View source for Wilberforce University

{{Short description|Historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio, US}}
{{Distinguish|Central State University}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox university
 | name                   = Wilberforce University
 | native_name            = 
 | image                  = Wilberforce University Seal.jpg
 | image_size             = 150px
 | caption                = Seal of Wilberforce University
 | latin_name             = 
 | motto                  = Suo Marte
 | mottoeng               = By one's own toil, effort, courage
 | established            = {{Start date and age|1856}}
 | closed                 = 
 | type                   = [[Private university|Private]] [[Historically black colleges and universities|historically black university]]
 | religious_affiliation  = [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]]
 | endowment              = 
 | officer_in_charge      = 
 | chairman               = 
 | chancellor             = 
 | president              = Vann R. Newkirk, Sr.
 | vice-president         = 
 | superintendent         = 
 | provost                = 
 | vice_chancellor        = 
 | rector                 = 
 | principal              = 
 | dean                   = 
 | director               = 
 | head_label             = 
 | head                   = 
 | faculty                = 
 | administrative_staff   = 
 | students               = 557
 | undergrad              = 
 | postgrad               = 
 | doctoral               = 
 | other                  = 
 | city                   = [[Wilberforce, Ohio]]
 | province               = 
 | country                = U.S.
 | coor                   = {{Coord|39|42|27|N|83|52|50|W|type:edu_region:US-OH|display=inline,title}}
 | campus                 = Rural
 | former_names           = Wilberforce College (1856–1965)
 | free_label             = 
 | free                   = 
 | sports                 = 
 | colors                 = {{color box|#056937}} {{color box|#f2ce00}}<br>Green & Gold
 | colours                = 
 | sports_nickname        = Bulldogs
 | mascot                 = 
 | athletics_affiliations = [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics|NAIA]] – [[HBCU Athletic Conference|HBCUAC]]
 | academic_affiliations  = [[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Space-grant]]
 | website                = {{url|www.wilberforce.edu}}
 | logo                   = 
 | footnotes              = {{Infobox NRHP
 |name         = Carnegie Library (Old Wilberforce University Campus)
 |embed        = yes
 |nrhp_type    =
 |image        =
 |caption      =
 |location     = 1055 North Bickett Rd.<br />[[Wilberforce, Ohio]] 45384
 |coordinates  = {{Coord|39.7177|-83.8820|region:US-OH_type:edu|format=dms|display=inline}}
 |locmapin     = Ohio#USA
 |built        = 1907
 |architect    = David Riebel
 |architecture = Classical Revival
 |added        = June 16, 2004
 |area         = {{convert|0.5|acre}}
 |refnum       = 04000610<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|refnum=04000610|version=2009a}}</ref>
}}
}}

'''Wilberforce University''' is a [[Private university|private]] [[Historically black colleges and universities|historically black university]] in [[Wilberforce, Ohio]].  Affiliated with the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]] (AME), it was the first [[college]] to be owned and operated by [[African American]]s. [[Central State University]], also in Wilberforce, Ohio, began as a department of Wilberforce University. The college was founded in 1856 to provide classical education and teacher training for black youth. It was named for the English statesman [[William Wilberforce]], who achieved the end of the [[History of slavery|slave trade]] in the [[British Empire]].

The outbreak of the [[American Civil War]] (1861–65) caused the college to close in 1862 because of reduced enrollment and financial losses. The AME Church purchased the institution in 1863, and Bishop [[Daniel Payne]] was president, the first African American to become a college president in the United States. In the late 19th century, Wilberforce enlarged its mission to include black students from [[South Africa]].

==History==
Wilberforce College was founded to educate African-American students. Twenty years earlier, a similar plan in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], was met with a near-riot ([[New Haven Excitement]]), and was quickly abandoned. (See [[Simeon Jocelyn]].) In the 19th century, discrimination against Blacks was legal, and the white colleges that would accept Black students could be counted on one hand ([[Grinnell College]], Iowa (1879, first graduate); [[Hillsdale College]], Michigan; the [[Oneida Institute]]; the [[Oberlin Collegiate Institute]] (later Oberlin College); and [[New-York Central College]]).

