By Ariyana Griffin
AFRO Staff Writer
agriffin@afro.com
On October 3, Morgan State University (MSU) held the grand opening of its state-of-the-art Health and Human Services Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The new building is one of several to open in 2024, underscores MSU’s commitment to growth and development for its students and community.
MSU’s Marching Band, the Magnificent Marching Machine, cheerleaders and ROTC Bear Battalion members welcomed state and city officials, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the community.
“This is the sixth building this year that we would have cut the ribbon on either brand new or renovated,” Congressman Kwesi Mfume (D-Md.-07), chairman of the Board of Regents said. “It’s important that a center like this will be here for many, many years to drive home the fact that we can overcome disparities if we are providing the correct health and human services to our communities.”
According to research conducted by Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, “every single health indicator, including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, childhood asthma, smoking and poor mental health days is higher for African Americans than for White residents” in Baltimore.
The 208,000-square-foot, six-story $171M project has been in the works since 2019 with construction beginning in 2021. It will serve as an academic and research facility for faculty and students, providing essential resources directly for the Baltimore Community and society.
“I want our students to know that this is indeed for you – we will serve Baltimore, we will serve the larger region,” Dr. David Wilson, president of Morgan State University stated at the ribbon cutting. “We will serve the nation by educating the next generation of health professionals, the next generation of public health leaders, the next generation of social workers and the next generation of scientists.”
According to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, in 2023, Black men and women earned only 7 percent of doctoral degrees in science and engineering and just 9 percent of the overall STEM field.
The center will be the hub for the University’s School of Community Health and Policy and School of Social Work, the University Counseling Center and Prevention Sciences Research Center, and the School of Education and Urban Studies’ Family and Consumer Sciences Department.
The building will give students access to demonstration areas, laboratories, offices, communal areas and more. The Human Services Center is located at the corner of Argonne Drive and Hillen Road in Northeast Baltimore.
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