At Wilberforce, we remained focused and intentional in our goal of becoming a high-performing university which occupies a competitive position among our peers while providing a high quality academic and student engagement experience for every student enrolled. We, like every institution of higher learning, faced the pandemic with creativity and resolve supported by the generosity of federal and philanthropic support. While much of my presidential tenure occurred during a period of great turmoil and uncertainty amidst a global pandemic, our institutional commitment to our students never wavered and our students never allowed a pandemic to derail them in the pursuit of their college education. It is the power of that resilience and history and the intentionality of crafting a sustainable future that are the contemporary super-powers that give me confidence in an exceedingly hopeful future for Wilberforce University. In fact, for the entirety of its history, Wilberforce has been confronted by challenges the fire of 1865, the Big Split in 1947, leadership transitions, accreditation concerns and yet, Wilberforce University continues to exist and thrive with a tenacity and determination that defies circumstances. Daily I was reminded of the history of Wilberforce and the legacy of resilience and triumph against formidable challenge. Every day I began in thanksgiving for the honor and privilege of being the president of an institution that has existed in this nation for 167 years. I did not do this work alone and so I must first acknowledge with heartfelt appreciation the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, administrators and most importantly, students, who dearly love Wilberforce. My retirement as the 22nd President of this incredible institution has occasioned an opportunity for deep introspection and reflection on the work and the legacy. In 2023, DuBois’s vision for Wilberforce University is no less compelling and has been the imperative that has centered my presidency. I pictured growing up here a great university…in the full sense of those famous institutions of learning for which I have been connected…” He said, “…From the first, I had for Wilberforce the very highest ideals, I wanted for it nothing cheap, second hand or inferior. In it, he described a vision for Wilberforce that compelled him, in 1894, to accept the job. He returned to Wilberforce University in 1940 to give the Commencement Address. The great American intellectual and scholar, WEB DuBois, began his academic career at Wilberforce University in 1894 just as he was completing his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University.
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