David Miller, Co-Publisher, Our Weekly, Elected Chairman of the Board Of Voorhees College, a Historical Black College and University

David Miller

By Gloria Zuurveen
Editor-in-Chief

LOS ANGELES—David Miller, a recent PACE Glory Awards recipient, light, fueled by his mighty good works, is shining so bright so much that he was elected Chairman of the Board of Voorhees College, a distinguished Historical Black College and University (HBCU) where he started in 1980 until he walked with degree in hand, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1984.

David said he is overjoyed at the honor and he said he is so grateful that his slate of board members were also elected to help him move the college through steady waters in times like these with a pandemic and political uncertainties as he was elected just short of one week before one of the most race- sensitive presidential election since John F. Kennedy during the Civil Rights Era.

But David is up for the challenge as he has taken, along with his co-partner, Natalie Cole, Our Weekly, one of Los Angeles preeminent newspaper, from its founding to where it is today. He is the consummate businessman with style and flair for taking care of business and Voorhees will, I believe, under David’s tutelage, reach higher heights and accomplish its mission which David said is to make Voorhees viable within the small rural town of Denmark, South Carolina to help all to Begin, Believe and to Become just as the motto says.

Linda Flowers McCullough class of ’75 and President of Voorhees National Alumni Association was elated to speak about David’s election to become Voorhees’ new Chairman of the Board. She said, “It brings me great joy and he will be dedicated because he is about getting the job done.” “He is trustworthy, dedicated, responsible and well deserving he and his family.”

Because it was education that gave David his way up and out to receive, achieve and believe that nothing is impossible when you have a team to share your dream. Voorhees is David’s team and he never let go of all the benefits he received. He works diligently with focus to give back to his alma mater keeping the spirit of its founder, Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, who at 23 was just a little older than today’s students at Voorhees.

David has been giving back and before his newly elected position of Chairman of the Board, he was the National Alumni Association President for recruitment where he was consistently encouraging and motivating students to begin, believe and to become just as he, like Ms. Wright, Voorhees’ founder before him.

As a HBCU, Voorhees is not as well known as a Morehouse, Spellman or even Tuskegee where Voorhees’ founder, Ms. Wright attended, but McCullough said under David’s leadership she looks forward to Voorhees moving into greater recognition.

Second Vice President, Marvetta Meggett-Smalls class of ’81 said, “I think and I believe that David will be an excellent chair of our trustee board and that he will bring creative and innovative ideas to Voorhees College like the “10 Under 40 Hall of Fame”, a fundraiser, which he was instrumental in bringing as President of Voorhees National Alumni Association.”

Ms. Wright, a protégé of Booker T. Washington and who attended Tuskegee, founded Denmark Industrial School in 1897, modeling it after Tuskegee. New Jersey philanthropist Ralph Voorhees and his wife donated $5,000 to buy the land and build the first building, allowing the school to open in 1902 with Wright as principal. It was the only high school for blacks in the area. In 1924 the American Church Institutes for Negroes, which was part of the Episcopal Church, agreed to support the school. It was the beginning of a long relationship between the school and the church, an  affiliation that continues today.

In 1947, the school became Voorhees School and Junior College. In 1962, it was accredited as four-year Voorhees College. David is a recipient of this accredited HBCU in South Carolina and he has proven that the “3Bs” to Begin, Believe and to Become worked for him and the hundreds of students whose lives have become strong and steady because of David who encouraged them to Begin, Believe and to Become the epitome of success at Voorhees in South Carolina.

David’s light is shining bright, so much so that men see his good works and they are raising him up by God’s providential plan to light the way for others to follow in the his footstep as a committed Black man. Congratulation David. Keep letting your Light shine as Chairman of the Board at Voorhees College in South Carolina and the world.