Oct. 3, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University (WVSU) will host a dedication ceremony Friday, Oct. 7, at 11:30 a.m. to formally name a campus building and the complex that surrounds it in honor of former WVSU President Dr. Hazo W. Carter, Jr. and his wife, Judge Phyllis Carter.
The ceremony will take place in front of the university’s Integrated Research and Extension Building which will be renamed the Dr. Hazo W. Carter, Jr. Integrated Research and Extension Building. The complex surrounding the building will be renamed the Dr. Hazo W. Carter, Jr. and Judge Phyllis H. Carter Food and Agriculture Complex.
The dedication ceremony will take place as part of Homecoming activities at the university and will feature comments from WVSU President Ericke S. Cage, WVSU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Emeritus Dr. R. Charles Byers, and from the Carters’ daughter, Angela Carter Pritchard, among others.
“Dr. Carter and Judge Carter played such an important role in the life of West Virginia State University that it is certainly fitting that they both be recognized with the naming of these campus facilities,” said President Cage. “They worked tirelessly to restore our birthright as an 1890 land-grant institution and truly left a legacy that extends far beyond the campus of West Virginia State University.”
The Carters served as President and First Lady of WVSU from 1987 to 2012. Shortly after becoming the institution’s ninth president, Carter began a 12-year quest to regain land-grant status at West Virginia State. Due to his leadership, the University was once again recognized on both the state and federal levels as an 1890 land-grant institution with accompanying funding to carry out its mission. Also during his tenure, in 2004, West Virginia State gained University status and began to offer graduate degrees in biotechnology and media studies.
During her service at WVSU, Judge Carter was instrumental in the establishment of the Booker T. Washington Institute and expanding the University’s research and land-grant footprint in the Kanawha Valley. She represented the University nationally by serving as the minority liaison for 1890 Historically Black Land-Grant Institutions, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges to the Council for Agriculture, Research, Extension, and Teaching of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
Dr. Carter and Judge Carter both passed away in 2014.
The dedication ceremony for the Carter building and complex is taking place during WVSU’s 2022 Homecoming activities. For more information about Homecoming, including a complete schedule of activities
click here.
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West Virginia State University is a public, land-grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.