Joining a local VSUAA chapter allows you to enhance Virginia State University's public image on the local level. Click on the link below to connect you to your preferred chapter of interest.
VSUAA/Helen V. Games Endowment
The VSUAA/Helen V. Games Endowment was established in 2008 with a $125,000 gift to the Virginia State University Foundation from the proceeds gifted to the Virginia State University Alumni Association as a bequest from the Helen Virginia (Mosley) Games estate. Mrs. Games graduated from Virginia State College in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics.
This Fund is used to attract and provide financial awards to students who are enrolled and/or matriculating at Virginia State University. The amount and number of awards are determined each year from the annual income earned off the principal.
Awards from the Fund are based on the following conditions:
- Awards shall be made in the name of VSUAA/ Helen V. Games Endowed Scholarship Fund;
- Recipient(s) shall have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 on a 4.00 collegiate scale;
- Recipient(s) shall demonstrate the strongest financial need, and best exemplifies the qualities of leadership and community service;
- Virginia State University's Scholarship Committee shall select the recipient without regard to academic major; and the
- Award is renewable as long as the recipient maintains a 3.0 GPA.
Learn More About Ms. Helen Virginia (Mosley) Games
Mrs. Helen V. Games was born on May 26, 1916, and received her earliest education at Union Public School, near Frederica. She attended Delaware State College High School Division as a boarding student, living on campus. She was a secondary education student in the Home Economics Department at Delaware State College before transferring to Virginia State College, where she graduated in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics. Mrs. Games also attended the University of Delaware summer school where she became certified as an elementary education teacher.
Mrs. Games worked in several capacities during her tenure. She was a secondary education teacher of Home Economics at Milford School 3C; a social worker for the Department of Social Services in Sussex County, VA; a government employee of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Philadelphia, PA, and a first-grade teacher at Millsboro School 204C in Millsboro. After integration, Mrs. Games worked as a first-grade teacher at Lake Forest Elementary School in Frederica. Mrs. Games remained close to many of her former students and felt very proud of the accomplishments they have made.
Mrs. Games enjoyed gardening, sewing, and "just puttering around," as she called it. She also spent many vacations traveling, visiting Europe, the Caribbean Islands, West Africa, Brazil, and many other places around the world. As a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she worked diligently during the 1950s to obtain a charter from the sorority's national headquarters for a chapter at Delaware State College, now Delaware State University. Mrs. Games was a member of John Wesley United Church, where she was a mother of the church. She was also a member of the Mothers and Sisters Circle and was an active member of the Council of Negro Women and the Nanticoke Indian Association. Mrs. Games passed away after a brief illness on April 18, 2006, in Harrison Nursing Center in Georgetown, Delaware. She was 89.
In 2008, the Virginia State University Alumni Association was honored to receive a total gift of $207,000 from the estate of Helen Virginia (Mosley) Games, a proud and loyal daughter of orange and blue, to help the Association continue its tradition of service while working to increase its benevolent support for alumni and students of Virginia State University.
This gift marked the largest bequest received by the Association in its 118-year history!
VSUAA/Alfred W. Harris Tuition Assistance Fund
The VSUAA/Alfred W. Harris Tuition Assistance Fund was established in 2008 with a $10,000 gift to the Virginia State University Foundation by the Virginia State University Alumni Association. Awards from this fund are used to immediately help offset tuition costs for the 95% of students who require financial aid to attend our beloved alma mater. Named in honor of VSU's Founder, Delegate Alfred W. Harris, this fund celebrates his legacy and continues his vision of a school "where all....may go and drink from the fountain of knowledge until their ambition is satisfied."
Awards from the Fund are based on the following conditions:
- Awards shall be made in the name of Alfred W. Harris/VSUAA Tuition Assistance Fund;
- Awards are provided for tuition, room, and board, and comprehensive and miscellaneous fees;
- Recipient(s) shall have a grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 on a 4.00 collegiate scale;
- Recipient(s) shall be selected by the Virginia State University Foundation's Scholarship Committee and will be based on financial need; and the
- Awards are renewable as long as the recipient maintains the specified 2.0 GPA.
Learn More About Delegate Alfred William Harris
Alfred William Harris was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1854, the son of Henry Harris and Jemima Mazingo. He was a member of the very large family of Harrises in the counties of Fairfax and Prince William. They were free in these counties as early as the year 1776.
Harris attended public schools in Alexandria, Virginia. He studied law privately in the office of an African American lawyer, George W. Mitchell, and finally enrolled in the law department of Howard University, where he graduated in 1881. He moved to Petersburg, Virginia in the 1870s. Here he became involved in local politics and began his practice of law.
He was very active in several civic and social organizations in and around the city of Petersburg. In 1881, Harris was elected to the House of Delegates representing Dinwiddie County. He served in the house until 1888. In 1882, Delegate Harris persuaded the Virginia General Assembly to establish an institution of higher learning for Virginia's African-Americans.
Harris envisioned a school with strong black leadership that would give newly-freed slaves and their children the knowledge to become full participants in democracy. Virginia State University was founded on March 6, 1882, when the legislature passed a bill to charter the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. Upon its passage in the General Assembly, 33 acres of the former Fleets Plantation in Ettrick became chartered as the Virginia State Normal and Collegiate Institute. However, a hostile lawsuit delayed opening day for nineteen months, until October 1, 1883. Delegate Harris served as the first secretary of the board of visitors for Virginia State University and was later Principal of the John A. Dix School in Dinwiddie.
