South on the Rise

THEN Even when the school opened back in 1964, its founders were always looking toward future expansion. Here, USA founding president Dr. Frederick P. Whiddon looks over plans for campus development. Photo courtesy of the USA Publications Collection / Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library

 

NOW Shelby Hall, which houses the College of Engineering and School of Computing, is one of the more recent additions. The building features 63 laboratories, 3 multimedia auditorium classrooms, 7 student design rooms for each discipline and more.

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THEN Cheerleaders pep up the crowd at a bonfire during Spirit Week in December 1967. Photo courtesy of USA Publications Collection / Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library  

NOW Since its inception in 2009, USA’s football program has grown exponentially under head coach Joey Jones.  

THEN Legendary coach and former Brooklyn Dodger Eddie Stanky led the university’s baseball team to a No. 1 national ranking in 1972. Today, the school still produces top-notch players. Photo courtesy of Mobile Press Register Collection, The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama

  

NOW The school’s softball team has also made a name for itself. The 2012 team poses with their Sun Belt Championship trophy.

THEN The original residence halls were designed by the architectural firm of A.B. Benson and Company. Photo courtesy of John Engelhardt Scott negative collection / Alabama department of archives and history

NOW Today, the university’s new dorm Stokes Hall contains 330 suite-style rooms, plus study lounges and a large laundry room in a living-learning environment.

THEN Guy Diehl places a 33 1/3 rpm record on a turntable at the USA student radio station in 1965. Photo courtesy of The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library

NOW The new Student Recreation Center features a 35-foot-tall and 60-foot-wide apparatus featuring numerous top ropes, auto belays and quick draws for lead climbing.

Current Studies

Each year, 74 medical students are selected from a pool of more than 1, 100 applicants for the university’s College of Medicine. 

ABOVE At the Mitchell College of Business’ John B. Saint Financial Analysis Center, students experience the day-to-day happenings on a brokerage house trading floor.

ABOVE At the university’s world-class hot shop, visual arts students learn glass blowing techniques. Continuing education studies are also offered to the public.


text by mallory boykin • photos courtesy of the university of south alabama

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