Dr. Flossie Marian Byrd
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (March 30, 2020) – In 1991, Dr. Flossie Marian Byrd had completed 23 years of success as dean of Prairie View A&M University’s College of Home Economics. She was named vice president for Academic Affairs by the then president and PVAMU alumnus, Lt. General (Ret.) Julius Wesley Becton, Jr. By 1993, President Becton realized that most “institutions of the first class” had a provost who shared a broad range of responsibilities with the president. He established the position at PVAMU, and Dr. Byrd became the University’s first provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. She served until both she and President Becton retired in the summer of 1994.
Dr. Byrd’s years as the academic leader of the University could be characterized as a period of rebalancing the institution. Despite PVAMU’s reputation of graduating outstanding alumni, the University faced some issues related to faculty and staff morale and unevenness in academic program quality. Difficult decisions, such as that of temporarily suspending nine of eleven athletic programs, requiring greater academic rigor in academic standards, testing curriculum policies and procedures, demanding enhanced customer service for students, and addressing other critical issues resulted in tensions internally and externally. But Dr. Byrd, known as a teachers’ teacher, knew the greatest needs of faculty and students. When she got the chance, she did not hesitate to use institutional resources, especially Title III funding, to support direly needed instructional equipment, faculty travel, and professional development. It was her vision that resulted in the establishment of the still vibrant and currently expanding Center for Teaching Excellence.
Colleges and universities are entrusted with fulfilling their respective educational missions, in accordance with thoroughly vetted best practices. When there is any divergence that threatens the institution’s capability to fulfill its mission to benefit the students, the public begins to doubt whether the institution deserves continued support in any form, especially in student enrollment, funding, and employment of graduates. Dr. Byrd and President Becton dedicated themselves to establishing clearer policies and operational procedures, ensuring greater efficiency in the management of money and personnel, and increasing the publicity of graduates’ accomplishments. It was President Becton and Provost Byrd who led the University to a stronger, more effective institution that stimulated the continued rise of the public’s confidence in the University.
Challenges to growing high-quality institutions of higher education are not uncommon. But historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have faced limited expectations and under-resourcing from their founding. Never ceasing is the question as to whether they remain relevant in the 21st century. Clearly, there is no doubt that HBCUs contributed substantially to the building of the black middle class. They continue to produce graduates who would likely not have achieved degrees in science, engineering, nursing, architecture, and other areas had they not received the support and nurturing for which HBCUs are known.
Today’s students should know the history of their institutions, particularly the individuals who invested their time, talents, and financial resources to ensure the success of students who go on to make a difference in their profession and the larger community. Pride and honor come from knowing Dr. Byrd was the oldest of 14 siblings in rural Florida, where African Americans faced deep repression and suppression because of race. Remarkable was Dr. Byrd’s determination to succeed, despite her beginnings, and dedicate her life’s work to seeing others from similar backgrounds reach heights that lifted the life chances of generations. Students should look at Dr. Byrd’s life and think that if she can do what she did coming from a large, rural family, they must exceed her accomplishments, because, from the start, opportunities for them may well be less than abundant, but they are vast compared to what Dr. Byrd faced.
In Dr. Byrd’s 2010 book about her family, Echoes of a Quieter Time: Home Folks and Kinfolks Remembered, she credits her success to values instilled in her and her siblings by her parents, Elizabeth and John Byrd. She recalled her parents’ having “…no tolerance for poor workmanship, tardiness, poor posture or substandard English. We had to sit up straight, hold our heads up, respect everyone, complete tasks correctly the first time, and complete our homework every night” (p.185). Dr. Byrd went on to become the first person of any race in Jefferson County, Florida, to earn a Ph.D. Earning the degree from Cornell University in 1963 was a notable accomplishment.
Women achievers do not set out to be achievers. They rise to occasions, dedicate themselves to purposeful goals, make sacrifices to protect, promote, and preserve what they believe and value. Most of all, they are extravagantly generous to humankind. People feel their presence and benefit from their investment. It is not a surprise that Dr. Byrd earned inclusion in Black Women in Texas History, a publication edited by Bruce A. Glasrud and Merline Pitre. In the 1890 land grant world, Dr. Byrd’s name is synonymous with “legend.”
Not only did Dr. Byrd inspire students to achieve at high levels, but she also mentored young faculty and staff members. She was instrumental in paving the way for many women to pursue advanced degrees. She was always in search of opportunities for female faculty to move up in academe, just as she tapped me to join her in academic administration because she believed I could be an asset to the University over the long term. I am indebted to her, for she taught me much about engendering the support of people, finding the strengths in each person, and always being trustworthy as a leader.
Most remarkable was Dr. Byrd’s shaping of her own life. She never sought to pattern her life after others’. Instead, she was guided by her own values. Principally, she held dear her faith, family, friends, colleagues, mentees, travel, fashionable clothing, quiet time reading numerous books, and deep admiration of others’ achievements.
One might say that Dr. Byrd is an exemplar of an ordinary person who achieved extraordinary success all because she knew who she was and whose she was. She was a class act worthy of emulation. Just as she told interviewer Katie Couric of the Today Show that PVAMU “had made its mark,” Dr. Byrd has made her mark, indelibly.
>Dr. Flossie M. Byrd, who served as Prairie View A&M University’s first Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, passed away March 17, 2020. She was 92 years old.
Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith, Ed.D., is provost emerita and a professor of educational leadership at Prairie View A&M University.