Athens State University is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

Athens, Alabama Athens is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama; it is included in the Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city is 25,406. Hist ...

. Its academics are housed in three colleges: Education, Arts and Sciences, and Business.

History

Athens State University is Alabama's oldest educational institution of higher learning. It began as the Athens Female Academy in 1822. The

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

began oversight of the institution in 1842, changing the name to Athens Female Institute. It became Athens Female College in 1889. In 1931 the name was shortened to Athens College when it became

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

. On May 10, 1974, the board of trustees requested from the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church that the college seek affiliation with the State of Alabama. At its annual meeting in June 1974, the conference gave the board this permission and authorized the transfer of the college to the State of Alabama. In June 1975, the college was accepted by the Alabama State Board of Education subject to the appropriation of operating funds by the Alabama legislature. Later that year, the legislature appropriated funds for the operation of the college to serve the graduates of state junior, community, and technical colleges/institutions. Later, in 1998, the college became Athens State University. On May 11, 2012, a bill was passed by the Alabama legislature allowing the creation of an autonomous board of trustees for the university. This board took office in October 2012. Athens State University remains the only upper-division university in the State of Alabama.

Athens State College Historic District

The Athens State College Historic District was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on February 14, 1985. It includes Founders Hall, which was built in 1842–44. Founders Hall is individually listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Notable alumni

Chris Guillebeau Chris Guillebeau (born April 4, 1978) is an American people, American author, entrepreneur, blogger, and speaker. He initially received attention for his entrepreneurship and travel blog, ''The Art of Non-Conformity'', which led to the publicati ...

, personal development author * Mike Kirkland (politician), member of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

* Steve Mizerak, billiards, winner of the U.S. Open in the 1970s * Gary Redus,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

playerCarroll, Andrew. "Will Redus carry on state tradition?", The Tuscaloosa News, January 29, 1984, page 4B. * Dale Strong, member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

* Ha Soo Whang, social worker

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in Limestone County, Alabama Queen Anne architecture in Alabama Greek Revival architecture in Alabama Public universities and colleges in Alabama Education in Limestone County, Alabama Two year upper class colleges Educational institutions established in 1822 Female seminaries in the United States Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Buildings and structures in Limestone County, Alabama Historic districts in Limestone County, Alabama Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Historic American Buildings Survey in Alabama 1822 establishments in Alabama Women's education in Alabama

History

Athens State College Historic District

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links