What's New?

Catch up on noteworthy information, important events and all of the latest happenings in and around the university community.

CALLING CLASS OF 1977!

The FVSU National Alumni Association is calling the Class of 1977 members. We need to hear from you! Please, contact Phyllis Walker at walkerp@fvsu.edu.

FVSU NAA, Inc. 2022 Homecoming Golf Tournament

Join us for a round of golf this homecoming on Friday, September 30, 2022 at 7:00 AM. This year’s tournament will be played at the Southern Landings Golf Club, 309 Statham Way, Warner Robins, Georgia. The entry fee is $100 per player and $400 per team, which includes green fees, cart, prizes and refreshments. After September 15th, the $100 early bird fee will increase to $125. Check-in is at 7:30 AM and Shotgun Start is 8:30 AM. There’s also sponsorship levels available. For more information, please contact, Mr. James “Butch” Vincent at (703) 371-2272 or email jvincent6807@comcast.net, Kimberly Holmes at (770) 238-9496 or email kimmyholmes30@hotmail.com or Phyllis Walker, (478) 825-2489 or email walkerp@fvsu.edu.

Founders 126 Scholarship Campaign Update & Alumni Giving Announcement

The Founders 126 Scholarship Campaign was launched on January 2021 and continued through December 31, 2021. Many Wildcats, friends and supporters gave generously to this campaign. While we did not quite meet our fundraising goal, thanks to you, we raised $31,202.14.

FVSU STILL Georgia’s #1 Public HBCU 3 Consecutive Years

Fort Valley State University maintains its third consecutive year as Georgia’s No. 1 public Historically Black College and University (HBCU), according to the U.S. News & World Report 2021 Best Colleges rankings.

The annual rankings are provided as a resource tool for prospective college students and their families when seeking a college or university. According to U.S. News & World Report, the rankings include National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities and Regional Colleges and focus on academic excellence, with schools ranked on 15 measures of academic quality.

In addition, FVSU continues to hold a position in the Top 40 HBCUs in the country (No. 38 of 107 HBCUs in America), moving up one spot from No. 39 on last year’s list. Other rankings show that FVSU made the top 25 among all public HBCUs in the nation, landing at No. 24.

GAAHBSU 38th Annual Legislative Virtual Conference

Register for this year’s 38th Annual Legislative Conference of GAAHBSU (Georgia Alumni Association of Historically Black State Universities) on February 7-9, 2023. The event will be VIRTUAL. This year’s theme is “Charting Our Destiny”. Savannah State University National Alumni Association, Inc. is this year’s host. Each session will begin at 7 PM and will last approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. The registration cost for this year’s conference is $30, and the cost of a full page ad is $25. The last day to register is January 31, 2023. For those paying registration and ad by check, please make a check payable to GAAHBSU and mail to Kenneth Dandy, 1200 Regency Center Drive SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30331. To submit your ad, please email it to gaahbsu@gmail.com. In order to be included in the souvenir booklet, ads must be received by January 31, 2023. For more information, please feel free to contact Kenneth Dandy at (404) 290-0538 or kdandy14@gmail.com. We can’t wait to see you again for another successful conference.

The 2023 legislative conference will provide a forum for alumni and current students to dialogue with state legislators, university presidents and other educational leaders. Alumni will be encouraged to address the universities’ common goals, objectives and concerns with the key state leaders. Please join us this year as GAAHBSU continues to encourage the state officials, alumni and students to support the sustainment of Albany State, Fort Valley State and Savannah State Universities.

Congratulations FVSU Alum, Colonel Kelvin McElroy

The Washington DC Metro Area Alumni Chapter is proud to announce the promotion of Colonel Kelvin McElroy to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force—a Fort Valley State University (FVSU) Army ROTC Commissionee and Graduate of the Class of 1994. Kelvin was promoted to Brigadier General on September 22nd in an illustrious ceremony held on Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The ceremony also included his wife, Maria’s promotion to the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Brigadier General McElroy hails from Macon, Georgia. He and Maria are proud parents of two young adults, Kelsi (20) and Kelijah (19).

This remarkable accomplishment is worthy of the highest recognition among our FVSU National Alumni Association, Inc. and the entire Wildcat Nation! FVSU President, Dr. Paul Jones was also able to attend this momentous occasion during his trip to the Washington D.C. area.

Kelvin is only the second FVSU alum to attain the rank of General Officer in any United States Armed Services. The first FVSU alum to achieve the rank of General Officer is Major General (Retired) Jerome Johnson, who did so while serving in the U.S. Army. Kelvin started his military career by serving four years as an Army officer before transitioning to the U.S. Air Force to further chart his path to "stardom" as an Air Force Reserve Officer.

Brigadier General McElroy, we salute you, Sir, and your family on this shared accomplishment that undoubtedly required sacrifice from the entire family. We wish you and Maria continued success and the strength and wisdom to lead in your respective spheres of influence.

Again, congratulations and God Bless!

Terry Love,
President, FVSU NAA Washington DC Metro Area Alumni Chapter

From the Desk of the President-Elect

Greetings Wildcats,

Please allow me this moment to again express my appreciation for your vote of confidence during the 27th Biennial Conference of the Fort Valley State University National Alumni Association, Inc. I am thankful for the wise counsel that has been offered and the pledges of support for the “Advancing Alumni Engagement” platform. I am grateful for the well-wishes I have received including in person chats, phone calls, notes via email, texts, etc.

I am reminded of the African Proverb which says “if you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together.” With that in mind, I have not made any decisions or announcements thus far regarding offices and committees. It is important for me as a leader to work collaboratively with the officers-elect to discuss options and assemble a high impact, cross generational team that possesses like skills and talents to do the work of this organization. A Committee Call to Service will be released following Homecoming and we hope to have the full board of directors assembled by the end of October.

While the officers have been in the planning phases for 2023-2025, it is important to note that our term begins on January 1, 2023. Until such time, we will respect the current leadership and plans already in place until we take office. I will provide an operational plan to the association in January. For your information, President Boston and I began transition talks on July 16, at the conclusion of the Hunt-Bond-Troup/Hall of Fame Banquet as I assisted him with the portrait displays of our recent inductees.

I look forward to seeing you at the Alumni Homecoming Business Meeting and other activities as we celebrate “Homecoming in the Valley: Part II—The Return”.

In Wildcat Spirit,

Ashley T. Ballard ‘99 & ‘01