"Today's announcement reflects the culmination of a significant amount of time and effort by our campus and constituents," said Clayton State University President Dr. Thomas K. Harden. "I am very grateful to the Board of Regents and Chancellor Thomas Meredith for their support, as well as to everyone at Clayton State University who participated in this process."

The proposal by the University to shorten its name from Clayton College & State University was the result of a groundswell of opinion that began as far back as the University's November 1996 name change from Clayton State College to Clayton College & State University.

"The name Clayton State University is the product of a considerable input from all of our constituencies - students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, community," said Harden. "I consider this to be another step in the evolution of the University."

Clayton State University was founded in 1969 as Clayton Junior College. In September 1986, in conjunction with the addition of its first bachelor's degree programs, Clayton Junior College became Clayton State College. That name remained until November 1996 when, as part of a general change in nomenclature among the state colleges of the University System of Georgia, the name became Clayton College & State University. At that point, the University moved from state college status within the University System to state university status.

Last summer, Meredith reopened the "Mission Review process" within the University System, which included a willingness to consider mission and name changes by USG institutions. Although such a change had been considered internally since Harden became president in June 2000, Clayton State began the actual process with campus-wide discussions using numerous focus groups in November 2004. �

The University's Web address, www.clayton.edu , will not change.

Clayton State University, a state university of the University System of Georgia located in Morrow, serves the Metro Atlanta region.