Shaw University

Shaw University

Latin: Universitatis Shawensis
Former names	Raleigh Theological Institute (1869-1870) Shaw Collegiate Institute (1870-1875)
Motto	Pro Christo Et Humanitate
Motto in English	For Christ and Humanity
Type	Private historically black university
Established	December 1, 1865; 155 years ago
Founder	Henry Martin Tupper
Religious affiliation	National Baptist Convention
Academic affiliation	UNCF
Endowment	$10.9 million (2019) [1]
Chairman	Joseph N. Bell
President	Paulette Dillard
Academic staff	173
Students	1,291
Undergraduates	1,174
Location	Raleigh , North Carolina , United States
Campus	Urban ( 65 Acres)
Colors	Garnet and White
Athletics	NCAA Division II - CIAA
Nickname	Bears
Website	www.shawu.edu

Shaw University is a private, historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the second oldest historically black college or university (HBCU) in the Southern United States.^[2] It has been called the "mother of African-American colleges in North Carolina" as the founding presidents of North Carolina Central University, Elizabeth City State University, and Fayetteville State University are all Shaw alumni. The founder of Livingstone College studied at Shaw, before transferring to Lincoln University. What became North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University was located on Shaw's campus during its first year.

Shaw University is affiliated with the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and a member of the National Baptist Convention which supports the Shaw University Divinity School. Along with Howard University, Hampton University, Lincoln University and Virginia Union University, Shaw was a co-founding member of the NCAA Division II's Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Conference, the oldest African American athletic association in the U.S. The university has won CIAA championships in Football, Basketball (women's and men's), Tennis (women's and men's) and volleyball.

History[]

Foundation to the 1860s[]

The school was founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society and the pastor Henry Martin Tupper in 1865 ^[3][4]

Henry Martin Tupper, founder and first president of Shaw University

In 1867 the school consisted of three buildings, two of which were Antebellum cabins. As of 1875 when Shaw Collegiate Institute became Shaw University only two major structures existed – The Shaw Building and Estey Seminary. The former, erected where once stood corn fields in which Tupper hid from lynch mobs, with a 165-foot frontage, four stories high and possessing a tower, was the most commodious school building in all of North Carolina at that time. It provided instruction services, a library, and lodging. The seminary, reputed to be the first building ever erected for the education of African-American females, was devoted to training women in cooking, sewing, music, and the like. Henry Martin Tupper bought the material from which the women made garments and he himself sold the garments in an effort to pay for the cost of the material and other expenses.

In 1879, a third major building was erected – a chapel and dining hall called the Greenleaf Building. It was named for O.H. Greenleaf of Springfield, MA, a yearly liberal contributor. The upper part of the building was accessible by stairs. Doors on either side of the tower provided entrance to the dining room. At the right of the chapel was a small room and at the left a library. A storeroom existed under the stairway. Funds saved from the school were used to build this structure. These were augmented by contributions of $650 ($18317 in 2020) from O.H. Greenleaf, Captain Ebenezer Morgan, and Deacon O.B. Grant of Stonington.

It was renamed Shaw Collegiate Institute after Elijah Shaw, benefactor of Shaw Hall, the first building. In 1875, it became Shaw University. In 1873, Estey Hall was built, marked the second female dormitory on the campus of a co-ed school in the United States. In 1866 when the Raleigh Institute was first being developed, Tupper had hoped to open a medical school; in 1881 the medical building became a reality, $15,000 ($408,027 in 2020) was contributed to make it. The medical school complex consisted primarily of three structures – a four-story medical dormitory built to accommodate 75 men and erected around 1880 when the trustees approved the establishment of a medical department; the Leonard Medical Building, erected in the summer and fall of 1881 and containing lecture rooms, dissecting rooms, an amphitheater, and opened for its first session on November 1, 1881; a 25-bed hospital which opened for the reception of patients on January 10, 1885. It was the first four-year medical school to train African-American doctors in the South.

On December 11, 1888 the university opened their law school. The full curriculum offering at Shaw are unknown, but it was the only black law school that had a course in legal shorthand. The course was offered on the premise that such a skill would broaden the opportunities for a black lawyer to work in a legal firm in a clerical position or as an office assistant should discrimination impede their ability to practice law. Shaw University graduated fifty-seven law students before it closed in 1916. It graduated fifty-four law students between 1891 and 1914.^[5] North Carolina politician John S. Leary was an important figure in the founding of the law school served as its dean^[6] starting in March 1890.^[7] He was followed as dean by Edward A. Johnson, who was the law school's first graduate^[8] and later the first African-American member of the New York State Assembly.