Located three miles (5&nbsp;km) from the county seat of [[Xenia, Ohio]] in the southwestern part of the state, what developed as Wilberforce University was founded as a collaboration among leaders of the Cincinnati Conference of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] and the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]] (AME  Church).  They planned to promote classical education and teacher training for black youth.  Among the first 24 members of the tri-racial board of trustees in 1855 were Bishop [[Daniel A. Payne]], [[Lewis Woodson]], [[Ishmael Keith]], and [[Alfred Anderson (US minister)|Alfred Anderson]], all of the AME Church.<ref name="Campbell 1995 p. 263">Campbell (1995), ''Songs of Zion'', pp. 263</ref>  Also on the Board were [[Salmon P. Chase]], then [[Governor of Ohio]] and a strong supporter of [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition]]; a member of the Ohio State Legislature, and other Methodist leaders from the white community.  They named the college after the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|British abolitionist]] and statesman [[William Wilberforce]].<ref name="Talbert">{{cite web|url=http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/talbert/talbert.html#p263|first=Horace|last=Talbert|title=The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio 1906|pages=264–268, 273|work=Documenting the South|year=2000|publisher=University of North Carolina|access-date=July 25, 2008}}</ref> Rev Campbell Maxwell later became a trustee in 1896.

As a base for the college, the Cincinnati Conference bought a hotel, cottages and {{convert|54|acre|m2}} of a former [[resort]] property near Xenia. It was named Tawawa House after the springs in the area, a word derived from a [[Shawnee]] term for "clear or golden water". This color was associated with the natural springs nearby because of its high iron content.  White people had founded the health resort in 1851 because of the springs, which they also called Yellow Springs. The waters had long been reputed to have health benefits.

Because of its location, this resort area had attracted summer people from both Cincinnati and [[Southern United States|the South]], particularly after completion of the [[Little Miami Railroad]] in 1846. Some people in this area of abolitionist sentiment were shocked when wealthy white Southern planters patronized the resort with their entourages of enslaved African-American mistresses and [[mixed-race]] "natural" children.<ref name="Campbell.google.com">[https://archive.org/details/songsofzionafric0000camp_f3n0/page/215 James T. Campbell, ''Songs of Zion''], New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 259–260, accessed Jan 13, 2009</ref>

Given migration patterns, this was also an area where numerous [[free people of color]] settled, many having moved across the Ohio River from the South to find better work and living conditions. Some were pushed from Southern states, which often required newly manumitted individuals to leave within a certain time period. Xenia had quite a large free black population, as did other towns in southern Ohio, such as [[Chillicothe, Ohio|Chillicothe]], [[Yellow Springs, Ohio|Yellow Springs]] and [[Zanesville, Ohio|Zanesville]]. Free blacks and anti-slavery white supporters used houses in Xenia as stations on the [[Underground Railroad]] in the years before the Civil War. Wilberforce College also supported freedom-seeking slaves. Many of these free people of color were also had Native ancestry, Daniel Payne himself being of Catawba descent. 

The college opened for classes in 1856, and by 1858 its trustees selected [[Richard S. Rust]] as the first president.<ref name="Talbert" /> Overriding some protest by men, in the 1850s the college hired [[Frances E. W. Harper]], an abolitionist poet, as the first woman to teach at the school.<ref>Boyd, Melba Joyce. ''Discarded Legacy: Politics and Poetics in the Life of Frances E. W. Harper'' 1825-1911. Detroit: Wayne State University, 1994, pp. 38.</ref> In 1859 Sarah Jane Woodson began to teach at Wilberforce. She was a 1856 graduate of Oberlin College. She was the youngest sister of one of the original trustees, Lewis Woodson. She was the first black American to teach at a historically black college or university. She returned to Wilberforce in 1866 after it reopened in a position of greater responsibility. <ref> Woodson, Byron, "This land... is now our mother country..." (Chapel Hill, Wisdom Books, 2022) , 125. </ref>

