Chapter

History

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Chapter of the NAACP was founded on February 16, 1986 with Jerry McNeely serving as founding president and Dr. Horace Huntley serving as founding advisor. Reactivations of the chapter’s charter followed up until summer of 2003.             This is when an organizing committee was formed to initiate the reactivation of the NAACP chapter’s charter. The UAB Chapter of the NAACP continued to flourish as a student organization. On December 31, 2003 the UAB Chapter of the NAACP received its letter of reactivation.                

The reactivating chapter officers were installed on February 3, 2004 and they were: Brian McCoy, President; Dominique Askew, Vice-President; Jamie Williams, Recording Secretary; Tamera Smith, Treasurer; and Michael S. Fitts as Advisory Board Chairman. Because of the UAB NAACP’s great contribution to UAB and the community in 2003 the chapter received the “BEST NEW YOUTH UNIT AWARD” at the NAACP’s 52^nd Southeast Regional Conference. And it also received the “Youth Field Director’s Award.” The chapter has quickly become regionally as well as nationally recognized for is civil rights activism at UAB and in Birmingham with its demonstration on campus to free a young brother named Marcus Dixon that was wrongfully imprisoned in Georgia. 

It also broke ground with its standing against racist intimidation when it stood against a racist letter that was found on a student’s dorm room door in 2004. In 2005 and in 2006 the chapter has received the coveted, “BEST COLLEGE CHAPTER AWARD” and the “COMMUNICATIONS AWARD” at the NAACP’s Region V Conference in Orlando, FL. It also received a RESOLUTION FROM THE BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL rewarding the chapter for its works. The UAB Chapter of the NAACP has and will continue to be one of the most prestigious organizations at UAB and in the city of Birmingham.