Monday, April 19, 2010Tuskegee leader hopes successor can fulfill dreamTUSKEGEE -- Benjamin Payton accomplished much during his 28 years as president of Tuskegee University, but there's one thing he didn't do. He hopes his successor will consider helping to make his dream come true.
It's a center to study the life and times of Booker T. Washington, who founded the university in 1881.
"I'd like to see the development of a center that fully explores the works of this remarkable man," Payton said during an interview last week.
The university already has a striking monument to Washington. Built in 1923 -- eight years after his death -- it's called "Lifting the Veil of Ignorance" and is located just inside the main entrance.
Schools throughout the country are named for Washington, who was born a slave in 1856 and ultimately became the most prominent African American in the country.
Payton, who retires June 30, played a key role in establishing multimillion-dollar facilities to study aerospace sciences, bioethics and other technical disciplines, but he didn't have time to seek a center to examine Washington's many educational contributions.
He said he had begun to work on the project and his hope is that the university's new president, who is expected to be named soon, will pick up where he left off.
Payton didn't provide specifics on what such a center might cost, but he indicated that it would be worth every penny if it were ever built.
"I'd like to see a center with a program that will be able to study public policy as expressed in his life and works," Payton said.
Championing the causeIn addition to striving to help black residents denied educational opportunities during slavery, Washington did more than dabble in politics to get his point across.
He became so famous that President Theodore Roosevelt once invited him to the White House to have supper with him.
Payton, a scholar who attended three elite Ivy League universities -- Harvard, Yale and Columbia -- was kept busy throughout his long tenure at Tuskegee University, but he enjoyed studying Washington as he tried to discover what made him tick.
"The man was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal, and the longer I've been here, the more I have come to appreciate those qualities he possessed," Payton said.
One of the things that impressed Payton the most was Washington's modesty as he focused on educational programs as his star continued to rise across the country.
"He was not a guy aiming for celebrity status," Payton said. "His aim was to provide spirit, hope, mechanisms and tools for a people whose lives, spirits and minds had been ravaged and all but destroyed."
Payton said building a school was important to Washington, but he also was dedicated to helping former slaves learn how to cope in a world that was moving into a new century. Washington's concentration on "mind, heart and hands" led to mockery by some black leaders who disagreed with him and his methods.
To help him with his dream, Washington searched for the best teachers he could find. One was George Washington Carver, whose agricultural successes at Tuskegee University made him a legend, too.
"It was Washington's deep conviction that the school he founded, unlike other black schools, would be one that would be used by blacks and one whose vision would be black," Payton said.
Washington's hectic schedule and nationwide trips to find supporters and finances eventually took a toll. He died at the age of 59 on Nov. 14, 1915, and is buried at a campus cemetery.
Someplace to meetAlthough Payton was not able to begin a drive to build a center to study Washington, he did help the school land its crown jewel -- the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center.
Before 1994, the university did not have a central site for meetings and had to schedule them wherever it could find the space and place.
Payton, who had established a good relationship with officials at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich., knew the organization had built several conference centers across the country and felt Tuskegee University would make a nice addition.
Dorothy Hall had been used as a meeting place at the school, but it left lots to be desired -- ranging from the deteriorating condition of the building to heating and cooling systems that did not always work.
It wasn't air conditioned and, during the winter, once the heat was turned on it couldn't always be turned off when needed, Payton said.
The TU president thought that an "invitation" just might convince Kellogg officials to part with a few million dollars to build a conference center on campus.
"I invited them to come here and hold one of their board meetings at the same place where we had to meet," Payton said. "I was certainly surprised when they took me up on it."
The foundation's top officials flew to Alabama for the meeting, and it didn't take them long to see why Payton had invited them. They quickly saw the need for a conference center worthy of a school with a national reputation.
The result was a $17 million state-of-the-art hotel and conference center that turned heads the moment it officially opened in 1994.
Payton said the Kellogg Foundation chipped in about $12 million to cover the majority of the cost.
"It operates like a hotel, but also with a fundamental purpose of being a conference center that uses new technology for educational, business and cultural meetings," Payton said.
What surprised and pleased Payton was the decision by the Kellogg Foundation to have its name on the building.
"That isn't something they normally do, and we were thrilled that they asked to have their name added," Payton said."When they came here to see it they were amazed and asked us how we ever made do with Dorothy Hall."
The best part about the new hotel and conference center, Payton said, is what it has done for student recruiting as well hosting visitors from around the world.
"It's a great selling point for our university," he said.
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