Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a historically black public research university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Winston-Salem State has been ranked #27 by U.S. News & World Report in the Top Public Comprehensive Baccalaureate Colleges of the South category for the last nine years (2001–2009). WSSU is a recognized regional institution offering baccalaureate and graduate programs to a diverse student population.

History
Dr. Simon Green Atkins distinguished himself in his home state of North Carolina as an advocate of teacher-training programs for African Americans. He founded a small school, Winston-Salem Teachers College, that he developed into Winston-Salem State University, a four-year institution, and oversaw its transition from private to state control. His abiding interest in teacher-training also led him to become a founder of the North Carolina Negro Teachers Association.

The oldest child of a brick layer and former slaves Allen and Eliza Atkins, Simon Green Atkins was born on June 11, 1863, in the village of Haywood, in Chatham County, North Carolina, between Sanford and Raleigh. His town flourished during the period just after the Revolutionary War, but by the late 19th century the railroad and the neighboring town of Moncure had overshadowed it. At one time the area was considered as a location for the state capital as well as the state university. As a child, Atkins worked on a farm with his grandparents.

Atkins studied in the town school under pioneer black educators who came from St. Augustine’s Normal and Collegiate Institute (later St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh). One of these was Anna Julia Cooper, later prominent for her work as an activist, scholar, feminist, and school administrator in Washington, D.C. This cadre of educators went out into remote communities to teach rural blacks. Atkins also taught at the town school for a while before his college years, and in 1880 he enrolled in St. Augustine’s. He spent summers teaching in the rural schools of Chatham and Moore counties.

After he graduated with distinction in 1884, renowned educator and orator Joseph Charles Price, president of Livingstone College, an African Methodist Episcopal Zion church-supported institution in Salisbury, North Carolina, invited Atkins to join his faculty. Atkins agreed and became grammar school department head. He spent six years at Livingstone (1884–90) and spent the last two years of his tenure there in the dual role as educator and treasurer of the college. During summer months he conducted institutes for black teachers in various counties.

The town educators of Winston (before its merger in 1913 with Salem to become Winston-Salem) lured Atkins to the post as principal of the Depot Street School, where he remained from 1890 to 1895. This was the state’s largest public school for African Americans. His work with the North Carolina Negro Teachers’ Association (NCNTA), which he helped to organize about 1881, had stimulated his interest in teacher-training schools for blacks. He directed this group as it established the foundation for a standard black teachers’ college in the state.

Soon after he began his duties at Depot Street, he intensified his efforts to build such a school for African Americans and sought assistance from the Winston Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, and local white residents. By then, the state had begun plans to fund an agricultural college for its African American residents; hearing this, Atkins sought funds to locate the new college in Winston. Local support for this move was good, as the black community donated $2,000, R. J. Reynolds of tobacco fame contributed $500, and Atkins obtained 50 acre of land along with the backing of the Chamber of Commerce. Although Atkins lobbied the state legislature in Raleigh on behalf of this plan, Winston and its residents lost out to nearby Greensboro, where citizens offered 14 acre of land and $11,000.

The university was established by Dr. Simon Green Atkins in 1892 with funds donated by industrialist John Fox Slater. Chartered by the state of North Carolina in 1897 as Slater Industrial and State Normal School and renamed Winston-Salem Teachers College in 1925, it was the first African American institution in the United States to grant degrees in elementary teacher education. The name was changed to Winston-Salem State University in 1969, and it merged into the University of North Carolina system in 1972.

Academics
Winston-Salem State offers over 40 academic majors and 10 graduate degrees. The school enrolls approximately 6,400 students and employs 400 faculty and over 800 staff members.
 * Average high school GPA: 3.01
 * Average SAT scores: 900
 * 56.5% of applicants are accepted

Campus
The campus covers 117 acre.

National fraternities and sororities
All of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Winston-Salem State University except Delta Sigma Theta sorority, who were recently suspended for a 10-year period in April 2010. The remaining organizations are:

Other National fraternities and sororities with registered chapters are members of the Council of Independent Greek Organizations. The current members on campus include:

Athletics


Winston-Salem State University is currently a part of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) in NCAA Division II. From the 2007-08 season through the 2009-10 season, the Rams competed in the NCAA's Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), despite being a transitional member who attempted to attain full membership within the MEAC or within NCAA Division I, which the Rams were also scheduled to begin full membership and gain access to NCAA tournaments in 2011. However, it never occurred due to financial difficulties.

Its colors are red and white and the university mascot is a ram.

In 1967, Winston-Salem State became the first Historically Black College to win an NCAA Basketball Championship. The Rams won the College Division Championship with a 31-1 record. They were led by high-scoring guard Earl Monroe, who averaged an amazing 41.5 points per game that season before being selected second overall in the 1967 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets.

Notable alumni

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