Celebrate 60

C te EaeBRL 60

By Kathy Dean

The Year was 1961.

Yo-Yos were a national toy craze, Pampers disposable diapers were invented and Fred Flintstone said “Yabba Dabba Doo” for the fi rst time. The minimum wage was $1.15 per hour, John F. Kennedy became the 35th president, and a bus fi lled with Freedom Riders was attacked by a mob in Montgomery, Alabama. And on April 1, 1961, the pastor of a Baptist church in Sylacauga, Alabama, was named president of a college in Mobile that didn’t yet exist. In later years, Mobile College founding president Dr. William K. Weaver Jr.

60 years later...

What started as a diamond in the rough became a precious gem shining Christ’s light into the darkness through the lives of over 14,000 alumni at work in the world. Today, the University of Mobile campus includes 63 buildings with classrooms, laboratories, offi ces, athletic facilities and residential living on over 880 acres for more than 1,500 students and 185 full-time employees. With over 75 academic programs, students can learn anatomy using human cadavers, perform on stage would joke that he had the best college president’s job around at the time, with “no campus, no faculty, no students – and no problems.” A few months later, on Dec. 12, 1961, Alabama Governor John Patterson signed the charter giving offi cial state recognition to Mobile College as the fi rst new college established by Alabama Baptists in more than 120 years, and the fi rst four-year college to be chartered in the State of Alabama in 57 years.

TorchLight Extra! KNOw and be known

before an audience of thousands, serve the community, teach the next generation, break athletic records, spread the gospel, create art, build relationships and share Christ’s love as they follow God’s calling for their lives. Throughout 2021, the university celebrated its 60year Diamond Anniversary with events that off ered opportunities to refl ect on the past and look ahead to the future.

Photo by Christian Hilley Photo by Ally Judkins