[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6505-S6506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL & MECHANICAL UNIVERSITY

 Mr. JONES. Madam President, I rise today to recognize Alabama 
Agricultural & Mechanical University, AAMU on their 50th anniversary as 
a university. As an 1890 land-grant institution and one of Alabama's 14 
historically Black colleges and universities, HBCUs, Alabama A&M has 
long upheld a legacy of impressive scholarship and service. It is an 
honor to celebrate the achievements of an institution of such 
importance to my State.
  Alabama A&M first opened its doors on May 1, 1875, as the Huntsville 
Normal School following its founding by a

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former slave, Dr. William Hooper Councill. With just $1,000 in annual 
appropriations, 61 students, and 2 instructors in its first year, the 
institution evolved throughout multiple iterations of its 144-year 
history into what it is today. Due to its success with industrial 
education and private funding from the Slater and Peabody Funds, the 
Alabama Legislature authorized a name change to the ``State Normal and 
Industrial School in Huntsville.'' In 1891, the school became a 
recipient of the Federal land-grant fund in order to further fund 
training in agricultural and mechanical arts at the college level. 
Following several name changes and a location move from Huntsville to 
Normal, AL, the school became a junior college in 1919 under the name 
``The State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute for Negroes.'' Twenty 
years later, the school was permitted by the State board of education 
to offer work at a senior college level. In 1941, the first graduation 
class since 1920 received bachelor degrees. The school became a fully 
accredited member of the association in 1963, following a ``Class A'' 
rating by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 
1946. Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University received its final 
name on June 26, 1969, per a resolution from the Alabama State Board of 
Education.
  The campus, situated on The Hill near downtown Huntsville, has 
received visits from 19 Nobel laureates. Students at AAMU have access 
to advanced degree programs including Ph.D. degrees in applied physics, 
food science, plant and soil science, and reading and literacy. Alabama 
A&M University is one of the leading producers of African Americans 
with PhDs in physics.
  AAMU has also graduated many notable alumni from star athletes, to 
world class entertainers, to leaders and pioneers in the civil rights 
movement. Jearl Miles-Clark, an Olympic Gold medalist who competed in 
the 400 and 800 meter races and the 400 meter relay, graduated from 
AAMU in 1989. NFL legend, John Stallworth, played football at AAMU and 
was an All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference receiver in 
1972 and 1973 before joining the NFL as a wide receiver for the 
Pittsburgh Steelers. Stallworth went on to compete in four Super Bowls 
and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. American 
Idol winner and popular R&B artist Ruben Studdard received a football 
scholarship to attend AAMU, where he majored in music education. Joseph 
Lowery, a United Methodist minister and leader in the civil rights 
movement, also attended AAMU. Lowery later succeeded Martin Luther 
King, Jr, as the third president of the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference. Vivian Malone Jones, one of the first two Black students to 
enroll at the University of Alabama, earned her first bachelor's degree 
from AAMU in business education. She later went on to receive the first 
bachelor's degree awarded by the University of Alabama to a Black 
student, following her study of business management. These are only a 
handful of the remarkable scholars and activists, AAMU has had a hand 
in educating and training.
  Under the leadership of its 11th president, Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., 
the university comprises over 70 buildings on more than 1,000 acres, is 
home to more than 6,000 students, is a designated ``Gold Military 
Friendly'' institution and serves as a regional, State, national, and 
international resource while maintaining its mission of educating the 
underserved and uplifting the people of Alabama, the Nation, and the 
world through excellence in education.
  Please join me in celebrating Alabama A&M on this auspicious occasion 
and wishing both their students, faculty, and administrators future 
success in all of their endeavors for another 50 years.

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