Leroy Willis and President John T. Casteen III Photo by Dan Addison
University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III honored 1962 U.Va. graduate Amos Leroy “Roy” Willis with a plaque at 43 West Lawn on Tuesday, recognizing him as the first African-American graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences, the first African-American student to live on the Lawn and a pioneer for racial equality.
The ceremonies in the Colonnade Club at Pavilion VII included addresses from both Maurice Apprey, dean of the Office of African-American Affairs, and Casteen, who gave a short introduction to Willis and his lifelong achievements.
“You will find very few plaques around Grounds,” Casteen said. “They are reserved for the most extraordinary people and extraordinary things.”
Willis, currently the CEO of Roy Willis and Associates Inc., a California-based real estate development consulting firm, graduated in 1962 with a B.S. in chemistry after transferring from Norfolk State College in 1959. He originally gained admission to the University through the School of Engineering and Applied Science with the intent to earn a degree in chemical engineering. but quickly realized his passion lay elsewhere.
Comments
Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say, “first free African American to live on the Lawn”? Many of the early students had personal “body servants” who lived on the lawn, also; and while there may be little attention paid to them, I am sure that some of them learned more as “hidden students” than many of us might realize.
There was more than one black student in the E school when I was a student 1957-61. A room on The Lawn was highly prize and the application process was highly competative.
Lawn resident
Engineering class of ‘61
I am glad to see the University take this small step to make up for the obnoxious racism I remember from my student days there.
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