Coppin State University Announces 2021 Inauguration Week and Dr. Anthony Jenkins’ Investiture

This week, Coppin State University (CSU) will formally install President Anthony L. Jenkins, Ph.D., as the university’s 8th president. Inauguration Week, October 11th-15th, will be filled with celebration, academic discussion, and the reconnection of the university with the Baltimore community. The week’s activities will, formally, mark a new beginning for the University that has been an anchor in West Baltimore for over 120 years. 

Previously serving as president of West Virginia State University (WVSU), President Anthony L. Jenkins’ appointment to the presidency of Coppin State University, was announced by University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor Robert L. Caret, on December 2, 2019, only a few months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, that lead to statewide shutdowns and quarantine.  

President Jenkins began his tenure as president of Coppin State University on May 26, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 shutdown. Meeting his new role amid “a new normal,” Coppin’s students and faculty are excited to, properly, celebrate and commemorate the arrival of the new president, along with other Coppin staff, alumni, and community stakeholders.  

Coming off the heels of the September 30th announcement of the West North Avenue Development Authority, of which President Jenkins has been appointed chair, Coppin State is positioned to become an international leader in urban higher education. 

Festivities began, on Monday, October 11th, when Coppin hosted the campus and the community, at the university’s track and football field, for CSU All-Star Day, a pep rally event and talent showcase of student organizations and athletes. Other events following All-Star Day include The First Lady’s Wellness Challenge, in support of Domestic Violence and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. First Lady, Toinette Jenkins, along with House of Ruth Maryland and the American Breast Cancer Foundation, will host participants to a morning of physical activity and information on how to support two notable and worthy causes. The wellness challenge will be followed by an afternoon tea, where the First Lady and Coppin alum, Erica Jones, director of infection prevention at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, will discuss ways to maintain a holistically healthy lifestyle. Further showcasing the university’s expertise, Thursday will bring in the Academic Symposium, moderated by President Jenkins, panelists, including Deputy Commissioner and CSU alum, Sheree Briscoe, will address ongoing criminal and social justice challenges impacting the Baltimore community and the factors that contribute to such issues. All Inauguration Week events will lead up to the Investiture of President Jenkins on Friday morning, October 15th, at 9:00 a.m.  

Click here for a full schedule of events.
 

Story by Brene Carrington