THE FIRST
100 YEARS
1856-1956
1856
Direct precursor of today's University of
Maryland, the Maryland Agricultural College
is founded to educate the sons of Maryland’s
gentlemen farmers.
1856-1864
Charles B. Calvert, founder of the
Maryland Agricultural College, was a proslave Unionist. The Maryland Agricultural
College—as it was first known—opened in
the 1850s with slaves constructing the
college’s buildings and working on the
farms.
However, Benjamin Hallowell, the
University's first president, was an
abolitionist who accepted his appointment
on the condition that the school not use
slave labor on its farms.
Charles Calvert
During its first decades, the University is
largely an agricultural and military school.
Students enjoy fraternities, athletics, and
social life, and especially popular is Kappa
Alpha’s annual "Cotton Picker’s Minstrel
Show."
1916
The Maryland Agricultural College quickly attracts students
from around the world. Early international students include
Pastor A. Cooke of Panama (1871-72), A.P. Menocal of Cuba
(1875-76), Min Chow Ho of Korea (1887-88), and Pyon Su of
Korea (1887-88) (seen here).
1917-1919
The 1917 Reveille Yearbook records Elizabeth Hook and
Charlotte Vaux as the first women to matriculate officially at
the University of Maryland in 1916. Miss Hook received a B.S.
in entomology in 1920 and Miss Vaux a two-year degree in
agriculture in 1918.
Evidence recently uncovered in the files of President Harry
Clifton Byrd, identifies an earlier bachelor’s degree recipient,
Grace B. Holmes in 1919. Unlike Miss Hook, Miss Holmes did
not spend her entire career in residence at the university, and
therefore, Miss Hook is usually recognized as the first female
to graduate with a four-year degree.
1919-1920
The first female faculty member at
the University was Agnes Saunders, is
professor of Home Economics and
acting Dean of the School of Home
economics for the academic year.
1935 - 1954
University of Maryland President Harry Clifton “Curly” Byrd fought
perhaps harder than anyone in the state for the funding of black
colleges.
Yet at the same time, those efforts were largely seen as Byrd’s way of
ensuring that the College Park campus remained segregated—“make
the branch campuses adequate and maybe the Negroes could be
content.”
He was a segregationist and an integrationist at the same time, a
politician trying to please everyone.
By the time Byrd left to run for governor, the university is forced to
integrate by repeated legal challenges, but despite the 1954 Brown v.
Board of Education ruling, it remains largely devoid of Blacks through
the early 1970s. Left in place is a system a 1993 university report
would call, “at best neglectful, at worst hostile” toward Blacks.
Want to learn more? Go to this article in the Diamondback http://tinyurl.com/czhvj
1951
The first African-American, Hiram Whittle, is admitted to the University of
Maryland. The first African-American graduate student, Parren James Mitchell,
receives his M.A. in sociology in 1952.
1954-1970
University of Maryland President Wilson H. Elkins took the university’s helm
upon the departure of Harry "Curly" Byrd. That put the responsibility to
integrate—and simultaneously prop up the university’s academic standing—
into his hands.
An experienced educator and Rhodes Scholar, Elkins called black people
"Negrahs" in his Southern drawl and was deeply troubled by student
"radicalism."(The Diamondback, Feb 22, 2005)
1955
The first African American woman student, Elaine
Johnson, begins her studies at the university.
1956
Jimenez Hall is constructed and
named for Juan Ramon
Jimenez, faculty member and
Spanish poet, winner of the Nobel
Prize for Literature.
THE LAST
50 YEARS
1957-Present
1968
Campus Unrest: Black Student Union Civil Rights Protest
Rally on the steps of the Administration Building. In the 1960s,
the black student group on campus is called, the Congress for
Racial Equality, and it is seen as too militant and too radical by
administrators and has its charter revoked. In May 1968, the
group returns in a new avatar, as the Black Student Union.
1971
In 1971, 232 students enrolled in
the first 3 Women's Studies
courses offered at UM. Now more
than 4000 students enroll in the
more than 50 undergraduate and
30 graduate courses. Women’s
Studies courses challenge
students to question traditional
knowledge about women and men
and to examine differences
among women.
1971
The Nyumburu Cultural Center is dedicated to
advancing and augmenting the academic and the
multicultural missions of the university by presenting a
forum for the scholarly exchange and artistic engagement
of African Diaspora culture and history. Nyumburu is a
Swahili word for “freedom house” coined from “nyumba”
(house) and “uhuru” (freedom). The Nyumburu Cultural
Center years continues to build on its foundations as the
center for Black social, cultural, and intellectual interaction
at UMD.
1973
The President’s Commission on
Women’s Issues (PCWI) is established.
Its primary mission is to be an advocate
for the interest of the entire community
of women at UMD. This community
includes undergraduate and graduate
student, faculty, administrators, and
both exempt and non-exempt staff. In its
advocacy role, the Commission places
particular emphasis on the diverse
perspectives of women within the
community.
The President’s Commission on
Ethnic Minority Issues (PCEMI) is
established. PCEMI endeavors to ensure
that barriers to equal access are
identified and addressed, and that ethnic
minorities are represented in all aspects
of life and study throughout the campus.
It serves as an advocate for the ethnic
minority community and helps create an
environment that is supportive and
provides a fair opportunity for the
enrollment and graduation of ethnic
minority
students,
and
for
the
employment and upward mobility of
ethnic minority faculty and staff.
1976
The first course Philosophy 343,
“Homosexuality and Morality” on
Gay,
Lesbian,
Bisexual,
and
Transgender Issues is offered by
Frederick Suppe. “The course
provides students with resources to
make responsible decisions as to
their sexual morality.”
