BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY

'Bowie State University' ("Bowie State"), located on 338½ acres (1.4 km²) in unincorporated Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Located north of the suburban city of Bowie, Bowie State is part of the University System of Maryland. Bowie State is Maryland's oldest historically black university^[1].

Contents

History

Overview

Academics & Programs

Schools & departments

Campus & facilities

Student life

Athletics

Clubs & organizations

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

References

External links

History

Bowie State's history began on January 9, 1865 when the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of Colored People established the ''Baltimore Normal School'' in Baltimore, Maryland to train African American teachers. In 1908 the school was renamed Normal School No. 3 after the state Board of Education provided funding for and assumed control of the institution. By 1914 the school had moved to Prince George's County, Maryland and become known as ''Maryland Normal and Industrial School at Bowie''. It became the ''Maryland State Teachers College at Bowie'' in 1935 and ''Bowie State College'' in 1963. In 1988, Bowie State achieved university status^[2].

Overview

Academics & Programs

BSU has 25 undergraduate majors, 19 master’s programs, in disciplines as diverse as computer science, education, human resource development, organizational communication, and nursing, and two doctoral programs. In partnership with the University of Maryland University College, Bowie State University became the first historically black university to include overseas studies. It was also the first university in the nation to offer a bachelor degree in pedology. Programs also include a rare doctoral degree in education leadership, a program for educational administrators^[3].
In 1995, NASA and the National Science Foundation awarded $27 million as one of only six schools in the nation declared Model Institutions for Excellence in science, engineering, and mathematics. This led to a strengthening of the already growing computer science program; in 1999, the Maryland Higher Education Commission approved the schools additional focus in computers and technology. Since then new technology related programs including music technology and a strengthened computer science department have been added.

Schools & departments

★ School of Arts and Sciences

★ School of Business

★ School of Education

★ School of Professional Studies

★ Academic Support Services

Campus & facilities

The campus comprises over 24 buildings with more than 988,897 square feet (92,000 m²) of space. The campus is located in Bowie, Maryland between the metropolitan areas of Baltimore (25 miles) and Washington D.C. (17 miles). An on campus MARC Train Station and Metrobus stops provide access to local transit. It is a wireless campus equipped with Wi-Fi and public computer labs across campus for student use.
Twenty-three percent of students live on campus in seven residence halls. Cultural performances, lectures and sporting events are among the frequent on campus events. Built in 1921, the oldest building still in use is Harriet Tubman Hall. The $17.6 million School of Business and Graduate Studies is the newest building on campus^[4]. Other recent additions to the campus include the Bowie Place dormitory, the New Science Building, and the $6.5 million Center for Learning Technology (CLT) that is a state-of-the-art facility serving the computer science and computer technology programs.
On campus, the Bowie State Satellite Operations Control Center (BSOCC) is an orbiting satellite operation and control center allowing students to gain the hands-on experience in such a facility. In 2003, the center went fully operational. It is a joint venture operated by the university, the Honeywell Corporation, the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA in Greenbelt, MD ^[5].
In 2005, Bowie State University built a $1 million supercomputer in conjunction with Apple Computer, Inc. Xseed is a 224-node cluster based on Apple’s Xserve G5. The combination of this cutting edge technology puts Xseed among the world’s top 200 most powerful supercomputers on the TOP 500 list, which serves as a benchmark for ranking high-performance computing systems ^[6].
The university is also home to The Maryland Center, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 providing community services. In partnership with the federal General Services Administration, the campus also host the Bowie State University’s Telecommuting Center, which has state-of-art workstations and is opened 24-hours day, 7 days a week ^[7].

Student life

Athletics

Bowie State's athletes compete in the Eastern Division of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, participating in the NCAA's Division II.
The Bulldogs play the following sports^[8]:

★ Basketball

★ Bowling

★ Cross Country

★ Football

★ Indoor Track & Field

★ Outdoor Track & Field

★ Softball

★ Tennis

★ Volleyball
They compete and/or train on-campus in Bulldog Stadium, the Leonidas James Physical Education Complex, and A.C. Jordan Areana^[9].

Clubs & organizations

Bowie State has many academic clubs, fraternities, honor societies, organizations, sororities, and student association on-campus. The computer, education, french, and history clubs are just few examples of the academic clubs. The art guild, concert and marching bands, jazz and brass ensembles, and others allow students to explore the fine and performing arts. Alpha Phi Alpha, Chi Eta Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, Iota Phi Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Zeta Phi Beta. The honor societies represented at BSU include: Delta Mu Delta, Lambda Pi Eta, and Sigma Tau Delta. The student newspaper, The Spectrum, and WBSU Radio allow for students to monitor campus events and news.^[10].

The Symphony Of Soul, also known as SOS, is the name of the marching/concert/pep band at Bowie State University. Adolph E. Wright is the Director of Bands at Bowie State University, where he has successfully built the SOS from 30 members, upon his arrival at BSU in 1998, to 185 members by the fall of 2001. Under the leadership of Mr. Wright the "Symphony of Soul" has received rave reviews following collegiate performances, as well as when representing the University abroad. Each year, the SOS takes a trip to Montreal, Canada to perform for the Montreal Alouettes. During the fall, students always expect the usual impromptu parade through the campus by the SOS.
They were also a part of the NFL season opener as they performed the National Anthem with Aretha Franklin and shared the stage with other recording artist such as Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and others. The SOS was featured in the Original Battle of the Bands held at RFK Stadium and its drumline was named as one of Showtime Magazines top ten amongst HBCU’s.

Notable alumni

★ Joanne Benson: Maryland State Assembly Delegate

★ Toni Braxton: Singer, Songwriter

★ Gwendolyn T. Britt: Maryland State Senator, 2004.

★ Chris Holbert (African American): Chief Financial Officer TechFaith Wireless Communication, China, effective on July 1, 2006

★ Christa McAuliffe: NASA Astronaut

★ James Proctor, Jr.: Maryland State Assembly Delegate

★ James L. Walls, Jr.: Mayor, City of District Heights, MD

★ Lethal Cook: Bowie State basketball team, Division 2 Player of the Year

★ Kevin Bell, Bowie State basketball team

★ Randy "White Chocolate" Gill, current ABA all-star guard with the Maryland Nighthawks

★ Wale, rapper

Notable faculty

★ Brenda DoHarris: Author, Professor of English
Dr. John M. Organ, Jr: Professor of Physical Education

References

1. http://www.bowiestate.edu/downloads/foundationdocs/FactBook_03-04.pdf
2. http://www.bowiestate.edu/about/mission2.asp#history
3. http://www.bowiestate.edu/community/
4. http://www.bowiestate.edu/downloads/urm%20press%20releases/05_pr_folder/BSU%20School%20of%20Business%20Groundbreaking.pdf
5. http://www.bowiestate.edu/downloads/urm%20press%20releases/03_pr_folder/10_1503satellite.pdf
6. http://www.bowiestate.edu/downloads/urm%20press%20releases/05_pr_folder/3_1supercomputer.pdf
7. http://www.bowiestate.edu/downloads/urm%20press%20releases/05_pr_folder/2_25free_month.pdf
8. http://www.bsubulldogs.com/index.html
9. http://www.bsubulldogs.com/athleticdept.htm
10. http://www.bowiestate.edu/groups/organizations.asp

External links

★ Bowie State University Official Site of Bowie State University

★ Bulldogs Online Official Site of Bowie State Athletics

★ Bowie State Fact Book Bowie State Fact Book