Kentucky State University (KSU, and KYSU) 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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

land-grant university A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Acts of 1862 and ...

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, and becoming a land-grant college in 1890, KSU is the second-oldest state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky.

History

Kentucky State University was chartered in May 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, only the second state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky. During the euphoria of Frankfort's 1886 centennial celebration, the city donated $1,500 towards the purchase of land for a new college on a bluff overlooking Frankfort. The new school formally opened on October 11, 1887, with three teachers, 55 students, and John H. Jackson as president. Recitation Hall (now Jackson Hall), the college's first permanent building, was erected in that year. KSU became a land-grant college in 1890 following the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, and the departments of

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

were added to the school's curriculum. The school produced its first graduating class of five students in the spring of that year. A high school was organized in 1893. This expansion continued into the 20th century in both name and program. In 1902, the name was changed to Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons. The name was changed again in 1926 to Kentucky State Industrial College for Colored Persons. In 1929, the high school was discontinued by president Rufus B. Atwood, since students were now entering college with a high school education. In 1938, the school was named the Kentucky State College for Negroes. The term "for Negroes" was dropped in 1952. The civil engineering program was started in 1942 after the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

threatened a lawsuit on behalf of a black student who wanted to attend the engineering program at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

. Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

delivered the commencement speech at the 1957

graduation A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...

ceremonies titled, "Facing the Challenge of a New Age". In 1960, the first white student enrolled. Kentucky State College became a university in 1972, renamed Kentucky State University.

Presidents

Academics

Students are divided into five colleges, four associate degrees, 55 undergraduate degrees, and six postgraduate programs. * College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems * College of Arts and Sciences * College of Business and Computer Science * College of Professional Studies The university also offers five liberal study degrees through the Whitney Young School (WYS) of Honors and Liberal Studies, which consists of a Honors Program, an Integrative Studies Program, and an International Studies Program. The degrees include Africana Studies and Liberal Studies.

Demographics

, Kentucky State University was host to 1,932 undergraduate students. African Americans comprised 81% of the undergraduate student body.

Library

The Paul G. Blazer Library, constructed in 1960, houses a collection of more than 700,000 items includes extensive reference, periodical, and circulating collections of materials such as books, videos, microforms, sound recordings, and others, to aid students in their course work and research. It is named after Paul G. Blazer, a strong supporter of education who was the founder and CEO of Ashland Oil and Refining Company in

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon the southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West ...

Pawpaw program

KYSU has the world's largest pawpaw ('' Asimina triloba'') research planting. The research program was started in 1990 with the aim of developing pawpaw as a new tree-fruit crop for Kentucky. Pawpaw is the largest native fruit in the United States and has very few diseases compared to other orchard crops. KYSU is the site of the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

National Clonal Germplasm Repository for ''Asimina ''species and the pawpaw orchards at KYSU contain over 1,700 trees. Research activities include germplasm collection and variety trials, and efforts are directed towards improving propagation, understanding fruit ripening and storage, and developing orchard management practices. Cultivation is best in

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

s 5-9 and trees take 7–8 years from seedling to fruiting. KYSU has created the three cultivars 'KSU-Atwood', 'KSU-Benson', and 'KSU-Chappell', with focus on better flavors, higher yields, vigorous plants, and low seed-to-pulp ratios.

Athletics

Kentucky State University teams participate as a member of the Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The school's mascot are the Thorobreds. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, and indoor and outdoor track and field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, softball, and volleyball. Kentucky State's main rivals include

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

, West Virginia State University, and Central State University. The men's basketball team was national champions in 1970, 1971, and 1972 at the NAIA level. The Exum Center, the university's athletic and recreational complex, was named after William Exum, the first African-American varsity football player at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Exum was hired as head of KSU's Physical Education department in 1949, and later made head of the Athletics department. He then became manager of the United States Track and Field teams at the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and 1976 Olympics. Exum retired from KSU in 1980.

Mighty Marching Thorobreds

Kentucky State University's marching band is named the Mighty Marching Thorobreds (MMT). MMT is one of the largest student organizations on campus with over 200 members. MMT has several notable performances including the Honda Battle of the Bands in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and the National Battle of the Bands in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. MMT is accompanied by the K-Rettes danceline and Silk Flag Corps.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

* Wilfred Reilly, contemporary professor and published author * Frederick C. Tillis, educator, professor, musician

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control Universities and colleges established in 1886 Buildings and structures in Frankfort, Kentucky Historically black universities and colleges in the United States Land-grant universities and colleges Liberal arts colleges in Kentucky Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Franklin County, Kentucky Public universities and colleges in Kentucky Public liberal arts colleges in the United States 1886 establishments in Kentucky