Editing Morgan State University (section)

==History==
{{Infobox
| bodystyle  = width:30em
| title      = Presidents of Morgan State University
| labelstyle = width:40%
| header1    = Centenary Biblical Institute
| label2     = 1869–1882
| data2      = J. Emory Round
| label3     = 1882–1888
| data3      = W. Maslin Frysinger
| header4    = Morgan College
| label5     = 1888–1901
| data5      = John J. Wagner
| label6     = 1901–1902
| data6      = Charles Edmond Young (acting)
| label7     = 1902–1937
| data7      = [[John O. Spencer]]
| header8    = Morgan State College
| label9     = 1937–1948
| data9      = [[Dwight O.W. Holmes]]
| label10    = 1948–1970
| data10     = [[Martin David Jenkins|Martin D. Jenkins]]
| label11    = 1970–1971
| data11     = Thomas P. Fraser, II (interim)
| label12    = 1971–1974
| data12     = [[King Virgil Cheek]]
| label13    = 1974–1975
| data13     = Thomas P. Fraser
| header14   = Morgan State University
| label15    = 1975–1984
| data15     = [[Andrew Billingsley]]
| label16    = 1984–2010
| data16     = [[Earl S. Richardson]]
| label17    = 2010–present
| data17     = [[David Wilson (university administrator)|David Wilson]]
}}

Morgan State University (MSU) is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1867 as the Centenary Biblical Institute, a [[Methodist Episcopal Church|Methodist Episcopal]] [[seminary]], to train young men in the ministry. At the time of his death, [[Thomas Kelso]], co-founder and president of the board of directors, endowed the Male Free School and Colored Institute through a legacy of his [[Estate (law)|estate]].<ref>[http://media.www.msuspokesman.com/media/storage/paper270/news/2002/02/08/CampusLife/Our-Forefathers.The.Founders.Of.Morgan.State-177947.shtml Morgan State University Spokesman 'Our Forefathers: The Founders of Morgan State', Feb, 8, 2002, Cox] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321164358/http://media.www.msuspokesman.com/media/storage/paper270/news/2002/02/08/CampusLife/Our-Forefathers.The.Founders.Of.Morgan.State-177947.shtml |date=March 21, 2011 }}</ref><ref>History of Baltimore City and County, from the earliest period to the present day: including biographical sketches of their representative men, John Thomas Scharf, p. 667</ref><ref>''"Got My Mind Set on Freedom": Maryland's Story of Black and White Activism, 1663–2000'', Barbara Mills, Heritage Books 2002, p. 345</ref>

It later broadened its mission to educate both men and women as teachers. The school was renamed as Morgan College in 1890 in honor of the [[Reverend Lyttleton Morgan]], the first chairman of its board of trustees, who donated land to the college.<ref name="Stone"/> In 1895, the institution awarded its first baccalaureate degree to [[George W. F. McMechen]], after whom the building of the school of business and management is named today. McMechen later earned a law degree from [[Yale University]] and, after establishing his career, became one of Morgan's main financial supporters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.morgan.edu/about_msu/university_history.html |title=Brief History of Morgan State University |publisher=Morgan State University |access-date=March 10, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228045257/http://www.morgan.edu/about_msu/university_history.html |archive-date=December 28, 2013 }}</ref>

