AJC Sepia HBCU of the Week: How West Virginia State found Yvette Townsend Ingram

My grandparents, my parents and my uncle always admonished me that I would go to college. There were several in my family who sacrificed to ensure I would have that opportunity. My grandparents especially were emphatic, “You will go to college.” Where I would go would be my choice though, or so I thought. However, I truly believe that WVSU chose me. I applied to Fisk University, Marshall University, Concord State College and Bluefield State College. There were a few others that I applied to simply because they seemed collegial or because my friends had applied. Some others I applied to because they seemed fun or the campus was beautiful when I visited courtesy of the INROADS Program. I selected Marshall University. It was only 150 miles away from the small, mountainous little coal-mining community where I grew up in McDowell County. Wherever I chose my family, particularly my grandparents, would be proud because I was going to college, the first in my family. As a coal miner’s daughter and granddaughter, it was indeed a privilege to be the first in my immediate family to be attending a university. I sent in my dorm fees to Marshall University during the spring of 1989 and I was on my way. Enter the late Lieutenant Colonel Acie McGhee. He was a 1954 graduate of West Virginia State; a life member and past president of the West Virginia State National Alumni Association; a member of the Kimball High School Alumni Association; a life member of Alphi Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; and my grandfather’s dearest friend. My grandfather passed away long before I began my college journey. However, Mr. Acie took up the mantle of my grandfather and admonished too that “I would go to college.” He too was passionate about education, earning a bachelor’s degree at West Virginia State in 1954 when the school was still predominately black. Mr. Acie also attended the prestigious, historical Tuskegee Institute before settling and graduating from WVSC. Mr. Acie, the Kimball Alumni Association and WVSC National Alumni Association president encouraged me to apply for some scholarships to assist with the financial burden of college. Mining coal was no longer a prosperous career in McDowell County and knowing my family’s economic situation, he would not allow my grandfather’s dream of me entering college be hindered. I entered West Virginia State in the fall of 1989 with a full academic scholarship from the school and a partial academic scholarship from the Kimball Alumni Association. Mr. Acie, my mentor and my grandfather’s dear friend kept his promise and helped West Virginia State select me to be a college graduate. When I entered WVSC in 1989 – the school founded in 1891 for former slaves – was only 20 percent black. The result of a diversity movement that started in 1960. Thus, despite being an HBCU, West Virginia State University was by then fully diversified and predominantly white. But the residential population was still predominantly African American. I can say unabashedly that I benefited from the full HBCU experience by living on campus in the dormitories, while attending a predominantly white, historically black college. My West Virginia State University experience prepared me academically, propelled me politically and socially for the business stage that was beckoning me. Today, West Virginia State University is only about 10 percent African American. White commuters from Charleston and surrounding counties of West Virginia make up the majority of the student population of the school. But as an HBCU that is now predominantly white, West Virginia State University is uniquely positioned to strategically prosper because it remains financially viable and politically relevant, unlike many other black colleges. WVSU is a land-grant institution, as are many other HBCUs, but has remained financially stable in large part because of its ability to capitalize on diverse enrollment. At a cost of just over $13,000 annually, it remains one of the best investments a student can make in his or her future. The course charted by Dr. Brian O. Hemphill, the current president of WVSU, is called Vision 20/20, an ambitious, progressive and creates a unique opportunity for prosperity for the university. The future for West Virginia State University is continued greatness. As an alumna I want to be a part of that future because West Virginia State University was the greatest part of my past. You want to create memories at this great institution. It’s in your best interest. Try it!