By 1860 the private university had more than 200 students.<ref name="Talbert 1906 p. 267">Talbert (1906), ''Sons of Allen'', p. 267</ref>  It is notable that most were from the South, the "natural" [[mixed-race]] sons and daughters of wealthy white planters and their enslaved African-American mistresses.<ref name="Talbert 1906 p. 267"/> The fathers paid for the educations that were denied their children in the South.<ref name="Campbell.google.com" /> They were among the fathers who did not abandon their mixed-race children but provided them with the [[social capital]] of education and sometimes property.

The outbreak of the Civil War threatened the college's finances. The Southern planters withdrew their children, and no more paying students came from the South. The Methodist church said it had to divert its resources to support the war. The college closed temporarily in 1862 when the Cincinnati Methodist Church was unable to fund it fully.<ref name="Campbell.google.com" />

[[File:Daniel Alexander Payne.jpg|thumb|350x350px|Daniel Alexander Payne in the early 1890s]]

Led by Bishop [[Daniel A. Payne]], in 1863 the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) decided to buy the college to ensure its survival; they paid the cost of its debt. They sold another property to raise the money.<ref name="Campbell 1995 p. 263"/> Founders were Bishop Payne, who was selected as its president; [[James A. Shorter]], pastor of the AME Church in [[Zanesville, Ohio]] and a future bishop; and [[John G. Mitchell (principal)|John G. Mitchell]], principal of the Eastern District Public School of [[Cincinnati]]. Payne was the first African American to become a college president in the United States.

When an [[arson]] fire damaged some of the buildings in 1865, Payne went to his network to appeal for aid in rebuilding the college. [[Salmon P. Chase]], then [[Chief Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], and Charles Avery from [[Pittsburgh]] each contributed $10,000 to rebuild the college. Mary E. Monroe, another white supporter, contributed $4200. In addition, the [[US Congress]] approved a $25,000 grant for the college, which raised additional monies privately from a wide range of donors.<ref>[http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/talbert/talbert.html Horace Talbert, ''The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio'', 1906], p. 273, ''Documenting the South'', 2000, University of North Carolina, accessed Jul 25, 2008</ref>

In 1888 the AME Church came to an agreement with the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]-dominated state legislature that brought considerable financial support and political patronage to the college. It negotiated contemporary pressures to emphasize industrial education for many black youth by accommodating both that and the classical education.

As an act of political patronage, the state legislature established a commercial, [[Normal college|normal]] and industrial (CNI) department at Wilberforce College.  While this created complications for administration and questions about the mission of the college, in the near term it brought tens of thousands of dollars annually in state aid to the campus.  Each state legislator could award an annual scholarship to the CNI department at Wilberforce, enabling hundreds of African-American students to attend classes. The state-funded students could complete liberal arts at the college, and students at Wilberforce could also take "industrial" classes.<ref name="Campbell.google.com" />

By the mid-1890s, the college also admitted students from [[South Africa]], as part of the AME Church's [[mission (Christian)|mission]] to Africa. The church helped support such students with scholarships, as well as arranging board with local families.<ref name="Campbell.google.com" /> An 1898 report published by the AME Church listed the university as having 20 faculty, 334 students, and 246 graduates.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1898|editor-last=Hawkins|editor-first=John R.|title=Our Schools from Latest Reports|url=https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:GSE.LIBR:37043830?n=49|journal=The Educator|publisher=Educational Department of the A.M.E. Church|volume=1 |issue=1|pages=47}}</ref>

The college became a center of black cultural and intellectual life in southwestern Ohio.  Because the area did not receive many European immigrants, blacks had more opportunities at diverse work. Xenia and nearby towns developed a professional black elite.<ref name="Campbell.google.com" />

