35 years at Towson University: looking back and looking ahead | GUEST COMMENTARY

I have taught in the History Department at Towson University for 35 years; I plan to retire at the end of this semester. Of all the changes I have seen in this time, two stand out as most telling in the story of the institution: the diversity among students and the expectation that faculty members publish. In 1988, when I arrived at what was then known as Towson State University (“state” was dropped from the name in 1997), the demographics of the institution looked much different from today.