View source for Clark Atlanta University

{{Short description|Historically Black university in Atlanta, Georgia, US}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy| date= September 2025}}

{{Infobox university
 | name                   = Clark Atlanta University
 | native_name            =
 | image                  = Clark Atlanta University seal.svg
 | image_upright          = 0.75
 | caption                =
 | latin_name             =
 | motto                  = "''I'll Find a Way or Make One''" (Atlanta University); "''Culture for Service''" (Clark College)<ref name="Petersons">{{cite web|url=http://www.petersons.com/blackcolleges/profiles/clark_atlanta.asp?sponsor=13|title=Clark Atlanta University| website= petersons.com| publisher= | access-date=2008-02-25}}</ref>
 | established            = {{start date and age|1865|9|19}}
 | closed                 =
 | type                   = [[Private university|Private]] [[Historically black colleges and universities|historically black]]<ref name= "PresHBCU">{{cite web|url= http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whhbcu/edlite-list.html|title=List of HBCUs – White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities | website= ed.gov| publisher= US Department of Education|date=August 16, 2007| access-date= 2008-01-03|url-status= dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223032324/http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whhbcu/edlite-list.html|archive-date= December 23, 2007}}</ref> [[research university]]
 | religious_affiliation  = [[United Methodist Church]]
 | academic_affiliation   = {{hlist|[[Oak Ridge Associated Universities|ORAU]]|[[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Space-grant]]}}
 | endowment              = $102.4 million (2021)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cau.edu/about/CAU-AT-A-GLANCE-Fall-2022.pdf |title=Ranking |website= cau.edu| publisher= Clark Atlanta University| access-date= 2023-01-17}}</ref>
 | officer_in_charge      =
 | chairman               =
 | chancellor             =
 | president              = [[George T. French Jr.]]<ref name="NewPres" />
 | vice-president         =
 | superintendent         =
 | provost                =
 | vice_chancellor        =
 | rector                 =
 | principal              =
 | dean                   =
 | director               =
 | head_label             =
 | head                   =
 | faculty                =
 | administrative_staff   =
 | students               = 4,135 (fall 2023)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cau.edu/opar/institutional-research/Enrollment-Report_Fall-2021--20231.pdf|title=Enrollment by Term and Academic Level |website= cau.edu| publisher= Clark Atlanta University |date=25 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102005104/https://www.cau.edu/opar/institutional-research/Enrollment-Report_Fall-2021--20231.pdf|archive-date=2 January 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 | undergrad              = 3,495 (fall 2023)
 | postgrad               = 640 (fall 2023)
 | doctoral               =
 | other                  =
 | city                   = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
 | country                = US
 | coor                   = {{coord|33|45|3|N|84|24|37|W|display=it|type:edu}}
 | campus                 = Urban, {{convert|126|acre|km2|1}}
 | free_label             = Newspaper
 | free                   = ''The Panther''<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.caupanther1988.com/about-1 | title= About| work= The Panther | publisher= | date= 2024| via= caupanther1988.com |accessdate= 2025-09-26}}</ref>
 | sports                 =
 | colors                 = {{Color box|#CE1126}}{{Color box|Black}}{{Color box|#444F51}} Red, black, gray<ref>{{cite web| url= https://clarkatlantasports.com/sports/2016/3/15/logo-information.aspx?=&tab=4 | title= Logo Information| website= clarkatlantasports.com | publisher= Sidearm Sports| accessdate= March 4, 2020}}</ref>
 | sports_nickname        = [[Clark Atlanta Panthers|Panthers]]<ref name= "AthleticFacts">{{cite web|url=http://www.cau.edu/athletics/Basketball_m/basket_m_facts.html| title=Men's Basketball Facts| website= cau.edu| publisher= Clark Atlanta University| access-date= 2008-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515072300/http://www.cau.edu/athletics/Basketball_m/basket_m_facts.html|archive-date=May 15, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
 | mascot                 = Panther
 | athletics_affiliations = [[NCAA Division II]], [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference|SIAC]]<ref name= "AthleticFacts" />
 | website                = {{URL|https://www.cau.edu/|cau.edu}}
 | logo                   = Clark Atlanta University wordmark.svg
 | logo_upright           = .7
 | footnotes              =
}}

