University of West Alabama

The University of West Alabama, is a public four-year institution located in Livingston, Alabama, offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is often referred to as Livingston, U-DUB (pronounced "you dub" and/or "oooh dub") or U-WAH (pronounced "you wah" and/or "oooh wah") by the students.

History

Early Beginnings: 1835 - 1919

The University of West Alabama was chartered in 1835 as Livingston Female Academy and State Normal College, a church-related female academy, and admitted its first students in 1839. After difficult times during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods, the school reopened in the late 1860s or early 1870s. Although it appears that a few male students were admitted following the reopening, a resolution by the Board of Trustees in 1876 excluded boys, and this policy was followed until the beginning of the 20th century. Livingston Female Academy and State Normal College continued as a women's college with some State support until 1907, when the State assumed full control. It remained under its own board of trustees, however, until the Alabama Legislature created a State Board of Trustees for all the normal schools in 1911. In 1919 this board was abolished and all state normal schools were placed under the supervision of the State Board of Education. During these early years the school offered both secondary education and normal school programs for the training of teachers. ==== Depression Era: 1920 - 1956 ==== In 1929 the school at Livingston became State Teachers College, Livingston, Alabama, with authority to confer the degree of Bachelor of Science. The Bachelor of Arts degree was authorized in 1947. Although the institution had begun accepting male students soon after 1900, the student body remained predominantly female through the 1950s.

Name Changes: 1957 - 1994

In 1957 the name was again changed by an act of Legislature — this time to Livingston State College — and the following year the mission of the institution was broadened when the Graduate Division was established and the College was authorized to confer master’s degrees in the field of professional education. In 1967 an act of the Legislature created Livingston University, with its own Board of Trustees. In 1971 a longtime historic landmark in Sumter County, the Alamuchee-Bellamy Covered Bridge (built 1861), was restored and moved on campus by the Sumter County Historical Society. It currently spans the northeast corner of Duck Pond behind Reed Hall.

The University of West Alabama, is a public four-year institution located in Livingston, Alabama, offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is often referred to as Livingston, U-DUB (pronounced "you dub" and/or "oooh dub") or U-WAH (pronounced "you wah" and/or "oooh wah") by the students.