Salisbury University
Salisbury University is a public university in Salisbury, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1925, Salisbury University is a member of the University System of Maryland.
Salisbury University offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs across six academic units: the Fulton School of Liberal Arts, Perdue School of Business, Henson School of Science and Technology, Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies, College of Health and Human Services, and Clarke Honors College.
The Salisbury Sea Gulls compete in Division III athletics as members of the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference, while the football team competes in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
History
Salisbury University, originally called the Maryland State Normal School, opened on September 25, 1925 as a two-year institution to train elementary school teachers to help fill the teacher shortage in the state of Maryland. The original class of 105 students was greeted by Salisbury's first president, William J. Holloway, an experienced educator and the driving force behind the creation of the school.The curriculum was influenced by those established at Columbia's Teachers College, alma mater of six of Salisbury Normal School's eight original faculty. During the Great Depression, Maryland extended the required course of study at normal schools from two years to three years, and to four years in 1934, paving the way for the institution to rebrand as a teachers' college one year later.
In 1934, the school's name was changed to Maryland State Teachers College, and in 1963 to Salisbury State College. Between 1962 and 1995, several master's degree programs were approved, and in 1988, the name was changed to Salisbury State University. In 2001, the name was changed to Salisbury University.
Since the early 2000s, Salisbury has grown rapidly in enrollment as well as campus facilities. Since 2002, Henson Hall, Conway Hall, Perdue Hall, the Patricia R. Guererri Academic Commons, and Sea Gull Stadium have been constructed.
From July 1, 2018 through July 14, 2022, the university was under the leadership of president Charles "Chuck" Wight. Wight succeeded Dudley-Eschbach, who, after 18 years as SU's president, opted to return to teaching foreign language at SU, following one year in hiatus training Wight. Carolyn Ringer Lepre began her term as the 10th president of Salisbury University on July 15, 2022.
Following two incidents of racist vandalism in 2019, students asked for "the safety and inclusion of black students and other minority groups on campus". After a third incident, in 2020, the president cancelled classes for a Day of Healing. In June 2020, "an African American man" confessed to having caused the vandalism.
In May 2024, the university announced during a public city council meeting that a new $100 million performing arts complex will be built downtown in four to five years. The project will include a thousand seat theatre, a smaller 450 seat music and theatre space, a dance studio and other supporting amenities. The location currently houses the Wicomico Public Library, which the university will help relocate to a building that it owns and will lease for $1 a year during this transition to a newly renovated building.
Campus facilities
Salisbury University owns 75 buildings, with a total gross area of. The Salisbury University campus consists of.Holloway Hall
Holloway Hall served as the original home of Maryland State Normal School at Salisbury upon its opening in 1930. The structure once served as the home for all teaching, student, and administrative functions at the school. Today, the building – renamed Holloway Hall after the retirement of Salisbury's first president, William J. Holloway – houses administrative offices, including the office of the president, the office of the provost, financial aid, registrar, public relations, student health services, and human resources.The building also contains a number of unique, multi-purpose spaces, including the auditorium and the great hall. The classroom space in the north wing of the structure was once the home of the Perdue School of Business.
Fulton Hall
Fulton Hall serves as home for the Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts at Salisbury University. The building serves as the north anchor of the campus's central mall. As the structure closest to Holloway Hall, Fulton Hall was built to complement Holloway's classical architecture styling.Fulton Hall includes the main university gallery, classrooms, fine arts studios, photography lab, and a glass blowing facility. The building is also home to many of the university's performing arts facilities, including a 150-seat black box theater, scene shop, costume shop, and music rehearsal facilities.
Conway Hall
Conway Hall, formerly known as the Teacher Education and Technology Center, opened for use at the beginning of the 2008 fall semester. In 2009, the building earned silver certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification system under the United States Green Building Council. The building was also named one of the ten best-designed new higher education facilities by College Planning & Management magazine as part of its "2009 Education Design Showcase" issue.The facility houses flexible classroom space, multi-purpose computer lab space, a satellite dining facility, distance-learning classrooms, integrated SMART classroom technology, and offices and support services for the Seidel School, Fulton School, and information technology. The showcase integrated media center, located on the third floor of the facility, includes both high-definition and standard-definition television production studios, twenty individual editing suites, and audio production facilities.
The building was renamed in April 2016 for former Maryland Delegate Norman Conway, who as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee assisted SU in securing funding for the project, and is an SU alumnus.
Henson Hall
Henson Hall was dedicated on September 5, 2002, and contains classroom, support, and laboratory space for the Henson School of Science and Technology. Built at a cost of $37 million, the facility houses the departments of biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science, and geography and geosciences. The building holds 12 classrooms, 32 teaching laboratories, and 20 research labs. Henson Hall also houses a satellite dining facility, which students call "the Airport" in reference to the building's namesake, test pilot Richard A. Henson.Perdue Hall
The new building for the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business was partially funded by an $8 million gift from the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. Perdue, Inc., chairman Jim Perdue said the donation was in honor of his father, former Perdue Farms president Frank Perdue. The, $56 million facility houses classroom and office space formerly located in the north wing of Holloway Hall.The university was awarded gold certification from the LEED certification system under the United States Green Building Council for the Perdue building. The facility includes a Business Outreach Services Suite, a Small Business Development Center, a Perdue Museum, meeting rooms, focus-group rooms, specialized business lab space, an internet cafe, and an M.B.A. suite with case rooms.
Patricia R. Guerrieri Academic Commons
Opened in the fall of 2016, the Patricia R. Guerrieri Academic Commons officially opened as the largest and tallest building on campus. The facility cost $117 million and houses the student library, IT help desk, Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, writing center, center for student achievement, a math emporium, and a 3D printing lab.The building contains 400 computers for public use, Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company and Hungry Minds Express food vendors, and 15 study rooms situated around the four-story, 221,000-square-foot academic commons. The library participates in an inter-campus loan program where students can order books from other university libraries within the University System of Maryland for temporary use.
The library was named one of the "Top 20" in the United States by the Princeton Review in their 2021 "Best 386 Colleges", alongside other higher education institutions such as Columbia University and Williams College.
Guerrieri Student Union/The Commons
The south end of campus is home to the Guerrieri Student Union and The Commons, both buildings are joined by an indoor walkway called the "Link of Nations". The GSU houses the office of student affairs, student activities office, two eateries, career services office, the center for student achievement, and a large, multi-level lounge space.The Commons contains the campus bookstore and post office located in the basement, the main dining hall facility located on the first floor, and conference rooms located on the second floor.
Off-campus housing
Salisbury University houses approximately 40% of all students in 2,648 spaces of campus-affiliated housing, with freshmen given priority in traditional housing. In addition to the on-campus residence buildings, Salisbury has partnerships with four nearby off-campus apartment complexes and one townhome neighborhood, Seagull Village, The Flatts, The Gathering, University Orchard, and University Park, with residents of these facilities having access to a shuttle system to the main campus. The Gathering is a townhome neighborhood located about five minutes away from the main campus.Seagull Village was originally intended to house international students only and had been leased by the university, however, Salisbury University ultimately bought the apartment complex for $3.6 million in March 2022, allowing any students to move into Seagull Village starting in fall 2022.
A new off-campus apartment complex, labeled "The Ross", opened in August 2023, in time for the fall 2023 semester. The Ross is the furthest off-campus complex away from the school, located six minutes away from the main campus. It is known as one of the tallest buildings in the Delmarva peninsula.