Middle States Accreditation Self-Study Reports: A History of Self-Reflection

Written by: Cale McCammon

Cover of the 1971-1972 report.

One of the collections that offer a dense look at DSU’s organizational and academic history is our collection of Middle States accreditation self-study reports, which date back to the 1971-1972 academic year. These reports contain information on the university’s organizational structure, philosophy, student body, employment of alumni and finances. For anyone looking for statistical information regarding specific departments or for information on how the university has changed overtime, the reports serve as a convenient aggregation of the information found in some of our other collections. They also demonstrate changes in how the university has seen itself, as in the self-study report for the 1971-1972 academic years:

Delaware State College is a group of scholars actively seeking the truth, creatively teaching the truth, and carefully preserving the truth. The College claims the right, without restraint, to investigate the whole province of knowledge. With this freedom, the College accepts the responsibility of communicating knowledge to all who can make good use of it. (p. 2)

How might this connect to the university’s current mission and vision statement?