Generations of leaders: teachers, ministers, doctors, politicians and college administrators, and later men and women of all occupations, have been educated at the university. In the 19th century, Bishop Payne established his dream, a [[Payne Theological Seminary|theological seminary]], which was named in his honor.  Top-ranking scholars taught at the college, including [[W.E.B. Du Bois]], the [[philologist]] [[William Sanders Scarborough|William S. Scarborough]], [[Edward Alexander Clarke|Edward Clarke]], and John G. Mitchell, dean of the seminary. In 1894 Lieutenant [[Charles Young (United States Army)|Charles Young]], the third black graduate of [[West Point]] and at the time the only African-American commissioned officer in the US Army, led the newly established military science department.<ref name="Campbell.google.com" />

Additional leading scholars taught at the college in the early 20th century, such as [[Theophilus Gould Steward]], a politician, theologian and [[missionary]]; and the [[sociologist]] [[Richard R. Wright Jr.|Richard R. Wright, Jr.]], the first African American to earn a PhD from the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. He was a future AME bishop and became president of Wilberforce. These men were also prominent in the American Negro Academy, founded in 1897 to support the work of scholars, writers and other intellectuals.<ref name="Campbell.google.com" /> In 1969 the organization was revived as the [[Black Academy of Arts and Letters]].

In 1941, the normal/industrial department was expanded by development of a four-year curriculum. In 1947, this section was split from the university and given independent status. It was renamed as Central State College in 1951. With further development of programs and departments, in 1965 it achieved university status as [[Central State University]].

Growth of Wilberforce University after the mid-20th century led to construction of a new campus in 1967, located one mile (1.6&nbsp;km) away. In 1974, the area was devastated by an [[Fujita scale|F5]] tornado that was part of the [[1974 Super Outbreak]], which destroyed much of the city of [[Xenia, Ohio|Xenia]] and the old campus of Wilberforce.

Older campus buildings still in use include the [[Carnegie Library]], built in 1909 with matching funds from the Carnegie Foundation, and listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]; Shorter Hall, built in 1922; and the Charles Leander Hill Gymnasium, built in 1958. The former residence of Charles Young near Wilberforce was designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]] by the US [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of Interior]], in recognition of his significant and groundbreaking career in the [[US Army]].

In the 1970s, the university established the [[National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center]], to provide exhibits and outreach to the region. It is now operated by the [[Ohio Historical Society]]. The university also supports the national [[Association of African American Museums]], to provide support and professional guidance especially to smaller museums across the country.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

In 2021 the university announced it was cutting tuition by 15% for Ohio residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/tribune/regional/wilberforce-to-cut-tuition-by-15-for-in-state-students/article_dd3271f2-9c5d-5b46-9840-dcc90b5787af.html|title=Wilberforce to cut tuition by 15% for in-state students|agency=[[Dayton Daily News]]|date=2021-06-25|access-date=2021-06-25|archive-date=June 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626035956/https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/tribune/regional/wilberforce-to-cut-tuition-by-15-for-in-state-students/article_dd3271f2-9c5d-5b46-9840-dcc90b5787af.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2008 Financial aid audit===
In 2008 the US Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) completed an audit of financial management, specifically the university's management of Title IV funds, which related to its work-study program. For the two-year audit period (2004–2005, 2005–2006) the audit found numerous faults.<ref name="usdeaudit">{{cite web|url=http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/fy2008/a05g0029.pdf|title=Wilberforce University's Administration of the Title IV, Higher Education Act Programs: Final Audit Report}}</ref> In summary, the OIG found that the university did not comply with Title IV, HEA requirements because of administrative problems, including staff turnover, insufficient financial aid staff, failure to have written procedures, and lack of communication with other offices. The university worked with auditors to set up appropriate staff and procedures.

