State to Remember Its History during Founder’s Day Ceremony

Founder’s Day is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, and State plans a convocation ceremony hosted by Dr. R. Charles Bryers, the university’s interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. 

The ceremony is set for 12:30 p.m. in the Frannin S. Belcher Theater in the Davis Fine Arts building.

Bryers will discuss State’s history and impact before leading attendees on a walk across campus to perform a ceremonial wreath laying at the cemetery along Barron Drive, where Mary Barnes is buried. Barnes was a former slave who, along with her children, sold the land in Institute to the state of West Virginia. State’s campus now occupies that site. 

After the sale, Congress authorized a land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1890. The West Virginia Legislature established State on March 17, 1891, to provide education to African-American citizens.

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About Shannon Wells

Shannon O. Wells is the new advisor for the Yellow Jacket. Shannon comes to WVSU after a long and diverse career in journalism, communications, and public relations in West Virginia, Virginia, and Oregon.
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