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

On Thursday (Aug. 23), WVU s Center for Black Culture will mark the beginning of the fall semester with a reception to welcome that segment of the student population while commemorating the couples legacy to the University.

The 2007 Belmear reception will be at 6 p.m. in the Gold and Blue Ballrooms of the Evansdale Residential Complex. The reception in recent years had been combined with an annualwelcome backbarbecue at the centerbut organizers opted to return to the original format following the death of Geraldine Belmear three years ago.

Todd McFadden, the centers associate director, says the day will honor a memorywhile restating a mission.

The Belmears gave of themselves for so many years,McFadden said.They shared their time and their wisdom to ensure that our African-American students couldand wouldachieve their goals.

And the center helps that happen with a full range of mentoring services, including its renowned Personalized Academic Support programPASSkey,for shortwhich has been its hallmark for the past several years, he 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, McFadden said.

And both, he 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 adviser 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 on to serve as assistant dean for minority affairs and assistant coordinator of minority affairs until her retirement in 1987. She died in 2004.

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. Last year, he received WVU s Neil S. Bucklew Award for Social Justice, which is one of the highest awards for student service the University bestows.

The reception, McFadden 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,McFadden 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 barbecue, meanwhile, will be from noon-3 p.m.Thursday, Aug. 30, at the center, 590 Spruce St., Morgantown.