By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Baltimore’s Coppin State University (Coppin) recently celebrated their 125th anniversary with a lavish annual gala on Oct. 18, marking more than a century of providing education and opportunity to the Black community. Their institutional advancement team reported that they not only met their fundraising goal but exceeded it, bringing in a total of $25.5 million.
Since its founding in 1900, Coppin has grown into a leading institution in northwest Baltimore, serving as a hub of progress for Black youth and families. The university offers education within an array of disciplines including education, the arts and sciences and business.
It also maintains deep community ties through initiatives such as the Coppin State University Community Nursing Center, a medical clinic that provides affordable health care for children and adults.
According to the University System of Maryland, during the fall 2024 semester approximately 83 percent of students enrolled at Coppin were Black, and 37 percent of students were from Baltimore City.
Dr. Anthony L. Jenkins, the university’s current and eighth president, highlighted Coppin’s history and growth during an episode of The AFRO’s Chicken Boxx on Sept. 26.
“We started 2025 off walking into our 125th year of nurturing potential and transforming lives,” said Jenkins. “That’s what Coppin has been doing since 1900. What started off in the basement of a local high school as a one-room preparatory teacher program has, fast forward to today, become a leader in urban higher education.”
Coppin was founded by the Baltimore City School Board at Colored High School, which was eventually renamed Douglass High School, as a one year training course for Black elementary school teachers. By 1902, the program was broadened to a two-year Normal Department–a teacher training institution that teaches them to meet specific standards–within the high school.
In 1909, the program was split from the high school and assigned its own principal.
In 1926, the facility that housed the teacher training program was named after Fannie Jackson Coppin, an educator and former slave,who was a pioneer in teacher education. Fanny Jackson Coppin, after gaining her freedom from slavery, made it her priority to get an education and share her knowledge with others under the mission of uplifting Black America.
Fanny Jackson Coppin went on to shape two generations of young people as head principal of Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia.
By 1938 the curriculum of the normal school extended to four years, they were given the authority to grant the Bachelor of Science degree and the school was renamed Coppin Teachers College.
In 1950, Coppin officially became a part of the higher education system of Maryland under the State Department of Education and the name was changed to Coppin State Teachers College.
In 1952, Coppin moved to its current 38-acre location on West North Avenue. In 1963, the Board of Trustees decided that the institution’s degree-granting authority would no longer be limited to teacher education. Following this change, Coppin was officially renamed Coppin State College and in 1967 the first Bachelor of Arts degree was granted.
The college eventually became part of the University System of Maryland in 1988. On April 13, 2004, the college officially changed its name to Coppin State University. It is now accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in addition to numerous other accreditations.
A few alums reflected on the legacy of 125 years and the value of a Coppin State education on their lives.
“This campus has impacted a lot of families and people, including myself,” said Justin Eastman, a 2024 Coppin State graduate and photographer for President Jenkins. “I was a kid from New Jersey, came all the way to Maryland, and decided to go to Coppin State. I didn’t know much about Baltimore, but Coppin gave me a sense of belonging.”
Eastman said it’s especially important how Coppin gives students with low grades an opportunity to succeed.
“What we do is we take that kid that might not have been the best student, might have had a 2.2 or 1.8 GPA, and we make them into great scholars,” said Eastman.
Turning to the present, Jenkins uplifted some of Coppin’s recent accomplishments that build upon their rich and evolving legacy.
“We have nationally ranked academic programs,” added Jenkins. “Students are coming to us from 40 states, the District of Columbia 32 countries. We are in a place where there is a lot to celebrate here in Coppin.”
Out of 77 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) rated, U.S. News and World Report currently ranks Coppin State at 29th-best in the nation, tied with Alcorn State University in Mississippi.
Jenkins said Coppin continues to see record-breaking growth.
“This year, we brought in over 1,000 undergraduate students,” he said. “We received nearly 18,000 applications this past year for enrollment into Coppin. Our freshman cohort increased from fall 2024 to this current fall by 60 percent. Our transfer students increased by 30 percent.”
Jenkins, who became president in 2020, said Coppin now boasts historic retention rates of 75 percent — up from 52 percent when he first arrived. The institution has also been extremely influential in revitalizing West Baltimore, specifically the West North Avenue corridor.
A few Coppin students shared with the AFRO what being a part of this legacy means to them.
“It’s a blessing to be a part of this legacy,” said Jordan Harvey, a 20-year-old sophomore majoring in psychology with a minor in cyber security. “When I first visited here, I knew it was home.”
Nandi Moyo, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in history at Coppin State, said she values the ability to immerse herself in Black culture like she never has before at Coppin.
“I’m from an area where there weren’t a lot of Black people,” she said. “It’s nice that at Coppin I get to immerse myself with my community, my culture, the culture of Baltimore too.”