Smith Cochran
Sports Editor
Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) announced it will be closing its doors indefinitely after the conclusion of this academic year. For Sewanee, this means the loss of a competitor and a similar liberal-arts institution with whom the university has shared a playing field with since 2012. It also means that there are hundreds of transfer students who will be looking to continue their academic and possibly athletic careers.
Since December 2022, Birmingham-Southern has been aware of the possibility of closing. In June of last year, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill into law that created a loan program to keep the college open. A recent bill that would have awarded Birmingham-Southern taxpayer money to remain operating stalled in the Alabama legislature, forcing the trustees of the university to unanimously vote to close.
“A disaster is what they’re dealing with down there,” Sewanee Assistant Dean of Admission Jeff Heitzenrater said. “The only saving grace is they’ve been dealing with this problem for the past three semesters. Most of the students at Birmingham-Southern knew it was a possibility.”
Former Birmingham-Southern student-athlete and current Sewanee men’s soccer player Will Pucek (C ‘25) transferred over the summer because of the impending closure.
“Once the news first came out about Birmingham-Southern’s potential closing, I entered the transfer portal just to keep multiple options open,” Pucek said. “There just wasn’t enough reassurance that the school would be able to remain open, and I wanted to make sure I was not in a situation where I was transferring as a senior to complete a couple of courses.”
Sewanee generally brings in around 7-10 transfers in the fall, but because of the special circumstances, there might be around 30 transfer students coming from Birmingham-Southern. Heitzenrater assured this will not change admissions for high school students, and Sewanee is well-equipped to bring in the new students.
“There’s a memorandum of understanding to make the application process easier,” Heitzenrater said. “It gives some students the opportunity to transfer in with more credits than we normally allow because they’re in this weird situation.”
The memorandum of understanding, or MOU, solidifies the partnership between Sewanee and Birmingham-Southern to ease the transfer process for BSC students. On Friday, April 5, BSC held a college fair for students to meet with admissions officers and athletic administrators from different universities.
“BSC was very proactive about closing,” Heitzenrater said. “We have contacts in the admissions office there, and they were reaching out to colleges basically asking to create MOU’s to help their students. They’re doing what they can to help their students, and one way they’re doing this is through the transfer fair.”
Pucek has stayed in touch with student athletes at Birmingham-Southern and says they are being helped through the transfer portal process. The transfer portal allows student athletes to place their name in an online database declaring their desire to transfer and permits other coaches to contact them.
“When I was still at BSC, it seemed as if many of my friends and teammates were willing to ‘wait out’ the decision from the college and the state,” Pucek said. “The athletes are now being helped to find other schools. One of my good friends from the soccer team is transferring within the conference.”
Sewanee Men’s Soccer coach Tony Pacella helped Pucek integrate into the team.
“I was nervous about what the environment would be, specifically for myself transferring within the conference, [but] the soccer team here turned out to be great,” Pucek said. “This year was one of my favorite years of soccer simply because of the team’s dynamic. The relationship that I have with the coaching staff here is improved in relation to those that I have had in the past. In all, it has been a great experience, even having to play against BSC twice in the fall.”
Birmingham-Southern students have been thrown into a difficult situation. Sewanee has positioned itself to aid all transfer applicants, but it does not change the unfortunate circumstances those students are currently facing.
“I feel sympathy for all the people at BSC,” Pucek said. “The college’s closing leaves many without a job or a place to continue their education for the time being. Although I believe I was fortunate to find a solution in this situation fairly early, I hope the same happens for the majority of my friends and former teammates.”