'''Clark Atlanta University''' ('''CAU''' or '''Clark Atlanta''') is a [[Private university|private]], [[United Methodist Church|Methodist]], [[Historically black colleges and universities|historically black]] [[research university]] in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], US. It was founded on September{{nbsp}}19, 1865, as '''Atlanta University''', the first [[HBCU]] in the United States to confer graduate degrees to African Americans.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlanta University |url=https://www.cau.edu/institutional-history/ |website=Clark Atlanta University |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>   In 1988, the school consolidated with Clark College (established 1869) to form CAU. It is [[Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education|classified]] among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".<ref>{{cite web |title=Carnegie Classifications Institution Lookup |url= https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=138947 |publisher=Center for Postsecondary Education, Indiana University |website= carnegieclassifications.iu.edu |access-date=29 August 2020 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127220754/https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=138947 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== History ==
Atlanta University was founded on September 19, 1865, and was among the first HBCUs in the Southern United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlanta University |url=https://www.cau.edu/institutional-history/ |website=Clark Atlanta University |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> It holds the distinction of being the nation's first graduate institution to award degrees to African Americans and the first to award bachelor's degrees to African Americans in the South.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlanta University History |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/atlanta-university/ |website=Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> Clark College, founded in 1869, was the nation's first four-year liberal arts college to serve African-American students.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clark College History |url=https://www.cau.edu/institutional-history/#clark-college |website=Clark Atlanta University |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> The two institutions consolidated in 1988 to form Clark Atlanta University.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clark Atlanta University Consolidation |url=https://www.cau.edu/institutional-history/#consolidation |website=Clark Atlanta University |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>

=== Atlanta University ===
In the city of Atlanta, while the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] was well underway, two literate African American ex-slaves, James Tate and Grandison B. Daniels, in 1862 established the first school in Atlanta for African American children. It was located on the corner of Courtland and Jenkins Streets in a Baptist church building.<ref>{{cite web |title=Booker T. Washington High School: Education Flagship for the People |url=https://leading-edge.iac.gatech.edu/building-memories/booker-t-washington-high-school-education-flagship-for-the-people |website=Leading Edge |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> Tate and Daniels, along with 25 other former slaves, founded Friendship Baptist Church. They began holding classes in a church building built in 1848.<ref>{{cite web |title=Friendship Baptist Church Records |url=https://archives.lib.ua.edu/repositories/3/resources/4895 |website=University of Alabama Archives |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> The school became Atlanta University in September 1865.<ref>{{cite web |title=Celebrating the Establishment of the Original Atlanta University |url=https://jkssr.org/index.php/2020/09/19/celebrating-the-establishment-of-the-original-atlanta-university |website=JKSSR |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>

When white missionary [[Frederick Ayer (missionary)|Frederick Ayer]], along with his wife, arrived in Atlanta in November 1865 under the auspices of the American Missionary Association, the AMA church purchased a boxcar for $310 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=310|start_year=1865}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) in [[Chattanooga]], Tennessee, and sent it to Friendship by the Ninth Street Baptist Church of Cincinnati, Ohio. The modest space of the boxcar served two purposes: a new teaching space for Atlanta University and a meeting space for the Friendship Church congregation. Tate and Daniels readily transferred their responsibilities to Ayer, who was better prepared to lead the educational effort, in 1865.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|title= Booker T. Washington High School: Education Flagship for the People|url=https://leading-edge.iac.gatech.edu/building-memories/booker-t-washington-high-school-education-flagship-for-the-people/ | website= iac.gatech.edu| publisher= Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology| accessdate= }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bacote|first= Clarence A.| year=1969|title=The Story of Atlanta University: A Century of Service, 1865–1965| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VOI7AAAAIAAJ| publisher= Atlanta University| via= Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first= |year= 2020|title=Friendship Baptist Church: A Commitment for the Ages|url=https://leading-edge.iac.gatech.edu/building-memories/friendship-baptist-church-a-commitment-for-the-ages/ | website= iac.gatech.edu| publisher= Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology| accessdate= }}</ref>

