smith Hall, home of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, celebrates its 100th anniversary. The anniversary ceremony featured the opening of a time capsule encased in the building's cornerstone on May 28, 1907.
- 2010
- The Jones Archaeological Museum at Moundville Archaeological Park reopens to the public following a $5 million renovation. The building now features state-of-the-art interactive displays and dramatic life-size scenes.
- 2010
- Enrollment tops 30,000 for the first time with a record 30,232 students.
- 2009
- Ridgecrest South residence hall opens doors.
- 2009
- The University of Alabama announces completion of the "Our Students. Our Future." capital campaign. The $612,672,016 raised exceeds the original goal of $500 million.
- 2009
- The University of Alabama enrolls 28,807 students, reaching and exceeding its 2010 goal of 28,000 students ahead of schedule.
- 2009
- The Science and Engineering Building opens for classes and research activities. The new building is part of what will become the Science and Engineering Quadrangle.
- 2008
- The University of Alabama was named by the Corporation for National and Community Service to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service learning and civic engagement.
- 2008
- The University of Alabama Panhellenic Association gains two new sororities. Alpha Phi Sorority will colonize in fall 2009, and Delta Gamma Sorority will colonize in fall 2010.
- 2008
- Broke ground on the site of the new Capstone College of Nursing building.
- 2007
- Crimson Choice is implemented. The new residential rental education program is designed to help students opting to live off campus make safer decisions when choosing a place to live.
- 2007
- Crimson Ride, The University of Alabama's new transit system, is implemented.
- 2007
- Excavation behind Gorgas Library reveals stone steps that led to what was once the cellar of Jefferson Hall dormitory. The structure was built in 1831 and was burned by federal troops during the Civil War in 1865.
- 2007
- Ridgecrest East and West residence halls open doors.
- 2006
- Effective with the 2006 fall semester, first-year students are required to live on campus in residence halls unless they are exempt from that requirement.
- 2006
- Lakeside Residential Community opens.
- 2006
- Maxwell Hall (the old observatory) becomes the new headquarters on campus for the Creative Campus Initiative.
- 2006
- The University of Alabama announces a $500 million capital campaign that focuses on student scholarships, faculty support, campus facilities, and priority needs.
- 2006
- The University of Alabama celebrates its 175th anniversary. The University unveils a permanent marker - a replica of the original campus gates - to commemorate the anniversary.
- 2005
- The Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility is established to address issues related to ethics and social responsibility and to help prepare students to serve as effective, engaged ethical citizens.
- 2005
- The Creative Campus Community Initiative is established. This unprecedented student- centered initiative focuses on broadening the scope and deepening the experience of the arts and cultural opportunities on The University of Alabama's campus and in the Tuscaloosa community.
- 2005
- The Crossroads Community Center opens to assist student organizations with multicultural issues and to facilitate coordination of multicultural issues on campus.
- 2005
- Riverside Residential Community opens. Riverside is the first major new residence hall built on campus since 1972.
- 2005
- The University of Alabama launches myBama Freshman Connection and myBama Family Connection websites for freshmen and their parents. The two unique websites were designed to improve retention, campus involvement, and graduation rates.
- 2004
- Lillie Florence Jones Sanford Resource and Design Center, a fully equipped digital-media production facility, opens for student use in Gorgas Library.
- 2004
- Shelby Hall, new home to the A&S chemistry department and interdisciplinary transportation and science complex, opened on May 11, 2004.
- 2003
- Honors College created as administrative home for the three University-wide honors programs- Computer-Based Honors Program, International Honors Program, and University Honors Program.
- 2003
- Inaugural Capstone Convocation and recitation of the Capstone Creed marks the formal entrance of students into The University of Alabama community.
- 2003
- The School of Law dedicates the site for its first new building expansion after 25 years in its Law Center location.
- 2003
- The University of Alabama graduates the Blount Undergraduate Initiative’s first class of 57 students, who started the program as freshmen in 1999.
- 2003
- A three-day program, known as "Opening Doors," took place on June 9-11, 2003, to commemorate the events of June 11, 1963, when two African American students enrolled at The University of Alabama following the famous "stand in the schoolhouse door."
- 2002
- Crimson Tradition Fund established with a $10 million gift by Paul Bryant, Jr. The fund's focus is improving facilities used by student athletes for study and training, as well as those used by fans.
- 2001
- University acquires WJRD 7, a local commercial television station. The University of Alabama is the second public university in the country to own and operate a commercial television station as an integral part of students' education in telecommunication and film. The station's new call letters are WVUA, channel 7.
- 2001
- Crimson Promenade dedicated. The Promenade is a tangible recognition of service to the University by alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends. Constructed of commemorative brick pavers using donor monies, it is a physical link between the Quad and the Student Services Plaza.
