Clark Atlanta University

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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]
President:	Walter D. Broadnax
Undergraduates:	4000
Postgraduates:	1000
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.

[edit] Academics and demographics

Clark Atlanta offers undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral professional degrees as well as certificate programs.

[edit] Schools and colleges

The university operates four colleges.

[edit] National ranking

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Current residential facilities

• Holmes Hall
• Pfeiffer Hall
• Merner Hall
• Bumstead Hall
• Ware Hall
• Beckwith Hall
• New Residential Apartments
• Heritage Commons
• CAU Suites East/West

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 University 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. The 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. Unlike the old Articles of 1929, the new contract created the Atlanta University Center. The influence of Atlanta University has been extended through professional journals and organizations, including Phylon and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), for both of which Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, a member of the faculty, provided leadership.

[edit] Clark College

Clark College was founded in 1869 as Clark University by the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which later became the United Methodist Church. The University 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. Strategically located in the gateway to the South, Clark was founded to "give tone" to all of the other educational institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church providing education for Negro youth. 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 institution relocated in 1883) the school conferred its first degree. Also in 1883, Clark established a department, named for Dr. Elijah H. Gammon, known as Gammon School of Theology, which in 1888 became an independent theological seminary and is now part of the Interdenominational Theological Center.

[edit] Clark Atlanta University

During the 1980s some of the advantages of proximity, which had seemed promising earlier, again became evident. Clark College and Atlanta University through consolidation preserved the best of the past and present and "Charted a Bold New Future." Clark Atlanta University was created on July 1, 1988.

For purposes of economy and efficiency, during the 1930s, it was decided that Clark would join the Atlanta University Complex. While students on the South Atlanta campus fretted over final examinations in the winter of 1939, work was begun across town on an entirely new physical plant adjoining Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College.

The first President of Clark Atlanta University was Dr. Thomas W. Cole, Jr., who served concurrently as the President of both Atlanta University and Clark College prior to consolidation. In November 1987, after more than a year of discussion, the Boards of Trustees of Atlanta University and Clark College authorized an exploration of the potential advantages of closer working arrangements between the two institutions, including their consolidation into one university. In April 1988, the joint committee delivered its report entitled Charting A Bold New Future: Proposed Combination of Clark College and Atlanta University to the Boards for ratification. The report recommended that the two schools be consolidated into a single institution. On June 24, 1988, the Boards of both Clark College and Atlanta University made the decision to consolidate the two institutions, creating Clark Atlanta University.

Dr. Walter D. Broadnax became the second President for Clark Atlanta University on August 1, 2002. He announced his retirement during the college's annual winter Board of Trustees meeting. The university confirmed on February 15, 2008 that his tenure would officially end on July 31, 2008 and that Carlton E. Brown, the university's executive vice president and former president of Savannah State University, would assume the duties as the interim president on August 1, 2008. ^[4]

[edit] Student life

[edit] Mighty Marching Panther Band

Clark Atlanta University is home to the Mighty Marching Panther Band which was featured in the 2002 film Drumline, as well as a McDonald's commercials, on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and an episode of Judge Hatchett. The Panther Band has also been a participating band in the Honda Battle of the Bands for all five years of its existence.

[edit] 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, Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia

[edit] Student Media

[edit] WCLK (Jazz Radio Station)

CAU operates WCLK (91.9 FM)

[edit] Athletics

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

[edit] Notable alumni

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).

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness.

Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

See also Clark Atlanta University alumni

James Weldon Johnson AU, Class of 1894

[edit] 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. Dubois.

[edit] References

[edit] Traditions

CAU's tradition of fostering the arts began in 1942 with the inaugural of the annual Exhibition of Paintings, Prints and Sculpture by Negro Artists of America to provide black artists a national forum to exhibit their work. The exhibition has brought many artists who were unknown to the mainstream art world, but later classified as masters, such as Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Lois Mailou Jones and Roy DeCarava. Each year an average of 12 pieces are purchased for the Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries which possesses a permanent collection of some 640 works of art.

[edit] See also

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

[edit] External links

• www.cau.edu Clark Atlanta University Official site
• www.aucenter.edu Atlanta University Consortium
• Clark Atlanta's radio station
• Student Newspaper
• www.auctr.edu Robert W. Woodruff Library