Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

History

Richard Humphreys, a Philadelphia silversmith and devout Quaker, died in 1832 leaving a bequest of ten thousand dollars to a board of twelve Quakers to establish 'a school for the descendants of the African race.' The Institution for the Education of Youth of African Descent opened in Philadelphia in 1837. It was later named for Benjamin Cheyney, a Quaker farmer who donated the land in Chester County, Pennsylvania, to which the school moved in 1902.

Cheyney's early decades were defined by the Quaker abolitionist tradition in Philadelphia. The institution trained teachers for the growing population of free Black Philadelphians and, in the decades following the Civil War, for freedpeople across the South. It was a normal school — focused primarily on teacher preparation — for most of its early history.

The institution became Cheyney State College in 1959 and joined the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education in 1983, becoming Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. This integration into the state system brought access to public funding but also subjected Cheyney to the enrollment-driven funding formulas that have been devastating for small HBCUs whose student populations are declining.

Cheyney faced existential financial challenges in the twenty-first century, with enrollment declining sharply from its mid-twentieth century peak. Pennsylvania reached a settlement agreement with the NAACP in 2010 acknowledging underfunding of the state's public HBCUs; a subsequent settlement in 2021 directed additional funds to the institution. Under President Aaron A. Walton, who took office in 2017, the university balanced its budget for several consecutive years and rebuilt enrollment from a low near 469 to more than 700. That turnaround was validated in June 2024, when the Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaffirmed Cheyney's accreditation, ending years of probationary status. The next comprehensive evaluation is scheduled for 2030–2031.

In April 2026 the Commission approved the addition of a Philadelphia instructional site at 1700 Spring Garden Street, extending the university's reach back toward the city where it was founded. Cheyney also announced higher admissions standards beginning with the Fall 2026 applicant pool, part of a strategy to strengthen retention and long-term student success.

188 Years and Still Standing

Cheyney's distinction as the oldest HBCU is not merely historical. The institution has survived the systematic underfunding of Jim Crow, the financial pressures of the twenty-first century, and multiple accreditation crises that would have closed a lesser institution. Its continued operation is a product of the same determination that founded it: the refusal to accept that Black Americans do not deserve education. The founding bequest of $10,000 in 1832 — roughly $350,000 in 2026 dollars — has compounded over 188 years into an institution that has educated tens of thousands of Pennsylvania's Black teachers, lawyers, and civic leaders.

Notable Alumni

A representative selection. Alumni records are verified against institutional and published sources. Unverified entries are flagged explicitly — we do not fabricate records.

Source notes: Charles L. Blockson, The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania; Cheyney University institutional archives; Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education records; NAACP v. Pennsylvania CCHE settlement documentation.