Clark Atlanta University

Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University Seal
Motto	"I’ll Find a Way or Make One" (Atlanta University); "Culture for Service" (Clark College) [1]
Established	July 1, 1988 (1988-07-01) Atlanta University (1865) Clark College (1869)
Type	Private, HBCU [2]
Religious affiliation	United Methodist Church
President	Carlton E. Brown
Undergraduates	3,300
Postgraduates	700
Location	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Campus	Urban, 126 acres (0.5 km2)
Colors	Red, Black, and Gray [3]
Nickname	Black Panther [3]
Athletics	NCAA Division II [3]
Affiliations	SIAC [3]
Website	www.cau.edu

Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University.

Academics and demographics

Clark Atlanta, a four-year school, offers undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral professional degrees as well as certificate programs.

Schools and colleges

The university operates four colleges: Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, and Social Work.

National ranking

Clark Atlanta was ranked on The Washington Monthly's 2008 list of "Best Colleges and Universities" and the US News & World Report’s list of historically black colleges and universities (No. 24 out of 34 best). ^[4]

Program accreditation

Clark Atlanta University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Research University – High Research Activity.

Campus

CAU’s main campus houses 37 buildings on 126 acres (0.5 km²) and is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the center of Atlanta, Georgia.

Current residential facilities

• Holmes Hall
• Pfeiffer Hall
• Merner Hall
• Bumstead Hall-Current Offline for renovations
• Ware Hall
• Beckwith Hall
• New Residential Apartments- now called "James P. Brawley Hall" when the original James P. Brawley Hall was demolished in 2007
• Heritage Commons-
• CAU Suites East / West
• Gammon Hall / ITC Center

History

Clark Atlanta University was formed by the consolidation of Atlanta University, which offered only graduate degrees, and Clark College, a four-year undergraduate institution oriented to the liberal arts.

Atlanta University

Atlanta University, founded in 1865 by the American Missionary Association, with later assistance from the Freedman's Bureau, was, before consolidation, the nation's oldest graduate institution serving a predominantly African-American student body. By the late 1870s, Atlanta College had begun granting bachelor's degrees and supplying black teachers and librarians to the public schools of the South. In 1929-30, it began offering graduate education exclusively in various liberal arts areas, and in the social and natural sciences. It gradually added professional programs in social work, library science, and business administration. At this same time, Atlanta University affiliated with Morehouse College and Spelman College in a university plan known as the Atlanta University System.

The campus was moved to its present site, and the modern organization of the Atlanta University Center emerged, with Clark College, Morris Brown College, and the Interdenominational Theological Center joining the affiliation later. The story of the Atlanta University over the next twenty years from 1930 includes many significant developments. graduate Schools of Library Science, Education, and Business Administration were established in 1941, 1944, and 1946, respectively. The Atlanta School of Social Work, long associated with the University, gave up its charter in 1947 to become an integral part of the University. In 1957, the controlling Boards of the six institutions (Atlanta University; Clark, Morehouse, Morris Brown and Spelman Colleges; and Gammon Theological Seminary) ratified new Articles of Affiliation. The new contract created the Atlanta University Center. The influence of Atlanta University has been extended through professional journals and organizations, including Phylon. Through Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, a member of the faculty, the university was also associated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Clark College

Clark College was founded in 1869 by the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which later became the United Methodist Church. It was named for Bishop Davis Wasgatt Clark, who was the first President of the Freedman's Aid Society and became Bishop in 1864. A sparsely furnished room in Clark Chapel, a Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta's Summerhill section, housed the first Clark College class. In 1871, the school relocated to a new site on the newly purchased Whitehall and McDaniel Street property. In 1877, the School was chartered as Clark University.

An early benefactor, Bishop Gilbert Haven, visualized Clark as the "university" of all the Methodist schools founded for the education of freedmen. After the school had changed locations several times, Bishop Haven, who succeeded Bishop Clark, was instrumental in acquiring 450 acres (1.8 km²) in South Atlanta, where in 1880 the school conferred its first degree. (The university relocated in 1883.) Also in 1883, Clark established a theology department. Named for Dr. Elijah H. Gammon, the Gammon School of Theology in 1888 became an independent theological seminary. It is part of the Interdenominational Theological Center.

Student life

National fraternities and sororities

All nine of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Clark Atlanta University. Other organizations currently registered on campus include Sigma Alpha Iota, Gamma Sigma Sigma, Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Student Media

WCLK (Jazz Radio Station)

CAU operates WCLK (91.9 FM)

Athletics

Clark Atlanta University is affiliated with the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Division II.

Notable alumni

See also Clark Atlanta University alumni

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completion. You can help by expanding it with sourced additions.

This is a list of notable alumni which includes graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of Atlanta University, Clark College, Clark University, and/or Clark Atlanta University. It does not include other notable persons who may have attended Clark Atlanta University as cross-registered students (credit as an alumnus is not given to Clark Atlanta University, which has spurred controversy over the school's cross-registration policies). Whitney M. Young Jr. also was a notable alumni.

James Weldon Johnson AU, Class of 1894

Further reading and information

• Atlanta University Publications: a series, which began in 1896, of studies on problems affecting black people in the United States, edited by W. E. B. Du Bois.

References

See also

• Clark Atlanta University faculty
• List of historically black colleges of the United States

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 33°45′3″N 84°24′37″W / 33.75083°N 84.41028°W / 33.75083; -84.41028