[[John O. Spencer]] became the fifth president of Morgan College in 1902, and served in that position until 1937.<ref name=MSUPres>{{cite magazine |last=Jones |first=Ida |date=2017 |title=Purpose, Progress and Promise: Morgan State University in Celebration of 150 Years |url=https://issuu.com/morganstateu/docs/00_morgan_mag_2017_vol_i_12-14-17_4?e=2119971/57023651 |magazine=Morgan Magazine |location=[[Baltimore]] |publisher=Morgan State University |access-date=March 24, 2018 }}</ref><ref name=MDGOV>{{cite web |title=John O. Spencer, Ph.D. |url=http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000515/pdf/am515--5.pdf |publisher=Archives of Maryland Online |access-date=March 16, 2017 |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131203004/http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000515/pdf/am515--5.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=tenure>{{cite web |title=School and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOwBAAAAYAAJ&q=john+o+spencer&pg=PA30 |first=J. McKeen |last=Cattell |date=January 31, 1918 |publisher=The Science Press |access-date=March 16, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=Henderson>{{cite web |title=Morgan State College |url=https://hendersonphotos.wordpress.com/tag/john-oakley-spencer/ |first=Paul |last=Henderson |date=February 18, 2012 |publisher=[[WordPress]] |access-date=March 16, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=BIO>{{cite web |title=John Oakley Spencer, Ph.D, LL.D. |url=http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000513/pdf/am513--3.pdf |publisher=Archives of Maryland Online |access-date=March 16, 2017 |archive-date=February 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212023138/http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000513/pdf/am513--3.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1902, Morgan's assets were a little over $100,000 in grounds, equipment and endowments, including its branch schools at the time; the then [[University of Maryland Eastern Shore|Princess Anne Academy]] and the Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute. During his tenure as president, the university saw major expansions across the campus. By 1937, the school's assets were more than $1,000,000 and its enrollment had grown from 150 to 487.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wigfall |first1=Clarence |title=The Spencerian 1937 |date=1937 |publisher=Senior Class, Morgan College |location=Baltimore, Maryland |page=4 }}</ref> It also saw the first "Era of Progress" as the college transformed from a college supported by the religious community (which focused primarily upon training young men and women for the ministry) to a college gaining support from private foundations, and offering liberal arts academic degree for a variety of professions. In 1915, [[Andrew Carnegie]] donated to the school a grant of $50,000 for a central academic building. The terms of the grant included the purchase of a new site for the College, payment of all outstanding obligations, and the construction of a building to be named after him. The College met the conditions and moved to its present site in northeast Baltimore in 1917.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In 1918, the white community of [[Lauraville, Baltimore|Lauraville]] tried to have the sale revoked by filing suit in the circuit court in [[Towson, Maryland|Towson]], upset that the Ivy Mill property, the planned location of Morgan State, had been sold to a "negro" college. The circuit court dismissed the suit, which the community appealed to the [[Maryland Court of Appeals]].<ref name="Ten Bears">{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Miles Jr. |author2=Chip Silverman |title=Ten Bears |publisher=Positive Publications |year=2001 |location=USA |pages=19 |isbn=0-9679922-1-4 }}</ref> The appellate court upheld the lower court decision, finding no basis that siting the college at this location would constitute a public nuisance.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Diggs v. Morgan College |reporter=105 A. 157 |opinion=270 |pinpoint=133 |court=[[Maryland Court of Appeals|Md. 264]] |date=October 30, 1918 |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/3490882/diggs-v-morgan-college/ |access-date=May 5, 2017 |quote=Decree affirmed }}</ref> Despite some ugly threats and several demonstrations against the project, Morgan College was constructed at the new site and later expanded. Carnegie Hall, the oldest original building on the present Morgan campus, was erected a year later.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Morgan remained a private institution until 1939. That year, the state of Maryland purchased the school. Morgan College became Morgan State College. In 1975, Morgan State added several doctoral programs and was designated as a university by state legislature.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

===21st century ===
[[File:Student Union, Morgan State University (16 10 2007).jpg|right|thumb|New student union building]]

In the 21st century, the university has seen the construction of a new student union, two dedicated parking garages, the [[Earl S. Richardson]] Library, the Dixon Research Center, the Communications Building, and the Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The [[Carl J. Murphy]] Fine Arts Center is also the home of the [[James E. Lewis]] Museum of Art. In September 2012, Morgan State opened the Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies (CBEIS) which houses the School of Architecture and Planning, School of Transportation Studies, and the School of Engineering.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In 2020, [[MacKenzie Scott]] donated $40 million, the largest in Morgan State's history and one of the largest ever to a HBCU.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-morgan-state-university-gift-20201215-stmov4opmngepomsv5t635ntpi-story.html |title=Billionaire MacKenzie Scott donates record-breaking $40 million to Morgan State University |date=December 15, 2020 |access-date=December 15, 2020 |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216035911/https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-morgan-state-university-gift-20201215-stmov4opmngepomsv5t635ntpi-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The following year, Calvin E. Tyler Jr. donated $20 million to endow scholarships.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/us/morgan-state-calvin-tyler.html |title=He Had to Drop Out of College. Then He Gave It $20 Million |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 23, 2021 |last1=Saul |first1=Stephanie |access-date=March 6, 2021 |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216035907/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/us/morgan-state-calvin-tyler.html |url-status=live }}</ref>