UNA Commemorates 194 Years of Educational Excellence with Founders’ Day
Jan. 09, 2024
Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392
FLORENCE, AL – On Jan. 11, the University of North Alabama will commemorate 194 years with its annual Founders’ Day events. Beginning at 11:30 a.m., the campus and community are invited to participate in exploring historical memorabilia unique to UNA and its founding on LaGrange Mountain in Leighton in Colbert County in 1830.
“The tradition of commemorating UNA’s founding began in 2020 when we took the opportunity to begin sharing the institution’s rich history with the campus and the broader community,” said Dr. Ken Kitts, UNA’s President. “Since then, the event has grown and become a beloved tradition. Founders’ Day is an important reminder at the start of the spring term that the institution continues to grow, evolve, and thrive as we look toward our third century of providing educational excellence.”
In addition to the campus-based events at 11:30, the campus and community are encouraged to participate in the day by wearing purple as part of Purple Pride Day. The University has celebrated numerous and various markers of excellence during the past four years, including record enrollment, record-breaking fundraising for the University as well as Athletics, the addition of three doctoral degrees, and the full transition to NCAA Division I athletics.
“We have so much to celebrate, and this is an exciting way for our students, faculty, and staff to participate in that history as well as be part of the present and future,” said Dr. Tammy Jacques, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and an event coordinator.
In addition to the Founders’ Day events and Purple Pride Day, Jacques said the 11th will be another opportunity for the University to commemorate 50 years of UNA as the ninth and final name change for the institution, as well as 50 years of the Florence Helen Nethery Duncan Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a foundational program in the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions; 50 years of Fraternity and Sorority Life at the institution; and 50 years of Miss UNA.
About The University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering credential, certificate, baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs in the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. The first-choice University for more than 10,000 on-campus and online students, UNA is on a bucolic campus in Florence, Alabama, part of the historic and vibrant Shoals region. Lions Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I’s ASUN Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/