From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania |
Carnegie Library |
| Established |
1837 |
| President |
Michelle R. Howard‐Vital, Ph.D. |
| Location |
Cheyney
Thornbury
Township, Chester Co. and Thornbury
Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania,
United
States |
| Former names |
Institute for Colored Youth
Cheyney State University |
| Sports |
Track & Field, Basketball, Football,
Tennis, Volleyball, Bowling |
| Colors |
Blue and White
|
| Nickname |
Wolves |
| Athletics |
NCAA |
| Website |
www.cheyney.edu |
|
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania |
|
Melrose
|
|
| Built/Founded: |
1837 |
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a public,
co-educational historically black university that is a
part of the Pennsylvania
State System of Higher Education. Cheyney University has a
275-acre (1.11 km2) campus that is located in the
Cheyney community within Thornbury
Township, Chester County and Thornbury
Township, Delaware County. The university offers bachelor's and master's
degrees.
History
Founded in 1837 as the
Institute for Colored Youth, Cheyney University is
the oldest African American school of higher
education, although degrees were not granted from Cheyney until 1913. The founding of Cheyney
University was made possible by Richard Humphreys, a
Quaker philanthropist who bequeathed
$10,000, one tenth of his estate, to design and establish a school
to educate people of African descent. Born on a plantation in the
West
Indies, Humphreys came to Philadelphia in 1764, where he became
concerned about the struggles of free African Americans to make a
living. News of a race riot in 1829 prompted Humphreys to write his
will, in which he charged thirteen fellow Quakers to design an
institution "to instruct the descendents of the African Race in
school learning, in the various branches of the mechanic Arts,
trades and Agriculture, in order to prepare and fit and qualify
them to act as teachers...."
Founded as the African Institute, the school
was soon renamed the Institute for Colored Youth. In its early
years it provided a classical
education to young African Americans in Philadelphia. In 1902
the Institute moved to George Cheyney's farm, 25 miles
(40 km) west of Philadelphia, and afterward the name "Cheyney"
became associated with the school.
The school's official name changed several times during the
twentieth century. In 1983, Cheyney joined the State System of
Higher Education as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.
The university offers baccalaureate degrees in more than 30
disciplines and the master’s degree in education.
Athletics
Cheyney University has one of the most storied basketball
programs in NCAA Division II history. The men's
basketball program is 7th all-time in NCAA win percentage, including 16 PSAC
conference championships, four Final Fours, and one
National Championship (1978).
The women's basketball team in 1982 competed in the championship
game of the inaugural NCAA Division I
tournament despite being a Division II school.
Notable
alumni
| Name |
Class year |
Notability |
Reference |
| Julian
Abele |
ca. 1896[1] |
graduate of the Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheyney
University) was a prominent African-American architect. Upon
Abele's graduation in 1902 as the first black student in
architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Abele designed or
contributed to the design of some 250 buildings, including
Harvard’s Widener Memorial Library, Duke University, The
Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Free Library, and many
Gilded Age mansions in
Newport and New York City. |
|
| Robert
Bogle |
1973 |
President/CEO of The Philadelphia Tribune, the
oldest black newspaper in circulation today |
|
| Ed Bradley |
|
former CBS News journalist of the program
60 Minutes |
|
| Octavius
Catto |
1858 |
Catto was the class valedictorian in 1858 at the Institute for
Colored Youth (later Cheyney University). An activist, Catto was
influential in getting the 15th Amendment passed in 1870 which gave
black men the right to vote. Catto is also the founder of the first
black baseball team in the United States (The Pythians, 1867) and
the Equal Rights League (Oct. 1864). |
|
| Rebecca J. Cole |
1863 |
graduated from the Institute for Colored Youth in 1863 (now
Cheyney University). She graduated from Women's Medical College
(now the Medical College of Pennsylvania) in 1867 with a medical
degree. Cole was the second African-American woman physician in the
United States and the first black woman to graduate from the
Women's Medical College. |
|
| Ronald
S. Coleman |
|
Lieutenant General, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve
Affairs for the United States Marine
Corps |
|
| Michael Horsey |
|
State Representative for the 190th district in Philadelphia
County |
|
| Levy Lee
Simon |
|
Award-winning playwright. |
|
| Gladys Styles Johnston |
|
Chancellor of the University of Nebraska at
Kearney |
|
| Thaddeus Kirkland |
|
State Representative for the 159th district in Delaware
County |
|
| Joseph E. Lee |
|
He graduated from the Institute for Colored Youth (presently
