But he was surprised by what he found when he got to campus. In other words, as Shereen puts it: Once an HBCU, always an HBCU. Create New Account. They established the Bluefield Regional Sports Authority. The all-white homecoming court did the "Wobble" next to a clique of black women's basketball players, who somehow managed to be even taller in heels. Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR All the stuff that makes college so memorable — the late-night bull sessions and parties and the big games and the deep friendships with people who aren't like you — are all harder to come by when most of students' lives take place off campus. Dr. Deirdre Guyton, Director of Academic Affairs at BC, said 20 students will receive aid with this […] Deirdre Guyton, who runs the college's alumni affairs department, said that Hardway was the first president to live off campus rather than at Hatter Hall, the house in the center of campus named for the school's black founder. WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) — Bluefield State College officials toured the former OVMC complex in Wheeling today. James was indicted for the bombing, but the charges against him were eventually dropped. If there was a tug of war over what the college was going to be, many of the black alumni and students felt they were losing. This part of West Virginia was coal country and still is — trains still haul coal along those tracks hugging the college's southern edge. "We had the whole deal. In 1954, just a few years after Bluefield State earned full accreditation, the Supreme Court declared segregation illegal in Brown v. Board of Education, reshaping the landscape of America's schooling. The College provides notice of this policy to applicants for admission and employment, students, and employees to the extent required by law. Even though the alumni saw themselves as protectors of the college's legacy, one got the sense that they didn't think the school's current student body cared too much about it. You couldn't move on this campus from Wednesday through Saturday ... with people coming back to be here for all the festivities. Ironically, the administration responded by immediately closing the dormitories, which housed a significant percentage of the college's out-of-state black student population, hastening the transition to a predominantly white college. When it was time to sing the alma mater at the end of the Founder's Day event, none of the young people knew any of the words, a fact that did not escape the notice of the alumni in attendance. INCLEMENT WEATHER LATE SCHEDULE They say they were approached by employers in the area who wanted to see specific fields of education offered here. The fraternities and sororities and things, they had things going on.". Bluefield State remains an HBCU because of a quirk of federal law: To qualify as an HBCU and receive federal funding, an institution must have served a predominantly black student population before 1964. But HBCUs still play an outsized role in black education — they make up only 3 percent of all the nation's colleges, but produce half of all black teachers and they award a disproportionate amount of bachelor's degrees in fields like biology, math and computer science, according to Marybeth Gasman, a University of Pennsylvania education professor who researches HBCUs. Please review our Privacy Notice for more information. In 1966, the state picked Wendell G. Hardway to lead the college — the school's first white president. 5 out of 5 stars. The police were called. Hardway translated the reference for an AP reporter: "The rumor on campus is that it means they intend to burn down the campus by the 'end of the week.' Deirdre Guyton, the school's director of alumni affairs, is proud of Bluefield State College's history and wants to preserve it. Williams, the first of his family to go to college, eventually had seven children, all of whom went on to graduate college as well. They met with Wheeling city officials and made plans for opening a branch campus in the former A and E building. Conley Hall, home of the library and administrative offices of Bluefield State College, photographed in April 2004. No football team. This website uses cookies to collect information to improve your browsing experience. And that absence of a vibrant campus life was something that the Bluefieldians, both young and old, seemed to agree on. Bluefield's Past Meets Bluefield's Present. DURING FINAL EXAMS. An hour’s drive from the main campus, Bluefield State’s Beckley campus provides a growing number of educational opportunities for the Raleigh County region. That tug of war looked a lot like battles being waged across the country, like the growing divide between black folks who believed in nonviolence as an avenue to black progress and those who felt that method was taking too long and yielding too little. Through this agreement, the City and College will work together to use their athletic facilities. We’ll be offering three different programs here … There are several institutions today that serve a predominantly black student body, but aren't designated or funded as "HBCUs" because they didn't exist or weren't predominantly black before 1964. Here, she holds up a photo of the school's football team from 1927 to 1928, when it was the best black college team. As we thought about the Founder's Day luncheon, in which the current students couldn't sing the alma mater, we wondered: what do these students