TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
“He truly believed in HBCUs. He believed we would be in a better postion to serve an underserved population.”
wood continued, “He truly believed in HBCUs. He believed we would be in a better position to serve an underserved population." A Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi ® , Dr. Wilson was featured on the cover of the December 1975 issue of the Kappa Alpha Psi ® Journal. The accompanying article highlighted Dr. Wilson’s new role as NSU President. Dr. Wilson commented in the article about Kappa Alpha Psi®, “The Fraternity helped me meet many people on a broad scale immediately. It gave me a base of individuals who would go that second mile.” Dr. Wilson came from a Kappa family where two siblings Albert and Willis and three sons became members of the Fraternity. Dr. Wilson was active with a number of boards and organizations. He served on the Board of Directors of Bell Atlantic Virginia, the Hampton Roads Chamber of Com- merce, and the Commonwealth Ethics Committee. He was on the board of direc- tors of Virginia National Bank, the lay advisory board of DePaul Hospital in Norfolk and the board of directors of the Virginia Health, Welfare and Recreation Planning Council. He received honorary doctorate degrees from the Eastern Virginia Medical School and Kentucky State University. In 2014, Dr. Wilson travelled to Lexington, KY to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Kentucky with his grandson, Brandon, who received a masters degree. The University used the occasion as an apology for decades of discriminatory and segregationist admissions policies against African Americans like Wilson. Dr. Harrison B. Wilson II is preceded in death by his parents, first wife Anna (née Williams) Wilson, and sons, Richard Wilson (Theta Iota 1982) and Harrison B. Wilson III (Charlottesville (VA) Alumni 1979). He is survived by his wife Dr. Lucy (née Cutliff) Wilson, two daughters, April and Jennifer; and two sons, John (Hamp- ton-Newport News (VA)
season basketball tournaments, mainly the NCAA Tournament and National Invita- tional Tournament (NIT) due to the state of Mississippi’s discriminatory state laws on mixed race collegiate athletic competi- tion. Dr. Wilson also served for many years as chair of JSU’s Department of Health and Physical Education prior to moving to Nashville, TN in 1967 to serve in a similar capacity at Tennessee State University. Wilson then moved to nearby historic Fisk University where briefly served as assistant to the Fisk University President prior to his appointment in 1975 as the second Presi- dent of Norfolk State University. Wilson’s 22-year tenure at NSU is characterized as growth in enrollment, campus size and facilities as well as faculty. In 1975-76 NSU offered four graduate programs in which 191 students were enrolled. In 1996-97, there were 14 master's programs and one doctoral program enrolling 1,110 students. The Division of Academic Af- fairs was composed of nine schools, 29 departments, and offering 56 programs at the associate, baccalaureate, master's and doctoral levels. He increased the number of African American students pursuing STEM fields at the institution. While at Norfolk State, he accomplished university status for what was then Norfolk State College. The university’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) grew and produced one of the largest number of minority naval officers in the nation. NSU also graduated more African-American teachers than any other university in the nation under Wilson’s presidency. Upon his retirement as president in 1997, NSU honored Dr. Wilson by naming an adminis- trative building on campus in his name. Carl Haywood, NSU's chief of staff reminisced how Dr. Wilson "believed every student should have an opportunity for a college diploma. NSU had open enroll- ment then, which afforded many more people the chance to go to college.” Hay-
Alumni 1982) and Benjamin Wilson; several grand and great- grandchildren; a host of other relatives, col- leagues, former students and players, friends and the NSU Spartan Na- tion, “Be Hold the Green and Gold”!
THE JOURNAL ♦ FALL 2019 | 179
Publishing achievement for 105 years
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