Fayetteville State University (FSU) is a historically black public regional university in Fayetteville, North Carolina. FSU is part of the University of North Carolina System and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Fayetteville State University (FSU) is a historically black public regional university in Fayetteville, North Carolina. FSU is part of the University of North Carolina System and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
The second oldest state supported school in North Carolina had humble beginnings. Immediately following the Civil War in 1865, a robust education agenda was begun in Fayetteville's African-American community with the founding of the Phillips and Sumner Schools for primary and intermediate learning. In 1867, the schools consolidated to form the Howard School, following the vision of the Freedmen's Bureau chief General Oliver O. Howard who erected a building on a tract of land generously donated by seven prominent African-American men – Matthew N. Leary, Andrew J. Chestnutt,
Robert Simmons, George Grainger, Thomas Lomax, Nelson Carter, and David A. Bryant – who together paid $136 for two lots on Gillespie Street in Fayetteville and formed among themselves a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees to maintain the property for the education of local black youth.
In 1877, an act of the North Carolina legislature provided for the establishment of the first teacher training institution for African-Americans in the state. Recognized for its successful record of educating black youth, the Howard School was selected for this designation and in that year became the State Colored Normal School and the first state-sponsored institution for the education of African-American teachers in the South.
Following a succession of leaders, in 1883, Dr. Ezekiel Ezra Smith, a graduate of Shaw Collegiate Institute (later Shaw University) in Raleigh, N.C., was appointed Principal and Chief Administrative Officer of the State Colored Normal School and began a fifty-year commitment of leadership and affiliation interrupted only by opportunities to honorably serve his country – once as Resident Ministerand Consul General of the United States to Liberia and later as Regimental Adjutant of the Third North Carolina Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish–American War.
During his distinguished tenure, Dr. Smith oversaw the school's move to a permanent site on Murchison Road and personally deeded additional land to bring its holdings to 92 acres that included a physical plant of several major buildings and cottages. It was also under his leadership that, in 1929, all high school work was suspended and the title of Principal changed to President. On June 30, 1933, Dr. Smith retired and became the school’s first President Emeritus.
Following Dr. Smith's retirement, Dr. J. Ward Seabrook assumed the presidency of what would, under his leadership, become Fayetteville State Teachers College in 1939, a state and regionally accredited four-year college granting the Bachelor of Science degree in Education. Later, in 1959, under the presidency of Dr. Rudolph Jones, a revision of the school's charter authorized a curricular expansion to include programs leading to degrees outside the teaching field. It was also during Dr. Jones' presidency that the school became Fayetteville State College in 1963 and significant additions were made to the physical plant to accommodate a rapidly growing enrollment.
In 1969, Dr. Charles Lyons, Jr. became president and in that year the college was formally renamed Fayetteville State University and designated a regional university by an act of the state legislature. Later, in 1972, Dr. Lyons became the first chancellor of FSU when it was made a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina by legislative act. It was also under the chancellorship of Dr. Lyon's that the school became a Comprehensive Level I institution offering a variety of baccalaureate and master's degree programs.
Additionally, several innovative initiatives sprang forth under the leadership of Dr. Lyon's including the Fort Bragg-Pope Air Force Base Extension Center that, in collaboration with the newly established Week-End and Evening College, provided military personnel and other full-time employees the opportunity to further their education.
In 1988, Dr. Lloyd Hackley was named chancellor of FSU and began an active pursuit of initiatives to further expand both undergraduate and graduate program offerings, including the establishment of the university's first doctoral program in Educational Leadership in 1994. Continuing the spirit of innovation pioneered by his predecessors, Dr. Hackley strengthened FSU's commitment to community outreach with programs aimed at at-risk children in the public schools and oversaw the completion of the university's first major public capital campaign to increase privately funded scholarships available to students. Upon his departure from FSU, Dr. Hackley became the first African-American President of the North Carolina Community College System.
Another first for the university came in 2003 when Dr. Thelma Jane "T.J." Bryan was elected by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors to become the first female chancellor of the school and the first African-American woman to head a UNC institution. Under her leadership, the university greatly expanded undergraduate and graduate program offerings, secured important specialized accreditations, and became third in the UNC system in distance-learning enrollments.
In 2008, Dr. James Anderson became the eleventh leader of Fayetteville State University. In his current role as chancellor, Dr. Anderson oversees an institution of more than 6,300 students, over 900 faculty and staff, and 67 programs of study at all academic levels. Since its humble beginnings 145 years ago, FSU has grown beyond its original mission to educate Fayetteville's African-American youth to become "among the nation's most diverse campus communities" while prioritizing community and regional outreach and service.
The primary mission of Fayetteville State University is to provide quality education to its students through a basic liberal-arts foundation, specialized professional training, and specific graduate programs. The university offers Bachelor’s degrees in 43 areas, Master's degrees in 23 areas, and one doctoral degree in educational leadership. The university is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.