Sojourner–Douglass College was a

private college Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. D ...

organized around an Afrocentric focus of study and located 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 ...

. The college was founded in 1972 and focused on educating mature students. The college's accreditation was revoked by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

effective June 30, 2015, and the college remains closed for instruction.

History

Established as part of the

Antioch Network The Antioch Network (internally referred to as The Network) was an extension of branch campuses, study centers, and initiatives spun out of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The Network was the precursor of Antioch College's university syste ...

in 1972 as the Homestead-Montebello Center of Antioch College, the institution became an independent entity with a four-year program on July 1, 1980, and was named in honor 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 ...

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...

and

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

. The college took possession of the

Eastern Female High School Eastern Female High School, also known as Public School No. 116, is a historic female high school located on the southeast corner of the 200 block of North Aisquith Street and Orleans Street, in the old Jonestown / Old Town neighborhoods, east of ...

building in 2003 from the municipal government after the college paid $150,000.

Loss of accreditation and closing

The college suffered from financial difficulties with its regional accreditation being threatened several times. In March 2014, Sojourner was placed on "show cause" status with the

. It had until September 1, 2015, to convince its accreditor not to revoke its accreditation. On June 29, 2015, Sojourner–Douglass College filed for a 14-day temporary restraining order against

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 ...

, which was denied on June 30, 2015. On July 1, 2015, Sojourner–Douglass College sued the

for violating the

Civil Rights Act of 1866 The Civil Rights Act of 1866 (, enacted April 9, 1866, reenacted 1870) was the first United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law. It was mainly intended, in the wake of the Amer ...

by revoking their accreditation. On August 24, 2015, U.S. District Judge

Ellen Lipton Hollander Ellen Frances Lipton Hollander (born May 24, 1949) is a Senior status, Senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Early life and education Born Ellen Frances ...

ruled against restoring Sojourner-Douglass's accreditation, while the college's

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

against the

was allowed to move forward. In addition to denying the request for an injunction, Hollander dismissed two counts in the lawsuit,

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...

and

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...

, without prejudice. She gave the college 17 days to revise the lawsuit. In May 2016 the College listed its main central campus as well as its secondary administrative building for sale. In August 2016, the City of Baltimore listed the Eastern Female building on a foreclosure auction and sold it in 2017 despite the college leadership's objections. The satellite campus in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

, closed on July 29, 2016.

Administration

Charles Simmons

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

, was the institution's first and only president. In 2013, he was recognized "for a lifetime of dedication to reducing inequalities" at the Second Annual Symposium on the Social Determinants of Health.

Academics

Sojourner–Douglass College's

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

programs were geared toward adult learners. S-DC also offered a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in applied

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

. It was accredited by the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

Campuses

Satellite campuses were located in other areas in Maryland (

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Owings Mills Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. Per the 2020 census, the population was 35,674. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus of ...

, and Lanham) as well as in

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. On September 23, 2016, the former main campus, in Baltimore, suffered a two-alarm fire, with heavy smoke and moderate fire on the third floor. The fire took about 30 minutes to get under control. No injuries were reported, as the building had been unoccupied since the college closed in 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sojourner-Douglass College 1972 establishments in Maryland African-American history in Annapolis, Maryland African-American history in Baltimore African-American history in Cambridge, Maryland Afro-Bahamian Afrocentrism Antioch College Antioch University Universities and colleges in the Bahamas East Baltimore Educational institutions established in 1972 Nassau, Bahamas Pan-Africanist organizations Private schools in Baltimore Private schools in Baltimore County, Maryland Salisbury, Maryland Schools in Dorchester County, Maryland Universities and colleges in Anne Arundel County, Maryland Universities and colleges in Baltimore Universities and colleges in Baltimore County, Maryland Universities and colleges in Prince George's County, Maryland Universities and colleges in Wicomico County, Maryland Educational institutions disestablished in 2015 2015 disestablishments in Maryland Defunct private universities and colleges in Maryland