Morgan State University

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Morgan State University

Centenary Biblical Institute

Former names Morgan College
Morgan State College
Growing the Future, Leading the
Motto
World
Type Public, HBCU
Established 1867
Endowment $28,000,000[1][2]
Chairman Kweisi Mfume
President David Wilson
Provost Gloria J. Gibson
Academic staff 1,556
Administrative
437
staff
Students 7,698[3]
Undergraduates 6,302[3]
Postgraduates 1,396[3]
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
39.344N
Location
76.585WCoordinates:
39.344N 76.585W
Campus Urban, 143 acres (0.58 km2)
Blue and Orange[4]
Colors
Nickname Bears
Sporting
NCAA Division I MEAC
affiliations
 Website www.morgan.edu

Morgan State University (commonly referred to as MSU, Morgan State, or Morgan) is a

historically black college (HBCU) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's
designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in Maryland. In 1890 the university,
formerly known as the "Centenary Biblical Institute", changed its name to Morgan College to
honor Reverend Lyttleton Morgan, the first chairman of its Board of Trustees who had donated
land to the college.[5] It became a university in 1975. MSU is a member of Thurgood Marshall
College Fund.

Although a public institution, MSU is not a part of the University System of Maryland; the
school opted out and possesses its own governing Board of Regents.

Contents
1 History
o 1.1 21st Century HBCU Renaissance
2 Academics
o 2.1 Enrollment
o 2.2 Schools and colleges
2.2.1 College of Liberal Arts
2.2.2 School of Business and Management
2.2.3 School of Education and Urban Studies
2.2.4 School of Engineering
2.2.5 School of Architecture and Planning
o 2.3 Library
3 Student life and activities
o 3.1 Residential facilities
o 3.2 Athletics
3.2.1 Lacrosse
3.2.2 Basketball
3.2.3 Athletic Hall of Fame
o 3.3 Choir
o 3.4 Band
o 3.5 Greek life
4 Notable alumni and faculty
5 Notes
6 References
7 Additional reading
8 External links

History
Presidents of Morgan State University
Centenary Biblical Institute
 18691882 J. Emory Round, D.D.
18821888 W. Maslin Frysinger, D.D.
Morgan College
18881901 John J. Wagner, D.D.
19011902 Charles Edmond Young, D.D. (acting)
19021937 John O. Spencer, Ph.D., LL.D.
Morgan State College
19371948 Dwight O.W. Holmes, Ph.D., LL.D.
19481970 Martin D. Jenkins, Ph.D., LL.D.
19701971 Thomas P. Fraser, II Ph.D. (interim)
19711974 King Virgil Cheek, J.D.
19741975 Thomas P. Fraser, Ph.D.
Morgan State University
19751984 Andrew Billingsley, Ph.D.
19842010 Earl S. Richardson, Ed.D.
2010present David Wilson, Ed.D.

Morgan State University (MSU) was founded in 1872 as the Centenary Biblical Institute, a
Methodist Episcopal seminary, to train young men in the ministry. At the time of his death,
Thomas Kelso, cofounder and president of the board of directors, endowed the Male Free School
and Colored Institute through a legacy of his estate.[6][7][8] It later broadened its mission to
educate both men and women as teachers. The school was renamed Morgan College in 1890 in
honor of the Reverend Lyttleton Morgan, the first chairman of its Board of Trustees, who
donated land to the college.[5] In 1895, the institution awarded its first baccalaureate degree to
George F. McMechen, after whom the building of the school of business and management is
named today. George F. McMechen later obtained a law degree from Yale University and later
became one of Morgan's main financial supporters.[9]