Atlanta University was founded on September 19, 1865,<ref>{{Cite book|title=African American History Day by Day – A Reference Guide To Events|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urVzCgAAQBAJ&q=atlanta+university+september+19+1865&pg=PA276|last=Carrillo|first=Karen Juanita|year= 2012| publisher=Abc-Clio |isbn= 978-1-59884-361-3 | via= Google Books}}</ref> by James Tate and Grandison Daniels.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Selcer|first=Richard S.|year= 2006|title=Civil War America, 1850 to 1875|publisher= Infobase |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqIBqiNoB9wC&q=founded+by+to+former+slaves+that+turned+it+over+in.1867+american+missionary+associaktion&pg=PA312|isbn=978-1-4381-0797-4 | via= Google Books}}</ref> Two years later, [[Edmund Asa Ware]] of the [[American Missionary Association]] was appointed the first president.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Selcer|first=Richard F.| year= 2006|title=Civil War 1850–1875|publisher= Infobase |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqIBqiNoB9wC&q=atlanta+university+opened+it+doors&pg=PA308|isbn= 978-1-4381-0797-4 | via= Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first= | year=2020|title=Booker T. Washington High School: Education Flagship for the People| url=https://leading-edge.iac.gatech.edu/building-memories/booker-t-washington-high-school-education-flagship-for-the-people/ |website= iac.gatech.edu| publisher= Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology| accessdate= }}</ref>  Atlanta University was chartered in 1867 with the assistance from [[Oliver Otis Howard]] of the [[Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands|Freedmen's Bureau]].  He also appointed [[William J. White (journalist)|William J. White]] as educational agent of the Freedmen's Bureau on January 12, 1867.  White was the half-brother of founder James Tate and was the co-founder of the Augusta Institute in 1867, which would become [[Morehouse College]].  He served as trustee of Atlanta University in 1869.<!-- (Hiding this because it almost makes sense, but doesn't. Can someone reword it and add a source?) It is the first HBCU to the founded, chartered and to conferee its first bachelor's degree in the South. Addtional comment -  Needs to go to the top with all claims of priority, either lead or first section -->

AU was chartered on October 17, 1867.<ref>{{Cite book|title=His Truth Is Marching On — African Americans Who Taught the Freedom for the American Missionary Association, 1861–1877.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCqRDQAAQBAJ&q=October+17,+1867;+atlanta+university&pg=PT174|last=DeBoer|first=Clara Merritt|date= 2016| publisher=Routledge |isbn = 978-1-315-40832-3| via= Google Books}}</ref>  It offered its first instruction at the postsecondary level in 1869. Its first graduating class was in 1873 (normal school for future teachers including women), and it awarded its first six bachelor's degrees in June 1876.<ref>{{Cite web| title= Savannah State University – Education & History| url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/savannah-state-university| website= georgiaencyclopedia.org |last=Elmore|first=Charles J.|date= 2005}}</ref>

