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>> Connecting Marylanders to their government.

This is "State Circle."

♪ ♪ >> Hello, welcome to a special Edition of "State Circle."

This is HBCU week on MPT.

And we are highlighting the accomplishment of the region's historically black colleges and Universities as we have done for the past four years.

This year, we are answering the question "Where do they go from here?"

I'm Kaye Wise Whitehead, the host of WEAA Radio 88.9 FM.

Coming up on this hour long program, MPT's Jeff Salkin will be talking to each of the six HBCU presidents.

Our team of reporters will visit the schools and introduce us to some new and innovative programs.

As you may know, there are now over 100 historically black colleges and universities across the country and six right here in our area.

Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore are all located here in Maryland.

Howard University and the University of The District of Columbia are located in Washington D.C. HBCU Week is part of MPT's standing against racism, fostering unity through dialogue initiative.

We began this push back in 2020 to increase understanding of race-related issues in communities across the state.

For more information, go to MPT.org/racism.

Now we are going to kick it off with Bowie State University where they're celebrating their new E-Sports center.

As Nancy Yamada tells us, students are going to tell us about the latest in computer gaming technology in the fast growing field of E-Sports.

>> I have been playing since I Was in diapers watching my dad play and then I like playing Madden and then I learned on my own and stuff like that.

>> REPORTER: Jaquai Bell never imagined his love of gaming would lead to a world of competing where he often comes out on top.

>> I started winning, started winning.

I went to the Super Bowl for Madden.

I was competing against 5,000, probably more than 5,000 students in the whole United States that was in HBCU and I became top seven and went to the Super Bowl.

>> REPORTER: He is the E-Sports administrator at Bowie State University where gamings no longer a late night activity you play in your dorm.

>> We invested a little over Half a million dollars in this facility for our students who were competing during the pandemic from their homes so they needed a space on campus to both compete and practice.

So this is the result of all of that hard work and effort.

>> REPORTER: Located in the James E. Proctor building, Bowie state E-Sports center has gaming stations and e-racing simulator.

>> It is a formal athletic program.

Part of just like a football or basketball player, we have E-Sports athletes as well.

And they're, you know, they have to meet minimum G.P.A.

requirements.

They also have to satisfy their academic requirements here on campus as well.

But if, you know, they satisfy Those requirements, they can sign up to be an E-Sports athlete and get scholarships and also win fairly large purses from these tournaments.

I think the highest purse ever received was $1.7 million.

>> REPORTER: The most popular games include League of Legends, Dota 2, Counterstrike and Fortnite.

To be competitive... >> Practice makes perfect like anything else.

There is strategy involved, like capture the flag type games, battlefront, they have to Collaborate and cooperate.

It is a simulation of a war.

>> REPORTER: E-Sports has been so popular that next year Bowie state is planning to launch a video game design program, a curriculum that students can actually get a degree in.

>> Of course I like playing for fun, but why not make some money while you are having fun.

>> REPORTER: In addition to playing in CIAA and national competition, Bell is making money by streaming or playing live games where people can watch online.

>> The appeal is the entertainment, people just like to be entertained like on their down time.

>> REPORTER: Entertainment that is helping bell get his MBA and other students pay for their schooling.

At Bowie State University, I'm Nancy Yamada.

>> Here is MPT's Jeff Salkin with Dr. Aminta Breaux who has served as the president of Bowie State University since 2017 knowledge.

>> Dr. Breaux, also great to have you on the program.

I know we are coming up on your of favorite time of the year, right?

>> Oh yes, it is, Jeff.

It's great to see you again thanks for having me on.

I'm very excited about the opening of another academic year.

We are getting under way, preparing for move-in day that starts on August 19 and continues on for that entire week.

Leading up to the first day of classes on August 26.

So if any of your viewers are preparing to come to BSU, please make sure that you arrive on time and we are looking forward to welcoming our new students and returning students back to the campus knowledge.

>> JEFF: What is your message for new students?

I faintly remember that time in my life and there is a lot going on.

>> There is a lot going on, and I say embrace change because they are living-- this generation is living in a remarkable time.

When you look at the change of technology, there is so much changing in our nation around the world.

We are in this global economy and there is a great amount of opportunity out here.

When I look at the types of positions that are being created for soon to be graduates, I'm excited about the future for this generation of learners coming to the campus.

Artificial intelligence, need I say more?

Artificial intelligence is shaping, reshaping every industry, every business but that also creates new opportunities for these students.

And Bowie State University has focused on entrepreneurship as one of the hallmarks of our educational model.

