HU Recognizes Harvey’s
30-Year Service To School

Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal & Guide
 
         Hampton University recently held its annual opening Convocation, which is by tradition, an opportunity to introduce the school’s history, mission and goals to freshmen and upper classmen.
       But at Hampton this year, a special tribute was inserted into the program  to recognize president Dr. William Harvey’s contributions to the historically black institution’s traditions and its evolution into one of the nation’s most respected historically black universities.

William Harvey (Middle) stands with HU students.

       Harvey owns the second oldest tenure among sitting and serving university or college presidents. At 30 years, he is 10 years behind Dr. Norman Francis of Xavier University.
       Recently during an interview with the New Journal and Guide, Harvey reflected on his three decades at the helm of the 139-year-old private school.
       Before he arrived  at HU, Harvey had already established a pedigree in leadership in the halls in higher education.  He served as administrative vice president at Tuskegee, assistant to the president at Fisk, and as assistant for governmental affairs to the dean of graduate education at Harvard.
       Harvey said he could have applied his skills at a number of schools, large or small, which sought to recruit him to their presidential suites. But Harvey, born in Alabama and a Talladega College product, wanted to ply his skills  where his roots were formed down South.
       When he arrived, Harvey defined the state of HU as “undernourished”. The student population was  less than 3,000. There were fewer than 40 academic  programs. The school’s endowment was only $29 million and most of the buildings were in a state of disrepair.
       “My biggest challenge, then as now, was finding the resources needed to  strengthen the school and its mission,” said Dr. Harvey.  ”We were in deep in red ink; we needed more for the endowment and more students.  The school needed good management and leadership. I wanted to apply the experiences I had garnered at other schools to make a difference at Hampton.”

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