Delaware State University

History

Delaware State University was established on May 15, 1891, by the Delaware General Assembly as the State College for Colored Students, created under the provisions of the Second Morrill Act of 1890. The Morrill Act required states that maintained separate higher education systems for Black and white students to provide separate land-grant institutions for Black students — a compromise that both acknowledged and perpetuated the racial segregation of American public education. Delaware’s existing land-grant institution, the private Delaware College in Newark (now the University of Delaware), had been designated as the state’s primary beneficiary of Morrill Act funds; the new institution for Black students received a separate, typically smaller allocation.

The institution first awarded degrees in 1898. Its name changed multiple times in its early history to clarify its relationship to the existing Delaware College: by 1893, it had been renamed the State College for Colored Students to reduce confusion. It continued under various designations until July 1, 1993, when it adopted its current name, Delaware State University — a name that positions it simply as a state university without racial qualifier, reflecting both the desegregation of the institution and the changing politics of HBCU identity.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education granted full accreditation to Delaware State in April 1957, and has reaffirmed that accreditation at every subsequent review. The university has expanded its academic profile substantially since the 1980s, adding master’s and doctoral programs in fields ranging from education and business to the sciences and engineering — positioning it as a comprehensive doctoral-granting institution rather than simply an undergraduate HBCU.

In January 2026, Delaware State University was recognized in connection with its annual Scholarship Ball — an event that highlights the university’s ongoing commitment to student financial support and the cultivation of its alumni network. In Fall 2025, under President Tony Allen, the university reported a record enrollment of 6,623 students — a 31.7 percent increase since 2020, achieved against a national trend of declining college enrollment — and returned to the Carnegie Research 2 (R2) classification as its research enterprise approached $50 million in annual funding. The university has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report consistently among the top 10 HBCUs in recent annual rankings, and was named a Top 100 Performer on Social Mobility in the magazine's 2026 rankings.

The university's growth trajectory continued through spring 2026: nearly 1,300 students received degrees across two ceremonies, making the Class of 2026 the largest graduating class in Delaware State's 135-year history, with more than 1,000 bachelor's degrees, roughly 300 master's and doctoral degrees, and 270 associate degrees conferred. To broaden access beyond its Dover campus, the university partnered with the education-technology company Risepoint to launch a portfolio of online undergraduate and graduate degree programs beginning fall 2026.

Notable Alumni

A representative selection. We are expanding this section as records are verified.

Significance

Delaware State University is one of seventeen land-grant HBCUs created under the Second Morrill Act of 1890 — institutions whose founding was, in a structural sense, a concession to segregation rather than a commitment to Black educational opportunity. The Morrill Act HBCUs were established because Southern and border states refused to admit Black students to their existing land-grant colleges, and the federal government’s response was to require separate-but-allegedly-equal institutions rather than to enforce integration. Understanding this origin does not diminish what Delaware State has become; it contextualizes the conditions under which it was built and the inequities in state support it has historically navigated.

Delaware occupies an unusual position in American racial geography — a border state with a history of slavery, de jure segregation, and a legal system that produced complex civil rights questions. The state’s proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, to the Mason-Dixon Line, and to the Eastern Seaboard corridor from Baltimore to New York means that Delaware State has historically served a student body drawn from communities with diverse experiences of race, labor, and migration.

The university’s alumni record — spanning jazz innovation, groundbreaking visual art, Hall of Fame athletics, and professional broadcasting — demonstrates the range of fields in which Delaware State graduates have achieved national recognition. Its consistent ranking among the top tier of HBCUs reflects both the quality of its academic programming and its success in positioning its graduates for competitive careers and graduate study.

Source notes: This entry draws from: Delaware State University institutional history (desu.edu/about/our-history); African American Registry, "Delaware State University is Founded"; Wikipedia, "Delaware State University"; Britannica, "Delaware State University." Clifford Brown biographical information from: Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, eds., Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya (1955); Leonard Feather, The Encyclopedia of Jazz. Simmie Knox White House commission from White House Historical Association records (2004). Willie Stargell from Baseball Hall of Fame biographical record. Facts verified against multiple sources; discrepancies noted in the corrections log.