STATE UNIVERSITY SHARED PLANS TO EXPAND ITS STUDENT HOUSING. THE ENOLA DEVELOPMENT WILL BE CRUCIAL TO THE INSTITUTION’S FUTURE. BUT MORGAN STATE ISN’T THE ONLY MARYLAND HBCU INVESTING IN ITS COMMUNITY AND FOR ITS COMMUNITY. COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY ALSO LEADING THE CHARGE TO REDEVELOP WEST NORTH AVENUE. AND LAST WEEK, THE UNIVERSITY’S PRESIDENT SPOKE WITH OUR MEGAN RIVERS ABOUT THAT PROJECT. COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT ANTHONY JENKINS AND CHAD WILLIAMS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WEST NORTH AVENUE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, JOINING US NOW. WELCOME, GENTLEMEN. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. THANK YOU. IT’S A PLEASURE TO BE HERE WITH YOU. YOU KNOW, WE’RE SO EXCITED TO HEAR SO MUCH ABOUT THIS PROGRAM. THIS IS GOING TO REALLY IMPACT WEST BALTIMORE. WHAT MADE COPPIN DECIDE TO BE A PART OF THIS? YOU KNOW, THIS IS A FIRST AND FOREMOST. AGAIN, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY. CHAD AND I ARE HONORED TO, YOU KNOW, BE HERE AND TO BE TALKING WITH YOU AND THE AUDIENCE ABOUT THE GREAT THINGS GOING ON AT COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY AND WITH THE WEST NORTH AVENUE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY. YOU KNOW, COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY, FOUNDED IN 1900. WE ARE AN ANCHOR INSTITUTION IN WEST WEST BALTIMORE. WE’VE BEEN EDUCATING AND TRANSFORMING LIVES FOR COMING UP ON 125 YEARS. AND SO AS AN ANCHOR INSTITUTION, WE TAKE THAT ROLE VERY SERIOUSLY BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE’RE JUST WE’RE JUST NOT COMMITTED TO OUR CAMPUS, BUT WE’RE COMMITTED TO IMPROVING THE COMMUNITY AROUND US. SO WHERE WE’RE HONORED TO SEE STUDENTS WHO ARE COMING TO US FROM NEARLY 40 STATES AND 31 COUNTRIES, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WE HAVE NATIONALLY RANKED ACADEMIC PROGRAMS. WE KNOW THAT THOSE THINGS, IF WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO EDUCATE OUR STUDENTS WELL, THAT THEIR EDUCATION BLEEDS BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR INSTITUTION. SO TWO YEARS AGO, THERE WAS LEGISLATION CREATED BY SENATOR ANTONIO HAYES AND DELEGATE MARLON AVA MARIE, AND THAT LEGISLATION REALLY STARTED THE WEST NORTH AVENUE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY TO SAY, HOW DO WE DO BETTER? AND INVESTING IN WEST BALTIMORE AND HOW DO WE ADDRESS THE LIFE ECOSYSTEM IN WEST BALTIMORE? AND IN CHAT 15 NEIGHBORHOODS WILL BE IMPACTED BY THIS. TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE NEIGHBORS WHO ALREADY LIVE IN THOSE COMMUNITIES. YEAH. SO IT’S GOING TO BE A TRANSFORMATIVE EFFORT ON HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS. AND ONE OF THE THINGS IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA IN THE 40TH DISTRICT IS 56% OF THE RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES ARE VACANT. IT’S THE MOST IN THE CITY OF BALTIMORE. AND SO WE’RE LOSING PROPERTY TAX SALES TAX AND JUST GENERAL INCOME TAX FROM PEOPLE COMING IN AND SPENDING MONEY. AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE DONE IS WORK WITH THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS, LOOK AT ALL OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS THAT THEY HAVE DONE BEFORE, SYNTHESIZE THOSE, CREATED A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMONG ALL OF THOSE SUBMITTED THAT TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR APPROVAL AND REVIEW. AND WE WERE LUCKY TO BE INCREASED IN A BUDGET LAST YEAR. WES MOORE, UM, GAVE US $11.4 MILLION THIS YEAR. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND GOVERNOR MOORE PROVIDED US $17.1 MILLION. AND SO THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR, WE PROVIDED OUT $9.5 MILLION IN GRANTS. NEXT FISCAL YEAR, WE’RE GOING TO BE GIVING OUT BETWEEN 12 AND $15 MILLION IN GRANTS. PRESIDENT JENKINS, NOT ONLY IS THIS A BIG, MONUMENTAL, YOU KNOW, EVENT FOR COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY, BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR STUDENTS TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS? BECAUSE THIS IS AN EXAMPLE THAT YOU GUYS ARE SETTING FOR THEM AND SOMETHING THAT THEY’LL REMEMBER AS THEY MATRICULATE THROUGH COPPIN STATE. YOU KNOW, THAT’S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. AND, YOU KNOW, AND BEING IN THE EDUCATION SPACE, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE CHALLENGE OUR STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT EARNING YOUR DEGREE DOESN’T MAKE YOU EDUCATED, RIGHT? THERE’S A TRANSFORMATION THAT MUST OCCUR, AND YOU MUST BE WILLING TO ENGAGE IN THAT TRANSFORMATION. AND SO THIS IS A PART OF THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT THEY ARE A PART OF, WHEN THEY BECOME A PART OF COPPIN AND THEY BECOME A PART OF EAGLE NATION, THEY’RE BECOMING A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THEMSELVES, AND THAT THEY HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO ADD TO AN EDUCATED CITIZENRY, TO MAKE SURE THEY TRANSFORM AND MAKE EVERY ENVIRONMENT THEY ENTER BETTER. AND I THINK THAT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THAT WITH THEM, STUDENTS GET IT. IT RESONATES WITH THEM. THEY WANT TO BE CHANGE AGENTS. THEY ARE THE THOUGHT LEADERS. THOSE ARE THE TYPE OF STUDENTS THAT WE’RE DEVELOPING AND WE USE COPPIN AS THE EXAMPLE FOR EXAMPLE, IN THIS SITUATION, COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY IS THE FIRST HBCU IN OUR NATION TO EVER BE TAPPED TO LEAD THE REVITALIZATION OF A MAJOR CORRIDOR AND A MAJOR US CITY. NO OTHER HBCU HAS EVER HAD THAT RESPONSIBILITY, AND SO WE CHALLENGE OUR STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND THAT IF THAT’S HOW THEIR UNIVERSITY IS VIEWED, IF THOSE ARE THE EXPECTATIONS THAT PEOPLE HAVE OF THEIR INSTITUTION, THEN THAT TRICKLES DOWN TO THEM AS WELL. MEGAN RIVERS THANK YOU FOR THAT INTERVIEW. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT HERE IN BALTIMORE AND YOU WANT US TO KNOW ABOUT THEM AS WELL, SHOOT US AN EMAIL. IT’S 11 TV HILL AT HIRST DOT COM. WE WANT TO SHA