===Presidents===
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* Richard Rust, 1858–1862 (under the joint board of trustees representing the Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal churches)
* [[Daniel Payne|Daniel A. Payne]], 1863–1876, first president of the college under AME operation
* [[Benjamin F. Lee]], 1876–1884
* Samuel T. Mitchell, 1884–1900
* Joshua H. Jones, 1900–1908
* [[William Sanders Scarborough|William S. Scarborough]], 1908–1920
* John A. Gregg, 1920–1924
* Gilbert H. Jones, 1924–1932
* [[Richard R. Wright Jr.|Richard R. Wright, Jr.]], 1932–1936, 1941–1942
* [[D. Ormonde Walker]], 1936–1941
* [[Charles H. Wesley]], 1942–1947
* Charles Leander Hill, 1947–1956<ref name="wulib">{{cite web|url=http://www.wilberforce.edu/student_life/library_archives_timeline.html|title=Library|publisher=Wilberforce University|access-date=March 24, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615054505/http://www.wilberforce.edu/student_life/library_archives_timeline.html|archive-date=June 15, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* Rembert E. Stokes, 1956–1976<ref>{{cite web|title=Dr. Rembert E. Stokes|url=http://www.daytonwalkoffame.citymax.com/stokes.html|website=Dayton Walk of Fame|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>
* Charles E. Taylor, 1976–1984
* [[Yvonne Walker-Taylor|Yvonne Walker Taylor]],  1984–1988
* [[John L. Henderson]], 1988–2002<ref>{{cite web|title=Dr. John Henderson|url=http://cech.uc.edu/alumni/distinguished-alumni/2001-2010/2009-henderson.html|website=University of Cincinnati|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="catalog">{{cite book|title=Wilberforce University Catalog, 2017-2018|publisher=Wilberforce University|url=http://wilberforce.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2017-2018-Wilberforce-University-Catalog-Official.pdf|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>
* [[Floyd Flake]], 2002–2008
* [[Patricia Hardaway]], 2009–2013,<ref name="hardaway">{{cite news|title=Wilberforce University president to step down|last1=Pant|first1=Meagan|date=17 July 2013|url=http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/wilberforce-university-president-step-down/1WSEegEE6BC0zpnBn73fBK/|access-date=15 January 2018|work=mydaytondailynews|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Wilma Mishoe]], interim 
* [[Algeania Marie Warren Freeman]], 2014–2016<ref name="freeman">{{cite news|last1=Baker|first1=Wayne|title=Dr. Algeania Warren Freeman Named 20th President of Wilberforce University|url=http://wyso.org/post/dr-algeania-warren-freeman-named-20th-president-wilberforce-university|access-date=15 January 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name="felton"/>
* Herman J. Felton, Jr., 2016–2018<ref name="felton">{{cite news|last1=Staff|first1=AFRO|title=Herman Felton Jr. Named President of Ohio's Wilberforce University {{!}} Afro|url=http://www.afro.com/herman-felton-jr-named-president-of-ohios-wilberforce-university/|access-date=15 January 2018|work=Afro|date=22 July 2016}}</ref>
* Elfred Anthony Pinkard, 2018–2023<ref>{{cite web|title=Board of Trustees Announce Executive Vice President and Provost as 22nd President of Wilberforce University – Wilberforce University|url=http://wilberforce.edu/board-of-trustees-announce-executive-vice-president-and-provost-as-22nd-president-of-wilberforce-university/|website=wilberforce.edu|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>
* Vann R. Newkirk, Sr., 2023–present<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-06 |title=President's Corner - Wilberforce University |url=https://wilberforce.edu/presidents-corner/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>
}}
==Academics==
According to ''[[U.S. News & World Report|US News and World Report]]'', Wilberforce had a 7% graduation rate within the standard four-year period of study in 2024, making it one of the least successful universities in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilberforce University |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/wilberforce-university-3141#:~:text=Wilberforce%20University's%20ranking%20in%20the,campus%20size%20is%20125%20acres. |access-date=September 5, 2024 |website=US News and World Report}}</ref>