owe to their forebears? And it doesn't look exactly the same. The guest speaker, E. Ray Williams, a black World War II vet, credited the life he'd been able to live to the college. Students are able to pursue full degrees on-site in Nursing, Radiology and Criminal Justice, as well as take a number of classes in other fields. At the homecoming dance the night before the Founder's Day luncheon, black students and white students were all together doing the "Cha Cha Slide" and the "Cupid Shuffle." By the mid-1960s, Bluefield State was only about half-black. Students were suspended. Bill. 11,161 were here. Bluefield State was quickly becoming unrecognizable. Tony came to Bluefield State to play baseball, hoping to win the starting spot on third base. BLUEFIELD, WV (WVNS) — The City of Bluefield and Bluefield State College are working together to keep home sporting events in Bluefield. Not Now. My life as always been based around athletics. Nevertheless, members of the shrinking Bluefield State Alumni Association still make the sojourn back to southern West Virginia every year, football be damned. My dad was a coach and an official. In response to the bombing, Hardway shut down the dorms. Here, she holds up a photo of the school's football team from 1927 to 1928, when it was the best black college team. The grant was given by the McGee Foundation. It’s the Big Blues’ first win over the Rams in 14 years. And he credited Bluefield State for the big life that he'd lived. The hundred or so folks getting it in on the dance floor looked to be traditionally college-aged kids. Bluefield State College 219 Rock St. Bluefield, WV 24701. 5,712 people like this. "We had an out-migration of students of color because of Brown v. Board of Ed," said Jim Nelson, a spokesman for the school, "at roughly the same time that we had an in-migration of largely Caucasian students wanting to use their G.I. The bombing and the closing of the dorms led to a dramatic shift in Bluefield State's makeup. Newspaper accounts said that the explosion left a gaping hole in the side of the building. Forgot account? Now that may not be a popular thing, but if somebody thinks differently, then man up. Changes shall go into effect whenever the proper authorities so determine and shall apply to both present and prospective students. Bluefield State College reserves the right to change, delete, supplement or otherwise amend at any time the information, course offerings, degree requirements, rules, and policies contained herein without prior notice. "There is a systematic weeding out of the black student. If you've ever seen an Alpha Kappa Alpha sister, you'd know Go-Go was a member from across the room: She was resplendent in a pink skirt suit, heels and pearls. Administrators started receiving death threats. BLUEFIELD — Bluefield State College is purchasing the former Bluefield Regional Medical Center and will use the facility to provide a dorm and instruction space for its Health Science programs. Bluefield State College is seen here during one of the recent snowfalls earlier this season. Antonio Bolden, a 19-year-old student and baseball player, is a rarity at Bluefield State: He started college right after high school and isn't from the region. Cooper went 2-for-4 with a double for the Big Blues. If there was much anxiety about race and history among Bluefield State's current students, though, it was pretty hard to tell. There were about seven or so current students in attendance, mostly from the homecoming court. And with black folks migrating away from the region, the Bluefield State campus began to look increasingly like the rest of West Virginia, one of the whitest states in the country. It's money that the school would be hard-pressed to replace. By 1968, according to the book Bluefield State College Centennial History, Hardway had hired 23 new faculty members — all of whom were white. Jerry Perdue, a gregarious white guy and the college's student government president, gushed over last year's Miss Bluefield State, Danielle Haynes, a black science and pharmaceutical major who had since graduated. Hardway said the bombing was the work of Northern agitators who lived in those dorms. It opened in the late 19th century as the Bluefield Colored Institute, created to educate the children of black coal miners in segregated West Virginia. During a speech Nov. 15, Bluefield State College’s new president juxtaposed two graphs. We just love our school for what it is. Things got rowdier. They reckoned that it didn't look or feel much like a college at all, just a place where people stopped to take classes on their way to other things. And with the government footing their tuition costs through the G.I. So that's what, as much as anything, that's what flipped the complexion of the school.". Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR She's in her 80s and her current husband is in his 70s; Go-Go likes to joke that she's a cougar. The homecoming dance was sparsely attended this year. In fact, there's never been a white member, Guyton told us. hide caption. The road that separates those realities is as rocky as any story of racial transition in post-World War II America. The black students who'd come to the college from … "My first thought was: There are a lot of white people," he said. 11,159 were here. Suddenly black students had more educational options to choose from, in theory anyway. Gloria P. Brown, Class of 1951, wore her sorority colors to a homecoming event. No meal plan. The bombing and the closing of the dorms led to a dramatic shift in Bluefield State's makeup. Howard University's president recently stepped down amid administrative rancor and serious fiscal troubles. Things got rowdy. They had no delusions that Bluefield State was ever going to be a majority-black college again, although they wanted the school to do a better job recruiting black faculty members. Closed Now. Most of the current students we spoke to knew about the school's status as a historically black college, but treated it like a bit of trivia. This year's honored speaker was E. Ray Williams, a black nonagenarian World War II vet who went to Bluefield State on the G.I. Listen to the story of Bluefield State as it aired on Morning Edition, by clicking on the embedded player at the top of the page. My brother’s and I grew up playing sport’s. Dr. Rodney Montague with Bluefield State said the history of racism is much different from the types of racism we see today. Speak it to my face. C.J. Gloria P. Brown, Class of 1951, wore her sorority colors to a homecoming event. That didn't go over well. And while the students might look different than they used to, said Bluefield State president Marsha Krotseng, educating underserved students is still the college's primary mission. While they were diversely integrated in the '70s, these institutions have re-segregated into predominantly black places. He was speaking to an audience made up mostly of fellow alumni. This record is part of the reason HBCUs receive federal and state funding to carry out their mission of educating underserved students. Antonio Bolden, a 19-year-old student and baseball player, is a rarity at Bluefield State: He started college right after high school and isn't from the region. BLUEFIELD, WV (WVNS) — Bluefield State College was awarded a $100,000 grant for scholarships. They partied and rooted for the football team as it squared off against West Virginia State, their traditional rival. Administration. Bluefield Campus Map. or. Her mother had been Miss Bluefield State back in the day, too. In 1968, the year that Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were killed, tensions on the campus were boiling over. There's a brick on campus at the University of Southern California with her name on it, a symbol of her monetary contributions to the school where she received her graduate degree. Both the older alumni and the current students, whether they were prompted or not, wondered why the college couldn't bring back the dorms. Edgar James, a black student and Army vet, tried to hand Hardway a list of 35 demands, one of which called for his resignation. If your class does not meet at one of the above times, your Instructor should provide you with the scheduled meeting time. A discussion was held Wednesday through ZOOM to talk about the history of systemic racism in America. His fellow alumni in the audience were retired principals and social workers and educators, with college-educated children and grandchildren of their own. Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR But Bluefield State scuttled its football program in the 1970s, which meant homecoming without the big game. It was gorgeous. When we arrived, the trees in the mountains that ring the city were just starting to change color. hide caption. Conley Hall, home of the library and administrative offices of Bluefield State College, photographed in April 2004. A group of the more radical black students, including James, held a meeting in November in the student union building. ", James, speaking to the same reporter on behalf of the radical students, laid out what they saw as the stakes: "They are carrying out mental genocide here, trying for the educational extermination of the black student," he said. The school wouldn't have another black president until 2002. hide caption. Bluefield State College is carved into the side of a hill overlooking the train tracks and the town below. It looked like the intervening decades since their college days at Bluefield State had treated the alumni well. Stricter lending rules for PLUS loans have hampered students' abilities to pay for college, and has led to lower enrollment at some black colleges. Evening classes (4:00pm or later) will meet at their regular time. "The National Guard killed people at Kent State; they didn't close a single dorm," said Lois Manns, an alumna from the Class of 1969. The very first student we met, Antonio Bolden, or Tony as he introduced himself, looked like any other student you might see at a historically black college or university (HBCU). But she said she doesn't allocate the energy to the deep-pocketed U.S.C. Bill benefits. Academics at Bluefield. 11,160 check-ins. 304-327-4000 1-800-344-8892 (In WV) 1-800-654-7798 (Out WV) 304-325-7747 (Fax) Resources. So I think the reaction that the Legislature and other people took shows their own racist agenda. Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR "We had football, baseball, track, tennis, the whole thing," said alumnus Russell Manns. Its HBCU designation means that Bluefield State receives millions in federal dollars each year, about a 10th of its total $20 million budget. They wore matchbooks with the letters "EOW" written on them. Less than 60 years after the Supreme Court sent black students to formerly all-white institutions and vice versa, it's still striking to find these vestiges of that moment, like this mostly white, historically black college with its all-black alumni association. The Christiansburg, Virginia native played for Garrett and the Mountain Lions from 2008-10 where he pitched his way to getting draft by the Oakland Athletics in the 35th round of the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft. The homecoming dance was sparsely attended this year. “We want to see […] ("You could forget about finding an apartment if you were a black student at Bluefield State," according to Tara Tuckwiller of the Charleston Gazette. Tanner Brandon had a … And these kids were, essentially, the student life of the campus. Log In. Back in the day, Bluefield State's alumni came from all over to descend on campus for homecoming. This is one of two signs about the school's history that sit at the very top of campus. Go-Go asks, "Why would I send my daughter all the way across the country to a place where she wouldn't have anywhere to live?". According to alumni we spoke to, however, many black students felt that it was the pretext Hardway needed to turn the school all white. For the first time in school history, Bluefield State College … The players on the women's basketball team, who were planting seeds for a homecoming event, joked casually about there not being step shows or marching bands or black fraternities and sororities. Bill, the state's inexpensive black schools — the other was West Virginia State University — started looking more and more attractive to white students. Cline said, though, he hopes the Baseball Club will continue to make Bowen Field available for use by Bluefield College, Bluefield State College and area high schools. We went to the campus of Bluefield State to see what campus life was like at this unusual college. Even though he was in his 90s, Williams sat on all sorts of community boards and was still active in his fraternity. I’ve worked in the athletic department since 1998 as Secretary and 2010 as Cross Country Coach. My name is Vonda Wilson, I’m the Administrative Secretary and Head Cross Country Coach at Bluefield State College. 5. But the college, founded and run by black folks to serve black students, was about to undertake a big, ugly fight over its future identity. BSC Bluefield campus closed on 1/21/20 :: BSC's Bluefield campus will be closed on Thu., Jan. 21, for repair of a a water line break on campus. And when the slowly shrinking Bluefield State alumni association is no longer, who will be there to tell all the kids like Tony Bolden where all the black people went? Jon C. Hancock/AP Students met with Hardway in a dorm, but that, too, went sour. And black colleges and universities like Bluefield State began having to compete with better-funded predominantly white schools for top black students. [The alumni] said they found comfort here and found family here, and I did too. BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA)- The Big Blue continued their trend of historic firsts on Wednesday morning. They were hard to miss. College & University in Bluefield, West Virginia. He's a teenager; the average age of his classmates is 27. How to Apply Request Information Visit Campus. The black students who'd come to the college from far away suddenly had no place to live. People nodded in assent. hide caption. For additional information, contact the Registrar's Office at (304) 327-4060. Go-Go graduated from Bluefield State in 1951 and moved to California to raise her family. This is one of two signs about the school's history that sit at the very top of campus. "But my generation — we're not so much hardened by the fact that we don't look like an HBCU. One of the few homecoming events every year is a luncheon to honor the college's founders. "White landlords in the area wouldn't exactly welcome you with open arms."). MERCER COUNTY (WVVA) -- Bluefield State College will acquire ownership of the Bluefield Regional Medical Center property, officials announced Monday. But at Bluefield State, Tony is an outlier for several reasons. Bluefield College [also referred to as “the College”] maintains the following policy on sex discrimination and sexual harassment in compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Title IX regulations in 34 CFR Part 106. For generations of black students, institutions like Bluefield State were the only option for a higher education. By 1987, according to Bluefield State College Centennial History, the dedicated faculty was 6 percent black. Although she's missed a few homecomings here and there, she makes it back almost every year. The college is tucked into the side of a hill, and folks at the school joke about having to climb up and down the campus. The campus has no power at this time, which is the reason behind the closure. And basically it was just a form of protest when militancy and protest was the order of the times. The guest speaker, E. Ray Williams, a black World War II vet, credited the life he'd been able to live to the college. From the stairs of Conley Hall, the building at the top of the hill, you can survey the entire campus, train tracks cutting across the valley below. What does this institution, whose funding stems in part from a historical detail, owe to that history? 