Bluefield, WV (WOAY) – U.S. Sen. Jim Justice visited Bluefield State University, one of only two historically Black universities in West Virginia, to promote two bills in Congress he says would strengthen the school.
The two measures are the HBCU Arts Act and the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act. Justice introduced the Arts Act, which would make federal grant dollars available for arts and cultural programs at schools such as Bluefield State. He is a co-sponsor of the IGNITE Act, which would pay for campus construction and infrastructure.
Justice said the state needs to stand behind the university.
“It could absolutely change many, many, many aspects of our footprint. Bluefield State, in my opinion, is a wonderful, wonderful school. And we’ve got to back it. We got to support, we got to step up. And this is bipartisan as bipartisan could be. And I think we’ve got a real shot at getting it done,” Justice said.
His push traces back years, to a time when he believed West Virginia was close to losing its arts and culture, and he said he refused to let that happen.
“I felt like really and truly, when you lose your soul, when you lose your identity of who you are, then there’s not much left. And so as far as I’m concerned, we should expand the arts here. They’re a tremendous economic driver,” Justice said.
For Justice, the effort comes down to keeping that culture alive and making sure everyone gets a fair chance to pursue it.
“A lot of times, folks that should have gotten their fair share of the meat and potatoes at the dinner table got a lot of crumbs. And so I think somebody has got to stand up … So, I’m all in to try to help,” Justice said.
