Chicago State University Chicago State University ( CSU ) is a state university of the U . S . state of Illinois , located in Chicago . The University is a member - school of Thurgood Marshall College Fund . History . Cook County Normal School was founded in 1867 , largely through the initiative of John F . Eberhart , the Commissioner of Schools for Cook County . Eberhart noted that Cook County schools lagged far behind their counterparts in the city of Chicago , especially in terms of the quality and competence of instructors . He convinced the County Commissioners to hold a teacher training institute in April 1860 ; its success convinced the commissioners of the need for a permanent school to educate teachers . In March 1867 the Cook County Board of Supervisors created a Normal school at Blue Island on a two - year experimental basis . Daniel S . Wentworth was the first principal . In 1869 , the school opened as a permanent institution in Englewood , then a village far beyond the outskirts of Chicago . After Wentworth died in 1883 , he was replaced by Colonel Francis Wayland Parker , a towering figure in the history of American education . Parker was an educational innovator who helped construct the philosophy of progressive education , which has decisively shaped American schooling over the past century . Dedicated to the proposition that the nature and interests of the child should determine curricular decisions , not vice - versa , progressive reformers from the 1890s forward tried to banish what they saw as oppressive and authoritarian standards of instruction . Parker urged teachers to grant pupils the freedom to learn from their environment , to let curiosity rather than rewards or punishments provide their motivation , and to advance American democracy by democratizing their classrooms . John Dewey wrote in " The New Republic " in 1930 that Parker , " more nearly than any other one person , was the father of the progressive educational movement . " ” Parker believed that education was the cornerstone of a democracy , and that to achieve this end rote memorization should be replaced with exploration of the environment . Parker ' s Talks on Pedagogics preceded Dewey ' s own School and Society by five years , and it is one of the foundational texts in the progressive movement . By the 1890s , Cook County was unable to provide the requisite support for its Normal School . Since many graduates found employment in the Chicago Public Schools system , it was natural that the city would take over , though initially it was very resistant to the idea . In 1897 the Chicago Board of Education assumed responsibility for what was now the Chicago Normal School . Shortly thereafter , Francis W . Parker , the school ' s renowned principal , resigned after the Board failed to implement the recommendations of a school system commission headed by William Rainey Harper of the University of Chicago . Harper suggested raising the standards for admission to the Normal School , increasing the total number of teachers trained , and strengthening oversight of graduates once they were working in the public schools . Parker was replaced by Arnold Tompkins . Tompkins was an Indiana Hegelian who introduced key reforms that helped mold the institution ' s philosophy . Tompkins declared his dissatisfaction with the practice school then used as a laboratory for student - teachers . He wanted instructors to gain real world experience in Chicago ' s public schools , and he encouraged their placement in poor , immigrant communities . From that point forward , the school would be characterized not just by its innovative pedagogical practices , but also by its commitment to expanding opportunity to underserved sectors of society . Tompkins was succeeded as president by Ella Flagg Young , a pioneering educator in her own right . Young received a PhD under John Dewey at the University of Chicago , and after leaving Chicago Normal School served as Superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools system . She attempted to expand the curriculum to three years , but was stymied by the Board of Education . After Young left to become Superintendent in 1909 , William Bishop Owen became Principal of CNS . In 1913 , the school was renamed Chicago Normal College , with higher admissions standards and several new buildings gradually added to the campus . In 1926 , the College moved to a three - year curriculum , with heavier emphasis placed on traditional academic subjects as opposed to pedagogy . The school was an increasingly attractive educational avenue for Chicago ' s immigrant communities , who could get inexpensive preliminary schooling before transferring to a university . However , when the Great Depression began in 1929 , severe budget shortages forced the College to curtail its operations , and almost eventuated in its closing . In 1932 , the Board of Education budget shrank by $ 12 million . To many , an obvious strategy for economizing was to close the Normal College , since there were no positions in the