Alabama has 2 of the âMost Beautiful College Campuses in the Southâ
Southern Living has weighed in on the 40 or so most beautiful college campuses in the South, and two Alabama schools made the cut. Or only two, depending on how you look at it.
In fact, one Alabama institution topped the list: Coming in at No. 1 was Mobile’s Spring Hill College. SHC’s Avenue of the Oaks was listed as a prime attraction, which comes as no surprise since it’s a beloved local vista. Even the makers of “Love in Fairhope,” the geographically-challenged romance show that came out last month, offered a glimpse of it in their depiction of an alternate-reality Eastern Shore.
“Each year, graduates sit among towering trees and rows of pink azaleas, as they face a commencement stage in front of Stewartfield, a white Greek Revival home,” gushed the Southern Living report. “During students’ tenures at this liberal arts school— the Southeast’s oldest Catholic college — they hang out at Rydex Commons, a circular green space facing the library and the exquisite St. Joseph Chapel. You can experience the natural splendor of a South Alabama landscape all over campus.”
Tuskegee University is one of Alabama’s oldest historically black colleges and universities.
Coming in at No. 11 was Tuskegee University, which Southern Living noted was the first HBCU to be registered as a National Historic Landmark. “Each beautiful building is steeped in rich history, adding to their appeal, and the rural locale promises sweeping greenery,” said the article.
Anyone irked that their beloved Alabama alma mater was snubbed will be tempted to take issue with Southern Living’s loosey-goosey definition of “the South” in this ranking. The University of Delaware was ranked No. 3 (“Knowledge is the light of the mind, y’all”) and the slightly more defensible Georgetown University landed at No. 4. Institutions in Maryland, Missouri and Oklahoma also were included.
The whole list of 43 schools can be found at www.southernliving.com.