Honoring the Legacy of Our Founder, Alfred William Harris T he Honorable Alfred William Harris (1854-1920) descended from a large family that lived in Fairfax and Prince William Counties in Virginia. He was born in Fairfax County and attended Alexandria Public Schools. In the late 1870s, he attended Howard University Law School studying law under George Mitchell, a notable African-American attorney. Delegate Harris was an attorney with offices in Petersburg, Virginia. He lived in and represented Dinwiddie County in the General Assembly from 1881 to 1888. He was regarded as the ablest among the more than one dozen African-American legislators in the General Assembly. Delegate Harris introduced the bill, which created the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute on March 6, 1882, and encouraged its passage through the legislature. His eloquent arguments helped maintain clauses in the charter act providing that blacks should govern the college and a black faculty would be hired to teach a curriculum that would be broadly liberal arts in nature. His dream was that the institution would go beyond the usual teacher-training focus of a “normal institute” to provide a rigorous classical education for those students with the ability and ambition to pursue careers in various professions. Delegate Harris was appointed by the governor to a seat on the first board of visitors of the new school and he served as the board’s secretary. “Where all may go and drink from the fountain of knowledge until their ambition is satiated.” - Delegate Alfred W. Harris, Founder VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY Founder’s Day Convocation CELEBRATING 144 YEARS OF GREATER AT VSU Thursday, March 19, 2026 • 10:00 a.m. Virginia State University • Multipurpose Center