In 1915 Andrew Carnegie gave the school a grant of $50,000 for a central academic building.
The terms of the grant included the purchase of a new site for the College, payment of all
outstanding obligations, and the construction of a building to be named after him. The College
met the conditions and moved to its present site in northeast Baltimore in 1917. Then a
controversy exploded: in 1918, the white community of Lauraville was incensed that the Ivy Mill
property, where Morgan was to be built, had been sold to a "negro" college. It attempted to have
the sale revoked by filing suit in the circuit court in Towson, which dismissed the suit. They then
appealed the case to the state Court of Appeals.[10] The appellate court upheld the lower court
decision, finding no basis that siting the college at this location would constitute a public
nuisance.[11] Despite some ugly threats and several demonstrations against the project, Morgan
College was allowed to be constructed at the new site and later expanded. Carnegie Hall, the
oldest original building on the present MSU campus, was erected a year later.

Morgan remained a private institution until 1939. That year, the state of Maryland purchased the
school in response to a state study that determined that Maryland needed to provide more
opportunities for its black citizens. Morgan College became Morgan State College. In 1975,
Morgan added several doctoral programs and its Board of Directors petitioned the Maryland
Legislature to be granted University status.

21st Century HBCU Renaissance

Morgan State University has undergone a physical renaissance. In the 21st century alone, the
school has seen the construction of a new student union, two dedicated parking garages, the Earl
S. Richardson Library, the Dixon Research Center, the Communications Building, and the
Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies. The latter two buildings, plus one of
the two parking garages, are in the far north of the campus, connected by a new Communications
Bridge over Herring Run. The central quad was also rebuilt, completed in early 2012, and
includes a direct connection between the two main bridges on campus and many new bicycle
racks. The Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center has also become a much used venue for plays and
concerts that come to Baltimore, and is also the home of a museum of African-American art. In
September 2012, Morgan State opened its doors to the Center for the Built Environment and
Infrastructure Studies (CBEIS) which now houses the School of Architecture and Planning,
School of Transportation Studies, and the School of Engineering. Lastly, the university's new
Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management opened its doors in September 2015 near
the Northwood Shopping Center; expanding the contiguous campus to the west of Hillen Road
for the first time and housing the School of Business and Management.

New student union building

Academics

The historic Holmes Hall

Morgan awards Baccalaureate, Master's and Doctorate degrees. More than 7,698[3] students are
enrolled at Morgan. Recently, emphasis has been placed on the urban orientation of the
university. This emphasis has been incorporated into the graduate programs.
At the graduate level, the university offers the Master of Arts degree in African American
studies, economics, English, history, international studies, mathematics, music, museum studies
and historical preservation, sociology, and teaching. The Master of Business Administration is
offered in accounting, finance, hospitality management, information systems, international
business, management, and marketing and taxation. The Master of Science degree is offered in
bioinformatics, educational administration and supervision, elementary and middle school
education, project management, psychometrics, science, sociology, telecommunications, and
transportation. The Master of Science degree program in science is offered in biology, chemistry,
and physics. Professional master's degrees are offered in architecture, city and regional planning,
engineering, landscape architecture, public health, and social work.

The Doctor of Education degree is offered in community college leadership, mathematics

education, science education, and urban educational leadership. The Doctor of Philosophy degree
is offered in bioenvironmental science, business administration, English, higher education,
history, and psychometrics. The Doctor of Engineering degree is offered in civil, electrical, and
industrial engineering. In addition, the Doctor of Public Health degree and masters and doctoral
degrees in social work are offered.

Enrollment

As of the 201415 school year, there were approximately 6,302 undergraduates and 1,396
graduate students enrolled at Morgan, about 22% were non-Maryland residents, including many
from foreign countries. The largest sources of its enrollment outside of Maryland are New York,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.[3]

Schools and colleges

The university operates twelve colleges, schools and institutes.

