Kentucky State University

Kentucky State University
Missing image Kentuckystate.png
Motto	Community of Scholars
Established	1886
School type	Public
President	Dr. Mary Evans Sias
Location	Frankfort, KY, USA
Campus	511 acres (2.06 km²)
Enrollment	1,940 undergraduate, 131 graduate
Faculty	151
Athletics	9 varsity teams, called "Thorobreds"
Colors	Green █ and Gold █
Homepage	www.kysu.edu

Kentucky State University (KSU, or less commonly, KYSU, to differentiate from Kansas State University) is a four-year institution of higher learning, located in Frankfort, Kentucky, the state's capital. Although the school is a historically black university, African-American enrollment has since dwindled to only 35% of enrolled students. The current president of the university is Dr. Mary Evans Sias.

History

The school was chartered in 1886 and opened in 1887 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons. In 1890, the state of Kentucky gave the school a land grant. In 1902, the name of the school was changed to the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons, which was changed again in 1926 to the Kentucky State Industrial College for Colored Persons. In 1938, the school became known as the Kentucky State College for Negroes (the "for Negroes" was dropped in 1952). The college became a full-fledged university in 1972. In 1973, Kentucky State offered its first graduate programs.

An adjoining high school was in operation from the late 1890s until the early 1930s.

Notable alumni

• Ersa Hines Poston, first black person to head the United States Civil Service Commission
• Moneta Sleet Jr., photographer for Ebony, won a Pulitzer Prize for his picture of Coretta Scott King at the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.

External link

• University website

See also: Kentucky State University, 1886, 1887, 1890, 1890s, 1902, 1926