Leonard Medical School and adjoining hospital, c.1910

Leonard Medical School was founded in 1881 as the first four-year medical school in the South to train black doctors and pharmacists. The first medical school in the state to offer a four-year curriculum, it operated until 1918. Given their importance in United States educational history, both Estey and Leonard halls have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

By 1900, more than 30,000 black teachers had been trained.^[9]

An ad for Shaw University from 1900, placed in a black-owned newspaper in Minnesota.

In 1968, Shaw University became the first black college to own a radio station. At first, the station used an antenna on top of a building on the downtown campus, but in the late 1990s a new tower was built in southeast Raleigh near Interstate 40. WFSS in Fayetteville, North Carolina moved from 89.1 FM to 91.9 FM to allow WSHA to increase power. The university sold the station to Educational Media Foundation effective July 26, 2018, who subsequently renamed it WRKV.

U.S. Civil Rights Movement[]

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) /ˈsnɪk/ was one of the organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a student meeting organized by Ella Baker that was held at Shaw University in April 1960. SNCC grew into a large organization, gaining many supporters in the North as well as in the South. It led grassroots organizing for voter education and registration in Mississippi, among other initiatives.

1980s to present[]

By the mid-1980s, enrollment declined and the university was deeply in debt. President Talbert O. Shaw (1988–2003) (not related to the namesake) increased the student body from 1,600 to 2,700, restructured debt and created the Raleigh Business and Technology Center.

In the 1990s, Shaw ran a successful capital campaign to renovate historic buildings and construct new campus facilities, including the Talbert O. Shaw Center for Teachers' Education.

In 2005, Shaw University Divinity School (SUDS) received a 10-year accreditation from the Association for Theological Schools. The university also began construction on the Center for Early Childhood Education, Research and Development.

During the tornado outbreak of April 14–16, 2011, the university was struck by a damaging tornado, resulting in the school cancelling classes for a semester. As a result of the storm, two dormitories, the student union, and the roof of Estey hall were severely damaged.^[10][11] There were minor injuries but no one was seriously hurt.

Study of World War II service of black veterans[]

Shaw University led a research study to investigate why no black veterans of World War II had been awarded the Medal of Honor. The study concluded that racial discrimination had contributed to the military's overlooking the contributions of black soldiers. The 272-page study recommended ten soldiers whose military records suggested they deserved the Medal of Honor. In January 1995, the team's findings were sent to the U.S. Department of Defense. In April 1996, the department agreed that seven of the ten soldiers should be awarded the Medal of Honor. All ten had been awarded other medals during the war years. President Bill Clinton awarded the Medals of Honor on January 13, 1997.

The department's decision in response to Shaw's study marked only the third time that the military re-evaluated military records to award the Medal of Honor. Only one of the seven nominees, 1st Lt. Vernon Baker of St. Maries, Idaho, was alive to receive his medal. Those who were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously were: 1st Lt. Charles L. Thomas of Detroit, Michigan; Pvt. George Watson of Birmingham, Alabama; Staff Sgt. Edward A. Carter Jr. of Los Angeles, California; 1st Lt. John R. Fox of Boston, Massachusetts; Pfc. Willy F. James Jr. of Kansas City, Kansas; and Staff Sgt. Ruben Rivers of Tecumseh, Oklahoma. Their families received the medals.^[12]

Campus[]

Estey Hall, 2008 - built in 1873 as first female dorm at a co-ed college in the United States

Shaw University consists of 32 buildings and nine additional campuses across the state of North Carolina. As of July 2011, Durham County Stadium will remain the home of the Shaw University Bears football team until construction plans towards building a new facility on Shaw Farm (a 40-acre lot donated to the University under James Cheek's administration on Rock Quarry Rd. in Raleigh NC and the site of the National Alumni House) is completed and implemented. The main campus is located in the heart of downtown Raleigh. Five of the thirty-two buildings are national and state historic landmarks which are the , Estey Hall, , Leonard Hall, and the House. The University has a memorial garden in the heart of the campus which is also the location of the tombs of the founder of Shaw University, Henry Martin Tupper and his wife Sarah and the University bell tower, that was erected in honor of those who came and left the University, from its founding to its present.

Leonard Hall, 2008

The university has three libraries, the James E. Cheek Library, the TOS Education Library, and the G. Franklin Wiggins Library, that houses over 210,000 volumes, 10,000 ebooks, many other sources of scholarly and cultural literature and microforms, located throughout Shaw University (including CAPE sites). The is located on Shaw's campus. Planned in 1989, Shaw University city council officials and Saint Augustine's College in a joint effort built the current facility on Shaw's Campus. Both colleges use the center for classes and community programs. The Campus has four dorms, the Flemming-Kee Men's Dorm, the Dimple Newsome Dorm, Talbert O. Shaw Men's Dorm and the Talbert O. Shaw Women's Dorm. Other resources available on or adjacent to the campus are McDonald's, The Willie E. Gary Student Center which houses the Bear's Den (Game Room and Grill), and the Cyber Cafe'.