1977
The Disability Support Services
is established. Its mission is to
coordinate services that ensure
individuals with disabilities have
equal access to UMD programs. It
provides students and staff with
disabilities the opportunity to gain
the skills necessary to effectively
advocate for themselves within the
college community.
1980
The Jewish Studies Program encourages research and provides instruction
about the rich history and culture of the Jewish people from earliest times to
the present day. Dedicated to the highest standards of scholarship, the
program offers a wide array of courses in Hebrew Language and Literature,
Jewish History, Bible, Rabbinics, Jewish Philosophy, and Yiddish Language and
Literature. These courses, offered by a faculty renowned for its scholarly and
teaching excellence, form one of the largest undergraduate Jewish Studies
programs in North America. Every semester between 500 and 600 students
enroll in Jewish Studies courses.
"We do not grow absolutely,
chronologically. We grow sometimes
in one dimension, and not in
another; unevenly. We grow
partially. We are relative. We are
mature in one realm, childish in
another. The past, present, and
future mingle and pull us backward,
forward, or fix us in the present.
We are made up of layers, cells,
constellations."
Anais Nin
1982-1988
University of Maryland Chancellor John B. Slaughter is
the first African-American Chancellor of a major state
university. He challenges the campus to become a “model
multiracial, multicultural, and multigenerational academic
community.” He makes it his personal mission to go to
local black high schools and churches to recruit students,
to inform them about the expanding types of student aid
that were available. The proportion of undergraduate
African-Americans rose from 7.6% in 1980 to 10.8% in
1990, one of the highest proportions of any state
university in the country.
1986
1989
The President’s Commission
on Disability Issues is
established. Its main mission is
to advise the President on
issues to improve the quality of
life for students and employees
with disabilities. The
Commission meets twice each
semester and the main
functions of the Commission
are to enhance campus
opportunities and support
services for students and
employees with disabilities; to
strengthen and augment these
services where appropriate;
and to identify and recommend
removal of any remaining
impediments to accessibility to
campus buildings and facilities.
The Latin American Studies Center
(LASC) provides and promotes
courses dealing with issues relevant
to Latin America and the Caribbean in
both English and Spanish. Research is
conducted in areas such as culture
and democracy, governance and civil
society, labor and gender, literature
and ethnicity, and migration. The
languages of instruction are Spanish,
Portuguese and Quechua.
1994
The Women in Engineering (WIE) program is dedicated to the recruitment
and retention of women engineering students at the pre-college,
undergraduate, and graduate levels.
The Diversity Database is created and modeled after the Women’s Studies
Database and was a decisive factor in receiving the Ford Foundation grant in
1996.
University CORE Diversity requirement added. The Pease Report as adopted
by the College Park Senate and the Board of Regents includes a requirement
that each student complete a human cultural diversity course sometime during
their undergraduate program.
1994
Podberesky v Kirwan. (Banneker Scholarship Case). The
US Court of Appeals rules that scholarships distributed on
the basis of race are unconstitutional, and that the
scholarship program “more resembles outright racial
balancing than a tailored remedy.” This case launches a
series of state decisions on the legality of race-based
policies in higher education.
1997
The President’s Commission
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Issues is established.
The Commission is responsible for
advising the President and others in
the campus administration, on
policies and programs of concern to
lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender students, faculty, and
staff.
1997
The first Asian American Studies
course offered. Asian American
studies allow the scholar and student
to better understand the
contributions of Asian Americans
throughout American and world
history.
1997
Muslim Prayer Room is established.
1998
1998
The Office of Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Equity is
established. Its mission is
to provide a wide range of
information, education,
and support services
regarding sexual
orientation and gender
identity or expression,
and work to establish and
maintain a safe, inclusive,
and welcoming
environment for sexual
and gender minorities,
their families and friends,
and the campus
community.
The Consortium on
Race, Gender, and
Ethnicity (CRGE) is an
association of academic
units and individual
faculty whose mission is
to promote, advance, and
conduct research,
scholarship, and faculty
development that
examines the
intersections of race,
gender, and ethnicity with
other dimensions of
difference.
2000
Hate crimes protocol established.
“Good works are
links that form
a chain of
love.”
-Mother Teresa
2000
The Baltimore Incentive Awards
Program was established in 2000.
The program recognizes and rewards
young people who want to better
their opportunities through a college
education. It is specifically targeted
toward students who demonstrate
uncommon persistence, academic
ability, and maturity despite adverse
life situations.
2001
The David C. Driskell Center at the University of
Maryland celebrates the legacy of David C. Driskell -Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Art, Artist,
Art Historian, Collector, and Curator -- both by preserving
the rich heritage of African American visual art and culture,
and by fostering the development of future artists and
scholars of color. The Center provides an intellectual home
for scholars, museum professionals, art administrators,
and artists broadening the field of African diasporic
studies. By bringing together the visual arts and the field
of diasporic studies in fluid and dynamic ways, the Center
offers creative and curricular programming to the
University and the greater Maryland and Washington, D.C.
communities while serving as a national leader in the field
of African American art and culture.
2002
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
Certificate Program is approved by the Maryland Higher
Education Commission and endorsed by the University's
Board of Regents in Spring 2002. The task of LGBT Studies
is to highlight sexuality and sexual identities as aspects of
the diversity of the University community, and to promote
research and scholarship in this discipline.
“Prejudice is a burden that
confuses the past, threatens
the future and renders the
present inaccessible.”
-Maya Angelou
2004
The
Center
for
Persian
Studies (CPS) opens in its
new facilities in November with
the eminent Iranian literary
and cultural scholar, Professor
Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, as its
founding
Director.
Spring,
2005, will see two more: a
Center for Research on SLA
and Cognition (CERESLAC),
and a Center for Research on
Less
Commonly
Taught
Languages (CRLTCL).
2005 and
Beyond