Atlanta University was among the first HBCUs to accept female students <!--Shaw and Wilberforce predate AU--> and the first to house women in a dormitory: its North Hall, built in 1869.<ref>{{cite web| title= North Hall| url= https://dlg.usg.edu/record/hbcula_rwwl_101| website= dlg.usg.edu| publisher= Digital Library of Georgia, University System of Georgia| date=| accessdate= 2025-09-27}}</ref> One woman earned a bachelor's degree from Atlanta University between 1876 and 1895, but in the next five years, seven women received bachelor's degrees there.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Segregated Scholars: Black Social Scientist and the Creation of Black Labor Studies, 1890–1950|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8pT3rcU7LYC&q=atlanta+university+first+degree+1876&pg=PA105|last= Wilson|first=Francille Rusan|author-link= Francille Wilson |date=2006| publisher= University of Virginia Press |isbn = 978-0-8139-2550-9}}</ref>  Atlanta University awarded bachelor's degrees 53 years (1876–1929) before exclusively offering graduate degrees.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sullivan|first= Louis Wade|date=2014|title=Breaking Ground – My Life In Medicine|publisher=University of Georgia Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5LLAgAAQBAJ&q=atlanta+university+medical+school&pg=PA86|isbn= 978-0-8203-4663-2| via= Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last= Haber|first=Elizabeth|date=November 20, 2018|title=Oakland Remembers World Was I. James Edward Tate, Jr.|url=https://oaklandcemetery.com/oakland-remembers-world-war-i-james-edward-tate-jr/}}</ref>

{{archival records|title=Atlanta University photographs|location=AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library|description_url=https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/fa:001}}
A 1912 catalog shows that Atlanta University had four divisions: the college and the normal school, and each had a preparatory division. Enrollment that year was 403: 40 college students, 62 normal students, 115 high school students in the college prep program and 183 high school students in the normal program.<ref>{{cite web |title=Catalogue of Atlanta University, 1912 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012103605 |website=HathiTrust Digital Library |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> At that time, half of the Atlanta University alumni were employed in teaching. There were a group of small Black colleges in Atlanta — Atlanta, Morehouse, Spelman, Clark, Morris Brown and Gammon — each guarding its independence but each dependent on Northern philanthropy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlanta University Affiliation |url=https://www.lostcolleges.com/atlanta-university |website=Lost Colleges |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> By the end of World War I, the Northern philanthropists were demanding mergers to improve educational quality. In 1929 the Atlanta University Affiliation was formed, and Atlanta University gained a new role as the graduate school, with Morehouse and Spelman as undergraduate colleges. Before [[World War II]], the Affiliation came to include other Black colleges in Atlanta. On July 1, 1988, Atlanta University merged with Clark College, becoming Clark Atlanta University.<ref>{{cite web |title=Institutional History |url=https://www.cau.edu/institutional-history/ |website=Clark Atlanta University |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>

The Atlanta University campus was moved to its present site, and the modern organization of the [[Atlanta University Center]] emerged, with Clark College, [[Morris Brown College]], and the [[Interdenominational Theological Center]] joining the affiliation later. Graduate Schools of Library Science,<ref>{{cite thesis| last= Mulligan| first= Risa L.| year= 2006| url= https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/masters_papers/8049g898c| title= The Closing of the Clark Atlanta University School of Library & Information Studies| publisher= University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill| via=| accessdate=}}</ref> Education, and Business Administration were established in 1941, 1944, and 1946, respectively. The Atlanta School of Social Work, long associated with the university, gave up its charter in 1947 to become an integral part of the university. In 1957, the controlling boards of the six institutions (Atlanta University; Clark, Morehouse, Morris Brown and Spelman Colleges; and Gammon Theological Seminary) ratified new articles of affiliation. The new contract created the Atlanta University Center. The influence of Atlanta University has been extended through professional journals and organizations, including ''[[Phylon (journal)|Phylon]]'', and through the work of [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], a member of the center.<ref>{{cite web |title=W. E. B. Du Bois in Georgia |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/w-e-b-du-bois-in-georgia/ |website=Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>

The significance of Atlanta University Center rests in the quality of its leaders, faculty, and graduates.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlanta University Center Overview |url=https://www.atlantarustory.org/aucenter-overview |website=Atlanta University Center |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> Edmund Asa Ware was Atlanta University's spiritual and intellectual father.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edmund Asa Ware Biography |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ware-edmund-asa-1837-1885/ |website=Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> His dedication to academic excellence and rejection of racial inferiority influenced other black colleges and American education in general.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Legacy of Edmund Asa Ware |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40025872 |website=JSTOR |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> John Hope, former Morehouse president and Atlanta University's first black president, is noted in every history of American education during the first half of this century.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Hope |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/john-hope-1873-1936/ |website=Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> Atlanta University's most famous faculty member (1897–1910) was Du Bois, who began the Atlanta Studies on Negro Sociology and later became the director of publications for the [[NAACP]].