So we have an entrepreneurship living and learning community for students to come in, embrace change, think about how they can create an entrepreneurial mind set before they graduate.

But if they want to create a new product, a new business, we have the supports to help them with that.

So I say embrace change and the transformation that's happening in their everyday lives.

>> JEFF: One of my colleagues did a story at your campus a year ago on some of the phenomenal internship opportunities that your students have in artificial intelligence and robotics and computer science and those opportunities don't just happen.

You and your colleagues are going out to make them happen.

Why is that an important component of the whole educational package?

>> I believe it starts with helping employers understand the excellence that we have here on the campus.

We have a strength in the STEM areas, number one, in science, technology, engineering and math.

And these are the areas that are growing.

There is such a huge need for students to major in these areas and then graduate and go into these exciting fields, including artificial intelligence, computer security, computer technology, computer science, mis, data analytics.

These are strength areas for Bowie State University.

And so the students need to know that we don't just wait for the employers, but we go out and we advocate and we market and brand so that the employers think about Bowie State University.

We sit right outside of Washington D.C. You know, just a little over 20 miles outside of Washington D.C., so we are along the defense corridor.

Our students go to work for government agencies, government contractors, Amazon, Amazon web services, I.B.M., we are an Adobe campus.

And so the employers know Bowie State University, but that's because our faculty members don't just sit back and wait for the career fair to come up.

They have gone out and said to these employers you need to take a look at Bowie State University students.

And they're doing just that.

I have to give kudos to our Department Chair in computer science that was featured on, you know, national news about the internship opportunities she created for her students and that came from her reaching out and saying you need to take a look at the students of BSU and they did just that.

Our students are going on to work across the nation, around the world.

You never know where you might find a BSU student and graduate working in an internship because they're working the fields that are growing and in line with the workforce programs that we have here.

>> JEFF: And all of this new world artificial intelligence cyber space stuff still requires some actual academic buildings and you are in the process of opening and building some new ones.

>> Yes, we are.

Very excited about what is to come very soon.

August 27, we will be cutting the ribbon on a new communication arts and humanities building.

The Martin Luther King center.

It will be home to state-of-the-art broadcasting facilities for video and audio recording.

It will have a 1500 seat auditorium and it will have smart classrooms, meeting spaces that are supportive of our learners today.

So we are very, very excited.

It's 192,000 square foot building.

And we are just so excited that we will be opening that.

>> The magnificent marching machine from Morgan State University took the world stage in Normandy France recently as part of the D-Day commemoration.

As Charles Robinson reports, it marked the first time for an HBCU to participate in the global event.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> REPORTER: One of those who had a personal connection to the D-Day site in Normandy is band director Dr. Charles jorim reid.

>> My grandfather was a World War II staff sergeant, and he entered on that beach.

>> Getting there, you can get a sense of everything we had discussed, you know, beautiful beach.

There was a place of death.

Where, you know, you can't sugar coat, you know, what happened.

You can't, you know, deny that lives were lost on that beautiful beach.

I wrote that piece to start with those 24 notes.

Taps has 24 notes, that has an emotional characteristic to it, comes from pre-Civil War bugle calls and modified by Butterfield.

starts alone but then it builds into themes using American themes.

>> My moms finally found my grandfather's papers.

He entered this beach.

He was one who survived.

I remember them telling me, you know, stories that G.I.

Joe toys, and how he saw things that you don't want to talk about.

>> 80 years of history here in Normandy France.

Historical event for them to be here.

>> REPORTER: For two days, the magnificent marching machine band had the emotional tug of why they were there.

But at Euro Disney, it was time to show the French who knew nothing about an HBCU and why they are different.

>> Disney was a special performance.

It was definitely special from beginning to end, seeing the different people and the kids, too, like I really enjoy bringing sunshine, like a new type of vibe to kids that they have never experienced before because I'm pretty sure there is no marching band in France.

So to be able to see a marching band for the first time and then not only that, a HBCU, that's probably a core memory that's going to stick with them for life.

>> The cast members even at Disney asked, I'm sure they loved you on the beaches, and they said they're going to love us, you know, in the park because, you know, they were saying that, you know, they don't get American bands, marching bands like that.

>> It was also a connection to history with visits to the Louvre museum and a trip down the seine river.

>> So far Paris and Normandy have been a great experience.

To be the first HBCU to do this is one of the top opportunities and top things we can do for Morgan state.

>> I love it, it was great, Do it again!

10 out of 10, would recommend.

>> REPORTER: An impromptu trumpet solo on the river connected these HBCU students as to why so many African-Americans went to Paris to write, create art forms, and give the world jazz without the complexities of race.

