The Expansion of Higher Educational Opportunities in the United States Virgin Islands

Abstract

The search by Blacks on the mainland United States for equal opportunities in higher education in the twentieth century was reflected in a similar movement among the predominantly Black population of the United States Virgin Islands. For the latter, the search climaxed in July 1963 when the College of the Virgin Islands was brought into operation with a class of 45 full-time students studying for associate in arts degrees. The only Englishspeaking American institution of higher education in the West Indies, the College was established at a time of surging economic prosperity and of heightened political consciousness in the Virgin Islands and, in large measure, has benefited from the continuation of both. It was founded by people of vision who saw the need for an institution of higher learning to contribute to the process of development and to the enrichment of life in the Virgin Islands.