"He was obviously crushed by the news": Birmingham-Southern's baseball players recount hearing news of school shutting down 

They say all good things must come to an end. Birmingham-Southern student-athletes recently discovered the harsh truth at the end of this statement. It was announced to the 1300 students who attend the 168-year-old institution that it will be closing its doors permanently on May 31 of this year.

The shock was particularly big for the members of the school's baseball program, which is the fourth winningest in the NCAA Div-III since 2010. According to outfielder Eli Steadman, they received the announcement that the school would close on March 26, to the surprise of many. He said :

"We thought we were gonna have a meeting and then go out to the field for practice,"

The news was broken by head coach Jan Weisberg, who the players reported was visibly shaken by the abrupt end to the program. Steadman told ESPN:

"We didn't really know until really right up to the moment where Coach Weisberg came in and you could see the look on his face, it wasn't one that was normal, it was one that -- he was obviously crushed by the news and I'm sure crushed to have to relay that news to us."

Weisberg said:

"It allowed us to help teach life moments, that's one of the great things about sports. It's a lot like death in that it's OK to have these emotions and it's OK to grieve what we're losing. But we still have to find a way to live. And we told them, 'Hey, man, over the next three weeks or two months, we're gonna be with you every step of the way.'"

Why is Birmingham-Southern closing?

The school was reportedly battling with a financial crisis for the last two years, attempting to replenish a depleted endowment. According to the Athletic, the school's woes go back to the 2008 financial crisis. Birmingham-Southern is also a liberal arts college and the demand for said schools has declined over the last decade.

All these long-running issues were accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the school couldn't cope anymore. The death knell of the institution came in October 2023, when Alabama's state treasurer declined a $30 million loan for the school. In March, school authorities officially voted on the decision to close down for good.