INSTITUTE, W.Va. – This year, West Virginia State University (WVSU) is celebrating 135 years of the 1890 Land-grant University System, as well as 25 years since the regaining of its 1890 Land-grant University status in 2000. 

The anniversaries will be commemorated with a reception in the Davis Fine Arts Building on Thursday, September 25, at 2 p.m. as part of the university’s annual Homecoming festivities. The event is free and open to the public. 

WVSU is one of 19 universities established through the Second Morrill Act in 1890, which is celebrating 135 years this year. These schools were created to provide “instruction in agriculture, the mechanical arts, English language and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural and economic science: to the black citizens of the state where these students had no access to other higher education institutions.”

WVSU faithfully and successfully met its duties to the citizens of West Virginia as a Land-grant University in an outstanding manner. However, in the 1950s, the West Virginia State Board of Education voted to surrender the land-grant status of WVSU. It wasn’t until more than 30 years later and the arrival of WVSU’s ninth president, Dr. Hazo W. Carter, Jr., that the institution began the process of restoring its 1890 Land-grant University status, which came to fruition in 1999. In 2000, Carter created the Office of Land-grant Programs at WVSU, which re-established agricultural research and Extension programs at the university.

The reception will feature an historic timeline exhibit in the Della Brown Taylor Art Gallery in the Davis Fine Arts Building and the showing of a commemorative 10-minute video highlighting milestones in the University’s journey to regaining the status. 

For more information on WVSU Homecoming activities, including registration, visit https://connect.wvstateu.edu/Homecoming25.

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