I'm Charles Robinson.

>> Here is MPT's Jeff Salkin with the tenth president of Morgan State University Dr. David Wilson.

>> JEFF: Joining us from the national treasure Morgan State University is president David Wilson.

Dr. Wilson, thank you for joining us.

>> Jeff, it is always a pleasure speaking with you.

We try to do this annually and so I look forward to it.

>> JEFF: I know one of the things you look forward to is the students coming back to campus, which just happened.

So the campus is, again, alive and full of energy and how does that feel?

>> You know, it feels like a university campus should feel at the beginning of the fall.

When our students leave following the May commencement, I think all of us initially breathe a sigh of relief because it gives us a little break.

But I think we go through a period there where when we come to the campus and it's only 10% occupied, we can't wait for the thousands of students to return.

College campuses are not really designed to not have students on them all the time.

And so here we just have thousands of students on the campus and it is very, very compact because we, indeed, have reached our capacity in terms of enrollment.

>> JEFF: You have had an enrollment goal of 10,000.

Tell us about that.

>> We started in 2010 when I arrived, and the campus had roughly about 7,200 students.

And we did our projections in terms of where the 18-22-year-old population was headed both in Maryland as well as across the country.

And that really showed us that there was going to be a precipitous drop in the number of students graduating from high school, both in Maryland as well as across the nation.

And so we said, okay, let's be conservative about this because initially we were thinking perhaps 12,000.

And with that conservative estimate, and knowing what the landscape was looking like, and through, you know, mathematical mapping, we landed on 10,000.

And we said, you know, perhaps we can reach 10,000 students over a long period of time.

And our Strategic Plan, we said our goal was to get there by 2030.

And so we will certainly be there when we turn our official enrollments into Maryland Education Commission on October 15 this year, we expect to be somewhere between 10,400 and 11,000 students.

As a matter of fact, as I speak to you today, our unofficial enrollment has eclipsed 11,000.

By the time we work with students who have financial aid students, we do everything we can to keep them here, but at 12 the end of the day, a couple hundred of them or so just may not be able to come up with all the money they need to persist to completion.

So, yes, this represents, of course, the largest enrollment ever in our 157-year history and fourth straight year where we have seen a record number of enrollment of students.

>> JEFF: Where is everybody coming from and what do you feel is attracting students to Morgan >> They're literally are coming from all over the nation.

I mean we practically have every state, save a couple, represented now on the campus.

I walk the campus every single day, I have been walking it since all the students came back and we have scores of students from places like Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Alabama, Georgia, Chicago, Milwaukee, all over the nation, Detroit, we still have about 55% of our students that are in-state but the other 45% are coming from all over the country.

And I think they're coming for a variety of reasons.

Number one, we have gone through an intentional period here doing something that we call curricular realignment.

And that is simply looking at all of our existing baccalaureate degrees making sure that the students who major in them are being imbued with skills that will speak to the future of work and the work of the future.

And then we have brought in existence a number of new baccalaureate programs with the same theme.

What is the work of the future?

What does that look like?

What is the future of work and how do we ensure that students are getting a degree from Morgan are going to be well prepared for that future of work?

And so we basically have some programs at Morgan that are the only programs that are being offered in the State of Maryland.

Mechatronic engineering or computing B.S.

in advanced computing and cyber security management and so these are some of our fastest growing programs.

And so we see many students now coming to populate those programs.

We also are seeing huge increase in our nursing program here.

Quite frankly, we are not going to be in a position to serve all the students that want to be in nursing, who want to go into nursing.

I think about 10,500 students, 2,000 of them want to go into our nursing program.

>> UMES wants to help solve the veterinary shortage and introduced a new School of Veterinary medicine.

Sue Copin tells us the goal is not only to increase the needs of veterinarians but to increase diversity in the profession.

>> It would be historical for us in a sense that we would be the first program in the state and we would be the second at an historically black college.

>> REPORTER: Dr. Ronnie Allen is from the Provost at UMES.

The university is gearing up for the opening of a new veterinary school.

It comes at a time when the demand for veterinarians far exceeds the supply.

>> When you think about only 34 programs in the country and they have only approved maybe a few in the last 10 to 15 years, it shows there is a definite need.

We wanted to make sure we could meet that need.

But also seeing that it's an opportunity for us to provide students who are first generation, students from under served communities with an opportunity to pursue a career in veterinary medicine.

>> REPORTER: One trade group estimates 70% of households in the U.S. Own a pet.

That's up from 56% in 1988.

