Unbelievable
Shelton State’s Unbelievable
Surprising events related in some way to Shelton State.
1. Teacher passed away while teaching class.
(Courier Nov 4 2003 p 1)
2. Teacher passed away in his office.
(Lon Alexander. See funeral program Feb 1991)
3. Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, from Department of Labor in Washington, visits Shelton State. (Courier Jun 7 2005 p 1) See also ACCA Journal Sum 2005 p 13
4. Student shot in a classroom.
(Document: Memo. Jun 15 1995)
5. Storm blew in back wall of administration / classroom building.
(Tuscaloosa News Oct 17 1984 p1)
6. Tall truck damaged Martin Campus building at front entrance. (Truck was too tall to pull in under the covered drive-through)
7.Tornado demolished new shopping center across the street from Shelton State. (Courier Jan 25 2001 p1)
8. Large deer ran into Martin Campus atrium window one night.
(Reported by night security who staffed a desk in the atrium)
9. Major heavyweight boxer began his career with a first bout in the gym at Shelton State on Feb 19 2011. (For Olympic Medal, see Courier Sep 18 2008 p1)
10. Ceremony to mark groundbreaking for Martin Campus held in occasional light rain. (See Photographs for ‘Groundbreaking for Martin Campus Oct 4 1994)
11. College was located next to a bar and night club on Skyland Blvd.
(For a while was located next to Gaylord’s Department Store. College eventually incorporated the Gaylord’s space. There was a bar and night club, Bonnie and Clyde’s, located next door.)
12. College was once located in an elementary school building on Greensboro Avenue. (See photographs of this building)
13. Pregnant woman’s water broke in the library on the Martin Campus.
(Verified by library director and library staff who worked at the time: believed to be in the late 1990s)
14. College trained bomb-sniffing dogs.
(Early to mid 1980s)
15. College considered running a South American branch campus in Caracus, Venezuela. (See Faculty Newsletter Jun 10 1991 p1)
16. Son of an instructor was run over and killed by a train in Pennsylvania.
(Courier Sep 20 2005 p6)
17. Hurricane Gustav victims (500) lived in the gym of Shelton State in late August through early September 2008.
(Courier Sep 18 2008 p1)
18. The Fifteenth Street Campus’ Learning Resource Center never housed a Learning Resource Center.
19. The Fifteenth Street Campus Library was located for a while in a broom closet, then in a ‘bomb shelter.’
20. A benefactor established a scholarship for Christians only.
21. The Tuscaloosa County morgue was proposed for the C.A. Fredd Campus. (Tuscaloosa News Oct 29 1994 p1)
22. Students boycotted classes at the C.A. Fredd Technical College.
(Tuscaloosa News Feb 8 1966 p1)
23. At a nearby shopping center, a car burst into flames and burned while the owner was shopping for groceries. (Courier Feb 22 2005 p1)
24. Live bat was found in the Assistant Library Director’s office. The bat dropped from the ceiling into the director’s hair. (Verified by Library Director / Mar 18 2013)
25. Notable actor, Charlton Heston, star in The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, and many other films, once visited and spoke at Shelton State. (Tuscaloosa News Sep 9 1997 p 1A and p 1B)
26. Notable writer, Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, which was made into an Academy Awarding winning film, once visited and spoke at Shelton State. (Courier Mar 22 2005 p1)
27. Maximum tuition at the Tuscaloosa branch campus of Brewer State Junior College in 1975 was $67.50 per quarter (12 hours or more of classes, 3 months).
28. Early in his career as a judge, George Wallace was the guest speaker for graduation at Shelton State Technical College (May 1955).
29. In 1975, tuition at Tuscaloosa State Technical College (C.A. Fredd State Technical College) was $20 per calendar month or $1.10 per class day plus a $5.00 registration fee.
30. The Spring 2011 graduation ceremony was cancelled due to tremendous devastation from a tornado in the city (4-27-2011).
31. Shelton State Technical College was built on land east of Tuscaloosa. On Oct. 4 1955, the college asked to come into the City Limits. (Tuscaloosa News Oct 4 1955 p1)
32. Theatre Tuscaloosa instructor and set designer, Charlie Dennis, passed away while at work at Shelton State. (Courier Apr 28 2006 p3)
33. A small fire in a housekeeping trash cart (cigarette?) caused the entire Martin Campus building to be evacuated for 45 minutes. (about 2014?)
34. The 40th Anniversary of C. A. Fredd Technical College and the C. A. Fredd Campus in October 2005 was highly celebrated. The 50th Anniversary, its Golden Anniversary in October 2015, was ignored.
35. For nearly 2 years, the State of Alabama, and the college searched for and interviewed people to find the right President for Shelton State. In mid-2014, a person was hired. The person remained in the job for only 14 months.
36. In March 2001, the college hired a new Dean of Students. He remained in the job for 5 months, then left. But he did not stay away. He returned in January 2008 as President of the college. In October 2012, he became Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System. Amazing!
37. Shelton State's Child Development Center began as a daycare program at a church.
38. Adam Walsh addressed Shelton's Early Childhood Graduation in 1984.
39. Shelton State's amazing golf teams won several National Championships during the 1990s. The college cancelled the program in summer 2002.
40. Notable visitors to the college have included Jim Nabors, Dean Jones, George Lindsey, Rebecca Luker, Nell Carter, Polly Holliday, Lois Wilson, and Fannie Flagg. All of these persons are Alabamians, either by birth or adoption.
41. In the 1980s, WordPerfect software was deemed as the "word processing software of the future" and the college adopted it for use on all office computers.
42. On Mar 30 2019, Coach Bobby Sprowl earned his 1000th win as Baseball Coach at Shelton State with a win over Lawson State Community College.
43. In Jan 2020, the Shelton State Cheerleaders won their 13th consecutive Open Coed National Championship title. Amazing!
44. Only once has Shelton State selected both a Homecoming King and Queen (in Feb 2018).
45. In Feb 2016, Shelton State received an award for increased efforts in electrical sustainability and energy efficiency designed to save $300,000 annually.
46. U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, visited Shelton State on October 25, 2005.
47. The 50th Anniversary of the college in 2003 was recognized with a year-long celebration of events. The 60th Anniversary (Diamond Anniversary) in 2013 was ignored.
48. From 1993 to Jun 2020, Shelton State has had 11 presidents and interim presidents.
49. Shelton State once censored an art exhibit by placing it in a remote location so that few people would see it. See Courier Nov 4 2003 p 5
50. A woman missed a train, and that saved her life. See Courier Nov 15 1984 p 1 ('Student Struggles On')