INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia State University has some of the richest history in higher education in the state. The 129-year history of WVSU, the present and the future were celebrated on Tuesday during its annual Founder’s Day Convocation.
WVSU Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. R. Charles Byers was the featured speaker at the ceremony at the Fannin S. Belcher Theater in the Davis Fine Arts Building on the Institute campus.
Byers, a 1968 graduate of the university, has served at West Virginia State University (WVSU) for more than four decades in different faculty and staff capacities. He was emotional when telling the story of the institution.
“I remembered the good things that happened that shaped my life, that made me who I am. The faculty, the students, the peers here. It just meant so much to me that I just became overcome with emotion,” Byers told the media.
“I have been fortunate to come back and serve as interim provost and to work and help further this institution.”
During the ceremony in the theater, Dr. Yvette Underdue Murph, the Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs was the master of ceremonies. The crowd heard from WVSU President Dr. Anthony Jenkins, Miss State Ky’Achia Atkins and musical selections from the WVSU Concert Choir before the “fireside chat” with Byers.
Byers discussed the history of the West Virginia Historic Black College and University (HBCU) which began on March 17, 1891, when it was founded as the West Virginia Colored Institute. Authorized by the U.S. Congress as a land-grant institution under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, the West Virginia Legislature established WVSU on that date to provide education to African-American citizens.
From 1891 to 1915, the original Institute offered the equivalent of a high school education, vocational training, and teacher preparation.
In 1915, the West Virginia Collegiate Institute began to offer college degrees, the school said. Under President John W. Davis, academic programs began to expand and it became West Virginia State College in 1929. According to the school, the institution became an integrated institution in 1954 following a United States Supreme Court to outlaw school segregation.
WVSU began offering graduate programs in 2003. In 2004, the institution became a university following the passage of Senate Bill 448.
READ: More on West Virginia State University’s history
Following the ceremony inside, the group walked over to a wreath-laying cemetery along Barron Drive where Mary Barnes and the Cabell family is buried. Barnes was a former slave, who along with her children, sold the land in Institute to the state of West Virginia where the University is now located, according to a release.
The wreath was laid by Byers and Jenkins, followed by a short speech.
Byers had previously served at WVSU for nearly 41 years in professorial and administrative capacities, including professor of teacher education, vice president for planning and advancement, Title III director and executive director for the WVSU Research and Development Corporation, according to Diverse Education. The school said he retired as a university provost and vice president for academic affairs in 2014.
He said he just feels blessed to be a part of WVSU during the majority of his life.
“I was thinking about how fortunate I am and how I want this to be an experience for as many students as possible to come here. Everyone is entitled to quality education and that is what we offer here at State,” Byers said.
Notable alum from WVSU includes Damon J. Keith, Earl Lloyd, Katherine Johnson, Leon Sullivan, and Lou Myers.