Two centuries in the making. One day to celebrate 2030.
Two centuries, two campuses and a long succession of names — told through the five turning points that made the University of North Alabama.
LaGrange College opens with 70 students and three faculty members, and the State Legislature charters it as the first chartered college in Alabama.
The Methodist Conference offers the college’s property to the State, and the Legislature charters the State Normal School at Florence — the first state-supported normal school south of the Ohio River. Thirty-one women enroll in 1874.
Renamed Florence State Teachers College, offering four years of college work. Construction begins on the building that becomes Bibb Graves Hall, and the first bachelor’s degree follows in 1931.
Wendell Gunn becomes the first African American student admitted to Florence State College, integrating the campus during the Civil Rights era. University status follows in 1968.
The school becomes the University of North Alabama, the name it carries into its third century. Leo I arrives the same year, making UNA the only school in the country with a live lion mascot on campus.
With an incredibly rich history spanning two centuries, UNA is proud to share in any moments you have.
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Follow the students who arrived this fall — the first class whose commencement lands in the University’s Bicentennial year.
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Read their story
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Read their story
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Student stories will appear here as the Class of 2030 shares them — check back soon.
Two centuries of traditions, and the next chapter of them already on the calendar — here is what is coming up.
The University marks the anniversary of the first class climbing LaGrange Mountain in 1830 to open the doors of what was then LaGrange College, with a convocation, the ringing of the bell and the reading of the founding charter.
Norton Auditorium · Florence, AL
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A week of parades, class reunions and the Step Sing competition across campus, closing with the football game at Braly Stadium and the crowning of the Homecoming court at half time.
Campus-wide · Florence, AL
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Graduates cross the stage at Flowers Hall, three years out from the class whose own commencement will land in the Bicentennial year itself, with degrees conferred across all four colleges.
Flowers Hall · Florence, AL
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Announcements, milestones and coverage from the University as the Bicentennial approaches.
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Bicentennial announcements will appear here as they are published — check back soon.
Every gift to the UNA Foundation goes to work on campus — scholarships that decide whether a student can enroll, faculty who make the degree worth having, and the facilities the next two centuries will happen in. A simple, meaningful way to make a significant impact on the life of the University, its faculty and its students.