===Cooperative education===
Wilberforce requires all students to participate in [[cooperative education]]<ref name="coop">{{cite web|url=http://www.wilberforce.edu/welcome/history.html|title= Wilberforce University: Yesterday and Today|access-date=January 1, 2007|publisher=Wilberforce University| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070226123235/http://wilberforce.edu/welcome/history.html|archive-date=26 February 2007}}</ref> to meet graduation requirements. The cooperative program places students in internships that provide practical work experience in addition to academic training. It has been a required part of the curriculum at Wilberforce since 1966.<ref>{{cite news|title=Wilberforce Dared to Go Co-Op All the Way|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9oDAAAAMBAJ&q=Wilberforce+dared+to+go+co-op+all+the+way&pg=PA86|access-date=3 May 2017|agency=Ebony|issue=8|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|date=June 1972|volume = 27|page=86}}</ref>

===NASA SEMAA project===
In October 2006, Wilberforce held the grand opening and dedication for the [[NASA]] Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) and the associated Aerospace Education Laboratory (AEL). It was attended by Bernice G. Alston, deputy assistant administrator of NASA's office of Education, and [[Dave Hobson]], [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[Ohio's 7th congressional district]].<ref name="NASA">{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/2006/06-062_Wilberforce.html|title= NASA Education Facility Opens at Wilberforce University|access-date=January 1, 2007|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)|url-status=dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061116132416/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/2006/06-062_Wilberforce.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = November 16, 2006 }}</ref>

==Athletics==
The Wilberforce athletic teams are called the Bulldogs. The university is a member of the [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics]] (NAIA), primarily competing as a member of the [[HBCU Athletic Conference]] since the 2024-2025 academic year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-11 |title=Wilberforce University Slated to Join Gulf Coast Athletic Conference in 2024 - Wilberforce University |url=https://wilberforce.edu/wilberforce-university-slated-to-join-gulf-coast-athletic-conference-in-2024/#:~:text=Wilberforce%2520received%2520a%2520unanimous%2520vote,%252C%E2%80%9D%2520said%2520GCAC%2520Commissioner%2520Dr. |access-date=2024-08-20 |language=en-US}}</ref> They previously competed as an [[NAIA independent schools|NAIA Independent]] within the Continental Athletic Conference during the 2023–24 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 2012–13 to 2021–22. The Bulldogs competed in the [[Mid-South Conference]] (MSC) during the 2022–23 school year,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mid-southconference.org/article/11077 |title=Wilberforce Joins The Mid-South Conference {{!}} Mid-South Conference |access-date=August 2, 2022 |archive-date=July 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729144809/https://www.mid-southconference.org/article/11077 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in the defunct [[American Mideast Conference]] from 1999–2000 to 2011–12.

Men's sports include basketball, cross country, golf and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, spirit teams and track & field (indoor and outdoor).

===Intramurals===
Students also participate in the following intramural sports: basketball, softball, volleyball, flag football, and tennis.

