University's Wilder Library Is Still on the Drawing Board
Shortly after L. Douglas Wilder was elected governor of Virginia in November 1989, his alma mater, Virginia Union University, announced that it would name its new $6.5 million library after him.</br></br>Appearing at a ceremony on the campus in Richmond, Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, said he was "humbled and flattered by this gesture . . . . But for Virginia Union, I would not be here today." Wilder graduated from the small, historically black Baptist college with a degree in chemistry in 1951.</br></br>Ground was to be broken in 1990, and occupancy was set for 1991. But now, nearly three years later, the site of the L. Douglas Wilder Learning Resource Center remains an open field.</br></br>Building the library remains "the number one priority of the university," said Anthony E. Manning, the school's vice president for development.</br></br>But because of the slowdown in the economy, the school "changed focus" and shifted resources into additional scholarships. "We raised $3 million for extra financial aid," Manning said.