Statement to be Read on Behalf of  Dr. Lawrence C. Wanlass, UVI President Emeritus, 
for 
UVI’s  50th Anniversary Video Vignettes to be unveiled during Golden Jubilee Receptions 
on St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix, January 25th, 26, & 27th, 2012 Respectively 
 
 
Greetings to all in attendance at this very historic event. Having dedicated my middle years to 
building the foundation for the College of the Virgin Islands, no one is more pleased than I am to 
participate in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the University of the Virgin Islands. 
 
During this 50th year celebration, I think it is very important to dwell on the University’s theme of 
dealing in futures.  The new goal should be to use the current foundation to continue 
strengthening the University over the next 50 years, and I am sure this will be true of the Virgin 
Islands as well. 
 
During the early years, I received invaluable support from a number of key people deserving of 
my thanks.  Three people first come to mind, the most important being Governor Ralph M. 
Paiewonsky whose understanding of the importance of higher education for the Virgin Islands 
was of great importance.  The second is Jack Wallace who, as interim administrator, preceded 
me and served as a continuing advisor to me for many years.  The third is Louis Shulterbrandt, 
Governor Paiewonsky’s chief assistant. 
 
Other names come to mind.  Dr. Melvin Evans was a very important member of the Board of 
Trustees, later serving as Governor, and for whom the main building on the St. Croix Campus is 
named.  I recall very warmly the contributions of Malcolm Kirwan, Vitalia Wallace, Paul Leary and 
Aimery Caron.  There are other pillars of strength too numerous to list here, but I would like 
especially to include Arthur A. Richards, then Provost and later President, and Jane. E. Tuitt. 
 
From the list of very strong Board of Overseers which we put together during the early years, I 
am thinking of the contributions of people like Wayne Aspinall, Chairman of the United States 
House of Representatives’ Interior Committee; Harry Etelman for whom the house and 
observatory on St. Thomas is named; Herbert Sugden who donated “Sugden House” on St. Croix 
and, of course, Henry Reichhold who gave us the Reichhold Center for the Arts.  They were all 
very supportive in many ways other than financial because they understood our mission to 
support the development of a middle class in the Virgin Islands through the attainment of higher 
education. 
 
I can also speak with warmest appreciation of the presidents who followed me, including the 
current president, Dr. David Hall.  
 
This recognition of the vital support that was received must also include Senator Earle B. Ottley, 
Ariel Melchoir, Sr., as well as many others, but the most important support of all came from my 
wife, Anita, who served as the “wife of the president” with great success. 
 
With these recognitions of contributions in mind, I would finally like to mention what I consider 
to be my own principal achievement----that was the establishment of the University of the Virgin 
Islands as a prestigious Land-Grant University which required an Act of Congress. . As a small and 
relatively unknown institution without senators or voting congressmen, we faced major 
challenges.   Our Land-Grant provisions were made a section of the Higher Education Act of 1972 
which also included Title IX which granted equal standing to women in comparison with men 
within universities accepting federal funding. This committed us even more so to its passage but 
the higher education community was divided with Yale, Princeton and others trying to defeat the 
bill. Understanding this, we created an Ad hoc Committee for the Passage of the Higher 
Education Act and we then, systematically, contacted the presidents of virtually all of the major 
universities in the country. We sent more than 2000 cablegrams from the St. Croix Office of the 
cable company. They, in turn lobbied their representatives in the House and Senate and the bill 
finally passed the House with a small majority and the Senate with a larger majority.  The counsel 
to the sub-committee on higher education, Bill Gaul, later credited the College/University of the 
Virgin Islands with  having played a vital  role in passing the Higher education ofAct of 1972. 
 
Interior Committee Chair, Congressman Wayne Aspinall,  senators Hubert Humphrey  of 
Minnesota,  Henry “Scoop” Jackson of the state of Washington , and Wayne Morris of Oregon,  
were , from the very beginning, supportive our becoming a land-grant  institution as well as  
many others too numerous to name.  This six year effort resulted in the establishment of UVI as 
a Land Grant institution and the infusion, on an annual basis, of many millions of dollars to 
support our research, public service and agricultural programs. Therefore, while we celebrate 
our 50th anniversary,  let us also celebrate  the  40th anniversary  of our designation as a Land 
Grant institution,  reflect on what an amazing accomplishment  this was, and acknowledge 
those local and national leaders who made it happen. 
 
Thank you for affording  me the opportunity to participate in this momentous occasion .  Happy 
50th Anniversary  UVI.  
 
Lawrence C. Wanlass