>> There is data that shows that 60% of Hispanics have a pet in their home, 37% of Asians have a pet in their home and African-Americans, 34% and so when you start to think about that, you are going to need veterinarians who look like them to help go back to the communities and meet a need.

>> REPORTER: The UMES Veterinary School will be a year round accelerated three-year program similar to the one incoming dean Dr. Stanley Robertson helped to establish at the University of Arizona.

>> A lot of hands on clinical skills that they get in the first two years as well as a distributive clinical year where our students will go out into different practices and do their clinical training in practices versus the teaching hospital.

So they will really be seeing cases just like the same cases they would see when they get out in practice.

>> REPORTER: Robertson said there are a number of past graduates from the new program they take... >> That doesn't always equate to putting veterinarians into the communities where they're most needed.

Whether that be maybe some smaller communities, whether that be a more rural community.

There is definitely need in those areas and very much shortages in those areas.

And I do think-- I do feel like we have the opportunity to make an impact on that.

>> REPORTER: Dr. Jeffrey Reed said he is looking forward to the new program.

>> We are super excited about the opportunity.

I think the more people you can offer that opportunity to, the better off we are going to be, right, because there are so many people out there that want to be veterinarians and want to be this job.

>> REPORTER: And he said UMES is not just good for addressing the need for more vets but can benefit the broader community as well.

>> I think the opportunity is for the university to grow its footprint, but also because of that, that will hopefully help this area grow its footprint and provide more jobs and more funding and better services.

>> REPORTER: UMES expected to be accredited and admitting its first class of 100 veterinary students in 2026.

In Princess Ann, I'm sue copin.

>> Now Jeff with Dr. Heidi Anderson, the president of UMES since 2018.

>> JEFF: Dr. Anderson, it's great to see you again.

>> Great to see you too, Jeff.

Always a pleasure.

>> JEFF: Always a pleasure.

You were telling me about points of pride.

Is that a thing, and what are the points of pride?

>> Oh excellent question, Jeff.

Yes, our points of pride are a new thing that we have here at the campus.

We have a marketing tag now saying that our students, we are teaching them to soar, like hawks because we are, our mascot is a hawk.

So we basically are saying our points of pride show how we are soaring above and beyond and excelling in many things.

A couple of examples.

We are so proud of our students and we kind of post this about quarterly and make sure everyone is aware of it.

We have a little brochure that we put them into and share them with a number of people.

For example, last year our physical therapy students, when they graduated and they took the national board exam, they literally had a 95% pass rate.

And they have been over 95% since 2015.

That's a major point of pride.

We have our cohort that graduated in our physician assistant program and this was the first cohort after we had reestablished that program five years ago.

And they hit over 93% on the national exam.

Those are points of pride.

But let me tell you one that was a surprise to us that we didn't recognize and didn't know it was going to happen this year.

Our gospel choir got an opportunity to be invited by the New York Knicks basketball team, that's NBA, to actually open with the national anthem and the black national anthem.

And they did this in one of the spring games televised nationwide.

I got a lot of comments from colleagues across the country because they know I'm a big basketball fan and there it was, our students, in their maroon and gray, standing there bellowing out beautifully with the national anthem.

And it was amazing.

So we won that as one of our points of pride as well.

I can go on and on and on because there are faculty points of pride and our staff and other things.

>> JEFF: I'll ask to you talk about a couple of programs, but one I'll ask you to start with is the School of Pharmacy which we covered before.

I think the State of Maryland only has three schools of pharmacy.

So this is critically important for training healthcare workers and it's a terrific field where jobs are always plentiful.

>> It is.

Jeff, one of the reasons the pharmacy program is such an important program is because of the state of the healthcare in our country.

But just don't think of Maryland in and of itself.

Healthcare disparities are at an all time high and here in the State of Maryland, in Somerset county, we have some of the-- of course we are very low income and some of the poorest people in the state.

And so therefore their healthcare is not always up to par.

What happens with our pharmacy program, one of the things we can do, our pharmacy program is a three-year calendar program, which means students are out working very, very quickly in three years.

And they can join the workforce and you have pharmacists in every particular county in the state, multiple pharmacies.

And so pharmacists now are trained to be more clinically based.

And so they can help out and assist healthcare in those areas where you have healthcare disparities.

But let me not stop at that.

I always want to share with our listeners and our viewers is that we don't just have a pharmacy program.

We have total eight health profession programs.

So a pharmacy program, our newest physician assistant program, physical therapy program, we have added sports management.

Believe it or not, that's considered a health profession program.

