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The HBCU campus update
Ebony, Sept, 2005
FROM one year to the next, a variety of new highlights occur on numerous HBCU campuses that direct new attention to these institutions of higher education. With a continuous focus on enhancing the college and university experience for students, a list of new activities include changes in curricula, new and extensive campus construction, new accreditation, celebrations of longevity and a number of other major developments that indicate the efforts that some institutions are making to remain current while, at the same time, preparing for the future.
FISK UNIVERSITY
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Under the leadership of former Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary (shown with students on campus), Fisk University in Nashville has continued to distinguish itself, rebounding from fiscal problems to develop unique initiatives such as its Ethical Leadership Institute, internships with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and increased activity at the school's radio station, WFSK, which broadcasts student programs in association with programs from internationally known jazz legend Wynton Marsalis and social commentator Tavis Smiley.
The university, which has the distinction of producing more African-American physicists than any other university in the nation, also has established research relationships with Lawrence Livermore Labs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, NASA and other federally funded laboratories.
Fisk, celebrating its 139-year existence, has experienced a 300 percent increase in student applications over last year, and its 12-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio has created an environment that's being credited with the school's 77.7 percent graduation rate and its 81 percent retention rate.
HARRIS-STOWE STATE UNIVERSITY
Since it was founded in 1857 as the first public teachers' college west of the Mississippi River, Harris-Stowe has enjoyed "college" status. But during an official ceremony on March 23, the St. Louis institution became Harris-Stowe State University when Gov. Matt Blunt signed Senate Bill 173 at the school's new Emerson Performance Center. "This transition from college to university raises the bar for Harris-Stowe and allows us to more effectively meet the needs of our great city and continue our quest to provide higher education for all," says Dr. Henry Givens Jr., the university's president. "We are in a unique position to advance the well-being of our students and to thereby strengthen the community through knowledge and skills, and we take great pride in doing so."
Additionally, expansion is evident throughout the campus, beginning with the unveiling this fall of the Harris-Stowe South Campus, which is a new temporary home for the university's Busch Business School and its Continuing Education Department. Also on campus, groundbreaking will take place this fall for the university's first residence hall, which will accommodate 250 beds. It's scheduled to open next fall.
CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY
After an eight-year absence, the Central State University football team returns to action this fall and will be featured September 4 in the Dayton Classic, where the Marauders will face Saint Paul's College. The team's head coach, Theo Lemon, has been working to put together a competitive team of student-athletes since he was hired in 2003 to restore the prominence the program enjoyed when Central State won three national championships in a five-year period. "We are going to play Marauder football, and that means tough and aggressive with a lot of character," says Lemon, who has also coached at Wake Forest, Rutgers and Northeastern universities. "We have persevered and overcome a lot of obstacles, but this means so much to the university, the community and these players."
The return of football to the Wilberforce, Ohio, campus is due in part to the University's Office of Institutional Advancement, which led a campaign and raised $1.5 million for the rebirth of gridiron competition. But in the midst of the excitement of football's return, Central State continues to celebrate its 118 years of academic excellence, leadership and progress. The university, which has an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students, continues to grow under the leadership of president John W. Garland, a 1971alumnus, who is overseeing multiple construction efforts, including a new Center for Education and Natural Sciences building, with completion of phase one scheduled for August 2006.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY
In the midst of a long list of distinguished accomplishments, North Carolina A&T State University continues to break new ground--figuratively and literally. More than $200 million in new construction and renovation is continuing to transform A&T's campus with state-of-the art, high-tech academic facilities and residential housing.
At the same time, the Greensboro, N.C., university continues to strengthen its distinction as the largest producer of African-American doctorates, master's and bachelor's degrees in engineering. The engineering doctorate programs include mechanical, electrical and industrial engineering, and the institution has added two new doctorate programs--energy and environmental sciences, and leadership studies.
