BALTIMORE — It's Coppin State University's 125th birthday and it has seen a lot of change.
The college was started in 1900 in the basement of a high school in West Baltimore to train African American students to become teachers.
“Most people stop me on the street and talk about ‘My grandmother went to Coppin,’ ‘My mother went to Coppin,’ ‘My aunt went to Coppin,’ because we were known as the best teachers college,” says university president Anthony Jenkins.
The university is named after Fannie Jackson Coppin, a former slave from Washington, D.C. Her aunt bought her freedom as a child and moved her to Pennsylvania. She became the first African American woman to be a principal in this country, and then first to be superintendent of a school district.
“Her boldness, her energy, and her legacy and her commitment to academic excellence,” Jenkins says. “It cast a long shadow, and Coppin is proud to be in that shadow.”
While the school has a rich legacy as a teacher's college, it now has nationally ranked programs in nursing, business, psychology, engineering and criminal justice.
Anderson Haywood is a data science student from Brooklyn, New York.
“Just the immense opportunities here,” Haywood says of his decision to attend Coppin. “I had the opportunity to be a part of the Baltimore Ravens last summer, as well as the CFG Bank Arena, a bunch of other opportunities. This semester, I’m doing Microsoft. And it's just been tremendous to be here.”
In the last few years, Coppin State has really upped its game. Becoming more competitive among other historically black colleges and universities and its peers in the state.
“We have steadily built a quality program and institution that families and students see that wherever they want to go in life, they can get there from here,” Jenkins says.
The university has also become more diverse, with students from 32 countries. About eight percent of the students represent a host of ethnic groups. Senior Mellany Morales (no relation) is president of the Student Government Association.
“To see different nationalities or different countries and different nationalities, different languages, different accents,” she says. “I think that's what makes the culture at Coppin rich. It's home. It's where I found my home away from home.”
Student enrollment and retention are up. More alumni are getting involved. And research and endowments are on the rise, too.
“I am just excited about where Coppin has been, where Coppin is, and where Coppin is going,” Jenkins says. “And the future for Coppin State University is extremely bright.”
Coppin is hosting several events in February to celebrate its birthday, including homecoming and the groundbreaking for a new residence hall. You can find more information about those events here.