Academics[]

Accreditation[]

Shaw University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Council on Social Work Education, and the American Psychological Association. The Divinity School is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada as its Allied Health Professions programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, the , and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

The Center for Alternative Programs in Education (CAPE) has centers in Greenville, Kannapolis, High Point, Rocky Mount, Ahoskie, Fayetteville, Durham, Wilmington, and Asheville.^[15]

Academic Divisions[]

As of the 2020-2021 school year, Shaw consists of the following schools:

• School of Arts and Sciences
• School of Business and Professional Studies
• School of Divinity

Undergraduate Curriculum[]

Shaw offers 21 arts and sciences majors for degrees in Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.). Shaw also offers a non-degree teaching certificate for individuals who have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher in education or related major and wish the fulfill the requirements to obtain a teaching license. The majority of students enroll in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business and Professional Studies.

Athletics[]

W. C. Strudwick (1884–1932) in Shaw University football uniform, future graduate from Leonard Medical School (class of 1912) and physician in Durham, NC

Shaw University is a member and co-founder of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II's Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Conference. Shaw University's Basketball team participates in the CIAA annual Basketball Tournament, which is the third most attended athletic event in collegiate sports after the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East tournaments^{[citation needed]}. Shaw fields 14 varsity athletic teams including teams in men's soccer, women's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball, football, tennis, baseball, cheerleading, men's and women's track and field, volleyball, golf, and bowling. The athletic teams are known by the "Bears" nickname.

In 2002, Shaw University's men's basketball team won the CIAA championship. Also, the ladies' basketball team won the 2003 CIAA championship. The football team, reestablished by Clarence G. Newsome in 2002, played at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, through the 2008 season. In 2009, the team relocated their home games to Millbrook High School in Raleigh.^[16]

The Bears currently play at Durham County Stadium. It won the CIAA football championship in 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2010.^[17] The football team has also made the Division II playoffs in 2007 and 2010. Also in 2011 both men's and women's teams won the CIAA Tournament making Shaw the last school since Norfolk State in 1975 to win the big three championships in the same year. Shaw's Lady Bears won the NCAA Division II Championship for the 2011-2012 season. The Shaw University Lady Bears have won the CIAA Tournament four years in a row twice (2003-2006) (2011-2014). Their most recent win occurred on March 1, 2014.

The Bears have won a total of 60 CIAA championships between men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, football and volleyball.

Student life[]

Greek Organizations[]

• Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Delta Psi chapter
• Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Delta Gamma chapter
• Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Beta Rho chapter
• Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Alpha Rho chapter
• Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Beta Rho chapter
• Iota Phi Theta fraternity, Gamma Tau chapter
• Zeta Phi Beta sorority, Omicron chapter
• Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, Iota chapter

Student organizations[]

Shaw University's quiz bowl team competed in the national Honda Campus All-Star Challenge tournament in 2015.^[18] The University has a range of student organizations:^[19]

• Shaw University ACM Student Chapter
• Pure Elegance (Plus size fashion society)
• The Shaw Players and Company
• Student Government Association
• Shaw Computer Club
• Gospel and University Choirs
• Jazz, Pep, and Concert Bands
• COGs (Children of God)
• Honda Quiz Bowl Team
• Shawensis Literary Club
• Student North Carolina Association of Educators
• Pre-Alumni Council
• Shaw Man/Shaw Woman Society (Organizations that emphasize development of character)
• Psychology Club
• Swing Phi Swing
• Shaw University National Alumni Association
• Free Masons and the Order of the Eastern Star
• Religion and Philosophy Club
• Groove Phi Groove
• Iota Alpha Omega Christian Fraternity
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Marching band[]

Shaw's marching band, better known as "Platinum Sound", was reestablished in the Fall of 2002 along with the reestablishment of the football team. The band has grown from 80 members in 2002 to over 130 members. Shaw's marching band has participated in the Honda Battle of the Bands at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.

Notable alumni[]

References[]

Additional references[]

• Carter, Wilmoth A. Shaw's Universe: A Monument to Educational Innovation, Raleigh: Shaw University, 1973
• Lincoln, C. Eric, The Black Church in the African American Experience, Durham: Duke University Press, 1990

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shaw University.

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• SNCC, 1960–1966: Six Years of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

Coordinates: 35°46′16″N 78°38′10″W / 35.77117°N 78.63610°W / 35.77117; -78.63610