Announcement of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum at Marshall University

The Dr. Carter G Woodson Lyceum at Marshall University was publicly announced Friday afternoon. The program is intended to address inequalities and other challenges in education, provide room for free speech and encourage the community to solve social and racial issues. It will support scholarships for minorities and disadvantaged students, while encouraging diversity within the University. The Lyceum will also educate, not only on Carter G. Woodson’s tremendous endeavors, but black history recognition, as well. Beginning in February, the lyceum will assume responsibility for Black History Month events at the University.

The lyceum is a collaboration between the Drinko Academy and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The program will be directed by Burnis Morris, the Carter G. Woodson journalism professor.

“Dr. Woodson’s contribution to society about the role and culture of black people in America, to a large degree, originated from his research and his teachings, and certainly inspired so many educators over the years,” said Dr. Maurice Cooley, Associate Vice President of Intercultural Affairs.

“The lyceum becomes a center of thinking for all kinds of facets of American life that Woodson was interested in as a scholar: African-American lifestyle, culture and race issues.”

Woodson’s achievements in the local and national communities merit the establishment of the program in his name. Woodson was one of the leading educators in the 20th century, a former West Virginia coalminer and Huntington resident, according to Morris. He graduated high school in Huntington and returned four years later as principle. Woodson was the first person, whose parents were former slaves, to earn a doctorate degree. He was the second African-American student to receive a doctorate from Harvard University. The lyceum’s name is also inspired by Aristotle’s Lyceum, a school founded as an open encouragement for thinking and learning.

“It is not enough for us to be complacent where we are with race relations or equality in general,” said MU president Jerome Gilbert in a press release.
“It is our duty to further Dr. Woodson’s mission for making educational institutions breeding grounds for understanding and acceptance, and today’s announcement moves Marshall another step closer to that goal.”

The winners of the Black History Month Poster Contest were also announced Friday afternoon. Moriah Lockhart and Leah Gore both received honorable mention. The winner of the contest, Phuong Mai Bui, originally from Vietnam, said she applied to the contest to learn about a different culture through research and design.

Apart from overseeing Black History Month events, the first act on the lyceum’s agenda is a summer workshop for school teachers. “The Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum’s Summer Program for Black History Instruction” is funded by a grant by the West Virginia Humanities Council. Experts in history, writing and journalism will lead the teachers in three days of classroom sessions. The last day of the workshop will include a bus tour of regional black history sites.

“One of the first things we’re doing this summer is a workshop to help secondary education teachers to know more about Woodson, and largely how to infuse Black History Month into their lessons”, said Janet Dooley, director of the School of Journalism.
“We want to help give them some ideas for how to bring Woodson into the forefront because he is such a prominent local figure.”

“There is much yet to be done in our country to develop awareness of and appreciation for black history,” said Don Van Horn, Dean of the College of Art and Media.

“The lyceum’s mission to prepare schoolteachers to include black history in curriculum is essential to increasing that awareness and appreciation.”

Marshall students recieving their awards for the Black History Month poster contest.