By Kiya Wimbush-Robinson
Two Alabama HBCUs, Miles Colleges and Alabama A&M University, are in a negotiation battle to acquire the recently closed Birmingham-Southern College campus. Both schools put in offers to acquire the vacant campus this month.
Miles College was the first of the two HBCUs to submit a letter of intent (LOI) to start negotiating a possible purchase of the Birmingham-Southern College campus. Alabama A&M submitted another multi-million-dollar offer to purchase the school just one day after Miles College signed its letter of intent. Making it Alabama A&M’s second offer to purchase the school.
“Birmingham-Southern College confirms that its Board of Trustees has accepted a letter of intent from Miles College to begin negotiations to purchase BSC’s 192-acre campus, but will have no further comments at this time,” wrote Virginia Gilbert Loftin, a spokeswoman for Birmingham-Southern College, on Monday.
“I can confirm that the letter was signed on Juneteenth, but neither President [Bobbie] Knight nor the college will make any further comments at this time,” wrote Mya Jolly, a spokeswoman for Miles College, on Monday.
Both schools showed interest in acquiring the campus months before its closure in May. In April, Alabama Senator Rodger Smitherman stated that Miles College, Alabama A&M, and Alabama State University were interested in purchasing the school. Alabama State University has yet to make an offer.
In May, Alabama A&M offered to purchase Birmingham-Southern College for $52 million, consisting of $22 million in cash in addition to the $30 million investment in “construction and maintenance upgrades needed to reopen doors and operate the full campus.” On Tuesday, Alabama A&M released a statement by Shannon Reeves Sr., Vice President of Government Affairs & External Relations, sharing the details of the university’s new offer, which totals roughly $65 million.
“On June 14, we began advising our primary stakeholders that we made an increased second offer for more than $13 million above our initial offer,” wrote Reeves. “We see this increase as a reasonable increase that will clear all BSC outstanding debt.”
Birmingham-Southern College faced declining enrollment and financial turmoil for years before announcing in March that it planned to close at the end of the 2023–24 school year. The college attempted to obtain assistance from the state but unfortunately fell short.