College of Liberal Arts

School of Business and Management
School of Education and Urban Studies
School of Engineering
School of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
School of Graduate Studies
School of Architecture and Planning
School of Community Health and Policy
Patuxent Environmental & Aquatic Research Laboratory
School of Social Work
School of Global Journalism and Communication
Dr. Clara Adams Honors College

College of Liberal Arts

The College of Liberal Arts is the largest academic division at the university. In addition to
offering a wide variety of degree programs, it also offers a large portion of the courses in the
General Education Requirements. The College of Liberal Arts offers twelve undergraduate
degree programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts Degree and the Bachelor of Science Degree. It
offers the Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics, English, Fine Art, History, Music, Philosophy,
Political Science, Sociology, Speech Communication, Telecommunications, and Theater Arts. It
offers the Bachelor of Science Degree in: Economics, Psychology, and Screenwriting &
Animation.

The College of Liberal Arts offers minors in fifteen areas: African Studies (Interdisciplinary),
Anthropology, Criminal Justice, East Asian Studies (Interdisciplinary), English, Environmental
Studies (Interdisciplinary), World Languages and International Studies, Gender Studies
(Interdisciplinary), Geography, History, Journalism, Museum Studies (Interdisciplinary), Music,
Philosophy, Pre-Law, Religious Studies, Sociology.

School of Business and Management

The Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management (GSBM) is named in honor of alumnus
Earl G. Graves, Sr. and is housed in the Graves School of Business and Management building,
which was opened for the Fall Semester 2015 at the western edge of the campus. It is a state-of-
the-art classroom, laboratory, office building, with rooms for hospitality management students to
operate. The GSBM offers Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting, Business Administration,
Finance, Hospitality Management, Human Resource Management, and Information Science and
Systems, and Marketing; a Master of Business Administration; a Master of Science in Project
Management; and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. These programs are accredited by The
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

School of Education and Urban Studies

The School of Education and Urban Studies is located in Banneker Hall. The school offers
programs in Family and Consumer Sciences, Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Social
Work (Mental Health, Gerontology), and Teacher Education and Administration (Elementary
Education, Secondary Education). Additionally, programs are offered within the Center for
Excellence in Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE). Masters-level programs are
offered in Educational and Administration Supervision and in Teaching.

School of Engineering

Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering building

The School of Engineering admitted its first class starting in 1984. The first graduates received
degrees in 1988. Eugene M. DeLoatch, is the first Dean of the School of Engineering. He
accepted the position and left Howard University where he had been the Chairman of the
Department of Electrical Engineering.

The Morgan State University, School of Engineering has fully ABET-accredited undergraduate
programs in civil engineering; electrical and computer engineering; and industrial,
manufacturing, and information engineering. The school also offers graduate programs that
confer the Master of Engineering Degree, Doctor of Engineering Degree, and Master of
Transportation Degree.

By 1991, the construction of the 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m2) Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of
Engineering building was completed, and the facility included sixteen teaching laboratories and
five research laboratories. The William Donald Schaefer Building is a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2)
addition to the Engineering School and was completed in April 1998. The facility provided
instructional laboratories, classrooms, a student lounge, research laboratories and a 2,200 sq ft
(200 m2) library annex. Morgan State University's School of Engineering graduates more than
two-thirds of the state's African-American Civil Engineers, 60 percent of the African-American
Electrical Engineers, 80 percent of the African-American Telecommunications specialists, more
than one-third of the African-American Mathematicians, and all of Maryland's Industrial
Engineers.[12] Nearly one-third of the nation's top black engineering students have graduated
from historically black institutions, like Morgan, in the past decade.

School of Architecture and Planning

The School of Architecture and Planning has three graduate programs (Architecture, Landscape
Architecture, City & Regional Planning) and two undergraduate programs (Architecture and
Environmental Design and Construction Management). The School prepares students to address
the challenges associated with systems of the built environment and their integration with
systems in the natural environment. The objective is to link domains of environmental (natural
patterns and flows), economic (financial patterns and equity), and social (human, cultural, and
spiritual) as related to the professional practices of planning, design and management. Morgan's
education is directed towards a sustainable urban environment that is beautiful, humane, socially
appropriate, and restorative.