And several others: Rehabilitative sciences and counseling and those students are disbursed once they graduated throughout the state in all of the counties of Maryland to really help take care of the help of the patients in the area.

And you said it very well in the And you said it very well in the job market is primed for all of those health professions because they're so needed and that's one of our points of pride as well.

>> JEFF: What is the overarching strategy behind those areas of focus?

And there was one other I know we wanted to touch on.

Veterinary science.

>> Oh yes, one of the things that our team did here was recognize that there is a national shortage of taking care of animals, whether they're farm animals or your pets.

I don't know if you have a pet, Jeff, I have two cats.

And there is a national shortage.

More importantly, we were recipients, as you know, of the funding that governor Hogan signed into law after speaker Jones, you know, created that particular bill that got passed I think it was hb-1 and sb-1.

And the funding was given to the four HBCUs here in the state.

The funds were given to us to create new academic programs and bolster our existing programs.

So my team made me very proud because they went to work and they started looking to see what is the national shortage.

Where are some areas of improvement out there that could help?

But where, more importantly, what is our niche and what can we do and the team came back with veterinary science.

>> And now to Howard University, where the new goal is to create the next generation of silicon engineers.

Chars Robinson explains how students will benefit from a new lab where they will be testing and debugging microchips.

>> An opportunity for not just me but our classmates go tote our hands on this.

Exposure to industry materials, access to resources and also the ability to talk to industry experts from companies like apple, Microsoft.

>> Brady Souma is a senior majoring in computer science.

He was on hand for the kickoff of the new $1.3 million post Silicon validation laboratory.

The lab was made possible by grants from apple and other partners.

>> I think of it as imagine me being able to come up with any single thing that comes to my mind by producing the hardware for it.

>> REPORTER: Hassan Salmani is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

He has spent 11 years at Howard University.

The lab director knows what this new experience can do for his students.

He walked me through a schematic diagram of components of a chip.

>> Here you are seeing a complete chip design and from this is going to sort from idea what you want to do.

Then you are talking about the C++ or any other program language, we are looking at computers from software perspective.

When you are talking about the chips, we are looking at computers from a hardware perspective.

So hardware enables execution of the software programs.

And these two go together and no one can exist without the other.

>> REPORTER: Students will program chips and send them off to be manufactured.

HBCUs don't often get these kinds of opportunities, as as Salmani described it, it is a chance to move from theory to practical application.

>> Other students are challenging and that's a very good sign.

It's one of the objects and goals of the education is to develop critical thinking.

>> REPORTER: Ph.D. student Harold Quintino sees the possibilities above beyond the surface.

>> Since this class brings everything together, I think it gives the sense that you are able to see different perspectives of engineering.

>> REPORTER: The applications of chip engineering not only applies to electrical engineers, but also to chemical, mechanical and structural engineers.

Each are trying to solve problems through multiple calculations and formulas.

But it all begins with what you can put on a microchip.

At Howard University, I'm Charles Robinson.

>> Now Jeff is with Howard University president Dr. Ben Vinson who was inaugurated last November.

>> JEFF: Dr. Vinson, thank you for joining us.

>> Jeff, It's a pleasure to be with you this afternoon.

Thank you very much.

>> JEFF: I was going to say you are the new president but you are going on a year; however, we have not had the chance to talk before.

So if you don't mind, tell our viewers a little bit about your background and path to Howard.

>> Well, thank you for that first of all.

And I will say that I have been in higher education for really all of my adult life, whether that be through Graduate School, but also my jobs.

And I also was a professor at Johns Hopkins University Maryland as well as a Dean of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University.

My parents live in Fort Washington, Maryland.

Very much feel like a part of this part of the country.

Thank you.

>> JEFF: when you look at the opportunity at Howard, what attracted you to that?

What do you see in terms of the opportunities for Howard going forward?

>> Well, Jeff, I have got to say I believe that I believe quite firmly we are in a very special moment in time.

One of these rare moments historically where you've got really meaningful debates about the shape of the future and the social fabric of the country, we are still wrestling with some of our specters of race and that element of conversation in our society.

We have a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

And when you put it all together, institutions like Howard University, HBCUs, have a special calling in this moment.

We were founded in many ways upon the promise of what America could be shortly after the Civil War.

Howard University was founded in 1867 and a lot of this was really to ensure that ex-slaves had a place in America.

And in many ways, as the American story is unfurled over the centuries, this is yet another one of those moments where fundamental questions about equity, the future of our society can be redefined and institutions like Howard help train the next generation to solutions for those really burning questions that are part of our story.

>> JEFF: I saw a recent speech where you referred to Howard doing the work of uplift.

