What a wonderful full-circle moment. Founded in 1873 as Wiley University, we returned to our roots today. Consider the significance of an institution for Black people, who eight years before its founding, were still in bondage as enslaved, and in the state of Texas, had to wait to learn of their freedom years after the Emancipation Proclamation. This institution began as a disruption to the treatment of Blacks in the U.S. We return to our roots today as Wiley University because it signals to the world what we were, what we are becoming, and what we will be. We return to our roots in the liberal arts tradition, where students are invited to learn from multiple disciplines while refining their talent in their respective majors; we return to our roots because we are historically an institution of firsts. The first contributors to SWAC, the first to receive a triple-A academic rating for our exceptional programs, and on and on.
We return to our roots because we are the home of Dr. Opal Lee, Heman Sweatt, James Farmer, and countless other scholars, activists, debaters, leaders, vocalists, athletes. We return to our roots because it offers us inspiration for the Bold and Audacious Vision. So today, we return to our roots and reclaim the name Wiley University with emphasis on three pillars of focus - enrollment, fundraising, and academic innovation.
What is next for Wiley University?
As we acknowledge that on Dec. 3, SACSCOC will publically announce our successful reaffirmation with no findings for the next ten years, we begin with a renewed focus on enrollment. We are charting a pathway forward that embraces a student-ready staff, faculty, and focused actions. These actions include:
As we grow through these actions, I am pleased to introduce two new team members who will assist in guiding some of the new endeavors that will increase enrollment.
The Wiley University of the future is committed to our students' intellectual, social, and cultural refinement through affordability and accessibility. Last year, we committed to providing 1873 scholarships to students to attend Wiley in honor of our Sesquicentennial. We have provided every student at Wiley over the past two years with a scholarship. This action is a testimony to our belief that Wiley should be available to any student despite their economic situation. To this end, we are launching a $10 million ask through the 1929 campaign. This institution has been a place of impact, a beacon of light. To continue to achieve the Bold and Audacious Vision, requires us to move beyond giving of time and talent - to giving of time, talent, and tithes that equal significant dollar amounts. We are securing our future with dollars. As a mighty HBCU, we require your gifts for protection and prosperity. It is vital that we have your support. To be an institution of unmitigated excellence, we must have the fiscal flexibility to provide our students with an exceptional physical learning environment and innovative curricular offerings.
We begin with this $10 million ask but note that disruption requires transformational gifts that sustain institutions. Imagine what we can do together with a transformational gift of $10, $25, $50 million. This is possible… this is the fuel for the Bold and Audacious Vision.
As Wiley University, we now offer three graduate programs for the first time in our history, through the newly created graduate programs and leadership studies.
The first classes of these new programs will begin on January 8, 2024! Nov. 8, 2023, is the virtual open house via YouTube and Facebook.
The creation of our graduate program also includes a focus on leadership. We are announcing that the Higher Education Leadership Foundation will be housed at Wiley University. The core of H.E.L.F. is Lead. Inspire. Lift.
These principles help ensure that the organization is able to impact the HBCU higher education landscape.
We generate these impacts through our leadership model that includes:
The Wiley University M.S. in Higher Education Program is unique because it integrates the H.E.L.F. focused experiences of:
In closing, the celebration of Wiley University is warranted. For almost a year, we have been preparing for this moment. Becoming Wiley University is not simply an exercise in a name change, it is an exercise in our ability to embrace our past and see the future.
In 1873, Wiley University was first established, the name university was an organizing tool for the various programs and learning communities that were experienced in this humble community. The past 150 years have been a testimony to our faith and the possible. We stand proudly today, and return to our roots, symbolically as Wiley University, and literally, as we embrace the next chapter of excellence. The past provides us with the roadmap, but it is up to us to see a future that continues to serve as a beacon of light.
Together we Go Forth Inspired.
President & CEO Herman J. Felton, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.
State of the College (University) Address
November 3, 2023