===Clark College===
Clark College was founded in 1869 by the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]], which later became part of the [[United Methodist Church]], as the nation's first four-year liberal arts college to serve the primarily African-American student population. Originally named Clark University, the school was chartered and incorporated in 1877. It first offered instruction at the postsecondary level in 1879, and awarded its first degree (baccalaureate) in 1880. It became Clark College in 1940.<ref>{{cite book |title= Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Clark University, 1879 |date=1879 |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]] |page=21 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/auc.004.cc.catalogs:0002 |access-date=15 October 2021 |language=en |chapter=History|hdl=20.500.12322/auc.004.cc.catalogs:0002 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=American Universities and Colleges | edition= Fourteenth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lw12DwAAQBAJ&q=atlanta%20university%20first%20degree%201876&pg=PA414|last=Gruyter|first=Walter de|date=1992| publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn = 9783110850482| via= Google Books}}</ref> It was named for Bishop [[Davis Wasgatt Clark]], who was the first President of the Freedman's Aid Society and became Bishop in 1864. A sparsely furnished room in Clark Chapel, a Methodist Episcopal church in Atlanta's Summerhill section, housed the first Clark College class. In 1871, the school relocated to a new site on the newly purchased Whitehall and McDaniel Street property. In 1877, the School was chartered as Clark University.

[[File:CAUSign.jpg|thumb|Clark Atlanta University sign]]
An early benefactor, Bishop [[Gilbert Haven]], visualized Clark as the "university" of all the Methodist schools founded for the education of [[freedmen]]. After the school changed locations several times, Bishop Haven, who succeeded Bishop Clark, was instrumental in acquiring {{convert|450|acre|km2|1}} in South Atlanta, where in 1880 the school conferred its first degree. In 1883, Clark established a theology department named for Elijah H. Gammon. In 1888, the Gammon School of Theology became an independent theological seminary, and is currently part of the Interdenominational Theological Center. Clark College merged with Atlanta University on July 1, 1988, to form Clark Atlanta University.

=== Philanthropy ===
In December 2020, [[MacKenzie Scott]] donated $15 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=15000000|start_year=2020}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) to Clark Atlanta University which is the second largest single gift in CAU's history.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Clark Atlanta University Announces $15 Million Gift: Largest Individual Gift in University History |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clark-atlanta-university-announces-15-million-gift-largest-individual-gift-in-university-history-301193420.html |website= PR Newswire |date=December 15, 2020 |access-date=22 November 2021}}</ref> In November 2025, Scott donated an additional $38 million which is the largest single gift in CAU's history. <ref>https://www.cau.edu/clark-atlanta-university-celebrates-38-million-gift-from-philanthropist-mackenzie-scott/</ref>

In September 2021, Clark Atlanta launched a 10-year $250 million capital campaign to raise scholarhips funds for more low-income students, advance research and teaching efforts, improve infrastructure and technology on campus, and to establish more endowment chairs and professorships.<ref>{{Cite press release |last=University |first=Clark Atlanta |title=Clark Atlanta University Announces $250m Capital Campaign |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clark-atlanta-university-announces-250m-capital-campaign-301482894.html |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cau.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Campaign-at-a-Glance.docx-v2-2.pdf|title=The Campaign for Clark Atlanta University|publisher=Clark Atlanta University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320052819/https://www.cau.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Campaign-at-a-Glance.docx-v2-2.pdf|archive-date=20 March 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Presidents ==
{{Main|List of presidents of Clark Atlanta University}}
Clark Atlanta University's current president is [[George T. French Jr.]], who started in 2019.<ref name="NewPres">{{cite press release |title=Clark Atlanta University Welcomes Its New Leader |url=https://www.cau.edu/news/2019/09/welcomes-new-leader.html |work=Clark Atlanta University |date=1 September 2019}}</ref> He was preceded by Lucille H. Maugé, as acting president.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Suggs |first=Ernie |title=Clark Atlanta University names Lucille H. Maugé acting president |language=English |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/clark-atlanta-university-names-lucille-mauge-interim-president/TsuOCACFWAp1zLhMpTYiDJ/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |issn=1539-7459}}</ref>

