Hundreds of alumni, family and friends of Birmingham-Southern College filed into Bill Battle Coliseum Thursday night.

Across the academic quad, more who couldn’t get a seat in the stands where Panther basketball teams played gathered in the auditorium of Munger Hall.

All returned to the college that they have known so long to bid an official farewell in a closing ceremony. College officials tried dealing with financial problems at the school for its last few years. But the die was cast when the Legislature did not approve a second version of a state higher education revolving loan fund designed to rescue the school.

Dr. Vernandi Greene, BSC Class of 1982, pondered not going to the final sendoff.

“I said, all things considered, I should be here,” she said. “I came because I spent a lot of time on this campus. Even after I graduated, I still do some things on campus. I could not let it close without me being present.”

BSC may be leaving, but talks are ongoing to keep a college campus on the site. Alabama A&M and Miles College both have expressed interest in buying the property, and discussions have been had about the potential of a consortium of HBCU colleges stepping in to buy and operate a college there.

Sandy Thurmond, BSC Class of 1984, is vice president of primary care services at Children’s of Alabama Hospital. She said she had gratitude and sadness as she returned.

“I’m really full of memories,” she said. “I hate that other people aren’t going to have the same experience that I did.”

That experience included learning how to learn, Thurmond said.

“I learned how to synthesize,” she said. “I learned how to take what I do know and apply it to what I don’t know yet. I work in health care and have for 37 years and that’s a changing environment.”

Alumnae Leslie Douglas Thompson wore a black long-sleeved shirt with Birmingham-Southern in bold gold on the front. Sandy Dean Ludwig, who sang the Lord’s Prayer during her commencement in 1980, didn’t have any BSC swag and didn’t want to wear black, as though going to a funeral.

But Thursday’s event was not a funeral, even though the college closes soon.

“I’ve reunited with so many friends here and we’re gonna continue on,” she said. “I have an annual Christmas brunch with the people that still are here in the Birmingham area. We’re not going to let it be a funeral. We’re going to carry it on.

“I almost wore black because of the black and gold,” Ludwig said. “I said, ‘No, I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to wear something real bright and say it’s not the end because Birmingham-Southern is still in our heart.’”

‘I’ll bleed black and gold forever.’

Alexis Nail is among the 2020 BSC grads whose senior year was cut short because of COVID. She looked forward to the opportunity to come back to the campus, not only for reconciliation but to thank the people who imparted so much wisdom on her life.

“I never thought this day would come,” she said. “I thought that BSC would be forever.”

Damian Mitchell played football for the Panthers and was a 2018 grad. Thursday, he was among the final recipients of the college’s Rising Star Award.

“It’s a bittersweet moment (with) a lot of emotions right now,” he said. “There’s a moment of gratitude. There’s a hint of sadness. But when it all comes together, when I see everybody, when I see the alums, when I see the future grads here, the last Class of 2024 (who graduated Friday morning), it’s still uplifting. I’ll bleed black and gold forever.”

Retired President Neal Berte was acknowledged with a standing ovation. Current President Daniel Coleman humbly rated himself below Berte and the charismatic Gen. Charles Krulak in the ranks of beloved BSC presidents.

Coleman did garner a standing ovation for his gallant efforts to save the financially strapped school. He drew a longer ovation than the one given Berte when he finished his remarks, clearly fighting back tears as he took swigs of water.

During his speech, Coleman said Birmingham-Southern College teaches its students not to run away, that there’s too much important work to be done.

“We may now be a diaspora – without a campus, without our land,” he said. “But we’re still a force for good in our hometown. God called to Moses to stand up to the Pharaoh even as Moses was scared.

“For the sake of our larger place, our home, this (BSC) community needs to stand together and stand up to Pharaohs,” Coleman said, again fending off emotion. “We no longer can offer a way to educate young people, but the traditions of this community can live on for generations.

“We’re not leaving for a different land. We’re staying here to make this one better. Forward ever, always.”