Tell us about that term.

>> Well, again that really goes back to our history, but it also is very much in our present, where we educate, in many ways, that sector of society that has often been overlooked.

Historically that has been part of our legacy.

And bringing these people up towards really having a full voice in our world in society has been a part of the mission of Howard University.

What that looks like today, today we have about 41% of our population is Pell eligible, which basically means that they're coming from backgrounds, underserved backgrounds where receiving a Howard education gives this element of the population, quite frankly, an extra step in moving up in our society.

And so that's really a part of what I meant by that particular statement.

>> JEFF: You are also blessed there to have an incredible alumni network, including the current Vice President of the United States.

How do you leverage that going forward?

And I'm not just talking about the Vice President Harris but the whole network?

>> It's an incredible, incredible network.

I've got to say personally, almost everywhere I go in this country, I am surprised that there is a Howard alum that I get a chance to speak with and share stories with.

And when you think about this incredible legacy, not only is Vice President Kamala Harris a part of that, but we have had people like Vernon Jordan, Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall and right here in Maryland, the late Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings, who was a political science major at the university and president of Howard's Student Association and all of these experiences have led individuals like Elijah Cummings to greater heights.

In his case in particular, those formative experiences at Howard we believe really helped line his vision and set him on that trajectory towards his destiny in the U.S. Congress.

We have got stories like that that resonate internationally.

When you think about Eric Williams from Trinidad, one of the former presidents, Prime Minister of Trinidad, the African continent.

We have stories like this from generation through generations.

>> JEFF: When you take a new leadership position like yours, you look around, you look at the strengths of the institution, the weaknesses, the opportunities, what did you see in terms of opportunities for growth and challenges that you need to address?

>> I was most recently provost at Case Western Reserve.

What I saw was a place that is steeped in its mission.

100% sure of its role in our society.

But also on a rocket trajectory.

>> At Coppin State University, their new data science program is designed to provide students with the skills to excel in a data-driven world.

Here is Nancy Yamada with how the program trains students to understand complex data and solve problems across multiple industries.

>> Once you understand how it works, that is the key, that is the key code to business, to with your money.

>> REPORTER: Senior Natalya Clark never imagined how important learning statistics or data science at Coppin State University would be until she started her own business.

She is the proud entrepreneur of first moon kit, a menstruation or period starter kit for young girls.

>> Data helps you with adding value to your business so you can kind of see what are the areas that is high in demand.

What is the areas you don't want to invest in because you would be losing money.

>> REPORTER: Coppin State University data science classes are an integral part of College of Business.

>> I'm a junior at Coppin State University, and my major is sport management.

>> How does this field of study relate to data sigh Glens I'm an I'm an avid sports fan people don't realize a new generation of basketball was birthed because of data.

People saw the three-point shot is yeah, it's a more difficult shot but if you make it, you are going to score more points.

So that's one thing that the class that I have taken shows me that data is not just far off thing.

It's in our everyday lives and decisions we make.

>> Based on the algorithms, they can predict anything.

>> REPORTER: Associate Professor of Data Science Gazi Iqba said it encourages students to take data science regardless of their major.

>> If you know the algorithm and know how to seed the data, you technically can play around with any data, healthcare, transportation, business, any type.

>> REPORTER: Beyond the lessons in the classroom, professor said Coppin State University focuses on internships where students are learning how to apply their knowledge to help companies market, sell and solve real world problems.

Clark says the valuable data that she has collected has helped her refine her first moon kits.

In addition to the products inside, she is offering more education.

>> Even moms and especially dads have a hard time not knowing how to start to support their daughters with preparing for their period or when they start their period so that is what made the kit more valuable.

I collected the data, having those conversations and some of those conversations were hard.

>> REPORTER: Hard but worth it for those who are understanding the value of data.

At Coppin State University, I'm Nancy Yamada.

>> Here is MPT's Jeff Salkin with the eighth president of Coppin State University, Dr. Anthony Jenkins it's it's great to have you back on MPT.

>> Thank you, it's great to be back with you and I hope that all is going well.

>> JEFF: It is.

Let's talk about how things are going at Coppin and your focus on expanding access and opportunity.

>> You know, as I like to say, as of late, when people ask me how things are going at Coppin, I tell them things are going up.

So I'm very excited about where we are, very optimistic.

We have great wins to our backs here on campus.

So many things going well.

We kick off our new academic semester next week.

We are very excited about that.

Have seen a lot of great interest in the university.

More students wanting that Coppin experience.

So applications are up, student enrollment projected to be up.

