Mary McLeod Bethune, the noted African-American educator and civil rights leader, founded an institution known as the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls on Oct. 3, 1904.
It would ultimately become one of the noted historically Black colleges in the state of Florida. However, the school went through a number of stages in its development. In 1923, it merged with the Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida, and in the process became a co-ed high school. The following year, the school became affiliated with the Methodist Church and became a junior college in 1931. One decade later, the school became a four-year college and the name was changed to Bethune-Cookman College.
After the school established its first graduate program, the board of trustees approved the name being changed to Bethune-Cookman University. The school’s interim president is Edison O. Jackson, who previously served for 20 years as president of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York.
BET National News - Keep up to date with breaking news stories from around the nation, including headlines from the hip hop and entertainment world. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.  

(Photo: Courtesy of blackpast.org)