5,969 people follow this. I come from a big athletic family. At the same time, new technology was making mining jobs obsolete, and many black folks started leaving the state, heading North to go work in the factories. Welcome to the official Facebook page of Bluefield State College. You will interact closely with faculty members and a diverse student body, as a collaborator in learning and service. BSC will use the property to 'expand its … The ideal candidate will be a results-driven strategic thinker with exceptional financial management skills, a strong customer service focus, and a commitment to the community. About See All. The institutions there are struggling, the judge ruled, because their student bodies are too black. Bluefield State College is one of only three colleges in the state to receive the grant. During halftime at homecoming in 1967, black students staged a demonstration on the football field to protest what they saw as Hardway's discrimination against black faculty and students. Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR Today, they're forced to compete with Maryland's traditionally white institutions (that is, colleges and universities that were white-only before Brown v. Board) that have deeper pockets and can offer far more courses, advantages that stretch back to the days of segregation. 219 Rock St (238.20 mi) Bluefield, WV, WV 24701. ", Bluefield State College is carved into the side of a hill overlooking the train tracks and the town below. Bluefield College gave up the go-ahead run in the fifth frame on a balk. But there is one group at Bluefield State College that to this day remains resolutely black. BLUEFIELD, WV (WOAY) – Wednesday was an historic day for Bluefield State College, as the football program celebrated its first Signing Day since the announcement that the team would return. Bluefield State College. But Bluefield State's history demonstrates just how unique so many of these dilemmas are, given that these institutions have histories inextricably wrapped up in the politics and demographics of their cities and states. In the early aughts, the college announced that it was opening new buildings. A recent study found that several states were not matching federal funding for their HBCUs at the same level as their traditionally white institutions, a disparity amounting to tens of millions of dollars in under-funding. hide caption. Today, of course, black students have many more choices. "I get it, we love the history here and it's so amazing to hear about it," Haynes told us later. Deirdre Guyton, the school's director of alumni affairs, is proud of Bluefield State College's history and wants to preserve it. The City of Bluefield seeks a visionary leader to be its next City Manager. "So why did you close dorms at Bluefield State for a bombing that didn't injure anybody? And then on Nov. 21, 1968, while most of the campus was away for Thanksgiving, a bomb tore through the campus gym. The story of Bluefield State's racial transformation is wrapped up in many of the big political and economic upheavals of the late 20th century, although you might not guess it from the serene setting. BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) – Bluefield State College Bluefield Campus will not hold classes today, Nov. 1. In the span of about two decades, Bluefield State had gone from an all-black college to a mostly white commuter school. See more of Bluefield State College on Facebook. They were people like Gloria P. Brown, whom everyone just called Go-Go. Many of the people at the Founder's Day luncheon went to the school before the 1968 bombing, and they were vocal about the ways they feel the school has changed for the worse. And of course, he's black, whereas the student body is only historically so. No dorms. Bluefield State College no longer has a football team or dorms, and the average student age is 27 years old. BLUEFIELD, WV (WVNS) — Bluefield State College is celebrating Black History Month. A lot of the folks we spoke to apologized for the campus's humble surroundings, which seemed odd to us. The reverence that Go-Go and her fellow alumni expressed for the Bluefield State of the past is matched only by their concern about the college today. White veterans started coming back to West Virginia after fighting in Korea. Despite all the love that she feels for Bluefield State, Go-Go didn't send her own children there. In 1980, BSC discontinued football, several years after the closure of student housing on campus. The book goes on to say that the college's dedicated faculty, which had been all-black as recently as 1954, was only 30 percent black by 1967. BLUEFIELD, VA (WOAY) – Tuesday brought ideal baseball weather to Bowen Field, and Bluefield State baseball came from behind to win 6-4 against Bluefield College that afternoon. Although it still receives the federal funding that comes with its designation as a historically black institution, today Bluefield State College is 90 percent white. Both showed decline, but not in equal measure. By the 1920s, the school was a football power among black colleges and a stepping stone for much of the region's black middle class. 219 Rock Street, Bluefield, WV 24701 Sticky Logo. Bailey joins Bluefield State College after four different coaching stops and a professional playing career. But nothing came of it. BLUEFIELD — Bluefield State College is purchasing the former Bluefield Regional Medical Center and will use the facility to provide a dorm and instruction space for its Health Science programs. This is an imperialistic and oppressive system at Bluefield.". And Jim Nelson, Bluefield State's spokesman, told us that in the state's current economic climate, an investment in on-campus housing would be impossible.