==Notable alumni==
{{AlumniStart}}
{{Alum|name=[[Victoria Gray Adams]]|nota=Pioneering civil rights activist|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Regina M. Anderson]] |nota=Playwright, librarian, and member of the [[Harlem Renaissance]]|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Helen Elsie Austin]]|year=1938|nota=[[U.S. Foreign Service]] Officer|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Benjamin F. Bowles]]|year=1905|nota=University president and founder|ref=<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mather |first=Frank Lincoln |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWTXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA32 |title=Who's Who of the Colored Race: A General Biographical Dictionary of Men and Women of African Descent |date=1915 |volume=1 |location=Chicago, Illinois |pages=32 |language=en}}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[Tiny Bradshaw|Myron (Tiny) Bradshaw]] |nota=Jazz and rhythm and blues bandleader, singer, pianist, and drummer|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Gurley Brewer]]|year=1888|Attorney, newspaper publisher, political actiist|ref=<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21696432/gurley_brewer_admitted_to_bar/ "First of the Kind in That Section,"] ''Indianapolis Journal,'' Feb. 12, 1890, pg. 2.</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[Hallie Quinn Brown]] |year=1873|nota= Educator, writer and activist|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Shontel Brown]] |year=2022|nota=Congresswoman|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Isaac M. Burgan]] |year= |nota= president of [[Paul Quinn College]] 1883-1891, 1911-1914|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Richard H. Cain]]|year=|nota=Minister, abolitionist, and United States Representative from South Carolina from 1873–1875 and 1877-1879|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Floy Clements]]|year=|nota=First African-American woman to serve in the [[Illinois House of Representatives]] (1959-1960)|ref=<ref name="ILRU 2016">{{cite web|last1=Musser|first1=Ashley|last2=Dutton|first2=Julie|title=Illinois Women in Congress and General Assembly|date=February 11, 2016|publisher=[[Illinois General Assembly|Illinois Legislative Research Unit]]|location=[[Springfield, Illinois]]|access-date=August 21, 2017|url=http://ilga.gov/commission/lru/FemaleLegislators.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Bone|editor-first=Jan|title=Commission on the Status of Women. Report and Recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly|page=26|date=June 1974|publisher=Illinois Commission on the Status of Women|location=[[Springfield, Illinois]]|access-date=August 21, 2017|url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED096595.pdf}}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[William B. Derrick]]|year=1885|nota=Minister, AME bishop|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Charity Adams Earley]] |nota=First female African-American officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; commanding officer of the first battalion of African American women to serve overseas during WWII|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Nina Gomer Du Bois]] | |nota= Civil rights activist and  Baháʼí faith activist, wife of [[W.E.B Du Bois]]|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Wade Ellis]] |year=1928|nota=Twelfth African-American to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics ([[University of Michigan]], 1944). First African-American faculty member at [[Oberlin College]]. Former associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Michigan.|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Mary G. Evans]] |nota=pastor at Cosmopolitan Community Church in Chicago from 1932 to 1966 |ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Floyd H. Flake]] |nota=U.S. Congressman, Wilberforce President|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Frank Foster (jazz musician)|Frank Foster]]|nota=Musician; member of the [[Count Basie]] Orchestra|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[John R. Fox]] |nota=Recipient of the [[Medal of Honor]]|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Jessie Gooding]] |year=1948|nota=Politician, civil rights activist and president emeritus of the Dayton Branch NAACP; considered one of the most influential African Americans in the history of Dayton, Ohio|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Raymond V. Haysbert]] |nota=Business executive and civil rights leader|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Leon Quincy Jackson]]|nota=American architect, professor at [[Tennessee State University]], and an early African American architect in Oklahoma and Tennessee; he did not graduate from Wilberforce University but took classes|ref=<ref>{{Cite news |date=1954-09-11 |title=Receives Masters in Architecture |pages=1 |work=[[The Black Dispatch]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117191275/receives-masters-in-architecture/ |access-date=2023-01-25}}</ref> }}