Cheyney University) in the early 1860s and graduated from Howard
University in law, 1873. He was admitted to the Florida bar that
year and was one of the first blacks to practice in Florida. He was
a member of the Florida House from 1875-1880 and the Florida Senate
from 1881-82.[2] |
|
| Randy
Monroe |
|
current head coach of University of
Maryland, Baltimore County men's basketball |
|
| Samuel J. Patterson |
|
CEO of Shepard Patterson Systems and Information Consulting
Firm |
|
| Bayard
Rustin |
|
African-American civil rights activist |
|
| Josephine Silone Yates |
|
African American writer, teacher, and civil rights
advocate |
|
| Joseph M. Segars |
|
retired Ambassador |
|
| Robert Traynham |
1996 |
Television Personality |
|
| Jim Vance |
1964 |
Emmy Award-winning anchorman. Vance was inducted into the
Journalists Hall of Fame. |
|
| Andre
Waters |
1984 |
former NFL
player |
|
| James "Big Cat" Williams |
|
former Chicago
Bears player. He was a Pro Bowl offensive lineman. He had a
12-year career with the Bears. |
|
| Robert L. Woodson |
|
founder and president of the National left for Neighborhood
Enterprise (NCNE), Washington, D.C. |
|
| Jim Ellis |
1972 |
the inspiration behind the hit Hollywood movie Pride
starring Terence Howard and Bernie Mac |
|
| Martha A. Fairbeau (Minton) |
1859 |
1st female graduate |
|
| Craig Welbourn |
1971 |
His company owns and operates 28 McDonalds restaurants, making
it the largest African American owned/owner of these restaurants in
the world and puts him in the top one percent of all McDonalds
owners |
|
| Marcus Foster |
1947 |
was a charismatic and highly esteemed African-American educator
who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while
serving as principal of Gratz High School in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, as Associate Superintendent of Schools in
Philadelphia, and as the first black Superintendent of the Oakland
Unified School District in Oakland, California |
|
| William "Billy" Joe |
1970 |
Coach Joe won 237 career games in 31 years of coaching at
Cheyney (1972-1978), Central State of Ohio and FAMU, trailing only
legendary Eddie Robinson of Grambling State in black-college
football wins (408). He was the Pennsylvania State Conference Coach
of the Year in 1978. Coach Joe was also the running backs coach for
the Philadelphia Eagles (1979-80). He helped mentor the Eagles to
the 1980 Super Bowl. Coach Joe was also AFL Rookie of the Year with
the Denver Broncos in 1963, and he a was member of New York Jets'
Super Bowl winning team (1969) |
|
| Dave Warren |
1986 |
Talk Radio host and social satirist |
|
Notable
faculty
| Name |
Department |
Notability |
Reference |
| William "Billy" Joe |
|
former NFL and AFL player and College Football Hall of Fame
coach |
|
| John Chaney |
|
1972-82 Hall of fame basketball coach |
|
| C.
Vivian Stringer |
|
1972-83 Hall of fame basketball coach |
|
| Fanny Jackson Coppin |
|
The first African American woman to become a school principal.
In her 37 years at the Institute for Colored Youth, Fanny Jackson
was responsible for vast educational improvements in
Philadelphia. |
|
| Octavius
Catto |
|
After graduating from the Institute Catto taught here briefly.
Catto was the class valedictorian in 1858 at the Institute for
Colored Youth. An activist, Catto was influential in getting the
15th Amendment passed in 1870 which gave black men the right to
vote. Catto is also the founder of the first black baseball team in
the United States (The Pythians, 1867) and the Equal Rights League
(Oct. 1864). |
|
| Edithe Scott Bagley |
|
founder of the theater department sibling of Coretta Scott
King. |
|
| Charles
L. Reason |
|
first principal A prolific writer, Reason wrote political
journalism as well as poetry. His most noted poems are “Freedom”
“The Spirit Voice” and “Silent Thoughts.” Charles L. Reason died in
1893. |
|
| Ebenezer
Don Carlos Bassett |
|
Second principal and the first African American diplomat for
America. |
|
| Richard T. Greener |
|
1870 hired first African American Harvard University
graduate. |
|
| Edward
Bouchet |
|
1876 hired first African American Yale University doctoral
graduate |
|
| William Adger |
|
1883, first African American University of Pennsylvania
baccalaureate degree graduate |
|
| Laura Wheeler Waring |
|
1908 hired. Artist and art/music teacher. World renowned
artist |
|
| Leslie P. Hill |
|
1913 to 1951, fifth and final principal, first president of
Cheyney. |
|
| Mary
Jane Patterson |
|
1862 to 1869, Patterson was the first African American woman to
receive a bachelor's degree when she graduated from Oberlin College
in 1862. Upon receiving her degree she went to Philadelphia where
she taught at ICY for seven years. In 1869 she moved to Washington,
D.C. to teach and in 1871 became the first black principal of the
newly-established Preparatory High School for Negroes, later
renamed Dunbar High School. |
|
| Michelle R. Howard-Vital, Ph.D. |
|
2008 first female president |
|
References
External
links
Coordinates: 39°55′55″N 75°31′44″W / 39.932°N
75.529°W / 39.932;
-75.529
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