What is the institutions historical context?
Tennessee State University (TSU), a coeducational land-grant institution, was initially chartered by a 1909 Act of the General Assembly as a normal school for Negroes. In 1912, the University, then known as the Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School , opened its doors to 247 students, as well as faculty and staff. The school grew in students and programs, and in 1922 was elevated to the status of a four-year teachers college, authorized to confer the bachelors degree. The institution was granted university status by the State Board of Education in 1951, and in 1958 acquired full-fledged land-grant university status. In 1968, the state legislature formally approved the name, Tennessee State University. Changes and expansion continued over the years, culminating in the 1979 incorporation of the nearby former University of Tennessee at Nashville, as the result of a court decree (1968 Geier v. Tennessee). The merger united two land grant institutions, highly compatible in their mi
