Albany State University Albany State University is a four - year , state - supported , historically black university ( HBCU ) located in Albany , Georgia , United States . It is one of three HBCU ' s in the University System of Georgia . ASU is a member - school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund . History . Establishment . Joseph Winthrop Holley , born in 1874 to former slaves in Winnsboro , South Carolina , founded the institution in 1903 as the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute . Two educators , Reverend Samuel Loomis and his wife , sent Holley to Brainerd Institute and then Revere Lay College ( Massachusetts ) . While attending Revere Lay , Holley got to know one of the school ' s trustees , New England businessman , Rowland Hazard . After taking a liking to Holley , Hazard arranged for him to continue his education at Phillips Academy in Andover , Massachusetts . Holley aspired to become a minister and prepared by completing his education at Pennsylvania ' s Lincoln University . W . E . B . Du Bois inspired Holley to return to the South after he read Du Bois ' s writings on the plight of black people in Albany , GA in The Souls of Black Folk . Holley relocated to Albany to start a school . With the help of a $ 2 , 600 gift from the Hazard family , Holley organized a board of trustees and purchased of land for the campus , all within a year . The aim of the institution at the time , was to provide elementary education and teacher training for the local Black population . The institution became financially state supported in 1917 as a two - year agricultural and teacher training college . Its new name became the Georgia Normal and Agricultural College . In 1932 , the school became part of the University System of Georgia and in 1943 it was granted four - year status and renamed Albany State College . The transition to four - year status heavily increased the school ' s enrollment . In 1981 the college offered its first graduate program and in 1996 the name was changed to Albany State University . Holley served as President of the school from 1903 – 1943 . He was succeeded by Aaron Brown ( 1943 – 1954 ) , William Dennis ( 1954 – 1965 ) , Thomas Miller Jenkins ( 1965 – 1969 ) , Charles Hayes ( 1969 – 1980 ) , Billy C . Black ( 1980 – 1996 ) , Portia Holmes Shields ( 1996 – 2005 ) , and Everette J . Freeman ( 2005 – present ) U . S . Civil Rights and the Albany Movement . The college played a significant role in the American Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s . Many students from the school , Black improvement organizations , and representatives from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) came together to create the Albany Movement . The movement brought prominent civil rights leaders to the town including Martin Luther King Jr . The movement resulted in the arrests of more than 1 , 000 black protestors . Among the very first to be arrested were students from Albany State . On November 22 , 1961 , Blanton Hall and Bertha Gober entered the white waiting room of the Albany bus station to buy tickets home for the Thanksgiving holiday . Refusing to leave after being ordered to do so , police arrested them both . Albany State president William Dennis , fearful of losing his position , immediately suspended and eventually expelled the students . This action engendered a great deal of animosity from the black community and the student body . Gober would continue in the civil rights movement as one of the SNCC ' s Freedom Singers and write the group ' s anthem . Bernice Johnson Reagon , another Albany State student who left school to work with the SNCC , would later form the well - known a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock . On December 10 , 2011 , thirty two of the students who were expelled were granted honorary degrees . The school awarded thirty one honorary baccalaureate degrees and one honorary doctorate – that to Bernice Johnson Reagon . A noted cultural historian , Reagon was also the commencement speaker . Albany State University . In July 1996 the university system ' s Board of Regents approved a name change , and the school officially became Albany State University . Today Albany State University continues to provide a wide range of educational opportunities to the residents of southwest Georgia . The school participates in an engineering transfer program and a dual degree program with the Georgia Institute of Technology , one of the top engineering schools in the nation . Then President , Portia Shields created the Holley Institute summer program , which consists of an intense four weeks of study to help high school students improve low SAT scores and gain admission to college . The program has a near 100 percent success rate and has received praise from the state Board of Regents . Albany State also has the third highest student retention rate in the university system . A new stadium was opened in 2004 , and new housing units opened in 2006 . Academics and demographics . Albany State offers undergraduate and graduate liberal arts and professional degree programs . According to " U . S . News & World Report " , ASU is number 32 out of 36 ranked in the magazine ’ s ranking of undergraduate education at HBCUs . It is ranked as a 2nd tier school on the Regional Universities ( South ) list . Today the Albany State University student body consists of both traditional and non - traditional student s who make up the more than 4 , 000 student population . These students come primarily from Atlanta , southwest and central Georgia , other US states and many foreign countries . The average student age is 24 and about 40 percent of the students live in on - campus housing . Schools and colleges . The Graduate school degree programs include : Business Administration , Criminal Justice , Early Childhood Education , Educational Leadership ( M . Ed & Ed . S ) , English Education , Health and Physical Education , Mathematics Education , Middle Grades Education , Music Education , Nursing , Public Administration , School Counseling , Science Education , and Special Education . Albany State offers more than 30 undergraduate degree programs and six advanced degrees . The university also offers the Board of Regents ' engineering transfer program and the dual degree program in engineering with Georgia Tech . Today , Albany State University provides innovative instructional and professional programs through its five academic schools : Arts and Sciences , Business , Education , Nursing and Allied Health Sciences and the Graduate School . The University serves 24 counties in the Southwest Georgia area with graduate and undergraduate courses in more than 30 fields . Student life . Student organizations . There are over 59 clubs and organizations including bands , choirs , religious groups , honor societies , several major Greek and honor sororities and fraternities , and ROTC . Fraternities and Sororities . All nine of the National Pan - Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Albany State University . These organizations are : Music Organizations . Three of the music organizations currently have chapters at Albany State University . These organizations are : Marching band . Albany State ' s Marching Band participated in the 2007 , 2008 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013 and will participate in the 2014 Honda Battle of the Bands ( HBOB ) . Athletics . Albany State University holds membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division II ( as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ) and participates in the following sports : football , basketball , baseball , cheerleading , volleyball , cross - country and track and field . Football . Home football games are played at the Albany Municipal Coliseum . In 2010 , Albany State won the 2010 SBN Jake Gaither National Championship Trophy ( SBN Sports Black College National Football Championship ) after an 11 – 1 season . Swimming . Albany State sponsored men and women ' s swimming and diving teams in past years and were named National Black College Swimming and Diving Champions in 1979 and 1980 . Notable alumni . This is a list of notable alumni which includes graduates , non - graduate former students , and current students of Albany State University . It also reflects those alumni who attended and / or graduated from the institution under its prior historical names .