Santa Claus shares the cheer with staff at work in University Hospital during the holiday season.

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UAB began NCAA-level basketball play on November 24, 1978, with an inaugural game against the University of Nebraska before a crowd of over 14,800 in the arena at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.  Coach Gene Bartow's Blazers lost 64-55.  Five days later, Coach Fran Merrell and the Women's Basketball team competed in their first game at the BJCC; the Blazers lost to the University of North Alabama 82-77.

This month we celebrate the 40th anniversary of an intercollegiate athletics program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  Today, UAB provides eleven sports teams for female students and seven for male students.  There are also three spirit and two band programs that support the athletic program and entertain event attendees.  Go Blazers!

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The new building was made possible by a donation of Charles B. Webb, Jr., and the Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust in honor of Webb’s late wife, Susan Mott Webb. At the October 18, 1983, dedication ceremony were (left to right): Dr. Richard Arrington, Jr., Mayor of Birmingham; Dr. Charles E. Butterworth, chair of the Department of Nutrition Sciences; Ruth R. Mott, mother of the late Mrs. Webb; Charles B. Webb, Jr.; and Dr. S. Richardson Hill, Jr., UAB President. The Susan Mott Webb Nutrition Sciences Building housed the nutrition department and provided classrooms and administrative offices for the allied health professions school.

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Intramural sports have long been a part of university history, even when the teams had no campus home. In the early years, intramurals were held at George Ward Park, at Fair Park, and at Jordan Park, a city park adjacent to the western edge of UAB that was eventually incorporated into the campus. Intramural fields were later located on campus at the 600 block of South 12th Street and then on the 800 block of South 11th Street. A new Intramural and Club Sports Field Complex was officially opened on August 28, 2018. This new complex is located at 1101 5th Avenue South and is directly across the street from the Football Operations Center.

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Students enjoy a class outside on a summer afternoon, 2000.  Total enrollment at UAB in 2000 was 15,921 with 10,331 undergraduate students.  As of the fall of 2017, total enrollment at UAB was 20.902 students, a record high for the university, with a 6.18 percent increase in undergraduate students, 10.51 percent increase in graduate students, and 4.36 percent increase in doctoral and professional students.  The incoming freshman class of 2017 was also a record high of 2,299.

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The groundbreaking ceremony for a major expansion of the university's medical center was held on July 30, 1968.  This ceremony heralded the groundbreaking for three new facilities at the growing campus in Birmingham: a new health sciences library (Lister Hill Library), a new basic sciences building (Volker Hall), and a new home for the School of Nursing.  Those seated on the platform included the president of the university, the executive vice president, and the deans of dentistry, medicine, and nursing.  Looking east from along Seventh Avenue South are, in the background, Jefferson Tower (right) and the construction of the Sparks Center (left).

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Engineering students assemble a mechanical arm, June 1978.  UAB students work on improving the prototype of the device for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) student competition.

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The Kaul Human Genetics Building was constructed on the site of UAB's Tidwell Hall and it was dedicated on May 21, 2001.  The new eight-story Kaul Building was home to the genetics department as well as the new Howell and Elizabeth Ann Heflin Center for Human Genetics and the Finley Conference Center.  The Finley Conference Center was named in honor of Drs. Wayne H. and Sara C. Finley, long-time UAB faculty who established the first genetics laboratory in the Southeastern United States.

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The spring graduation for 1988 was held in the new UAB Arena, the first time a commencement ceremony had been held on the university’s campus. The arena opened in May 1988 and graduation was held on June fifth. UAB awarded degrees to 3,260 students.

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In a ceremony in the auditorium of the Engineering Building [Cudworth Hall], UAB commemorated the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The event was held during the ten-year anniversary of King’s assassination.  The keynote speaker, Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker (seated third from left), was the chief-of-staff for Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  Funding for the event was provided by the UAB student government and graduate student associations.

UAB celebrated Black History Week as early as 1975 with a series of lectures, dances, and art shows.  Following national trends, UAB changed to a month-long celebration in 1977.

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At a basketball game on January 9, 1993, UAB unveiled a new mascot, the Blazer.  The mascot scared children at the basketball games, and many segments of the university community objected to the sword carrying militant Viking-like warrior.  The Blazer was withdrawn before the start of the fall football season.  It would be two years before a new mascot, Blaze the Dragon, would be unveiled.

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