Demand for housing is up.

You know, we can go on across the board about so many good things that are going on here at the university.

>> JEFF: For people not familiar with the university, tell us a little about your top programs.

Is there one or more areas that you focus on?

>> Thank you.

You know, I like to tell folks, when I got here several years ago, one of the things that was on top of my list was to introduce and reintroduce Coppin State University.

Introduce ourselves to those who didn't know us and reintroduce ourselves to those who may have an outdated perception of the university.

You know, we have a vision and a charge to become a leader in urban higher education, known nationally for transforming the lives of students, regardless of their social or economic backdrop.

So today we are seeing students who are coming to us from over 40 states, the District of Columbia and 32 countries.

And to have that type of diversity and multiculturalism on our campus, it adds to the value of the education that we are providing our students here.

We are the most affordable four-year college or university in the state.

We are nationally known for our healthcare.

We have the number one nursing program amongst Maryland HBCUs and ranked fifth overall in the State of Maryland.

Forbes ranked our psychology program one of the best in the country.

Our business management program is ranked top 40 nationally.

Our social work program is ranked nationally.

Our criminal justice program and many of our STEM areas.

As I tell folks, Coppin State University is a university whose academic majors are centered around changing the human condition, and those are our strong holds.

>> JEFF: You were telling me that you have created and managed to push through a nice perk for attracting students beyond the state's border.

>> Yeah, we started looking at, as the demand for the Coppin experience has continued to grow 5 over the last several years, me and my team started thinking about what could we do better to expand access and opportunity and overall completion rates for in-state students and out of state students.

For in-state students, we revamped our scholarship and I wrote out the new presidential scholarship, which is a full academic ride to the university.

And then we wanted to look at our out of state students what we could do.

I'm very proud of our expand eagle nation program which has caught on like wildfire and the program is simple.

For all states that have two or fewer HBCUs, I offer those students in-state tuition.

And what we have seen is that students coming from the midwest and from the west coast and from the north, from New York, New Jersey, places such as Detroit, they are excited about this opportunity.

And they see it as a financial win for both them and their family members.

At Coppin, we see it as a win that they can come to us, have a quality experience here at the university, graduate with less debt because our graduates graduate with debt lower than the national average.

And they don't have to take out as many student loans and all of those things.

So we are just very excited about this program.

We have a deal with the university system of Colorado that we have just signed.

We have just signed a deal with the State of California.

And we are working on deals with Boston and Chicago.

>> The university of the District of Columbia has a unique program, which prepares students to learn a trade in the construction industry.

As Charles Robinson finds out, the construction management program was developed in response to the high unemployment rate in D.C., as well as a growing need for construction workers.

>> REPORTER: Meet Tysean Lawson Bey.

>> When you leave, you are saying the number you are going to create today will follow you when you go down the hall to HVAC, follow you when you go upstairs to electric, carpentry, all that.

>> JEFF: Lawson Bey is the director of the construction pathways program located at the University of District of Columbia.

>> When they leave us, they're able to go to work in companies and they're getting saluted.

They're coming in above entry level.

>> REPORTER: What makes this HBCU different?

It has a pathway to the construction trades.

>> Why wouldn't an HBCU be involved in something like this?

We are right here in the district.

Well kept secret, I guess for a while, but it has been around.

We have been in this building since right before the pandemic.

We are the only really trade school in the district that is totally free.

So we can keep our students here.

We can compete with the likes of the Lincoln techs and ABC Metro Washington at no charge, no student loans, books, everything.

You mentioned the tools, the equipment you see around us is top notch and they can come here for free.

>> REPORTER: One of the classes we looked in on one HVAC.

Dwayne Waugh took this class and now is certified and working.

>> I wish they had this program when I was 18.

This program sharpens skills I learned when I was younger and it allowed me to improve upon it along with it going the certifications that come with being in this field.

>> REPORTER: The core classes include carpentry, maintenance repair and servicing HVAC systems.

In addition to learning how to use the equipment and getting certified, as they prepare students for managing projects.

>> Coming from this area, dc resident, Washingtonian, being a student at a trade, getting to this point in my career, looking at what is going on, the landscape of my city, the trades saved my life and I just want to pull back and reach back and pull the next generation and chaperone those young men and women into the trade.

I think we do a good job around here, the training that the students are getting here is beyond none.

You can't put words to the success and how proud I am just getting up in the morning because I know I'm changing someone's life each day that I come in these doors.

>> REPORTER: Lawson Bey, who has 40 years of training in the construction trade knows that these opportunities are here and you can't get them anywhere else I'm Charles Robinson.

