By: Carter Hall
While the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa was celebrating their 18th NCAA football championship in 2021, a much smaller college just a little over an hour south was in the midst of raising funds to stay open the remainder of the academic year. This school of higher-education, Judson College, a historic all-female college, had to close their doors for good on July 31, 2021, due to lack of funding.
Judson College, in Marion, Alabama, first opened their doors in 1838. The college was a safe haven for women who wanted to expand their education and receive the same education that many men did at the time. The campus is small when compared to the likes of Alabama and Auburn, but that does not mean they did not have the things that made college life complete.
The campus was able to boast not only dormitory halls and historic lecture halls, but also a stable on campus, where students were able to keep their horses if they had them. This small but beautiful college was opened with the help of near-by Siloam Baptist Church members, and the church would continue to help the college flourish in their early years.
This beautiful red-brick church is only two blocks away from campus and the towering white steeple is still visible from Judson’s campus. When looking at the church, it is easy to see the architectural inspiration for many of the buildings on Judson’s campus, as many of the historic buildings boast the same red-brick and white wood.
The Siloam Baptist Church was opened in 1822 and remained involved with the Judson College from its opening until the school closed. This church claims to have been the most influential Baptist church in Alabama, at the time.
During the last graduation commencement that would take place on the green grass, under the magnolias and water oaks in front of Jewett Hall, Reverend John Nicholson was given the opportunity to speak to the 41 seniors who would soon become the last Judson College graduates ever. Rev. Nicholson is the current pastor of Siloam Baptist church and has actually received an honorary doctorate of divinity degree from Judson College.
This last graduating class of 41 seniors represents the decline that Judson College saw in its last few years. Before 2021, the graduating classes were much bigger, almost three times as large. Competitive tuition, COVID-19 and an innumerable number of variables led to smaller and smaller graduating classes. This lack of funding was an obvious reason that the school was unable to keep their doors open much longer.
In 2019, a new tradition began at graduation, in which someone would ring the college’s Cherished Triangle. It is said that in the 19th century students would ring this triangle each and every morning to start their days.
The ringing of this metal and unassuming triangle at graduation was meant to represent the new beginnings ahead for every student who graduates. This short-lived tradition of ringing the triangle was done one last time at the 2021 graduation ceremony, but this ringing represented much more than just new beginnings for the graduating students.
The ringing of the triangle in 2021 represented a new beginning for the students who were not able to earn a degree before Judson shut down. It represented new beginnings for all the employees who were no longer able to work. It also represented a new beginning for the town of Marion and those who live near the small historic campus that had been so influential.
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