== Campus ==
[[File:WEB DuBois bust at Clark Atlanta University.jpg|thumb|Bust of W.E.B. DuBois by Ayokunle Odeleye at Clark Atlanta University]]

Clark Atlanta University's main campus houses 37 buildings, including an art museum,<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.cau.edu/art-museum/ | title= Art Museum| date=| website= cau.edu| publisher= Clark Atlanta University| accessdate= }}</ref> on {{convert|126|acre|km2|1}} and is {{convert|1.4|mi|km|1}} southwest of [[Downtown Atlanta]].

===North Hall (now Gaines Hall)===
Atlanta University began on West Mitchell, about a mile from downtown Atlanta. Built in 1869 by architect [[William H. Parkins]], North Hall, now Gaines Hall, was the first female dormitory on the campus of a co-ed school in the US. North Hall was Atlanta University's first purpose-built building. A year later, South Hall opened for boys.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Hall at Atlanta University |url=https://dlg.usg.edu/record/auu_rwlauu_74 |website=Digital Library of Georgia |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> Wings were added to each in 1871 and 1880. In 1882, Stone Hall opened as the main building, containing the chapel, lecture halls, recitation rooms, laboratories and administrative offices.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stone Hall at Atlanta University |url=https://www.atlantaga.gov/?navid=416 |website=City of Atlanta |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> By 1905, the school had four more permanent buildings, including a [[Carnegie library]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Carnegie Library at Atlanta University |url=https://dlg.usg.edu/record/geh_athpc_2933 |website=Digital Library of Georgia |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> South Hall was later demolished by Morris Brown College. A fire in mid-August 2015 threatened to raze the building completely.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fire at Gaines Hall |url=https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/fire-gaines-hall-morris-brown-college-atlanta |website=FOX 5 Atlanta |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>



===Stone Hall (now Fountain Hall)===
[[File:Atlanta University (Stone Hall).jpg|thumb|Stone Hall, c. 1910]]

Built in 1882 on the crest of Diamond Hill on the Morris Brown College campus, [[Fountain Hall]] is among the earlier structures on the original site of Atlanta University. Historically, the hall is significant for its role in providing higher education to Blacks in the US. Fountain Hall was made a National Historic Landmark in 1975 for its role in providing higher education to African Americans. It was designed by Atlanta architect [[G. L. Norrman]], who was active during the late nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries; few of his works have survived. The three-story, red brick structure is an excellent example of the High Victorian style. Its clock tower is a rare sight in Atlanta.

Since its construction in 1882, Fountain Hall primarily functioned until 1929 as the administration building for Atlanta University, though it contained a chapel, library, recitation rooms, and laboratories during various times. It served in a similar capacity for Morris Brown College for many years. Currently, the structure contains offices, a chapel, art studios, and a gallery. Fountain Hall has been a gathering place and focus of activity in the education process of many of the mostly Black Americans attending the school. Because of Fountain Hall's location, it can be seen from some distance and has long served as a landmark for the historic Atlanta University Center.

