Suitts later attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where his primary, formal studies included political science, American studies, and economics. In college, Suitts was an author of a new student constitution (including a new student judiciary system), founder of a neighborhood tutorial program, and co-author of the curriculum concept paper which helped to prompt the University's first black studies program. He also served as president of Friends of Greene County, an organization that raised money for African American candidates and involved college students in voter registration in Alabama's Black Belt.