College of the Virgin Islands

Highlights of Twenty-two Years of Development

More than 50 years ago the Virgin Islands Legislature passed legislation which established the College of the Virgin Islands. Virgin Islands Governor Ralph M. Paiewonsky had made the establishment of the College one of the major pledges in his inaugural address the previous year and in July of 1963, the institution opened its doors on St. Thomas to 45 full-time and 283 part-time students. In 1964, a part-time academic program began on St. Croix and the Caribbean Research Institute was founded.

In the early years, classrooms consisted of converted Navy barracks on the St. Thomas campus and an old plantation house on St. Croix. Only the two-year associate in arts degree was offered.

As the years passed, the College of the Virgin Islands grew. On St. Thomas, residence halls were constructed. The Ralph M. Paiewonsky Library was dedicated in 1969. New academic buildings followed. The College phased in baccalaureate degree programs and, in 1971, the College was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools on its first attempt.

Two important events occurred in 1972: an Act of Congress designated the College as a Land-Grant institution and full-time academic programs were initiated on the St. Croix campus. A master’s degree program was instituted on both the St. Croix and St. Thomas campuses the following year and in 1975, the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning was opened on the St. Croix campus.

In 1978, the Reichhold Center for the Arts on the St. Thomas campus presented its first season of performances. The Reichhold Center has since established itself as a “showcase” in the Caribbean because of its natural beauty and the cultural enrichment it has brought to the community.

In 1981, Dr. Arthur A. Richards, formerly CVI Provost and Dean and later Vice President/Provost, was inaugurated as the second President of the College. He succeeded Dr. Lawrence Wanlass, who guided the institution through its 17 initial formative years.

In twenty-two years, the College of the Virgin Islands grew to nearly 3,000 students, 81 faculty, 28 administrators, and 299

In addition to continuing its mission of education, community services and research for the benefit of the community, the staff. There were 800 full-time students – 606 on St. Thomas

and 204 on St. Croix. Part-time and graduate students number 1,249 on the St. Thomas campus and 805 on the St. Croix campus. Twenty-eight degree programs were offered, not including preparation for secondary education certification and transfer programs in medical technology and engineering. Additionally, there were approximately 130 part-time instructors who taught mainly in the Continuing Education program during the evening hours.

College was actively engaged in planning for the establishment of an Eastern Caribbean Center for educational, technical, cultural and scientific interchange at the institution.

By 1984, the institution had conferred 1,885 degrees. Most of the recipients can be found on our local communities as practicing attorneys, teachers, nurses, accountants and administrators in both the public and private sectors. It is likely that many of these contributing members of society would not have attained their aspirations had it not been for the foresight of the executive and legislative branches of the Virgin Islands government in the early 1960’s when they supported and endorsed the new College of the Virgin Islands.

Historical Timeline

1961-1962

Enabling legislation, enacted on March 16, 1962, established the College of the Virgin Islands.
First meeting of the Board of Trustees was held in June 1962.

1962-1963

Officers of the Board of Trustees were elected in August 1962. Dr. Melvin H. Evans was chosen as first Chairman. Dr. John A. Wallace was appointed Acting President.
Dr. Lawrence C. Wanlass was chosen by the Board of Trustees as the first president of the college in September 1962.
Bourne Field was identified as site for the Campus, and remodeling of the Tradewinds Hotel and a former Marine Corps barracks was begun in January 1963.
Board of Overseers was formed in March 1963.
The first general catalogue of the College was issued in April 1963.

1963-1964

College was opened with 45 full-time and 283 part-time students.
Caribbean Research Institute was established.

1964-1965

First St. Croix classes started on October 5, 1964.
First Commencement on St. Thomas with Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson as the main speaker.

1965-1966

Nursing and Hotel and Restaurant Management programs were launched.
Bill LaMotta wrote the alma mater for the College entitled “Alma Mater by the Sea.”
College sponsored the first Eastern Caribbean Conservation Conference in conjunction with the American Conservation Association and the Virgin Islands Government; 80 delegates attended.
Policy manuals adopted – Faculty Policy Manual, Student Policy Manual and Staff Policy Manual.

1966-1967

National Park Service gave the College a 20-year permit to establish a marine station at Lameshur Bay within the National Park boundaries on St. John.
Final arrangements were made for the College to take over the administration of the U.S Department of Agriculture’s Extension Service on St. Croix.
The Board of Trustees approval was given for the College to become a founding member of a proposed Association of Caribbean Universities.
The Board of Trustees authorized the president of the College to propose with a proposal to the U.S Office of Education to participate in Title III of the Higher Education Act.

