Announcements
Oct 27, 2026
Originally published by Alisha Bynum, Director of Communications, for The Texas Annual Conference. Read the original article: An Investment in Wiley and the Generations to Come.
An investment in a university reaches far beyond its campus. Its value unfolds in the lives of students and in what they carry into the communities they will one day serve.
That is the hope behind the Texas Annual Conference’s $255,150 gift to Wiley University, presented Friday, Oct. 23, during the university’s Homecoming celebration in Marshall. The gift represents a commitment to students who call Wiley home today and to those whose place in its story is still ahead of them.
“We are investing in opportunities for students who have not yet walked through these doors,” said Rev. Robert Besser, conference treasurer, who presented the gift on behalf of Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey and the conference’s clergy, laity, and congregations.
That investment began with an invitation. On Tuesday, May 26, Wiley President and CEO Dr. Herman J. Felton Jr. addressed the Texas Annual Conference about the university’s legacy and future. From the conference floor, clergy and lay members began challenging one another to give. Colleagues called on colleagues. Congregations and individuals pledged their support.
“One person challenged another. One gift inspired another,” Besser said.
In the months that followed, congregations, Sunday school classes, small groups, clergy, and laypersons contributed $127,575. The conference had voted to match gifts received through October 15, dollar for dollar. At its October 21 meeting, the Council on Finance and Administration matched those contributions with another $127,575, bringing the total to $255,150.
Each year, the Texas Annual Conference supports Wiley through congregations’ Fair Share Goals. This special gift goes above and beyond that annual support, deepening an ongoing commitment to the university and its future.
The full amount is designated to kick-start Wiley’s participation in UNCF’s Pooled Endowment Initiative and its $5 million matching challenge. By helping build an endowment, the conference is investing in lasting financial support for Wiley’s mission.
For a university founded in 1873, that mission connects more than 150 years of history with the needs of a new generation. Wiley’s longstanding relationship with The United Methodist Church reflects a shared conviction that education is part of the church’s commitment to human dignity and opportunity.
In his State of the University address, Felton brought that conviction into the present. Fall enrollment reached 1,137 students. Many are the first in their families to attend college, and many arrive with significant financial barriers. For Felton, sustaining the university means answering a deeply personal question: Will the next generation have access to the opportunities that shaped his own life?
His presentation showed how that responsibility is shared across campus. Faculty and staff, including the campus nurse, dining staff, and facilities crews, help notice when students are missing class, struggling academically, or facing challenges to their well-being. Campus events and Homecoming activities are offered free of charge to help remove financial barriers to participation. Student success, as Felton described it, depends on a community willing to pay attention and respond.
That care for students is accompanied by investments in the places where they learn and the opportunities available to them. Felton highlighted renovated and reopened facilities, including the final annex of the Pemberton complex. He also reported a recently awarded $660,000 supplemental grant supporting STEM initiatives and artificial intelligence educational camps.
Wiley’s educational reach extends beyond its enrolled students. A $2.5 million Economic Development Administration grant is supporting workforce recertification and certificate training for people in Marshall and the surrounding region, helping the university respond to needs in the community it calls home.
New academic offerings are creating additional paths for service and leadership. Felton described an applied doctoral program with concentrations in faith-based administration; entrepreneurship; and innovation, artificial intelligence, and research. Its inaugural cohort includes 25 students. The faith-based concentration connects particularly closely with the church’s work, preparing leaders for community development, workforce initiatives, economic development, and social advocacy.
Together, these developments illustrate the mission a lasting endowment can help sustain: educating students, equipping leaders, and responding to changing community needs. Similarly to what happened in May at Annual Conference, alumni members began publicly pledging to support the endowment. One alumni started with $6,000 and another with $5,000, and event President Felton announced that he felt led for he and his wife, Catherine Ann Felton, to commit $50,000 toward the endowment match, joining others in the responsibility he placed before the Wiley community.
For the Texas Annual Conference, sharing in that responsibility gives tangible expression to the Thrive markers of Abundance, Kinship, and Witness. Congregations are sharing their resources, strengthening a relationship that spans generations, and making their faith visible through a commitment to students’ futures. Their generosity helps create opportunities for students to thrive and carry that impact into their communities.
Joining Besser for the Homecoming presentation were Rev. B. T. Williamson, Rev. Dr. Vincent Harris, and Alisha Bynum, the conference’s director of communications. Bishop Harvey and Rev. Romonica Malone-Wardley sent greetings from the Council of Bishops Leadership Gathering in Calgary, Canada.
Speaking to the Wiley community, Besser made the connection between the gift and the people behind it personal.
“Many of the people who contributed to this gift may never meet you,” he said. “But they gave because they believe in the education, the future, and the mission of Wiley University.”
Through the endowment, that belief becomes a commitment designed to outlast the moment of giving and reach students for years to come.
“Our prayer is that the seeds planted through this gift will bear fruit for generations to come,” Besser said.