school system for trained teachers anyway . The faculty and students campaigned vigorously to keep the College open . Pep rallies , publications , and the efforts of immigrant communities were all part of the mobilization in favor of continued operations . As the economy stabilized , the threat to dissolve the College receded , though it did not disappear . Meanwhile , interest in the school rose , as financial destitution forced many Chicago - area students to forgo residential institutions elsewhere for a commuter campus closer to home . In 1938 , the school again changed its name , this time to Chicago Teachers College to reflect the recent adoption of a four - year curriculum . President John A . Bartky had ambitious plans for invigorating instruction through a new commitment to the liberal arts and a doubling of the time devoted to practice teaching . In addition , a Master of Education degree was offered for the first time . However , Bartky ' s reforms were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II , which depleted the faculty and student body alike . Bartky himself enlisted in the Navy in 1942 , and never returned to the college . In his absence , the Chicago Board of Education reversed most of his curricular innovations . After the war ended , Raymond Mack Cook was hired as Dean . Cook ' s primary achievement was to convince the state of Illinois to take over funding of the College . The city was no longer able to fund the institution adequately , and in 1951 Governor Adlai Stevenson signed legislation that reimbursed the Board of Education for its operating expenses on a permanent basis . In 1965 , Cook succeeded in convincing the state take responsibility for the College entirely . As the demographic composition of the south side of Chicago changed , increasing numbers of African - American students began to attend the College . By the 1950s , nearly 30 % of the student body was black . At the same time , three branches of Chicago Teachers College opened elsewhere in the city ; these eventually became Northeastern Illinois University . During these years Chicago Teachers College and its branches educated a preponderance of the students who became Chicago Public School system teachers . Once the state of Illinois took over control of the institution , the student body and programs offered rapidly expanded . The college experienced two more name changes , becoming Chicago State College in 1967 and Chicago State University in 1971 , a year before moving to a new campus . By the mid - 1960s the college ' s infrastructure was deteriorating and tensions between the majority white student body and the mostly black surrounding neighborhood were on the rise . Like many campuses , Chicago State College experienced a burst of student activism in 1968 and 1969 as black students and faculty demanded greater attention to their needs and interests and closer relations with the neighborhood . The administration responded by creating an African - American Studies program and cultural center . In 1972 , the university moved to its new location at 9501 S . King Dr . , between Burnside and Roseland . The state purchased the land from the Illinois Central Railroad and suspended classes for 2 weeks in November to complete the move . In January 1975 , 5 , 000 students signed a petition on a scroll requesting that President Gerald Ford give the commencement address at graduation that summer . On July 12 , 1975 , President Ford gave the commencement address at the ceremony held in the Arie Crown Theatre at McCormick Place and received an honorary doctor of laws degree . Shortly thereafter President Milton Byrd announced his resignation . His replacement , Benjamin Alexander , was the institution ' s first African - American leader . Under Alexander ' s command the school received full 10 - year accreditation for the first time in its history . Alexander pushed hard to foster multiculturalism , as the African - American portion of the student body swelled from 60 % at the outset of the 1970s to over 80 % by 1980 . These shifting demographics encouraged a debate over whether CSU should be considered a predominantly African - American institution , akin to the HBCUs ( Historically Black Colleges and Universities ) or whether it should retain a multicultural and multiracial identity . That debate has continued in some form ever since . President Benjamin Alexander hired Dr . Dorothy L . Richey , a Tuskegee University graduate to become the first woman appointed head of athletics at a Co - educational College or University in the United States . Her Teams excelled during her first year as Athletic Director in 1975 . The school struggled in the 1980s with flat enrollments , declining state budgets , and falling graduation rates . However , in the early 1990s President Dolores Cross helped introduce a sharp increase in enrollment and retention . She urged faculty to personally call advisees and students who might be having problems . Enrollment rose 40 % , nearing 10 , 000 . The Chicago Tribune