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Fort Valley State University
Established	1895
Type:	Historically Black Public
President:	Dr. Larry Rivers
Staff:	361
Undergraduates:	2,500 (est.)
Postgraduates:	250 (est.)
Location	Fort Valley, GA, USA
Campus:	Rural 1,365 acres
Athletics:	Wildcats
Colors:	Royal Blue and Gold
Website:	www.fvsu.edu

Fort Valley State University (FVSU) is a historically black college and university (HBCU) located in Fort Valley, Georgia. It's also a unit of the University System of Georgia and a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. Fort Valley is approximately 80 miles south (320 km) of Atlanta, 25 miles (40 km) south of Macon,18 miles (28 km) west of Warner Robins, and 15 miles (24 km) north of Perry.

As the only 1890 land-grant university in Georgia, Fort Valley State University is a comprehensive institution that provides an education to nearly 3,000 students. The student body is currently approximately 94% of African-American descent. The average age of undergraduates is 24 and the average age of graduates is 33. Roughly one-third of the students live on-campus and 85 percent of the student body are full-time students.

The University is located in the town of Fort Valley in Peach County, the original site of the nation's peach industry. Its 1,365-acre (55.2 km²) campus is the second-largest in area for a public university in the state.

Contents 1 Programs 2 History 3 Student activities 4 Notable alumni 5 External links

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The university offers bachelor's degrees in more than 50 majors—education, business administration and agriculture are particularly popular—as well as master's degrees in education and counseling. FVSU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award associate, baccalaureate, master's and specialist degrees. Fort Valley State University also offers teacher education degree programs which are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Other University degree programs which are accredited by discipline associations are:

• The Veterinary Technology Program, accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association(AVMA).
• The Family and Consumer Sciences Program, accredited by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
• The Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD), accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of the American Dietetics Association.
• The Child Development programs, accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Development, Programs of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
• Rehabilitation Counseling and Case Management accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE).

Fort Valley State University's Cooperative Developmental Energy Program (CDEP) is the only one of its kind in the nation, preparing students for energy-industry careers in science and geology. The African World Studies Institute is another attraction for students and faculty from around the world.

Outreach services include Fort Valley State's Cooperative Extension Service Program, where extension service specialists operate in 42 Georgia counties, and the Pettigrew Conference Center, which hosts more than 500 courses and events for 51,000 patrons each year. In an effort to accommodate graduate and non-traditional students, external degree program courses are also being offered at off-campus sites in Macon, Cochran, Warner Robins and Dublin.

A growing list of online courses, offered via WebCT are being offered allowing students to pursue a number of majors, including the English Department's, Technical and Professional Writing Degree Program, in the comfort of their own home.

Fort Valley State University (formerly Fort Valley State College) began as a result of the 1939 consolidation of the Fort Valley High and Industrial School, chartered in 1895, and the State Teachers and Agricultural College of Forsyth, founded in 1902. The school became Fort Valley State University in June 1996.

Important Dates:

• 1895 - The Fort Valley High and Industrial School was chartered in 1895
• 1902 - Mr. John W. Davison, who led the chartering of the Fort Valley High and Industrial School, was elected its first principal
• 1904 - Mr. Henry Alexander Hunt became the school’s second principal
• 1919 - The institution became affiliated with the American Church Institute of the Protestant Episcopal Church
• 1925 - The Carnegie Foundation provided funds for the erection of the Carnegie Library
• 1939 - Negotiations begun by Mr. Hunt to transfer the school to state control and operation were consummated; the work formerly carried on at the State Teachers and Agricultural College were consolidated with the work at Fort Valley to form the Fort Valley State College
• 1939 - Dr. Horace Mann Bond was elected first President of Fort Valley State College (FVSC)
• 1945 - Dr. Cornelius V. Troup was appointed as the second President
• 1947 - The Board of Regents adopted a resolution moving the Land-Grant designation from Savannah State College and designating the Fort Valley State College as the 1890 Land-Grant College for Negroes in Georgia
• 1949 - The Georgia General Assembly, in response to the Regents’ resolution, officially designated The Fort Valley State College as the Land-Grant College for Negroes in Georgia.
• 1952 - Miss Catherine Hardy won a gold medal as a member of the winning 400-meter women’s relay team at the Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland
• 1957 - The College received full membership in the [[Southern Association of Colleges and Schools]], and was among the first of the HBCUs to be admitted
• 1966 - Dr. W. W. E. Blanchet was appointed as the third President
• 1969 - The Fort Valley State football team sets the modern-era record for most points scored against a college opponent with 106 against Knoxville College (Oct. 11, 1969)
• 1971- The College became accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)
• 1972 - FVSC’s first regionally televised football game appeared on ABC Television (FVSC vs Fisk University at Wildcat Stadium)
• 1979 - The College became accredited by the [[American Association of Veterinary Medicine]].
• 1983 - Dr. Luther Burse was appointed fifth President on October 1
• 1990 - Dr. Oscar L. Prater was appointed as the sixth President on August 9, 1991 - 2000
• 1995 - Tyrone Poole became the first football player from Fort Valley State University to ever be selected in the First round of the NFL Draft
• 1996 - Fort Valley State College was designated by the University System of Georgia as Fort Valley State University, a State and Land-Grant University on June 12
• 2001 - Dr. Kofi Lomotey was appointed as the seventh President, October 15
• 2005 - Rayfield Wright (a Fort Valley alumnus), is elected to the NFL Hall of Fame
• 2006 - Dr. Larry Rivers was appointed as the eighth president of FVSU

Students have several opportunities for extracurricular involvement at the university, including the marching band, concert choir, Baptist Student Union Choir, forensics (intercollegiate speech and debate), and cheerleading. There are more than 70 clubs, sororities, fraternities and social organizations on campus. Many social sororities and fraternities require an academic grade point average of at least 2.7 and some even higher. Athletic opportunities include intramural sports and intercollegiate men's and women's track and basketball teams. The football team has won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) championship 12 times. The women's basketball team and women's softball team are NCAA Division II top twenty powers.

The school colors are royal blue and gold and the students, faculty and staff proudly call themselves the "Wildcats".

FVSU also has a radio station WFVS-LP 104.3 FM and a television station FVSU TV as well as a college newspaper called, The Paw Print.

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference
Lonnie Bartley	1983	Current Head Womens Basketball Coach at FVSU. Has 502 Wins (all at FVSU) entering the 2007 - 2008 Basketball season
John W. Blassingame	1960	Educator at Yale University for 30 Years
Tommy Dortch	1972	Founder of 100 Black Men of America, Inc.
Genevieve Madeline Knight	1961	Educator
Greg Lloyd		Former Pittsburgh Steeler
Cornell McBride, Sr.		Pioneeer in the African-American Hair Care Industry	[1]
Calvin Smyre	1970	State Representative
Peyton Williams, Jr.	1964	Department of Education
Rayfield Wright		NFL Hall of Fame Inductee

• FVSU's official website
• Online version of current FVSU undergrad catalog PDF format
• Online version of current FVSU graduate catalog PDF format

v • d • e Historically Black Colleges and Universities

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v • d • e Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
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v • d • e University System of Georgia
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Independent research unit	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
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