THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505120588
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
LENGTH: Long : 134 lines
To mark his 20th anniversary as president of Norfolk State University, Harrison B. Wilson will deliver the keynote speech during NSU's commencement at Scope this afternoon.
Both the challenge and the allure of the job, he says, come from the never-ending series of hurdles facing the school. In the '70s, the U.S. Education Department's Office of Civil Rights, looking to desegregate colleges, considered merging NSU and Old Dominion. But Wilson helped stave that off.
These days, there are state budget cuts and challenges to affirmative action.
Wilson, in his mid-60s, won't talk about retirement - though he says he doubts he'll be giving the graduation speech 10 years from now.
Last week, he spoke about his tenure with staff writer Philip Walzer. Below are excerpts.
Q. Twenty years ago, did you still expect to be here in 1995?
A. Oh no. I hadn't thought about how long I'd be here. From working with several presidents, I knew that five or six years was usually the maximum.
Q. Why have you stayed?
A. It was so doggone exciting. Every time we solved one problem, we had five more. And you found yourself anxious to come because of all the stuff you had to do. We were in the developmental stage of the university. It was an interesting time in Virginia.
Q. What do you think have been the biggest problems you've faced in the last 20 years?
A. One of the top ones was the OCR (Office of Civil Rights) problem because that, to me, was the future of this university and of higher education in Hampton Roads. What they were saying was that we had a segregated situation with the white schools, as well as the black. Fortunately, they brought in a new president of Old Dominion, Al Rollins. It just so happened we were a great team. We trusted each other. We argued, behind closed doors . . . he's a Vermonter, and you know how those Vermonters are. But we respected each other.
Q. What's been your biggest disappointment?
A. The biggest disappointment was the (budget) cuts that we've had. We're a young institution. When you're developing and you have cuts, it keeps you at a certain level, and you're not able to develop to your maximum.
Q. What specifically haven't you been able to do?
A. There were certain (doctoral) science programs we wanted to have because we knew we're not producing the minorities. When you think of the country (annually) producing one Ph.D. in computer science and maybe three in math - there's a whole segment of the population of the country that has skills that the country's not benefiting from. And if they don't have an opportunity to develop that talent, the country loses, the state loses.
Q. Let me switch to the future. As you said, there have been budget cuts. On top of that, big enrollment increases are expected for the next decade. How can universities afford to improve the quality of education or stay even?
A. Well, that's quite a dichotomy when you talk about less money and more people. All the presidents have tried to explain this. Right now, it's not popular to talk about not being able to do something, but it's something that Norfolk State has had to do - it's had to do more with less by managing, by being careful how we spend our money. We've kept our tuition very low, the lowest in the state.
We were cut 22 percent during the Wilder administration, and we're suffering. That means teachers have to work harder. That's why I interview every teacher to find out if they're attuned to what we do here. ``Are you interested in teaching kids who need a lot of work? Would you be willing to teach an extra course if the finances got to the point where we had to do it?'' If they say yes, I remember them and I hold them to it.
Q. Do you think in retrospect there's anything you could have done in Richmond or with private fund-raising to be in a better financial position?
A. I don't think we could have done anything in Richmond that we haven't done. We tried everything imaginable.
Q. What about the private world?
A. Well, there's a pot of money out there. Big individuals give to what they want to give to. If they went to U.Va., that's where they give. You can't blame them. With corporations, you've got everybody going after the same bucks. And again, the big get bigger and the smaller have to suffer.
Now with Norfolk State, our alumni are young. They have bills to pay, they have children to raise, and they haven't gotten to the point where you have millionaires. We're doing a good job with the federal government, we're doing a better job with foundations, but again, we're competing with everybody.
Q. What differences do you think we'll see in Norfolk State 20 years from now?
A. I could tell you what I'd like to see. I think you'll see us teaching the Ph.D.s in the tough areas, the scientific areas, because our country is going to need them. A lot of people don't see that yet. But they're going to need these kids who have the special talent.
What Norfolk State will be like depends upon the political arena. Right now, we have a whole wave of leaders who aren't interested in the social aspects of America; they're interested in put-'em-away-and-lock-em-up-and-keep-them-there-forever. It reminds you of Germany in the 1930s. In order to come to power, they had to have an enemy, so they picked the Jews. You have something similar to that in this country right now. It's not the same way, but they're against certain people. Twenty years from now, we'll still be battling the same fight that we have now, and hopefully we'll have enough leaders out there who can battle like I have.
Q. Affirmative action is one of the hottest topics in the country now. Most of the talk, as far as higher education goes, centers on predominantly white schools. But if opponents succeed in limiting affirmative action, how would that affect historically black colleges?
A. You'd get more blacks coming to the black colleges. But the idea is, we fought so that our kids could go to any school. We want the right for a kid to go to Old Dominion, to go to William and Mary, and have that opportunity.
Kids have always gotten breaks because of who their families were, the kind of money they had. Like the Kennedys. They got into Harvard not because they were good students, but because of who their parents were, the money they had. So that's OK. But when you start talking about poor people getting a break, they don't want to do that. They want to keep poor people out.
If we let it happen to African Americans and Hispanics, it's going to go up to Jewish people, to other groups who are not popular. You have these damn crazy people who say America's ours, we don't want you here - crap that Hitler said. So it's a dangerous mood, and we have to be careful.
Q. You're at the age where a lot of people might decide to retire, take it easy, but you don't show any signs of slowing down. How come?
A. It's like my staying here. Every damn time I say, ``Well, OK, I'm going to get this L. Douglas Wilder (arts) building up and the athletic facilities up, and then, that's it for me.'' But then we get something from Richmond that I think threatens the future of not just Norfolk State, of people. I say, ``Jeez, I've got to battle that.''
I'll come home and tell my wife, ``Honey, how the hell am I going to retire? They're getting ready to do this now.'' She says, ``Well, let somebody else do it.'' I say, ``OK, all right.'' Then I'll wake up the next morning rested, come over here and I'm ready to go again. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Richard L. DUNSTON/Staff
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY by CNB