Carl and the Carolinas: Winston-Salem,
Winston-Salem State University is a historically Black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. WSSU was the second institution visited in the Carl and the Carolina’s HBCU Trek, it is located approximately an hour north of Charlotte, NC and is easily accessible from the interstate. The gorgeous campus of WSSU is beset with new buildings and beautiful landscaping.
There is a healthy mix of historic buildings being renovated to improve accessibility and safety and newer, modern structures on the campus grounds. A statue of the institution’s founder, a skyscraping clock tower, and multiple metal sculptures accent the academic and administrative buildings around the campus. During the campus visit the students were warm and friendly, an admission counselor was extremely helpful and open, the library is adorned with powerful Black murals and great open space for reading and studying, and there were signs of growth and progress in the recent completion of the student center and on-going renovation of the administration buildings.
Considering the recent passing of Maya Angelou, it is special and encouraging to know that the legacy of her powerful words are memorialized on the central clock tower on the Winston-Salem State University campus. Maya Angelou’s words “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with the potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue consistently. Without courage, we cannot be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest, consistently”.
