Free Presentation -- Rivalry Between Morgan State and UMES Explored

Rivalry between Morgan State and UMES explored

            Just in time for Black History Month and Homecoming, Eric Jodlbauer, library technician at the Frederick Douglass Library, presents a lecture Feb. 24, at 10 a.m. in the Student Services Center Theatre on the long-time rivalry between Morgan State and UMES. 

            “I compare it to a sibling rivalry,” Jodlbauer said.  “They’re like the older brother that you compete against for attention.” 

            Jodlbauer explains that Morgan State and UMES “are all from the same family” since UMES was founded in 1886 by the Centenary Biblical Institute, which later became Morgan State.  The school remained “under their wing” until mid 1930s when the state purchased the school and renamed it Princess Anne College. 

            The year 1947 greatly impacted the Morgan and UMES rivalry in the classroom and on the athletic fields.

            In the wake of the Marbury Report, University of Maryland President Harry C. “Curley” Byrd, unwilling to lose land-grant status, lobbied to keep Princess Anne College, its Eastern Shore branch, and to build up the rural campus.  The rivalry between Morgan State and Princess Anne for state monies and for students had begun. 

            As for athletics, the rivalry took a while to evolve.   For the first half of the 20^th century, Morgan was in a different athletic conference.  Then in 1954, the two were members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA), but avoided playing each other for the first few years, Jodlbauer said. 

            It was at the first game of the 1957 series, known as “The Maryland Classic,” which ended in a 7-7 tie, that the two began to compete athletically on a regular basis.  “That’s when the rivalry really heated up,” said Jodlbauer.