Listen to these words from Wilberforce University’s 2003 Founder Day Convocation:

“Founded in 1856, Wilberforce University can trace its origin to a period of history before the Civil War, when the Ohio Underground Railroad was established as a means of escape for all those Blacks who sought their freedom in the north from the yoke of slavery. One of the destination points of this railroad became Wilberforce University. As the Underground Railroad provided a route from physical bondage, the University was formed to provide an intellectual mecca and refuge from slavery’s first rule: ignorance.”

Wilberforce was named to honor a famous abolitionist, William Wilberforce and is the oldest private, historically black University.