WSU Tri-Cities Black Student Union honors college’s first Black president

Bob Brawdy

Washington State University’s first Black president, the late Elson S. Floyd was honored last week by the WSU Tri-Cities Black Student Union in the Elson S. Floyd building in Richland.

The event marked the unveiling of Floyd’s portrait and a plaque displayed in the entry hallway in the building named after him on the WSU Tri-Cities campus.

Floyd’s widow, Carmento Floyd, took part in the unveiling ceremony and were joined at the vent by 60 community members.

Floyd, 59, became the 10th president of WSU in 2007 but died of complications from colon cancer in 2015.

He was known across Washington state and beyond for his passion for increasing access and affordability to a higher education.

In 2017, Mark Mansperger, a clinical associate professor of anthropology at WSU Tri-Cities, suggested changing the Richland building’s name to honor the former president’s contributions at both the Tri-City campus and the university as a whole.

The building on the WSU Tri-Cities campus in Richland, previously called the West building, was re-named in honor of the late WSU President Elson Floyd in May 2017.
The building on the WSU Tri-Cities campus in Richland, previously called the West building, was re-named in honor of the late WSU President Elson Floyd in May 2017.

Floyd led efforts in the state Legislature to allow WSU to create a medical school, which now bears his name.

During his tenure, 30 construction projects were finished, including the WSU Tri-Cities’ Wine Science Center.

Current WSU Tri-Cities students wanted to take the recognition one step further and felt Black History Month was the appropriate time to honor him.

WSU Tri-Cities is at 2710 Crimson Way in Richland.

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