Library

The Earl S. Richardson Librarys holdings constitute more than 660,000 volumes, including
works in special collections. One such collection includes books on Africa, with an emphasis on
sub-Saharan Africa. The African-American collection is a body of historically significant and
current books by and about African Americans and includes papers and memorabilia of such
persons as the late Emmett P. Scott, secretary to Booker T. Washington, and Arthur J. Smith,
who was associated with the Far East Consular Division of the State Department. The Forbush
Collection, named for Bliss Forbush, is composed of materials associated with the Quakers and
slavery. The Martin D. Jenkins Collection was acquired in 1980. Together, these collections
provide both a contemporary and historical view of African Americans in education, military
service, politics, and religion.

The newly built Earl S. Richardson Library - front view

rear view

entrance view

inside view 1

inside view 2


inside view 3

Student life and activities

Residential facilities

Approximately 2,000 students are housed in four traditional residence halls, two high rise
buildings and three apartment complexes. Baldwin Hall, Cummings Hall, Harper-Tubman House
and O'Connell House are traditional style housing.

Baldwin (upper-class male)

Cummings (male)
Harper-Tubman (preferred honors co-ed)
O'Connell Hall (freshman male)

Blount Towers (all female classifications) and Rawlings Hall (all male classifications) are high-
rise (six to eight floors) residence halls. Thurgood Marshall (co-ed upper-class) is an apartment
style complex located on-campus. Both Morgan View Apartments and Marble Hall Gardens are
the co-ed upper-class apartment style residence hall complexes located off-campus. Morgan
View is a privatized facility that caters to Morgan State students.

Athletics

Main article: Morgan State Bears

See also: Morgan State Bears men's basketball, Morgan State Bears football, and Morgan State
Bears lacrosse

Morgan's athletic teams are known as the Bears, and they compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference (MEAC). Between 1926 and 1928, a young Charles Drew served as Athletic
Director. During this time he made great improvements in the school's teams' records.[13] From
the 1930s through 1960s, led by coach and then athletic director Edward P. Hurt, Morgan's
athletic teams were legendary. More than thirty of its football players were drafted by and played
in the NFL [14] and many of its track athletes competed internationally and received world-class
status. By the late 1960s most white colleges and universities ended their segregation against
black high school students [15] and many top black high school students and athletes started
matriculating to schools from which they had been barred just a decade prior. While achieving a
national goal of desegregation, integration depleted the athletic strength of schools like Morgan
and Grambling State University. For example, the annual contest between Morgan and
Grambling played in New York City in the late 1960s drew more than 60,000 fans.[16] Today, the
two teams do not even play each other and Morgan's home football games rarely draw as many
as 10,000 fans with the exception of the school's homecoming game. Morgan State archrivals are
the Howard University Bisons (the matchup is often called the Battle of the Beltway) and the
Coppin State Eagles.

Hill Field House, Morgan's indoor athletic venue

Lacrosse

By 1975 Morgan became noted for its lacrosse team. Lacrosse, a sport that, up until then, had
been dominated by white athletes. Black high school lacrosse players in Maryland and New
York still had trouble getting into non-black schools. Morgan was the firstand, until the turn of
the 20th century, the onlyhistorically black university to field a lacrosse team.[10]
Several members of the team now coach lacrosse in local high schools. Tony Fulton and Curt
Anderson were elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. Miles Harrison and Coach Howard
"Chip" Silverman collaborated on the book, Ten Bears; which is being made into a movie.

In 2005 students organized a lacrosse club which plays other college's lacrosse clubs, but the
team has yet to qualify to become an NCAA-sanctioned team.[17] The University will not allow
the new club team to use any of its fields or facilities. The club team has played more than
twenty games in the last three years, most of them "away" because of the Bears' lack of a home
field, locker rooms or visiting team amenities.

