Coppin State University

Reginald S. Avery, who was inaugurated yesterday as the fifth president of Coppin State University, pledged to work with the faculty and students to strengthen the university's academics and deepen its ties with its West Baltimore community. "If we say we're an urban institution, if we say we're about community engagement, it needs to be reflected in everything that we do," said Avery, 62. "Coppin State University has a moment in time to make a tremendous difference in the lives of thousands of people," he said.

As part of its formal case for reaccreditation, Coppin State University officials watered down a faculty and staff-written report critical of the college's treatment of its core academic staff, records show. Among the criticisms omitted or played down in a final "self-study" report to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education was that Coppin's shared-governance committee has not convened in several years, that professors are underrepresented in university decision-making bodies and that there is a general "absence of active, systematic, meaningful faculty involvement in budget planning and development."

Coppin State University and city police were seeking a man who escaped yesterday from a work detail at the university. William Spessard, 40, was serving two years for auto theft and was an inmate at the Baltimore City Correctional Center. He was part of a work detail with three other men picking up trash in the Parlett L. Moore Library, in the 2500 block of W. North Ave., about 10:40 a.m. when he asked to use a bathroom and walked off, school officials said. A campus police officer notified authorities and began a search within 10 minutes of Spessard's failure to return, police said.

Delores Gordon Hobbs, a retired educator who was a member of the state optometry board, died after surgical complications Saturday at Manor Care Ruxton. The Northwest Baltimore resident 69. Born Delores Gordon in Baltimore and raised on Etting Street, she was a 1956 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. She earned a teaching degree from what is now Coppin State University and a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University. She also studied at Boston University and the University of Rochester.

With March Madness ready for its tip-off tonight, Baltimore is in the enviable position of having more Cinderellas than Disney World. None may be favored to win NCAA Division I men's basketball's Big Dance, but what an extraordinary circumstance for any of them to be there at all. Surely the most unlikely success story is that of the Coppin State University Eagles, who lost 20 games this season. No team with so many losses had ever qualified for the tournament, but the Eagles' thrilling 62-60 upset over Morgan State to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday put them in precisely that position.

Helen J. Goodwin, a retired Coppin State University professor who was the mother and grandmother of two area legislators, died of Alzheimer's disease Friday at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The Forest Park resident was 95. Born Helen Jefferson in Norfolk, Va., she earned a Bachelor of Arts at Hampton Institute, a master's degree from New York University and a doctorate in education from the Johns Hopkins University. She also did graduate study at Columbia University. "She was truly a feminist and a renaissance woman," said state Sen. Delores G. Kelley, a daughter who lives in Randallstown.

Before Baltimore native Nicole Price dove into the trenches of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, she considered working for the Illinois senator's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. But for Price, a 35-year-old former community organizer and veteran Maryland political campaigner, the decision came down to one question: What would her grandmother think? "On every campaign, the one thing I always ask of myself is, `Would I tell my grandmother this is the candidate you should vote for?

Former Baltimore police chief Leonard D. Hamm will take over Coppin State University's public safety force next month, campus officials announced yesterday. The Baltimore native, who resigned under pressure in July as the city homicide rate mounted, will make $92,000 a year in his new job. As city police chief, he earned $162,000. Through a spokeswoman, Hamm, 58, declined to comment, but he said in a statement: "Many of the city police officers I have worked with are Coppin graduates.

DINNER AND A SHOW" REACHED new heights at the Lyric Opera House recently, as Coppin State University held its Second Annual Vision Award Celebration there. Hundreds of formally dressed folks gathered on the mezzanine level for a pre-show party before they would head into the theater to see performances by singer Nancy Wilson and comedian Bill Cosby. Guests browsed the dinner buffet and caught up with old friends. For incoming Coppin president Reginald Avery and his wife, Esther, it meant meeting a lot of new friends.

For two decades, the Maryland Stadium Authority has been something of a golden child within state government. Set up as a quasi-public agency, the authority built downtown Baltimore's showplace stadiums quickly and efficiently with less red tape and more flexibility. The results were a huge success. Even 15 years after its opening, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is still considered one of Major League Baseball's finest venues. But a critical legislative audit released last week has tarnished the MSA's image.