West Virginia State University
Date: Sunday, July 31, 2005
By: West Virginia State Univ.
The Second Morrill Act of 1890 was intended to make available to black citizens, training in agriculture and mechanical arts. Like other states that maintained segregated educational systems, West Virginia responded on March 17, 1891 by enacting legislation to create a special land-grant institution for blacks. To this end, federal funds provided $3,000 for faculty salaries, and the West Virginia Legislature appropriated $10,000 to purchase a farm and build a school building upon it. The institution was founded as the West Virginia Colored Institute. In 1915, the name was changed to the West Virginia Collegiate Institute, and changed again to West Virginia State College in 1929. In 2004, legislation changed the name to West Virginia State University.
From its beginnings until 1915, the institution offered the equivalent of a high school education, with a curriculum devoted primarily to agriculture, trades, and teacher education. In 1915, the school was given the authority to award college degrees that included instruction in mathematics, chemistry, French, and English. The first college degrees were awarded in 1919.
In 1919, the College turned increasingly to the development of a strong academic curriculum, with emphasis upon academic excellence. First of America’s Negro land-grant colleges to earn accreditation, it has the distinction of having the longest continuous accreditation in the North Central Association of the public four-year institutions in West Virginia. Nationally known black scholars were recruited to teach at the school. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of Black History Month, served as dean of faculty in the early 1920s.
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education United States Supreme Court decision had an immediate and dramatic impact on West Virginia State. Within two years, the institution was transformed from a small black college to a racially integrated one. Since that time, program offerings have expanded and new ones developed as the University keeps pace with the demands of students and the needs of the larger community.
With reinstatement of its1890 land-grant status, which was transferred in 1955, and accompanying Federal funding, WVSC strengthened its mission of teaching, research and service to the community. The first masters degree programs began in the Fall 2003 semester. With the passage of Senate Bill 448 during the 2004 legislative session, the name was changed to West Virginia State University.
From a modest beginning with forty students, West Virginia State University has emerged into a multipurpose institution serving a diverse student body. From a small tract of land and a building, the University has developed into a multimillion dollar educational complex.
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Monday, August 15th 2005 at 6:46PM
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