June 26, 2018

Celebrating a Great First Year

To the BSU Community,

As we approach the end of my first year as president of Bowie State University, I am grateful to you for your contributions to making this year memorable and successful as we race to excellence. I have enjoyed engaging with our dynamic students and dedicated faculty, staff, alumni and friends, learning how each of you is woven into the fabric of this institution. Together, we have done some great things.

From the warm welcome I received on my first introduction to the campus last year to the countless meetings with campus groups and community leaders, I am proud of the relationships that I have built and sustained over this first year.

My historic inauguration in April as BSU’s first female president was just one of the many significant occasions we shared. There were also many markers of the growing recognition of Bowie State as an institution of the highest quality. Here is a listing of just a few:

We improved our ranking among the nation’s top 25 historically black colleges and universities in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 Best Colleges list, moving up four spots to #22. The magazine also continues to recognize Bowie State among the best regional universities that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus masters and doctoral programs.

The 2017 rankings of the Top 100 Producers of Minority Degrees published by Diverse Issues in Higher Education lists Bowie State University among the top five institutions in Maryland graduating African Americans with bachelor’s degrees in science and technology fields. We are the #1 producer of African American graduates in nursing, #2 in computer science and #3 in mathematics among all Maryland institutions offering bachelor’s degrees in these fields.

BSU is reaching more students than ever before! Last fall the university welcomed its largest freshman class to date — 1,075 new Bulldogs make up the class of 2022, a 92% increase from two years ago. Our total enrollment reached 6,148 students — a 13% increase over two years, and we are on target to meet our enrollment goal for 2018.

We enhanced our living-learning communities and academic support initiatives to provide more hands-on, real-world learning experiences to build on our strengths in providing a high-quality education that prepares diverse learners for the careers of tomorrow.

BSU has developed and expanded our partnerships to provide experiential student learning opportunities. We collaborated with Laurel College Center, along with Howard and Prince George’s community colleges, to enable their students pursuing an associate degree to take courses toward a bachelor’s degree in business administration from BSU. A new five-year agreement extended and expanded our partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide hands-on experiences to our students considering careers in the federal government. We also expanded our capacity to support emerging entrepreneurs through the BSU Entrepreneurship Academy’s university-wide efforts and a new $1 million partnership with University of the District of Columbia and Morgan State University.

Our students and alumni have demonstrated excellence in their fields and brought recognition to the university. Several computer science majors competed in national hackathons, including the Black Enterprise magazine’s 36-hour BE Smart Hackathon. Others were invited to present their original research at national conferences, including 13 students from the master’s in school psychology degree program who will travel to Japan in July for a research conference. One of our alums, Dior Ginyard (’11), was honored as an up-and-coming professional on Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 in Sports list for his work with the NFL Players Association.

BSU has taken some important steps this year toward strengthening the university’s long-term viability. We implemented a new solar power system, with solar panels installed on about seven acres across the campus that will provide about 10 percent of the campus’s energy needs. The new Department of Technology and Security was established to prepare highly skilled graduates for the technology careers of the future. A committee of students, faculty, staff and alumni worked to develop a new strategic plan that will guide the university through the next five years.

We completed five-month searches to hire three new vice presidents in key areas — academic affairs, institutional advancement and enrollment management — who will energize our Race to Excellence.

Our ongoing efforts to strengthen relationships with Maryland lawmakers resulted in much needed funding to BSU in key areas. BSU received $1.5 million in state funds to repair or upgrade aging heating and cooling equipment across the campus. The General Assembly also accelerated funding by one year for planning and designing the new Humanities Building. New legislation established the Cyber Warrior Diversity Program at BSU, the state’s three other HBCUs, and a community college, to train students to meet growing workforce needs for cybersecurity professionals. Additionally, two new laws established scholarships for Maryland’s HBCU students in honor of our late alumnus, Maryland Delegate James E. Proctor, and our late student, Second Lieutenant Richard W. Collins III, whose life was tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence last year.

Members of the 100k Bulldog Club launched the 100K Athletic Endowed Scholarship Fund that expanded their efforts to support athletes, band and cheerleader members, that have raised nearly $50,000 so far.

Though we accomplished much in the last 12 months, remember that this is only the beginning! I’m excited to see what the future holds as we usher in a new era at BSU and garner increased support for our mission and the value we bring to our local economy.

As we run this Race to Excellence together, I encourage you to remain engaged, to make plans now to join us for homecoming and other fall activities, and to consider making a gift to BSU before June 30 at www.bowiestate.edu/give. Your support is vital to assuring that our students have the resources they need to succeed.

Thanks so much for your continuing support.

Sincerely,

Aminta H. Breaux, Ph. D.
President