HARVEY TO SERVE AS HU'S 134th COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

Hampton, VA - Hampton University welcomes President William R. Harvey as the keynote speaker at the 134th Annual Commencement on Sunday, May 9.

Commencement will be held at Armstrong Stadium at 10 a.m. The Convocation Center and Holland Hall will serve as the rain sites. Reserved press parking will be in the parking lot adjacent to the Student Center and reserved seating in the first row on the right of the stadium.

Harvey is approaching his 27th year in office, the longest running president in HU history. He is currently finishing a sabbatical for the 2003-2004 academic year.

During his tenure, Harvey more than tripled the endowment (now exceeding $185 million), raised the average SAT score by over 300 points, added 76 new academic programs and increased the student population by 45%.

Harvey's achievements were recently recognized by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), being named the Chief Executive Officer of the Year for 2004.

A native of Brewton, Ala., Harvey is also owner of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Houghton, Mich., and has held his current post as president of HU for over 26 years. He earned his doctorate in College Administration from Harvard University in 1972. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as administrative vice president at Tuskegee University; administrative assistant to the President at Fisk University; and as assistant for Governmental Affairs to the Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Harvey has served on the President's National Advisory Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (where he currently serves as the chairman of the Board) the Commission on Presidential Scholars, the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Development Advisory Board. Additionally, Harvey serves as the chairman of the Board of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).