dubbed Chicago State “ Success U . ” In 1990 , Gwendolyn Brooks , the well - known poet , was hired as a Distinguished Professor ; she taught classes at CSU up until her death . Brooks protégé and English professor Haki R . Madhubuti established a writing center , now called the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing , which hosts a yearly conference and offers the only MFA degree in the country to focus on African American literature . Today it is directed by the poet Quraysh Ali Lansana . Elnora Daniel became President in 1998 and she worked to increase federal and state funding and to create new programs . An Honor ' s College was established in 2003 and a College of Pharmacy in 2007 . Daniel also oversaw the first doctoral program at CSU in Educational Leadership . The program produced its first graduates in 2009 . Special funds were procured to finance a textbook buying program for African schools and two new buildings : the University Library and the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center . The school has recently been the target of many controversies . After university president Elnora Daniel resigned under allegations of unjustified spending , the board of trustees began a search for her replacement . All but two of the faculty members who served on the search committee resigned in protest feeling their concerns were not addressed . Part of their concerns include a graduation rate of only 16 . 2 % ( as of 2007 ) and inadequate infrastructure . On April 29 , 2009 , the board of trustees appointed retiring City Colleges of Chicago chancellor Wayne Watson as Chicago State ' s new president . The decision was protested by several students and faculty , who openly booed the announcement , claiming that Watson ' s appointment was motivated by political considerations rather than the good of the students and faculty . These issues prompted the Higher Learning Commission , the school ' s accrediting agency , to express " grave " concerns regarding Chicago State ' s future and indicate that its accreditation might be in jeopardy . Athletics . Teams . Chicago State University sponsors seven men ' s and seven women ' s teams in NCAA sanctioned sports with men ' s and women ' s soccer to be added by 2014 : Men ' s Intercollegiate Sports Women ' s Intercollegiate Sports The school ' s sports teams are called the Cougar s , and the team colors are green and white . CSU participates in the Great West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ' s Division I . From 1994 until June 2006 , CSU was a member of the Mid - Continent Conference , but withdrew and took independent status before joining the Great West Conference , in which it which began play in 2009 – 2010 . Starting in 2013 CSU will be playing in the WAC . Prior to gaining NCAA Division I status , the university enjoyed memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) and NCAA Division 2 . Buildings . Emil and Patricia A . Jones Convocation Center . The Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center is a 7 , 000 - seat multi - purpose arena in Chicago , Illinois on the campus of Chicago State University . Ground broke on the project on October 4 , 2004 and was completed in 2007 . The arena hosts the Chicago State University Cougars basketball teams . It replaces the Jacoby D . Dickens Athletic Center , which only had capacity to seat 2 , 500 persons . Among sporting events , the convocation center houses concerts , conferences , and special city - wide events . The convocation center is unique among Illinois university athletic projects , because Chicago State University did not have to raise any money for the project . Jacoby Dickens Center . The Jacoby D . Dickens Center ( JDC ) is home of the Chicago State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics . The building was built in 1971 and was formerly known as the CSU Athletics Building until 1995 , when it was dedicated to renowned Chicago businessman Jacoby D . Dickens . Inside the Jacoby D . Dickens Center is a 2 , 500 - seat gymnasium , three swimming pools , a fitness center , eight locker rooms , three classrooms , a dance studio , an auxiliary and a multipurpose gymnasium . In addition , the building is home to CSU ' s athletic department and the university ' s Health and Physical Education Department . Library . The University ' s library , dedicated in October 2006 , features a state of the art Automated Storage and Retrieval System , which currently holds most of the library ' s material that was produced before 1991 . The system is called ROVER ( Retrieval Online Via Electronic Robot ) and can retrieve five books in 2 . 5 minutes , on average ; the average time for a student to retrieve five books is 2 hours . The system has a capacity of 800 , 000 volumes and its database is backed up in at least two offsite locations . Student life . Fraternities & sororities . All nine of the National Pan - Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Chicago State University . These organizations are :