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University of West Alabama

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University of West Alabama

The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called "Livingston Female Academy".

The university serves students in several academic colleges and divisions on a 600-acre (2.4 km2) campus in west-central Alabama. UWA offers various degree programs including associate, bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, and educational doctorate degrees.

Its athletics teams, known as the West Alabama Tigers, are members of the Gulf South Conference and compete in NCAA Division II in all sports except the men's and women's rodeo teams who compete in the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.

The University of West Alabama began as Livingston Female Academy in 1835. As a church-related female academy, it admitted its first students in 1839. The school was established by Scots-Irish Presbyterians, who controlled the majority of seats on the first board of trustees selected in 1836. The original purpose of the school was to educate future teachers, while also offering course work in art, music, languages, and home economics. Tuition at this time was $20 annually with an additional $25 charged for piano lessons and $10 for French language and embroidery. Jones Hall was the first building constructed on the campus in 1837, and was located near what is now Brock Hall. (The building was lost to fire in the 1890s). On January 15, 1840, state lawmakers incorporated Livingston Female Academy, granted it tax-exempt status, and gave the board the authority to establish rules and regulations.

Livingston Female Academy awarded its first diploma in 1843 to Elizabeth Houston, the daughter of M. L. Houston, a prominent local businessman and a school trustee. The first principal of the school was A. A. Kimbrell, followed by Margaret McShan. In 1853, Robert Dickens Webb arrived in Sumter County and served as a trustee for more than 40 years. He led the school during the American Civil War and Reconstruction through the 1870s, helping to keep the institution open. The main administration building that sits in the middle of campus today is named in his honor.

In 1878, the institution changed its name to Livingston Normal College. Education reformer Julia Strudwick Tutwiler joined the faculty in 1881 as co-principal with her uncle, Carlos Green Smith, former president of the University of Alabama. In 1882–1883, state lawmakers provided $2,500 for tuition and supplies; Alabama was the first southern state to fund the education of women. Tutwiler and state legislator Addison Gillespie Smith helped secure this appropriation.

In 1883, the school was renamed the Alabama Normal College for Girls and Livingston Female Academy, to better reflect the new mission of the institution, providing students with choices of either two- or four-year programs. "Normal training" was the term used at that time to describe teacher education that represented high school plus two years of college education. The Normal College presented its first diplomas at the 1886 commencement exercises.

In 1890, Tutwiler was named president of the college. She is the only woman to have been president. During her tenure, Tutwiler aided in establishing the Alabama Girls' Industrial Institute (now the University of Montevallo) and in having the first women admitted to the University of Alabama in 1893.

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