>> Here is Jeff with the president of UDC, Dr. Maurice Eddington.

>> JEFF: Dr. Eddington, thank you for joining us.

Tell us about your first year on the job.

Any moments that stand out to you or accomplishments that stand out?

>> Yeah, thank you for that.

You know, I had a very active, exciting and engaging first year.

One of the major milestones as we spent a lot of time in the first year developing the new five-year university Strategic Plan.

And that's very critical.

And I feel very fortunate as the new president, to have had an opportunity to complete that in my first year because that's the blueprint for the future.

And so that document outlines the vision and plan for our future.

And also the first year, you know, is really spent with the focus on me getting to know the institutional culture and the D.C. culture, right?

And so I really enjoy opportunities to learn about our history and who we are and those conversations and sessions really fit into how I see us moving forward in the future.

But a very good first year.

>> JEFF: The history.

I mean UDC is the only public institution, land grant institution.

How does that history inform where you are going in the Strategic Plan?

>> You know, it really highlights our mission, right, you know, as you said, we are the district's only public institution.

We are a land grant institution.

And those two things really mean that we have an obligation to meet the needs of the citizens of the district, right?

And so as we think about the future and how we tailor our educational programming, our service mission, our land grant mission, it's all designed to make sure that we are providing the type of services, educational opportunities and impact to the district.

>> JEFF: Is there anything in the new plan that is a dramatic departure from what you have been doing?

Any places where we are going to zig instead of zag or any area where you want to reallocate resources with an eye toward future needs?

>> Yeah, you know, one of the major things I think that the plan would do is what I would call a reimagining the whole institution from top to bottom.

It's a new vision for the university.

It is really looking to establish this university as a flagship university hopefully for the 51st state in the union.

With we look at the university as a flagship institution for a state, it means we have to double down on having high quality academic programs, programs aligned with workforce needs, be the first choice destination for students and parents and employers.

And so the difference is we have a very clear vision.

It's very aggressive and ambitious for this institution's future.

It's growing enrollment, growing academic programs in the tech fields, health field, public health, law, business.

Five, 10 years from now we want to be seen in this community as the district's flagship institution that all the residents are very proud of.

>> JEFF: One of the programs that caught our eye last year was training tomorrow's educators.

So students who want to go into teaching.

And I know that's important to you and it's important to the district.

>> Oh yeah and again speaking to our special mission, right, we have an obligation to make sure that the district students receive high quality education in the K-12 system.

So we want to be a major provider of teachers who are hired by the district because that's our service.

That's our mission, that's our obligation but also what it does is, it strengthens the connection that UDC has with its residents, right, by having UDC alum in the classrooms.

They're ambassadors for the institution as well.

Something very important for us.

>> JEFF: You know, when we talked before, one of the big takeaways was the level of commitment that you have to making sure that your students succeed; that they make it to the graduation stage despite all sorts of challenges that young people have today.

Talk a little bit about your efforts in that regard and some of the top challenges that kids are facing.

>> Yeah, thank you.

One of the things that we recognize is that in order to serve our students at a high level, we have to have, you know, adequate academic support services.

And so we spent my first year here really putting the priority on beefing out our infrastructure, academic support infrastructure.

And I'm so fortunate to share that the district has made a major investment in UDC in the last budget cycle to help us build out a stronger academic support enterprise, right?

And that's one of the major components to helping students thrive are of services.

Another major need is students have financial burdens that they have to overcome to be able to remain in school.

We are thinking seriously and creatively about how we continue to identify different sources of revenue and so we are going to have a major focus, for example, on fundraising, right, with the purpose of removing those financial hurdles that our students often face.

And so major priority in that Area.

>> Now the CIAA is the nation's largest and oldest HBCU postseason basketball tournament.

For the past several years, MPT has produced emmy award winning films as part of its docuseries inside the CIAA.

This year we take a look at the tournament's impact on the whole City of Baltimore, including its thriving black business community.

Downtown partnership of Baltimore, CIAA, one plus one equals five, boom.

We are taking it to another level.

>> It's exciting to see the lights on the street, the signage on the walkway.

I mean there are signage everywhere.

I mean if you don't know that CIAA is in Baltimore, you are missing something.

>> Our businesses have really raised their hands and said how can I lean in.

>> It's like the greatest sporting tourism event in the world.

>> Thank you very much to Jeff, Charles, Nancy, sue and everyone who joined us here tonight I'm Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead.

To learn more about MPT's HBCU week, go to MPT.org/HBCU.

Thank you so much for watching and have a wonderful evening.

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