Dr. Givens leads historic commemoration ceremony
By Meliqueica Meadows
Of the St. Louis American
On Friday, August 26, Harris-Stowe celebrated yet another milestone under the leadership of President Dr. Henry Givens Jr.: its official graduation from a state college to a state university. Ladies and gentleman, please greet the new Harris-Stowe State University.
The change in name and status follows much renovation, expansion and academic progress initiated by Givens, who with his staff and board of regents have transformed a formerly dilapidated stretch of Midtown into a handsome and productive campus that no longer looks out-of-place adjacent to also-blooming Saint Louis University.
The name change was celebrated along with yet another groundbreaking for further expansion of the venerable institution, St. Louis’ only Historically Black College and University. Harris-Stowe is adding a $15-million, 235-bed on-campus residence and student center.
“It’s a great day when we can stand on the western edge of Downtown St. Louis and break ground for the expansion of an institution of higher education, a university, that is a public institution,” said state Representative Robin Wright-Jones.
“That is a milestone for the city of St. Louis as well.”
Wright-Jones, whose brother is a 1944 graduate of Harris-Stowe Teachers College, participated in the ceremony along with other city and state dignitaries and community supporters, including American publisher Donald M. Suggs, a fierce advocate for the school.
“Harris-Stowe remains an inspiration and a blessing for us all and has brought very needed stability to a section of our city that was physically deteriorating,” Suggs said.
This latest change has long been in the works for the historic institution. What is now Harris-Stowe State University began with the establishment of a normal school by the St. Louis Board of Education in 1857. A whites-only institution, Harris Teachers College was named after former St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent and U.S. Commissioner of Education William Torrey Harris.
A second institution, Stowe Teachers College, was developed from another normal school founded by SLPS to educate future black elementary school teachers in 1890. This normal school operated as an extension of Sumner High School and in 1924 became a four-year degree-granting institution. It was later named Stowe Teachers College in honor of writer and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe.
When the two institutions were merged in 1954, the name “Harris Teachers College” was retained. Alumni of the first institution lobbied for the inclusion of the name “Stowe” in the title, and their request was granted. Later “Teachers” was dropped from the name and “Stowe” was added.
In 1979, Harris-Stowe College became a part of the state’s higher-education system because of legislation sponsored by late state Senator J.B. “Jet” Banks. Nearly 30 years later, Harris-Stowe is now a fully recognized state university.
“The predecessor institutions’ transition is now complete,” Givens said at the ceremony.
“First Harris Teachers College, then Stowe Teachers College, followed by Harris-Stowe College moving into the state system and becoming Harris-Stowe State College and finally the ultimate Harris-Stowe State University.”
Givens has been president of Harris-Stowe for 25 years and is widely credited with the tremendous growth and progress of the institution.
“With the support of his board, the faculty, the administration and corporate community in the city and state of Missouri, he has taken this university to a new level,” Mayor Francis Slay said of Givens.
“That new level has been recognized by the state legislature and our governor by granting the name change to Harris-Stowe State University.”
The name change resulted from the passage of Missouri Senate Bill 98, which was signed in March. State Senator Maida Coleman was one of the sponsors of the bill. She worked alongside then-Senator and now Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder to pass the legislation.
“The word ‘university’ means a lot,” Coleman said.
“It means a lot to those students who go to school here and who are the ones searching for a way to make their lives worth something in this world.”
Although Banks did not live to see the name change, his contributions to the institution were not forgotten.
Givens recalled the late senator’s work in 1978 to make Harris-Stowe a part of the state school system and again on the 1993 legislation that expanded the academic offerings of the institution from one degree to twelve. About fifteen years ago, Banks was instrumental in the institution’s efforts to provide on-campus student housing.
Givens said the university’s name “symbolizes the strength, growth and stability of a truly historic institution which has existed and served this community, the state and the nation for more than 147 years. The new title will also serve as a gateway to an institution whose hallmark is a firm commitment to accessibility and affordability for all students. I am so honored to have the opportunity to serve as president of this institution at this time in its great history.”
