The tradition of inaugurating a new president is a fairly new one here at Towson University given our 150 year history. Part of that may be due to the fact that our first leaders were actually considered principals while the school itself was a teachers’ training school – something more akin to a vocational school.
To celebrate the inauguration of Kim Schatzel as Towson University’s 14th leader, we are looking back at the past leaders of the school. These essays are from a book we helped craft, Towson University: The First 150 Years. President Earle Taylor Hawkins was in office as Towson evolved from its exclusive focus on teacher
In November of 1959, Juanita Hawkins, wife of State Teacher College [STC] President Dr. Earle Hawkins, set sail with a friend for the Philippines on the USS Paradise Mist. Dr. Hawkins was already in Manila and had been since September of that year. He was serving as an adviser to the Philippines government and helping
“The First Annual Faculty Follies will be presented on Tuesday evening”, announced the November 1941 issue of the Towerlight. Faculty members were to present a two-part program, the first of which was a kind of music hall performance with “all the members of the faculty who can be crowded on the stage”. “The second act,” the
In the tumult and chaos of the 1960s, Loyola College student Larry Evans came up with a new philanthropy concept: raising money by breaking records and playing three days of continuous flag football. The games would be played by students from different area colleges and the money would go to Santa Claus Anonymous, a Baltimore-area charity that
Towson University has had its share of groundbreaking celebrations. Earl T. Hawkins, Towson President from 1947 until 1969, oversaw the beginnings of at least 13 buildings on campus. He was in charge right as members of the Baby Boom generation entered college. His administration oversaw one of the largest changes in programs and expansion as