Basketball

Main article: Morgan State Bears men's basketball

In 2009, the Morgan State men's basketball team won the MEAC regular season and tournament
championship and qualified for the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. In
their first tournament appearance, the 15th-seeded Bears lost to the 200809 Oklahoma Sooners
men's basketball team Oklahoma Sooners, 8254, in the first round of the South Regional.[18]

In 2010 the Morgan State men's basketball team again won the MEAC regular season and
tournament championship [19] and qualified for the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball
Tournament, again as a 15 seed. Morgan State lost to West Virginia University in the first round
by a score of 7750.[20]

Athletic Hall of Fame

Main article: List of Morgan State University Athletic Hall of Fame members
More than two hundred male and female Morgan State athletes have been inducted into the
Morgan State University Hall of Fame including National Football League Hall of Famers Rosey
Brown, Leroy Kelly and Willie Lanier, two-time Olympic Gold medalist George Rhoden, and
the coach of the legendary Ten Bears lacrosse team Howard "Chip" Silverman.

Choir

The Morgan State University Choir is one of the nations most prestigious university choral
ensembles and was led for more than three decades by the late Dr. Nathan Carter, celebrated
conductor, composer, and arranger. The groups that are subdivisions of the critically acclaimed
choir include the University Choir, which is over 140 voices strong, and The Morgan Singers
(approximately 40 voices). While classical, gospel, and contemporary popular music comprise
the majority of the choirs repertoire, the choir is noted for its emphasis on preserving the
heritage of the spiritual, especially in the historic practices of performance. The Morgan State
University Choir has performed for audiences throughout the United States and all over the
worldincluding The Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Canada, Africa, Asia, and
Europe. Their most recent international appearance was in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the
invitation of Maestro Yuri Temirkanov, music director and conductor for the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra. In Russia, the Choir performed in the 5th International Festival Arts
Square and was received enthusiastically by their Russian audiences. The Choir has appeared at
the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and at the Lincoln Center and
Carnegie Hall in New York City on numerous occasions, performing and premiering works such
as John Coriglianos Poem On His Birthday, Too Hot to Handel arranged by Broadway
composers Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson[21] and Hannibal Lokumbes African
Portraits, led by music director Leonard Slatkin, as part of the Kennedy Centers African
Festival. One of the Choirs most historic moments came with the opportunity to sing under the
baton of Robert Shaw, conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's and joined by Jessye Norman and
others in Carnegie Halls One Hundredth Birthday Tribute to Marian Anderson. A major
milestone and historical movement occurred during the 19961997 season with the sounds of the
Silver Anniversary concert being broadcast into households throughout the state of Maryland.
The concert won three Emmy Awards for Maryland Public Television (MPT). MPT continues to
air this hallmark performance during select sections of their membership drives. In 1993, the
choir joined actor James Earl Jones in a performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at the 1993
Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, broadcast on CBS.
When at home, the choir performs here at the Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center

Known for its consistency of performances, the Choir probably does more annual appearances
with major orchestras of the United States than any other university choir. For example, the
19981999 season included performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, the New York
Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Buffalo Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore
Symphony, and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. During the 19992000 season, the Choir
was featured with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in a then-newly commissioned work
for the millennium, All Rise, by Wynton Marsalis. The Choir reprised All Rise in Prague, in
October 2000 and recorded it with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Los Angeles
Philharmonic and, in 2003, the Choir recorded the piece in Paris, France. In December 2003 the
Choir performed African Portraits with the Baltimore Symphony at the Gala Concert for the
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture. In their May
2004 issue, Reader's Digest named the Morgan State University Choir as the Best College
Choir" in its list of Americas 100 Best.[22]

In January 2005, under the leadership of Eric Conway, the choir performed Felix Mendelssohns
Symphony #2, Lobgesang, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing at
the State Department at the personal invitation of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to wide
acclaim. Most recently, the Morgan State University Choir performed for the service honoring
Rosa Parks, the unassuming matriarch of the civil rights movement, who became the first woman
to lie in state at our nations Capitol Rotunda. In July 2006, the Choir traveled to Prague, Czech
Republic, for two concerts with Maestro Paul Freeman. In November 2006, the Morgan State
Choir participated in a concert celebrating the Bicentennial Celebration and Re-opening of the
Basilica of the Assumptionthe first cathedral in America.

