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West Virginia State University marks 125 years

Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Tom Hindman West Virginia State University will celebrate its 125th anniversary on Thursday during a Founder’s Day ceremony on campus. The university, which first opened its doors to students on March 17, 1891, was established as a school for blacks.
Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Tom Hindman
West Virginia State University will celebrate its 125th anniversary on Thursday during a Founder’s Day ceremony on campus. The university, which first opened its doors to students on March 17, 1891, was established as a school for blacks.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia State University, which first opened its doors in 1891 as a school for blacks living in the Kanawha Valley, will celebrate its 125th academic year this week.

Much has changed in the century since the historically black college was established by acts of Congress and the West Virginia Legislature. What started as a small school on 30 acres of farmland where black students could get the equivalent of a high school education has become a full-fledged university, with an enrollment of about 3,000.

“It has grown tremendously,” said Charles Byers, a former provost and longtime university employee who retired in 2014.

Byers, who grew up in Dunbar and worked at the university for 43 years, said he has seen the school go through many phases during his lifetime. Since he started working for the university in 1964, many buildings have been erected on campus, academic programs have been created and the once-small college graduated to university status, a designation that allows the school to offer graduate courses.

Growth at West Virginia State continues…

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