1967-1968

March 16 of each year was designated as Charter Day.
Courses were offered on St. John for the first time; they were held in the late afternoon and evening at the public school.
A Police Science and Administration program was inaugurated.
The College sponsored three academic conferences: “The Family in the Caribbean,” “The Evolving Territorial Status of the Virgin Islands,” and “Aspects of Marine Archaeology in the Eastern Caribbean.”
Community project included a series of workshops and two publications on the Alien Worker and a four-day conference on juvenile delinquency.

1968-1969

CVI began its expansion to a four-year baccalaureate program in September 1968.
The Ralph M. Paiewonsky Library was opened; it established the architectural character of the St. Thomas Campus.
The National League for Nursing accredited the Associate in Arts in Nursing at the College.
The College acquired title to the 127 acres of land at Golden Grove in St. Croix from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; CVI had been using the facility since 1963.
The Ecological Research Station on St. John, operated by the Caribbean Research Institute (CRI), was selected as the headquarters of the TEKTITE “Man in the Sea” project.
CRI established an environment laboratory on St. Croix where work in remote sensing technology was carried on under the auspices of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

1969-1970

New baccalaureate majors in marine science and social welfare services were added to the College’s curriculum.
Edited by James A. Bough and Roy C. Macridis, The Virgin Islands, America’s Caribbean Outpost – The Evolution of Self-Government was published under the auspices of the College.

1970-1971

The College was accredited for a full five years by the Middle States Association.
A new baccalaureate program in business administration was inaugurated, with concentrations in management, accounting and finance.
Brewer’s Bay was dredged and the shoreline resanded; a new road was constructed through the area and extensive landscaping was undertaken.
Etelman Observatory was part of a world-wide astronomy research project to observe and record a bright star being occluded by a satellite of the planet Jupiter.
Reading on the Sociology of the Caribbean, edited by Jerold Heiss, was published.

1971-1972

Two new baccalaureate majors – humanities and black studies – were offered.
Land-grant status was bestowed upon the College by federal legislation; the U.S.D.A. Extension Service became the Cooperative Extension Service (CES) under the CVI land-grant system.
CVI’s Bureau of Public Administration was established to provide basic research support for the Virgin Islands government.
A Water Resources Research Center for the Virgin Islands was established within the organizational framework of the Caribbean Research Institute.

1972-1973

The REAP program was implemented in the fall 1972 semester.
The first full-time freshman class was stated on the St. Croix Campus with 25 students.
Several significant donations were received: the Sugden property on St. Croix; an African art collection; the Etelman property; a grant from the Kresge Foundation.
CRI instituted two series of free public lectures – the David Canegata Memorial Lecture on Public Affairs and the Antonio Jarvis Memorial Lecture on Education.
The Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) was created to seek solutions to local and regional problems through basic and applied research.

1973-1974

A new Master of Arts degree program in education was inaugurated on both the St. Thomas and St. Croix Campuses.
New teacher education and business administration buildings on the St. Thomas Campus were occupied late in the year.
A computer center was established in the new business administration building.
Among Cooperative Extension Service activities, considerable assistance was given to producers of fruits and vegetables and raisers of livestock.
The first annual Caribbean Institute on Alcoholism was held.
CRI held two conferences: “The Culture of Virgin Islanders: Fact or Fantasy?” and “Our Troubled Environment – Can We Save It?”
The Experiment Station published eight feasibility reports on animal and crop production.

1974-1975

A concentration in hotel and restaurant management was inaugurated as part of the baccalaureate program in business administration.
The two-year business management major was added to the offering on the St. Croix Campus.
A full-time associate degree program in science technology was made available on the St. Croix Campus.
A full-time, university parallel (transfer) program was introduced on the St. Croix Campus.
CVI began offering noon-time classes in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States, written by Dr. Isaac Dookhan, was published by the College.
The first Pre-Legislative Conference was conducted by the College.
Commencement exercises were held on the St. Croix Campus for the first time.
Okra – A beloved Virgin, by Darshan S. Padda, was published as Farmers Bulletin No. 1 by the Agricultural Experiment Station.

1975-1976

The College was reaccredited for 10 years by the Middle States Association.
The new Melvin H. Evans Canter for Learning on the St. Croix Campus was completed and occupied.
A Master of Arts degree was conferred for the first time on both campuses.
An associate in arts degree program in music was introduced.
An early admission program was instituted.
A new associate in arts program in banking and finance was begun.
The first issue of the Journal of the College of the Virgin Islands, edited by Dr. Isaac Dookhan, was published.
The Cooperative Extension Service joined the V.I. Department of Agriculture in co-sponsoring the annual V.I. Agricultural and Food Fair on St. Croix.
The Extension Service opened a district office on the St. Thomas Campus.