In the early 1930s, Morris Brown College was in financial trouble and was forced to relinquish its property at Houston and Boulevard. Atlanta University was no longer using several of its original buildings since its affiliation with Spelman and Morehouse. In 1932, Bishop W. A. Fountain, chairman of the board of trustees (formerly college president) and his son, W. A. Fountain, Jr., President of Morris Brown College, negotiated for Morris Brown to become part of the university system and lease some of AU's vacant buildings on its old campus. Stone Hall was renamed Fountain Hall to honor the bishop. In the 1929, the college deeded the buildings, establishing a permanent home for Morris Brown College.<ref>{{Cite web| first= |last=| title=Fountain Hall|url= https://www.atlantaga.gov/government/departments/city-planning/office-of-design/urban-design-commission/fountain-hall| website= atlantaga.gov| publisher= City of Atlanta |access-date= 2020-09-01|archive-date=2021-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111161606/https://www.atlantaga.gov/government/departments/city-planning/office-of-design/urban-design-commission/fountain-hall|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Residential facilities===
CAU has considered its campus housing "residence halls" to emphasize they are more than merely places for students to sleep (the etymology of ''dormitory'' indicates it as a place to sleep).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cau.edu/studentaffairs/residence-life.html |title= Residence Life| publisher= Clark Atlanta University|website= cau.edu| access-date=27 March 2018| archive-date= 27 March 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180327214315/http://www.cau.edu/studentaffairs/residence-life.html | url-status=dead}}</ref> Undergraduate students with under 58 credits hours are required to live on campus.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.cau.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-2025-Undergraduate-Packet.pdf| title= 2024–2025 Undergraduate Packet | publisher= Clark Atlanta University| website= cau.edu| date= May 2024| access-date= 2025-09-27}}</ref>

==Academics==
{{Infobox US university ranking
| USNWR_NU = 361
| Wamo_NU = 161<ref>{{cite web |title=2014 National Universities Rankings |date=n.d. |access-date=May 27, 2015 |website=Washington Monthly |url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings-2014/national-universities-rank-all.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828025627/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings-2014/national-universities-rank-all.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-08-28 }}</ref>
}}
Clark Atlanta offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through the following schools:
*School of Arts & Science
*School of Business
*School of Education
*School of Social Work
{{clear}}

Clark Atlanta is the most comprehensive institution in the [[Atlanta University Center]], offering over 40 degrees at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.

The university also houses the Robert H. “Bob” Bell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIED), which offers entrepreneurship training, mentoring, business modeling support, and student innovation activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert H. “Bob” Bell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development |url=https://www.cau.edu/cied/ |access-date=2025-10-01 |website=Clark Atlanta University}}</ref> The center also partners with regional organizations (such as the Atlanta University Center Consortium) to support small business development and provide mentorship programs for aspiring entrepreneurs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CIED offerings and partnerships |url=https://catalog.cau.edu/undergraduate/office-research-sponsored-programs/ |access-date=October 2, 2025 |website=Clark Atlanta University}}</ref>

Clark Atlanta University is ranked No. 16 among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for 2026 by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. News & World Report Ranks Clark Atlanta University Amongst Best Colleges |url=https://metroatlantaceo.com/news/2025/10/us-news-world-report-ranks-clark-atlanta-university-amongst-best-colleges/ |website=Metro Atlanta CEO |date=October 2025 |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> Additionally, the university is annually recognized in the ''[[Washington Monthly]]'' list of "Best Colleges and Universities," which evaluates institutions based on their contributions to the public good in categories such as social mobility, research, and public service.<ref>{{cite web |title=2025 National University Rankings |url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025-college-guide/2025-national-university-rankings/ |website=Washington Monthly |date=2025 |access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>



Clark Atlanta's [[social work]] graduate program consistently ranks among the 100 best in the nation by ''U.S. News & World Report''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/clark-atlanta-university-138947/overall-rankings |title=Ranking |website=www.usnews.com|access-date=2019-07-19}}</ref>

