A good 50 years of Horace and Geraldine Belmears 65-year marriage were spent in one form or another at West Virginia University, where the couple served as a both a beacon and compass to generations of African-American students.

On Thursday, Aug. 25, WVU s Center for Black Culture and Research (CBC&R) will mark the beginning of the fall semester with a reception to welcome that segment of the student population and to commemorate the couples legacy to the University.

The 2005 Belmear reception will be at 6 p.m. in the Gold and Blue Ballrooms of the Evansdale Towers Complex. The reception for the past two years had been combined with an annualwelcome backbarbeque at CBC &Rbut organizers this year wanted to return to the original format, as a way, in part, to honor the memory of Geraldine Belmear, who died last May at 87.

The Belmears gave of themselves for so many years,said Phoenicia Keffer, a CBC &R program coordinator and program advisor who is helping organize the reception.They shared their time and their wisdom to ensure that our African-American students couldand wouldachieve their goals.

The CBC &R helps that happen with a full range of mentoring services, including its renowned Personalized Academic Support programPASSkey,for shortwhich has been a hallmark of the center for the past several years, Keffer said.

PASSkey brings together both faculty and students who volunteer as mentors and tutors, Keffer said, and representatives from both camps will be there to talk about it during the reception.

The program couldnt be more vital for first-year students,Keffer said.

Making learning and college life accessible to students, in turn, was vital to the Belmears, Keffer said.

And both, she said, built a productive history at WVU based on that tireless commitment to service.

Geraldine Belmear is a WVU alumna who officially joined the University in 1971 as an advisor to black students after a successful career with the State Cooperative Extension Service, where she was the first black woman in the country to head a county homemaker program.

She went to serve as assistant dean for minority affairs and assistant coordinator of minority affairs until her retirement in 1987.

Horace Belmear retired from WVU in 1993 after stints as assistant dean of Admissions and Records and undergraduate minority recruiter. He also holds a graduate degree from the University.

The reception, Keffer said, is a way the WVU and Morgantown communities can learn about academic programs while honoring a couple who had a positive impact on generations of young people.

Im sorry that our incoming freshmen wont have the joy of knowing Mrs.

Belmear,Keffer said,but Horace and Geraldine will always be the biggest part of who we are at the center. Around here, all you have to say is, �€~the Belmears,and everybody knows exactly who youre talking about.

The barbeque, meanwhile, will be from noon-3 p.m. Sept. 1 at the CBC &R building, 590 Spruce St., Morgantown.