Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University is a private , historically black university in Atlanta , in the U . S . state of Georgia . It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College ( founded in 1869 ) and Atlanta University ( founded in 1865 ) . Clark Atlanta University is a member of the United Negro College Fund ( UNCF ) . History . Clark Atlanta University was formed by the consolidation of Atlanta University , which offered only graduate degrees , and Clark College , a four - year undergraduate institution oriented to the liberal arts . Atlanta University . Atlanta University , founded in 1865 by the American Missionary Association , with later assistance from the Freedmen ' s Bureau , was , before consolidation , the nation ' s oldest graduate institution serving a predominantly African - American student body . By the late 1870s , Atlanta College had begun granting bachelor ' s degrees and supplying black teachers and librarians to the public schools of the South . In 1929 – 30 , it began offering graduate education exclusively in various liberal arts areas , and in the social and natural sciences . It gradually added professional programs in social work , library science , and business administration . At this same time , Atlanta University affiliated with Morehouse College and Spelman College in a university plan known as the Atlanta University Center . The campus was moved to its present site , and the modern organization of the Atlanta University Center emerged , with Clark College , Morris Brown College , and the Interdenominational Theological Center joining the affiliation later . The story of the Atlanta University over the next twenty years from 1930 includes many significant developments . Graduate Schools of Library Science , Education , and Business Administration were established in 1941 , 1944 , and 1946 , respectively . The Atlanta School of Social Work , long associated with the university , gave up its charter in 1947 to become an integral part of the university . In 1957 , the controlling Boards of the six institutions ( Atlanta University ; Clark , Morehouse , Morris Brown and Spelman Colleges ; and Gammon Theological Seminary ) ratified new Articles of Affiliation . The new contract created the Atlanta University Center . The influence of Atlanta University has been extended through professional journals and organizations , including " Phylon " . Through Dr . W . E . B . Du Bois , a member of the faculty , the university was also associated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) . Clark College . Clark College was founded in 1869 by the Freedman ' s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church , which later became the United Methodist Church . It was named for Bishop Davis Wasgatt Clark , who was the first President of the Freedman ' s Aid Society and became Bishop in 1864 . A sparsely furnished room in Clark Chapel , a Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta ' s Summerhill section , housed the first Clark College class . In 1871 , the school relocated to a new site on the newly purchased Whitehall and McDaniel Street property . In 1877 , the School was chartered as Clark University . An early benefactor , Bishop Gilbert Haven , visualized Clark as the " university " of all the Methodist schools founded for the education of freedmen . After the school had changed locations several times , Bishop Haven , who succeeded Bishop Clark , was instrumental in acquiring in South Atlanta , where in 1880 the school conferred its first degree . ( The university relocated in 1883 . ) Also in 1883 , Clark established a theology department . Named for Dr . Elijah H . Gammon , the Gammon School of Theology in 1888 became an independent theological seminary . It is part of the Interdenominational Theological Center . 2009 faculty firings . In 2009 , the university fired 55 members of the faculty ( 20 of whom had tenure ) after declaring an " enrollment emergency . " The action earned the university a severe censure from the American Association of University Professors , which asserted that there was no " enrollment emergency " and decried the lack of faculty involvement in the process . The AAUP investigation specifically cited that Clark Atlanta University did not provide dismissed faculty members with hearings before faculty peers , as required by both AAUP standards and university regulations , and for providing a " sorely deficient " one month of severance salary . The AAUP panel consisted of four individuals and included one professor at a historically black institution ( Charles L . Betsey of Howard University ) and one professor who according to " Inside Higher Ed " , " has written extensively and sympathetically about black colleges " ( Marybeth Gasman of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education ) . Campus . Clark Atlanta University ' s main campus houses 37 buildings on and is from the center of Atlanta . Academics . Clark Atlanta was ranked on " The Washington Monthly s 2008 list of " Best Colleges and Universities " and the " US News & World Report s list of historically black colleges and universities ( No . 24 out of 34 best ) . Research . Clark Atlanta has a Carnegie classification of " Research University – High Research Activity " and is one of only four Historically Black Colleges and Universities to earn such a distinction . The university receives annual research grants of $ 17 , 570 , 778 . Student life . National fraternities and sororities . All nine of the National Pan - Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Clark Atlanta University . Other organizations currently registered on campus include Sigma Alpha Iota , Gamma Sigma Sigma , Kappa Kappa Psi , Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia , Tau Beta Sigma and Gamma Phi Delta . Student media . WCLK . CAU operates WCLK ( 91 . 9 FM ) , a jazz radio station . Athletics . Clark Atlanta University , known athletically as the Panthers , are competing within the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ( SIAC ) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) , Division II . Men ' s sports include baseball , basketball , cross country , football and track & field ; while women ' s sports include basketball , cross country , softball , tennis , track & field and volleyball . Notable alumni . This is a list of notable alumni which includes graduates , non - graduate former students , and current students of Atlanta University , Clark College , Clark University , and / or Clark Atlanta University . It does not include other notable persons who may have attended Clark Atlanta University as cross - registered students ( credit as an alumnus is not given to Clark Atlanta University , which has spurred controversy over the school ' s cross - registration policies ) .