Clark Atlanta's Center for Functional Nanoscale Measures (CFNM) has graduated more black [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.s]] in [[Nanotechnology|Nanoscale Science]] than any HBCU in the nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cau.edu/news/2016/11/cau-top-producer-black-phd-nanomaterials-science.html|title=Clark Atlanta University|website=Cau.edu|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=12 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712004508/https://www.cau.edu/news/2016/11/cau-top-producer-black-phd-nanomaterials-science.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Isabella T. Jenkins Honors Program is a selective academic program established to provide a close-knit and uniquely stimulating community for high-achieving undergraduates at Clark Atlanta.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cau.edu/honors-program/|title=Clark Atlanta University|website=Cau.edu|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>

==Student life==
===Student body===
Annually between 30 and 40% of students are Georgia residents, while the remaining come from outside Georgia.<ref name="cau.edu">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cau.edu/about/index.html|title=About CAU}}</ref> Approximately 25% of students are male and 75% are female.<ref name="cau.edu"/> In 2018, 89% of students identified as African-American/Black, 7% identified as other/unknown, and 4% identified as international.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cau.edu/opar/institutional-research/Fact-Book-FINAL-2014-2018.pdf |title=Factbook 2014-2018|publisher=Clark Atlantic University |access-date=2020-06-07 |archive-date=12 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012033843/https://www.cau.edu/opar/institutional-research/Fact-Book-FINAL-2014-2018.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> 95% of first-year students receive need-based financial aid.  The average need-based scholarships or grants awarded to first-year students is $5,713.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/clark-atlanta-university-1551/paying|title=Clark Atlanta University Tuition & Financial Aid|publisher=U.S. News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250221052133/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/clark-atlanta-university-1551/paying|archive-date=21 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Athletics ===
[[File:CAURed2.jpg|thumb|270px|[[Panther Stadium]] in 2025]]
Clark Atlanta University, known athletically as the Panthers, competes within the [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]] (SIAC) of the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA), [[NCAA Division II|Division II]]. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football and track & field; women's sports include basketball, cross country, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

=== Marching band ===
The university's marching band is known as the [[Mighty Marching Panther Band]].

===National fraternities and sororities===
All nine of the [[National Pan-Hellenic Council]] organizations have chapters established at Clark Atlanta University. About two percent of undergraduate men and three percent of undergraduate women are active in CAU's National Pan-Hellenic Council.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/clark-atlanta-university-1551/student-life |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518074045/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/clark-atlanta-university-1551/student-life |archive-date=2017-05-18 |title=Clark Atlanta University {{!}} Clark Atlanta University {{!}} Student Life {{!}} US News Best Colleges}}</ref>

==Notable alumni==
{{Main|List of Clark Atlanta University people}}

==Notable faculty and administrators==
{{Main|List of Clark Atlanta University people}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Georgia (U.S. state)|Education}}
* [[List of historically black colleges of the United States]]

{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Further reading===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041230173018/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/E185x5xA881p/ Atlanta University Publications]: a series, which began in 1896, of studies on problems affecting black people in the United States, edited by [[W. E. B. Du Bois]].

== External links ==
{{commons category }}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://clarkatlantasports.com/ Athletics website]
* {{cite web |title=Digital Collections: Atlanta University Photographs |url=https://radar.auctr.edu/islandora/object/auc.001:9999 |website=RADAR |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]]}}
* {{cite web |title=Digital Collections: Clark College and Clark Atlanta University Photographs |url=https://radar.auctr.edu/islandora/object/auc.003:9999 |website=RADAR |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]]}}
* {{cite web |title=Digital Collections: Yearbooks of Clark College and Clark Atlanta University |url=https://radar.auctr.edu/islandora/object/cau.yearbooks:9999 |website=RADAR |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]]}}
* {{cite journal |title=Digital Collections: The Clark Atlanta University Panther (student newspaper) |url=https://radar.auctr.edu/islandora/object/auc.004.newspaper:9999 |website=RADAR |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]]}}
* {{cite web |title=Digital Collections: The Atlanta University Bulletin (newsletter) |url=https://radar.auctr.edu/islandora/object/002.au.bulletin:9999 |website=RADAR |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]]}}

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[[Category:Clark Atlanta University| ]]
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