The Morgan State University Choir has shared its musical gifts on many grand stages all over the
worldwith numerous dignitaries and celebrated performersmaking them cultural
ambassadors for Morgan State University, the city of Baltimore, and the state of Maryland. Each
spring, the Choir concludes its season at home with its annual Spring Concert, which large
audiences enthusiastically anticipate and receive. The University Choir was recently in Ghana
under the invitation of Morgan State alumni and U.S. ambassador to Ghana Pamela E.
Bridgewater, performed in major cities such as Accra, Kumasi, and Takoradi.
On November 24, 2008, members of the choir appeared with country singer Faith Hill on NBC's
Today show.[23] They also made appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and
Christmas in Rockefeller Center 2008. On January 20, 2009, the choir performed at the War
Memorial Plaza in downtown Baltimore as a warm-up act to President Barack Obama's
whistlestop tour speech.[24]

Band

The Morgan State University Band Program consists of six ensembles: the marching band,
symphonic band, symphonic winds, pep band, jazz ensemble, and jazz combo. Self-titled the
Magnificent Marching Machine, the marching band has performed at MSU football games, NFL
games, Presidential Inaugurations, World Series games and in regional and local television
appearances.[25] The band also made a cameo appearance in the 2003 American movie Head of
State and appeared on The Skyshow, a television show featuring Tom Joyner.

The Morgan State Marching Band performing during halftime at the Rutgers University-Morgan
State football game in Piscataway, New Jersey (September 2008)

1977 photo of Morgan State University Marching Band

Greek life

Morgan State University has chapters from each of the National Pan-Hellenic Council
organizations.

NPHC organizations at Morgan State

(in order of establishment)
Organization Chapter name
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Beta Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Alpha Delta
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Alpha Iota
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Pi
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Alpha Gamma
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Gamma
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Alpha
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Gamma
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Beta Tau

Morgan State University houses a variety of other fraternal organizations. These organizations
are a part of the Council of Independent Organizations (CIO).[26]

Council of Independent Organizations Notable

Organization Chapter name alumni
Alpha Nu Omega Fraternity Alpha
and
Alpha Nu Omega Sorority Alpha
Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship Mother Bear[27]
faculty
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity Eta Gamma Main article:
Malika Kambe Umfazi Sorority Njeri Zubari Queendom[28] List of Morgan
Pershing Angels Sorority Company J-8-5 State University
Pershing Rifles Fraternity Company J-8 alumni
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity Pi Eta
Alumni of
Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity for Women Kappa Xi Morgan State
Swing Phi Swing Social Fellowship Marali Nubia Bear [29] University have
Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Sorority Epsilon Omega [30] achieved
notability in the
Delta Chi Xi Honorary Dance Fraternity Zeta
fields of
athletics, science, government and the military including four members of the NFL Football Hall
of Fame (Willie Lanier, Roosevelt Brown, Leroy Kelly, and Len Ford), Black Enterprise
Magazine publisher Earl Graves, the Chief Judge of Maryland's highest court, nearly a dozen
U.S. Army Generals including Lieutenant General William "Kip" Ward, the first Commanding
Officer of the United States Africa Command, The New York Times sports columnist William C.
Rhoden, playwright, TV producer, and entrepreneur David E. Talbert, and American-Israeli
Olympic sprinter Donald Sanford. Civil rights activist and music critic for the Baltimore Afro-
American newspaper Adah Jenkins graduated from Morgan Staate.

Notable faculty currently teaching at Morgan State University include bestselling author and
filmmaker MK Asante, and scholar Raymond Winbush, and African-American historian Rosalyn
Terborg-Penn.