1976-1977

The Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning on the St. Croix Campus was formally dedicated with a two-day educational convocation; more than 200 educators, faculty, students and community members participated.
In cooperation with the Department of Education, a bilingual education program was inaugurated on the St. Croix Campus.
The Board of Trustees approved a new baccalaureate major in accounting.
V.I. Forestry Research, A Problem Analysis (Agricultural Experiment Station Report No. 9) and Sorghum in the Virgin Islands (Farmer’s Bulletin No. 2) were published by the Agricultural Experiment Station.
More than 450 Virgin Islands government officials participated in 18 career development programs offered by the College’s Bureau of Public Administration.
Microstate Studies, a new periodical from CRI, appeared.
Among its other projects the Agricultural Experiment Station began intensive research on rearing fresh water tilapia fish and assisting with the growth of the Senepol cattle industry.

1977-1978

New master’s degree programs in public administration and businesses administration were instituted on both campuses.
Agricultural Experiment Station Report No. 10, Prospects for Growing Grapes in the Virgin Islands and Agricultural Experiment Station Report No. 11, “History and Development of Senepol Cattle,” by Dr. Harold Hupp were published. AES Technical Bulletins 1 and 2, by agronomist A. M. Conje, covered performance trails of grain and forge sorghum from 1976-1978.
The College hosted the Tenth Annual Conference of the Association of Caribbean Historians.
The marine sciences programs were restructured to become the marine biology program.
CRI conducted a study for the Virgin Islands Budget Office to help determine the energy budget of the Virgin Islands and show how savings would best be affected.
The Cooperative Extension Service conducted public workshops on soils and agricultural chemicals and a training course for pesticide applicators.

1978-1979

The Reichhold Center for the Arts was opened and formally dedicated.
Agricultural courses, leading to an associate in arts degree, were initiated during the spring semester.
Extension Bulletin No. 1, Native Recipes, was published by CES.
Special education, a new concentration in the master’s degree in education, was developed.
A legal assistant certificate program was introduced by the Continuing Education Division.
The Virgin Islands Teacher Corps Projects was launched.
A small district office of the Cooperative Extension Service was opened in Boulon Center, Cruz Bay, St. John.
An Agricultural Development Study for the Virgin Islands was conducted by the Land-Grant prog
rams and six mainland specialists.
The Ariel Melchior Sr. Recent History Center was founded.
A conference on theoretical orientation in creole studies was held on the St. Thomas Campus.
A new chemistry laboratory was opened to be used for advanced experiments and research projects.
A residential Gerontology Institute was held.
Accreditation of the College’s nursing program was affirmed until 1985.

1979-1980

Dr. Arthur A. Richards, a native of St. Croix, was appointed president of the College.
Among several seminars conducted was one for attorneys on the art of trial advocacy, another for College faculty on computers, and a third for professional people on incorporation and its tax advantages.
CRI conducted the 1980 census in the Virgin Islands.
Senior student Richard O. Skerritt, a biology major, was named Rhodes Scholar.
The St. Croix Campus began offering the baccalaureate program in business administration with concentrations in accounting and management, on a fulltime basis.
The first Alumni Homecoming Weekend was celebrated with simultaneous reunions of the 1965, 1970 and 1975 graduating classes.
CRI’s Water Resources Research Center published Waterplan and Citizen’s Handbook: Virgin Islands Water Law. CRI also published Consumer Expenditure Patterns: A Survey of St. Thomas, USVI, 1975-1976, authored by Jerome McElroy and Joseph Caines, and The Inter-Virgin Islands Conference: A study of a Microstate International Organization, written by Norwell Harrigan.
Programs undertaken by the Cooperative Extension Service included dairy herd statistics, solutions to sandfly attacks, citizenship development in young people, and soil enrichment for vegetables.
The first 20 in the popular Gardeners Factsheet series on local gardening were produced for distribution by the Cooperative Extension Service.

