WVSU Alumna to be Inducted into National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame

9/23/2022

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Contact: Jack Bailey
(304) 766-4109
Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
 
   
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – A West Virginia State University (WVSU) alumna will be inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame this week in Atlanta for her contributions made to WVSU and in her profession of education.

Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis will join nine other alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on Friday, September 23, as they are inducted in the Hall of Fame. Artis currently is president and CEO at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, a role she has been in since 2017. Artis is Benedict College’s 14^th and first female president. She had previously been the 13^th and first woman president of Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens, Florida.

“Since graduating West Virginia State College (WVSU), I have been a fierce advocate for HBCUs,” Artis said. “My life’s work has been committed to lifting the voices of underrepresented minority students and the colleges and universities that endeavor to serve them. My beloved alma mater, WVSU, Florida Memorial University and Benedict College all play vital roles in our higher education ecosystem. It has been my honor to be affiliated with each of them. I am sincerely humbled to be selected as an inductee by my alma mater for the National Black Alumni Hall of Fame and be in the company of a long list of illustrious leaders who are graduates of HBCUs.”

Artis earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from WVSU. She holds a Juris Doctorate from West Virginia University’s College of Law and a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the American Council on Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges. She is the Chair of the Presidents’ Advisory Board for Title III Administrators; a member of the President’s Council for NCAA Division II; and is a member of the Educational Testing Service Presidents’ Advisory Council. Artis sits on many other boards and has been named an “Equity in Energy Ambassador” for the United States Department of Energy.

“At West Virginia State University, we have a saying – It starts at State – and Dr. Artis started her own educational journey, right here at State,” WVSU President Ericke Cage said. “We are immensely proud of the success that she has achieved. Her work and her dedication to transforming lives represents the best of us at West Virginia State University.”

Under Artis’ leadership, Benedict College was awarded the 2019 American Council on Education (ACE) Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation. The award recognizes institutions that have responded to higher education challenges in innovative and creative ways and achieved dramatic results in a short period of time.

In 2018, Artis was named Female HBCU President of the Year by HBCU Digest. In 2019, she was named to Diverse Issues in Higher Education’s Top 35 Leading Women in Higher Education. Then, in 2020, Artis was named President of the Year by Higher Ed Dive for her leadership in navigating the unprecedented challenges of that year.

In 2021, Artis was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). NACIQI advises the U.S. Secretary of Education on matters concerning accreditation, the Secretary’s recognition process for accrediting agencies, and institutional eligibility for federal student aid, through the Committee’s public meetings.

Artis is the founding Co-Chair for the HBCU Annual Sustainability Summit, which is in its fourth year.
In addition to all of her accomplishments, Artis is a speaker, mentor, lecturer, advocate for educational access, and catalyst for strategic transformation.

The National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc. will host its annual induction ceremony on Friday, September 23, at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta.

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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.