BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — The president of West Virginia University Institute of Technology will be the keynote speaker at the Raleigh County NAACP Freedom Fund Celebration on Saturday, September 16, 2023.

Dr. Ramon Stuart, a McDowell County native, is the first Black president to lead WVU Tech.

Raleigh County NAACP President Barbara Charles said on Thursday, September 14, 2023, that a goal of the organization is to provide avenues for Beckley youth to attend college and have careers in Beckley after they have graduated high school.

Charles said Dr. Stuart’s position may help all families in Beckley, regardless of race and ethnicity.

“Our colors the red, white and blue. It is the flag of this country. We are Americans,” said Charles. “And we’ve got to stand on, ‘I’m an American,’ It doesn’t matter, what we are, or who we are. It just matters that we are fighting for the red, white and the blue.”

The Freedom Fund Celebration is at the Mountaineer Conference Center at 2120 Harper Road from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tickets are $25.