1980-1981

The Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a Bachelor of Science program at the College. It also approved three new degree programs: a Bachelor of Science in Nursing; a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education; and a bachelor of arts in vocational education.
Several conferences were held including: “Recent Developments in United States-Offshore Areas Relations;” “The Caribbean: An agenda for the 1980’s;” a combined Theatre Information Exchange and the first International Caribbean Playwrights Conference; a Women Writers’ Symposium; a Caribbean Youth Development conference; and a Conference on West Indian Literature.
The CVI land-grant programs sponsored a U.S Caribbean Linkage Programs involving seven Caribbean nations and six U.S universities.
Extension Bulletin No. 2, Learning About our Virgin Islands Tax System, was published.
The College began offering courses in the late afternoon on the St. Thomas Campus for employees of the Departments of Health and Finance; it also held a series of interrelated management seminars on the St. Croix Campus for employees from the Departments of Health and Social Welfare.
Isaac Dookhan’s European Settlement and Rivalry was published.
Nine Apple II microcomputers were purchased and installed College-wide.
Under sponsorship of the Eastern Caribbean Natural Area Management Program, several studies were conducted, including one on Anguilla aimed at the development of marine resources for fisheries, tourism and recreation, and another for the British Virgin Islands to assist the government in setting up marine parks in protected areas.
AES hosted members of the Southern Regional Beef Breeding Technical Committee (S-10) from 13 southern states.

1981-1982

A major planning effort by the College was undertaken and completed which established broad institutional priorities and scheduled a series of specific objectives to be achieved.
The Board of Trustees approved three new majors: Bachelor of Arts in Caribbean Studies, a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with Physics.
A National Student Exchange Program was inaugurated.
AES Technical Bulletins No. 3, Virgin Islands Tomato, Pepper and Eggplant Variety Trials in 1978-79, and No. 4, Summary of Vegetable Crop Research 1980-81, were published.
A new computerized financial management system for the Business and Financial Affairs Office was implemented.
The College sponsored a public discussion by the U.S. Senators J. Bennett Johnston and Stuart Eizenstat on the topic “Congressional and Presidential Decision Making: Territorial Policy and Political Status.”
The College’s Social Welfare Services program was granted candidacy status for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education.
The college completed the installation of a reverse osmosis water system utilizing existence on the St. Thomas Campus.
Extension directors from 11 southern states, with USDA extension administrator Mary Nell Greenwood, visited CES on St. Croix at their annual meeting.
The community services office offered seminars on basic supervision, ensuring computer security, communication for secretaries, and the potential for computer use by local business. There were mini courses in photography and the study of self.
The Bureau of Public Administration assisted the local government through the provision of managerial training, technical assistance to agencies, research and publication. It also developed an evaluation system for use by the CETA program to measure program effectiveness.
A study was undertaken to assess student academic skills in the local public schools in the areas of mathematics, reading, and English language.
The 1982 meeting of the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP) brought state experiment directors from across the nation to St. Croix for their spring meeting.
A branch office of the Caribbean Research Institute was opened on the St. Croix Campus.
Dr. Darshan S. Padda, director of land-grant programs, was awarded the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award for Agricultural Research by the Government of India, that country’s highest award in agriculture.
A highlight of the animal science program was collaboration with the V.I. Senepol Association and the Brooksville Beef Research Unit in exporting 48 registered Senepol cattle to Florida for the purpose of establishing a purebred research herd there.

1982-1983

Two new Bachelor of Science degree majors were implemented, one in biology and another in chemistry with physics.
The Associate in Arts in Nursing was relocated from the St. Thomas campus to the St. Croix Campus.
The Theatre-Goers Gallery at the Reichhold Center hosted a variety of exhibits of visual artists from the local community.
The Teacher Corps Project sponsored two graduated mini courses on communication disorders: “Communication Disorders and the Special Educator” and “Hearing Disorders in Children.”
The College sponsored two public lectures, one by William W. Boyer on “Self-determination for the U.S Virgin Islands – Myth or Reality?” and another by Senator J. Bennett Johnston on “Development of the U..S Virgin Islands Political System in Relation to the Federal Government.”
The USDA’s highest recognition, the Distinguished Service Award, was presented to land-grant director Darshan S. Padda by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary John R. Block.
The Nursing Division in cooperation with the Continuing Education Division sponsored four mini courses for nurses and allied health professionals.
The music faculty on the St. Thomas campus sponsored the first Solo Music Festival.
CRI completed a study for the V.I. Department of Education on the dropout rate in the local public school system and a preliminary report on “Crime in the Social Matrix of a Ministate: The case of the United states Virgin Islands.”
The Agricultural Experiment Station officially dedicated the aquaculture research facility.
The Cooperative Extension Service formally opened its diagnostic soil testing laboratory on the St. Thomas Campus and its new home economics lab on St. Croix
On St. Croix the Cooperative Extension Service was instrumental in helping to launch the newly organized St. Croix Farmer’s Cooperative Association.
A planning grant was received from the federal government for the establishment of a proposed Eastern Caribbean Center at the College; the Center will serve as a vital agent for education, cultural and technical interchange for the peoples wand governments of the Eastern Caribbean.
Extension Bulletins No. 3, Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service: A Model for Technology Transfer Systems in the Caribbean, and No. 4, Avocado Production and Marketing, were published.

Administration