Message from DSU President and Provost
To the Delaware State University Community,
Welcome back to your University!
This year nearly 5,000 students will join 200 faculty, 775 staff, and 21,000 alumni in an adventure in world-class instruction; applied scholarship and research. Along with an earnest commitment to be “Of Service,” we will all work together to produce the next generation of educated American citizens and innovative leaders who will contribute to the sustainable economy of Delaware, the United States, and the larger global community.
Before we go any further, please take a moment to send thoughts and prayers to our sister HBCU in the Houston area, Texas Southern University (TSU), which is beginning a new year literally under water. We will be reaching out to TSU to offer any assistance in resuming normal operations that we can – Hornets never desert their own!
Given the segregated beginning of the Delaware College for Colored Students, it is unlikely that its founding faculty and staff could grasp the difference 126 years would make at the institution. Until 1950, that college was the only feasible option for African-American and Native-American students in our state to receive a college degree. Today, as we look at a changed America that encompasses people from every background and belief, you might expect that in this smaller, more connected world, the old prejudices would have faded into the past.
But even 63 years after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education, and barely two weeks after Charlottesville, it is clear that stiff challenges remain, and that as an Historically Black Institution we cannot dodge or evade them. As recent College of Business graduate Kayla Boyd (2017) reminded us of her favorite quote from former First Lady Michelle Obama, “The one way to get me to work harder is to doubt me.”
When others doubt us, it stimulates us to perform; but when we doubt ourselves, that doubt becomes our common enemy.
That corrosive negativity includes doubt in the capacity of our fellow citizens to inspire, to lead, or to contribute time and talent to causes greater than themselves. That doubt tears at the very fabric of the “more perfect union” that Thomas Jefferson imagined.
At your University there is no doubt.
We do not doubt that our faculty is world-class. We do not doubt the capacities of our students. We do not doubt the rigor of our academic programs or the quality of our support systems. And we don’t doubt the power and relevance of being a Historically Black College Colleges and Universities in a 21st century America, one that is diverse as any University in the nation and make us a leader in bringing accessible, quality education into the marketplace for all.
Like the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, which featured DSU in their magazine this past summer (https://www.desu.edu/sites/flagship/files/document/16/delbusiness.pdf) your University is widely recognized as an institution fully committed to its legacy, but living in the world of tomorrow. We judge our success not just by our core values: Outreach, Community, Scholarship, Diversity, and Integrity. Those values are also combined with our never-ending commitment to Student Success, which demands enormous accountability from everybody on this campus, makes no excuses for failure, and defines who we are as a community.
What we expect from each of you – faculty, staff, and students alike – is to embrace those values as you embrace this University. YOU are integral to our constant improvement. Our message is simple: LEAVE NO DOUBT!
Harry Williams
President
Tony Allen
Executive Vice President and Provost
Delaware State University