FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STANDING ON LEGACY: WILEY UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES 151 YEARS at FOUNDERS
MARSHALL, Texas - Hundreds gathered on the campus of Wiley University last week to celebrate 151 years of continuous education at its 2024 Founders Observance.
There were several events for the campus community culminating in the Founders Convocation in the Julius S. Scott, Sr. Chapel on Friday and the Founders Observance Scholarship Gala on Saturday in the Fred T. Long Student Union John D. Appleton Dining Hall.
“This place is special to me,” said Diane Simone Stovall, Wiley University Board of Trustee and National Alumni Association President. “It offers us the opportunity to be who we want to be and do what we want to do. As we celebrate Founders 2024, let us reflect on the institution of our yester-year and pray for the institution of tomorrow.”
With “Standing on Our Legacy” as the celebration’s theme, the distinguished legacy of Wiley was palpable at convocation as key descendants of Wiley’s former presidents were in attendance. 1967 Wiley alumnus Charles Frazier, a descendant of the seventh President of Wiley University Matthew Dogan, was present at the convocation. Dr. Laurie Hayes Fluker - 1978 Wiley alumna and daughter of Wiley University’s 11th President and 1941 alumnus Dr. Robert Hayes, Sr. - gave the message at convocation. She told the story of how her father was tasked with giving Wiley a ‘dignified burial’ but instead found a way to keep the doors open. She also talked about how her father earned his education at Wiley University by working as a janitor while Dogan served as President.
“We gather at Wiley University today, 53 years after he became president, to celebrate yet another Founders Observance,” Fluker said. “One hundred and fifty-one years of legacy that started in 1873, something has happened here … Every achievement at Wiley has happened through courage and audacity. Every step has given the rebirth of hope - hope that diminished the fear of being in a (Klu Klux) Klan environment and lynchings, hope of being Black in a Jim Crow world, hope that brought people together in an educational environment to do what we needed to do.”
Wiley University President and CEO Herman J. Felton Jr., Ph.D, J.D., illustrated the many obstacles the University has had to withstand to be where it is today.
“Through fires, wars, violence, Spanish flu, civil rights activists and most recently the coronavirus, this place has been able to experience 151 years of continuous service as a higher education institution. Wiley University, we celebrate today because we are a beacon of light, guiding the way for so many. We honor those who came before us…the students who came to this sacred land to build this institution both literally and figuratively; The faculty who poured into the students and inspired individuals and the founders who led this institution. We thank you and honor you.”
For more information about the 2024 Founders Observance and Wiley University, contact Assistant Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing Marlee Archer at communications@wileyc.edu.
About Wiley University
Wiley University, founded in 1873 and formerly known as Wiley College, is a premier liberal institution, affiliated with the United Methodist Church, with an intentional focus on social good and leadership.
