Year round, the Virgin Islands are a popular destination spot for thousands of vacationing tourists from across the world. But amid its sandy beaches and gorgeous palm trees, educational leaders here say that the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) — which is the only university outside the continental United States designated as a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) — has for too long operated under the radar screen.
Even the university’s current president, Dr. David Hall, concedes that not too long ago, he was woefully ignorant about UVI’s storied history until he decided to apply for the presidential post.
“I was not aware that there was an HBCU on the Virgin Islands,” says Hall, who became the fifth president of UVI in 2009. “Part of my goal has been to help the institution become better known nationally.”
And by most accounts, he’s done precisely that.
Although the overall enrollment at UVI has consistently gone down (a challenge that besets most HBCUs), in his four years as the head of the Virgin Islands’ lone college, Hall has improved retention and graduation rates while making it his personal business to introduce and help shepherd Black males through the college experience.
“We were at 25 percent when I arrived, and we’re now at 31 percent,” Hall says of the number of Black men now enrolled at the university, which boasts an overall student population of 2,455 male and female students. “I’m not satisfied with that, but it is an improvement.”
