As part of the Morgan State University sesquicentennial celebrations, campus president, Dr. David Wilson hosted a Proclamation Ceremony on Sunday to mark prominent moments and memorialize important sites in the development of this institution.

Since Tuesday, April 30, 1867, this institution has been translated into many names before it was officially known to be the Morgan State University. Sunday marked the 150th year of operation, celebrated proudly in front of Holmes Hall. Festivities included recognizing the first class of only nine students to ever step foot at the Centenary Biblical Institute in 1867. Morgan State University alumni and students united to be the voices of the nine men who were training for the Methodist Ministry.

“I represent the first of the nine students in the inaugural class of the Centenary Biblical Institute,” said Ruthe Sheffey, a 1947 graduate of Morgan State College. “For these nine students at this institution, this first class was its new beginning and the embarking on a journey that would lead 150 years later to Morgan State University.”

Morgan has also been known to be a national and local leader in producing African-American degrees in all levels, and the only institution in the nation to have its entire campus recognized as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historical Preservation.

“I see Morgan as a place where I can call it my home and I can’t wait for the next 150 years to come,” said senior and outgoing Miss Morgan State University Kayla Lawrence.