Selma University - History

History

The institution was founded in 1878 as the Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School to train African Americans as ministers and teachers. The school purchased the former Selma Fair Grounds later that same year, moving into the fair's old exposition buildings. Noted men such as the Reverends William H. McAlpine, James A. Foster and R. Murrell were among the founders. At a meeting in Mobile, Alabama in 1874, the first trustees were elected: C. O. Booth, Alexander Butler, William H. McAlpine, Holland Thompson and H. J. Europe. The Convention voted to locate the school in Selma in 1877. The school opened four years later in the Saint Phillips Street Baptist Church of Selma (which later became the First Baptist Church).

In 1881, the school was incorporated by an act of the legislature under the name of Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School of Selma. On May 14, 1908, the name was officially changed to Selma University.

In the late 1980s, Selma University developed from a four-year bachelor program in religion and two year liberal arts program to a four-year institution. However, in the autumn of 2000, Selma University began its transformation from a Christian liberal arts college to a Bible college. In February 2001, Selma University received applicant status, and in February 2005 the school received candidate status with the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education in Orlando, Florida. On February 20, 2009, Selma University received Initial Accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education in Canada and the United States.