Coppin State University (Coppin) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
historically black university
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. It is part of the
University System of Maryland
The University System of Maryland (USM) is a public higher education system in the United States, U.S. state of Maryland. The system is composed of the eleven campuses at College Park, Maryland, College Park, Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimor ...
and a member of the
Thurgood Marshall College Fund
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is an American non-profit organization that supports and represents nearly 300,000 students attending its 47 member-schools that include public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), medic ...
. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State student population is 76% female and 83% Black or African American.
History
Coppin State University was founded in 1900 at what was then called ''Colored High School'' (later named ''Douglass High School'') on Pennsylvania Avenue by the Baltimore City School Board. It first had a one-year training course for the preparation of
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
elementary school teachers. By 1902, the training program was expanded to a two-year Normal Department within the high school. Seven years later it was separated from the high school and given its own principal.
In 1926, this facility for teacher training was named Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School in honor of an African-American woman who was a pioneer in teacher education,
Fanny Jackson Coppin
Fanny Jackson Coppin (October 15, 1837 – January 21, 1913) was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for female higher education. One of the first Black alumnae of Oberlin College, she served as principal of the Institute for C ...
.
By 1938 the curriculum of the normal school was lengthened to four years, authority was given for the granting of the Bachelor of Science degree, and the name of the Normal School was changed to Coppin Teachers College. In 1950, Coppin became part of the higher education system of Maryland under the State Department of Education, and renamed Coppin State Teachers College. Two years later Coppin moved to its present site on West North Avenue.
In acknowledgment of the goals and objectives of the college, the Board of Trustees ruled in 1963 that the institution's degree-granting authority would no longer be restricted to teacher education. Following this ruling, Coppin was officially renamed Coppin State College, and in 1967 the first Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred. In 1988, the College became part of the newly organized University of Maryland System (now the University System of Maryland.) The school was officially renamed Coppin State University on April 13, 2004.
Coppin's first president (1930–1956) was Dr.
Miles Connor. He was succeeded by Dr. Parlett Moore in 1956, who served until Dr.
Calvin W. Burnett Calvin may refer to:
Names
* Calvin (given name)
** Particularly Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States
* Calvin (surname)
** Particularly John Calvin, theologian
Places
In the United States
* Calvin, Arkansas, a hamlet
* Calvin To ...
took over as Coppin's third president in 1970. Burnett served the institution for thirty-three years, until Coppin's fourth president, Dr.
Stanley F. Battle, was appointed on March 3, 2003. After Dr. Battle departed for
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...
in 2007, Coppin's fifth president, Dr.
Reginald Avery was hired. Avery announced his resignation (effective January 22, 2013). Dr. Mortimer H. Neufville became the university's sixth president Jan 23 after Avery stepped down. Dr. Maria Thompson became the university's seventh and first woman president, July 1, 2015. Following her retirement in June 2019, Dr. Mickey L. Burnim was appointed Interim President until May 2020. Dr. Anthony L. Jenkins was appointed Coppin State University's eighth president on May 26, 2020.
Academics
Coppin State University is
classified among "Master's Colleges & Universities: Small Programs" and institutionally accredited by the
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...
. Specific programs are accredited by the Commission on Nursing Education (CCNE), the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE), the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), and the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). Additionally, the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) accredits the College of Business.
CSU offers undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs through the following colleges:
*College of Arts & Sciences, and Education
*College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
*College of Business
*College of Health Professions
Coppin has offered a selective honors program since 1981 for high-performing undergraduate students. The honors program students live on the same floor in the Daley building, and are recipients of one or more scholarships.
Student activities
There are over 30 student organizations on campus.
Athletics
The Coppin State Eagles compete in the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...
and in the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
. The school has men's teams in
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
cross country,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and both
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
, and women's teams in basketball,
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
, cross country,
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
.
In 1997, the Coppin State Men's Basketball team defeated the
University of South Carolina in the opening round of the
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
becoming just the third #15 seed to defeat a #2 seed. In the 2007–08 season, Coppin State became the first team in NCAA
College Basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
history to reach the NCAA Tournament with 20 losses.
Under the direction of Coach Leon Stewart, Coppin State began breaking school records in bowling, which is one of its newer teams. In 2012, the Eagles signed two premier women bowlers in Kache Woods and Kristen Sharpe. The 2013 recruiting class included Woods and Sharpe, along with Erica Washington, Loren Johnson, and Heather Josker. With this influx of talent, the 2013 Eagles broke the school record for most wins. The Eagles upped that performance in 2014 once again as they set a Coppin State record for wins in a season.
Coppin State Women’s Bowling Breaks School Record for Most Wins , HBCU Digest , HBCU News, Commentary and Information
Greek life
Coppin State actively has all nine National Pan-Hellenic Council
The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The NPHC was formed as a permanent ...
(NPHC) organizations present on campus. The following is a collective list of all the chapters chartered at the university.
Fraternities
Sororities
Notable alumni
References
External links
*
Coppin State Athletics website
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Historically black universities and colleges in the United States
Mondawmin, Baltimore
Universities and colleges in Baltimore
Educational institutions established in 1900
1900 establishments in Maryland
Public universities and colleges in Maryland
University System of Maryland campuses