{{Alum|name=[[Leon Jordan]] |year=1932|nota=Politician and civil rights activist; considered one of the most influential African Americans in the history of Kansas City, Missouri|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Orchid I. Jordan]] |nota=served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1970 to 1984|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Florence LeSueur]]|nota=The first female NAACP president in 1949, civil right leader and activist.|ref= <ref>{{Cite journal|date=1991-06-29|title=Florence Lesueur, ex-president, director of NAACP branch; at 93|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7666720.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219210614/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7666720.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-02-19}}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[James H. McGee]] |nota= City commissioner and first African American mayor of [[Dayton, Ohio]]|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Ace Mumford|Arnett "Ace" Mumford]]|year=1924 |nota= Former college football coach at [[Southern University]] from 1936 to 1961. He also coached at Jarvis Christian College, Bishop College, Texas College; member of [[College Football Hall of Fame]]|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Demetrius Newton]]|year=|nota=Civil rights attorney|ref=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/09/rep_demetrius_newton_first_bla.html|title=Rep. Demetrius Newton, first black pro tem in Alabama House, has died (updated)|date=September 11, 2013 }}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[Bill Powell (golf course owner)|Bill Powell]] |year=|nota=  Owner and designer of Clearview Golf Club, the first integrated golf course in America and the first owned and designed by an African American|ref=<ref>{{cite web | title = Golf Pioneer Dies | publisher = Morning Journal News | date = Jan 2, 2010 | url = http://www.morningjournalnews.com/page/content.detail/id/516168.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131111051850/http://www.morningjournalnews.com/page/content.detail/id/516168.html | archive-date = November 11, 2013 | df = mdy-all }}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[Leontyne Price]]|nota=Opera singer and first African American [[prima donna]] of the [[Metropolitan Opera]]|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Henry Richardson (New Hampshire politician)|Henry Richardson]] |year=1943|nota=First African American state legislator in New Hampshire|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[George Russell (composer)|George Russell]] |nota= Jazz composer and theorist|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Green Pinckney Russell]]|year=1913|nota=American school administrator, college president, and teacher|ref=<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hardin |first=John A. |date=1995 |title=Green Pinckney Russell of Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2784634 |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=610–621 |doi=10.1177/002193479502500506 |jstor=2784634 |s2cid=143448048 |issn=0021-9347}}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[Jimmy Rushing]] |nota= Blues musician|ref=}} 
{{Alum|name=[[Bayard Rustin]] |nota= Labor leader, civil rights organizer|ref=<ref>{{cite web | title = History of Wilberforce University: Bayard Rustin
 | publisher = Wilberforce Payne Unified Library | date = Jan 2, 2010 | url = https://wilberforcepayne.libguides.com/c.php?g=763792&p=5478045 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201030133036/https://wilberforcepayne.libguides.com/c.php?g=763792&p=5478045 | archive-date = 30 October 2020 | df = mdy-all }}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[Susie Lankford Shorter]] |year= |nota=writer, educator |ref=<ref>Hallie Q. Brown, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GnBA_iwA9vcC&dq=Susie+Lankford+Shorter&pg=PA205 ''Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction''] (Oxford University Press 1988): 205-206. {{ISBN|9780199763092}}</ref>}}
{{Alum|name=[[Theophilus Gould Steward]] |year=1881|nota=[[Military Chaplain|U.S. Army chaplain]] and [[Buffalo Soldier]]|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[William Grant Still]] |nota=Composer and conductor; the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra, the first to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, and the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Ossian Sweet]] |nota= African-American doctor notable for self-defense in 1925 against a white mob's attempt to force him out of his Detroit neighborhood, and acquittal at trial|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Dorothy Vaughan]] |year=1929|nota=American mathematician whose work at the [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA), predecessor agency to [[NASA]]; inspired the 2016 biographical drama film ''[[Hidden Figures]]'' |ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Ben Webster]] |nota=American jazz musician|ref=}}
{{Alum|name=[[Milton Wright (academic)|Milton Wright]] |year=1926|nota=Economist|ref=}}
{{AlumniEnd}}

==See also==
* [[Historically black colleges and universities]]
* [[1931 Wilberforce Green Wave football team]]

==Representation in other media==
* [[Dolen Perkins-Valdez]]'s novel ''Wench'' (2010) explores the lives of several enslaved women of color brought to the Tawawa House resort during the summers by their Southern white masters. They were among the visitors in the years before the property was bought for use as the college.<ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Neal Parker|first1=Lonnae|title=A tender spot in master-slave relations|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012102960.html|access-date=15 April 2015|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Nelson|first1=Samantha|title=Dolen Perkins-Valdez: Wench|website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=January 28, 2010 |url=http://www.avclub.com/review/dolen-perkins-valdez-iwenchi-37586|access-date=15 April 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.wilberforce.edu/ Official website]
* [http://www.wilberforceathletics.com Official athletics website]
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/talbert/menu.html Horace Talbert, ''The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio''], 1906, ''Documenting the American South'', University of North Carolina

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