On Friday, May 11, a multitude of Aggies and others will gather at the N.C. A&T Alumni-Foundation Event Center to pay tribute to Dr. Velma R. Speight-Buford ’53 at a fundraiser and roast that is being planned in her honor.
The event is the brainchild of Julia Books, class of 1943. Shirley Frye ’53, classmate and longtime friend of Speight-Buford’s, is leading the effort.
It couldn’t be an easier sell—calling together support for the woman known as “Miss Aggie Pride,” who puts her money where her mouth is, and can’t get enough of talking up A&T. By the time the planning committee was ready to send out invitations, six tables had already been sold.
An unwavering faith in her alma mater is rooted in her personal history with the school, which began when the Snow Hill, N.C., native was a student. Almost too poor to attend, she received financial assistance along with other support and nurturing. She made friends with those whom she remains close to this day, and developed an unrivaled devotion to paying it forward.
David McElveen, who was class president, knows Speight-Buford well and is raring to roast her.
“I have known her since we were both teenagers. Shirley, Henry (Frye), Velma and I were probably closer than most people on the campus. We are—all four of us—still close friends,” he says. “There have been some times worthy of roast. Seasoned well and rare.”
While there are sure to be many laughs at the event, there likely also will be tears from those overwhelmed by her generosity over the years. Yolanda Briggs, currently a senior at A&T, is one such person. Briggs was introduced over the phone by her friend Dexter Mullins ’11 when she was in the midst of a financial dispute with a housing administrator.
“(Speight-Buford) hadn’t even met me. I explained to her what happened and she went over there and talked to him and the chancellor, and wrote a check out of her own account,” Briggs remembers.
McElveen says that Speight-Buford, who once served as director of alumni affairs and chair of the board of trustees at A&T, is a natural leader who has been a major contributor to the university and to their class.
“She’s kind of the web that keeps us together. ... The class of ’53 has contributed more than any other class in the university’s history. Velma is the cog that makes that wheel go.”
Shirley Frye agrees: “I think her love goes this way: A&T, her daughter and her husband.”
To make a contribution or for tickets and information about the Scholarship Tribute Dinner for Velma Ruth Speight-Buford, contact the North Carolina A&T University Foundation at 336- 433-5560.