- 2000
- Construction of 1,500-seat University Softball Complex completed.
- 2000
- Historic Barnard Hall rededicated as Oliver-Barnard Hall, the first of two Blount Undergraduate Initiative academic houses. Blount Living-Learning Center opens to its first resident class.
- 2000
- Morgan Auditorium reopens after $1 million renovation, the first since its construction in 1911.
- 1999
- Renovation began on the Sewell-Thomas Baseball Field increasing the seating capacity to 6,571.
- 1999
- Student Services Center completed.
- 1998
- International Honors Program established.
- 1998
- Renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium completed, increasing capacity to 82,000.
- 1998
- Second Capital Campaign concluded having raised a total amount of $224 million in gifts and pledges.
- 1997
- Construction of the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence begun.
- 1996
- Blount Undergraduate Initiative established - first freshman class accepted in 1999.
- 1994
- The Stallings Center opened as the new home of the RISE Program.
- 1988
- The Paul W. Bryant Museum founded.
- 1987
- Bryant Conference Center opened.
- 1986
- University Honors Program established. The University's computerized library card catalog, AMELIA, available for use.
- 1984
- Conclusion of the first Capital Campaign (total amount raised: $62 million).
- 1981
- The University celebrates its sesquicentennial.
- 1976
- Position of chancellor of The University of Alabama System established.
- 1974
- RISE Program established to provide exemplary services based on recommended practices to young children with diverse abilities and their families.
- 1969
- The University of Alabama System with separate accredited campuses in Birmingham and Huntsville established.
- 1968
- Coleman Memorial Coliseum dedicated; Computer-Based Honors Program was established.
- 1966
- Resident branch campuses with separate fiscal operations established in Birmingham and Huntsville.
- 1963
- The first sustained enrollment of African-American students, Vivian J. Malone and James A. Hood, was achieved.
- 1956
- The University of Alabama's first African-American student, Autherine J. Lucy, was admitted.
- 1952
- First two doctorates awarded (one in history and one in chemistry).
- 1948
- Introduction of doctoral programs authorized.
- 1945
- The Medical College moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham. The University Press was formed.
- 1939
- Moundville Archaeological Park and its museum opened to the public.
- 1929
- Denny Chimes dedicated; first section of Denny Stadium completed.
- 1920
- The Medical College moved from Mobile to Tuscaloosa.
- 1914
- First on-campus fraternity house constructed (Phi Gamma Delta).
- 1914-15
- University band organized.
- 1910
- The Alabama Museum of Natural History in Smith Hall dedicated; served as a geological museum for the University's growing collections and still houses the Museum today.
- 1904
- A summer school for teachers was begun in response to a need for better public education in Alabama.
- 1903
- After thirty years of student protest, the military system of organization at the University was abandoned.
- 1896
- Library card catalog started.
- 1894
- The student newspaper, the Crimson-White, first published.
- 1893
- The first women students enrolled for the fall semester at the University; the University yearbook Corolla first published.
- 1892
- The University's first football team assembled - the "Thin Red Line" that later became the "Crimson Tide."
- 1871
- During the Reconstruction era, a reorganized University opened to students.
- 1865
- Union troops spared only seven of the buildings on the University campus. Of the principal buildings remaining today, the President's Mansion and its outbuildings still serve as the president's on-campus residence.
- 1860
- The University of Alabama became a military school - martial departmental and disciplinary systems established.
- 1859
- Medical College branch of the University opened in Mobile.
- 1850
- Alabama Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa chapter established.
- 1847
- Delta Kappa Epsilon became the first national fraternity on campus; Alabama Museum of Natural History established.
- 1841
- President's Mansion completed. Its first occupant, Basil Manly, was University President from 1837 to 1855.
- 1835
- First Master of Arts degree awarded to John Augustine Nooe.
- 1832
- First commencement (Bachelor of Arts degree awarded to John Augustine Nooe).
- 1831
- On April 18, inaugural ceremonies were held and the University opened. The campus consisted of seven buildings: two faculty houses, two dormitories, the laboratory, the hotel (now Gorgas House), and the Rotunda.
- 1827
- Tuscaloosa, then the state's capital, chosen as the University's home.
- 1821
- Act of General Assembly establishing The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama as a body corporate.
- 1818-20
- In 1818, the federal government authorized the Alabama Territory to set aside a township for the establishment of a “seminary of learning.” Alabama was admitted to the Union on March 2, 1819, and a second township was added to the grant. On December 18, 1820, the seminary was officially established and named “The University of the State of Alabama.”
Source: Division of Strategic Communications