The University of Alabama launched its 11th Where Legends Are Made campaign Friday, and this year’s edition is built around the initiatives UA says will produce Alabama’s next generation of leaders, from the new School of Leadership and Policy to a doubling of its nursing program.

The television spot premiered Saturday during Alabama’s 48-10 win over East Carolina before a sold-out Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd of 100,077.

The campaign carries the tagline “For Alabama. For Leaders. For the Future.” and leans on a year’s worth of moves in Tuscaloosa.

The School of Leadership and Policy, approved by the UA System Board of Trustees in November, opens in fall 2027 alongside a new School of Data Science, the first new schools UA has founded in more than 50 years.

It will operate out of a renovated Farrah Hall under inaugural dean Parker Wright, a retired Air Force major general who came over from Maxwell Air Force Base, and already carries its first endowed professorship from Hugh Culverhouse Jr.

On the healthcare side, UA is doubling enrollment at the Capstone College of Nursing to graduate more than 550 nurses a year, its answer to a projected 14,000-nurse shortage in Alabama.

The campaign site lays out the numbers UA is selling: 42,360 students from every county in the state, 1,260 National Merit Scholars, a record $269.9 million in research funding and a $3.4 billion annual economic impact.

Where Legends Are Made debuted in 2016 with alumni like Rece Davis and Marillyn Hewson and has since become the University’s signature brand, one President Donald Trump repeated at Coleman Coliseum in May 2025, telling graduates, “This place is truly where legends are made.”

The full commercial and campaign stories are at legends.ua.edu.