The Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC Consortium) is a collaboration between four
historically black colleges and universities
Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...
(HBCUs) in southwest
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia:
Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the South ...
,
Spelman College
Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...
,
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...
, and the
Morehouse School of Medicine. It is the oldest and largest contiguous
consortium
A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...
of African-American
higher education
Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education.
The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
institutions in the United States. The consortium structure allows for students to cross-register at the other institutions in order to attain a broader collegiate experience. They also share the
Robert W. Woodruff Library, a dual degree engineering program, and career planning and placement services and the AUC Data Science Initiative.
History
The Atlanta University Center (AUC) was created in April 1929, when John Hope, then president of both
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...
and the former
Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the Southe ...
saw the potential gains from such a consortium. Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman signed the affiliation agreement and became the original members of the AUC.
Clark College and
Morris Brown College
Morris Brown College (MBC) is a Private university, private African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlan ...
joined in 1957, followed by the
Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in 1959. Morehouse School of Medicine (which became independent from Morehouse College) joined the AUC in 1983. Morris Brown ended its affiliation with AUC when the school lost its accreditation in December 2002.
The Atlanta University Center has undergone several administrative and governance changes since its inception. In 2004, the business operating as AUC, Inc. was dissolved. A new corporation, known as the AUC Consortium, Inc., was established in its place and Marilyn Jackson became the first female CEO and executive director, with fiduciary responsibilities. In 2011, the current executive director, Dr. Sherry Turner, was selected to expand the Consortium's community revitalization efforts.
Former members and closely related institutions
To be eligible for membership in the AUC Consortium, a college or university must be regionally accredited, maintain tax-exempt status, and pay a membership assessment.
Morris Brown College
Morris Brown College (MBC) is a Private university, private African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlan ...
was a member of the AUC Consortium until it lost its accreditation and federal funding in 2002 during the 1998–2002 tenure of
Dr. Dolores E. Cross as school president.
The
Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is eligible for membership in AUC Consortium, but is not currently a member. However, the ITC is a member of the library sharing consortium of Robert W. Woodruff Library, which is part of the AUC Consortium.
Location
The AUC campuses are located in the Atlanta University Center District, near
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The largest of the city's three commercial districts (Midtown Atlanta, Midtown and Buckhead being the others), it is the location of many corporate and region ...
and immediately southwest of
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it is the home of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) and Atlanta ...
.
Museums
The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and Clark Atlanta University Museum of Art are the two designated museums in the AUC.
Olive Branch tradition
Olive Branch is a long-standing tradition where new first-year students from Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, and Spelman gather for an official AUC unity ceremony and celebration every August before the beginning of the fall semester.
Homecomings
Spelman and Morehouse annually have
homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States and Canada.
United St ...
festivities in the same week during the fall semester. The parallel homecomings are traditionally referred to as "SpelHouse Homecoming." Clark Atlanta's homecoming is usually in a different week from Spelman and Morehouse. Every few years, all three institutions have homecoming during the same week which is traditionally referred to as "SpArkHouse Homecoming." Homecomings significantly contribute to the cultural identity of the AUC and attract tens of thousands of alumni, students, celebrity guests, and visitors.
Dual Degree Engineering Program (DDEP)
In 1969, the AUC Consortium established a
dual degree engineering program that allows its undergraduate students to receive two degrees in approximately five years. Students must first complete a science, technology or mathematics curriculum at an AUC institution, followed by the completion of an engineering curriculum at the engineering institution. Upon successful completing both curricula, students earn two degrees: a Bachelor of Science degree awarded from an AUC institution, and a Bachelor of Science degree in a specific engineering discipline from an affiliated engineering institution. Engineering institutions affiliated with DDEP include
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...
,
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
,
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
,
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...
,
Clarkson University
Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York. Clarkson has additional graduate programs and research facilities in the New York Capital District. It was established in 1896 and enrolled over 4 ...
,
Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis
Indiana ( ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the south and southeast, and the Wabash Riv ...
,
Missouri University of Science and Technology,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...
,
Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...
,
University of Alabama in Huntsville
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises eight colleges: arts, humanities ...
, and
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public university, public, Historically black colleges and universities, historicall ...
. Since its inception, over 1,100 students have successfully completed the dual degree program.
Spelman never offered engineering degrees which is most common among
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...
s. In 2003, Clark Atlanta's leadership voted to end its engineering programs for budget reasons. In 2019, Morehouse established its first engineering degree program with
software engineering
Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...
.
AUC Data Science Initiative
In 2019,
United Health Group donated $8.25 million to the AUC Consortium to establish the AUC Data Science Initiative. This initiative offers technical classes to AUC students who want to specialize in
data science
Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, stru ...
or learn data analysis to give them a competitive edge in the job market. A major objective of this initiative is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the data science and analytics fields.
3+3 Law Program
In 2019, three AUC institutions (Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark Atlanta) established an admissions agreement with
Syracuse University College of Law allowing their students to receive a bachelor's degree and law degree in approximately six years.
Spike Fellowship
In 2023, Morehouse alumnus
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...
and the
Gersh Agency, launched a competitive fellowship program for AUC students interested in careers in the entertainment and media industry. Students selected will receive a paid graduate study summer internship, executive mentorships and $25,000 in student loan payoff and debt relief. The goal of the fellowship is to increase diversity in all aspects of the entertainment and media industry.
Religious institutions
Three denominational campus ministry centers have been established to serve the students of the Atlanta University Center. The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta operates the Lyke House Catholic Student Center, the
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta operates the Absalom Jones Episcopal Student Center and Chapel, the Absalom Jones Student Center also houses the Lutheran Campus ministry which serves both students and the members of the adjoining community. Two of these campus ministry facilities are named after notable Black American clerics.
[The Catholic Student Center is named for the late Atlanta Archbishop James P. Lyke (1939-1992); the Episcopal Student Center and Chapel is named after Reverend Absalom Jones (1746–1818), the first Black American priest in the Episcopal Church in the United States.]
See also
*
African Americans in Atlanta
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** List ...
*
Ashview Heights
*
Atlanta Student Movement
The Atlanta Student Movement was formed in February 1960 in Atlanta, Georgia by students of the campuses Atlanta University Center (AUC). It was led by the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR) and was part of the Civil Rights Mov ...
*
Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History
*
Gentrification of Atlanta
* ''
School Daze
''School Daze'' is a 1988 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee and starring Lee along with Laurence Fishburne (credited as Larry Fishburne), Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell. Released on February 12, 19 ...
''
*
UNCF
UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...
*
West End
References
External links
Official websiteAtlanta University Center entryin the ''
New Georgia Encyclopedia
The ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (NGE) is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia. It is a program of Georgia Humanities (GH), in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System ...
''
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Universities and colleges established in 1929
Education in Atlanta
1929 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)