Bluefield State University (Bluefield State) is a university in Bluefield, West Virginia that is an historically black university. It is a part of West Virginia's public education system and converted to a university in the summer of 2022. It added residential housing options that include double or single rooms with full meal plans. Bluefield State University is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History The Bluefield Colored Institute was founded in 1895 as a "high graded school" for African-American youth in the nearby area; at that time, the West Virginia Constitution prohibited "racial" integration in publicly supported schools, and until 1891, when West Virginia Colored Institute was founded, there was no education at the college level for African Americans in West Virginia (except at the private Storer College). It was located on a site in Bluefield, a city within 100 miles of 70% of West Virginia's Black citizens. The school began with 40 pupils under the supervision of Principal Hamilton Hatter. Nathan Cook Brackett, an abolitionist who led Storer College, served as president of the Board of Regents. Hatter oversaw the construction of Mahood Hall, the administrative building, as well as Lewis Hall and West Hall dormitories. Hatter built the foundation of the college. He faced enormous challenges, running the institution with no legislative appropriations whatsoever for two years. In the late 1920s, the students and staff of the school referred to it as "Bluefield Institute", but this name was never sanctioned by the West Virginia legislature. In 1906, Hatter handed the reins of leadership at BCI to Robert P. Sims, a graduate of Hillsdale College, who would lead Bluefield State for three decades. Sims showed dedication, commitment, and prudent management in his lengthy tenure at Bluefield State. In 1909, Sims established Bluefield as a normal school, training teachers. Enrollment climbed to 235 by 1920, with annual summer sessions for teacher certification attracting hundreds more. The college prospered, expanding to 23 acres, adding Payne Hall and colonnaded Conley Hall, faculty residences, and the stately President's House. Enrollment soon exceeded six hundred, many of whom lived on the close-knit campus, termed the "terraced hills" for its verdant landscaping. Grateful graduates created the Alumni Association to rekindle collegiate memories and support programs of the institution. Bluefield students achieved notable distinction in a wide variety of fields. Sims and his successor, academic dean and BCI alumnus Henry Dickason, president from