NORFOLK, Va. – Former Norfolk State basketball player Donald Culpepper and former NSU Interim president Dr. Melvin Stith are among those who will be enshrined into the Virginia Interscholastic Association Hall of Fame when the 2020 and 2021 classes are inducted next Friday, June 25.
The Virginia Interscholastic Association Hall of Fame is organized as a means of recognizing and preserving the rich heritage and legacy of African American high school sports and activities under the direction of the VIA from 1954-70 and promoting greater appreciation and understanding of the contributions of Blacks to the history of high school sports and activities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Nominees must have exemplified the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct, moral character, and carry the endorsement of their respective high school.
Culpepper, who starred as a basketball player at Dunbar High in Lynchburg, is being inducted as an athlete into the VIA Hall of Fame. Culpepper led Dunbar to the 1966 Group I state basketball championship. Culpepper was selected to the VIA all Western District and all-state basketball teams that year.
After the state championship win in 1966, Dunbar then entered the National Negro High School Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama, where Culpepper earned all-tournament team honors after leading his team to a runner-up finish. He continued his basketball career at Norfolk State from 1967-70. He averaged 15.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as a senior.
Stith, who graduated from Central High School in Sussex County in 1964, is being inducted in the contributor category within the VIA Hall of Fame as an academic administrator. Stith earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from NSU in 1968. He had a lengthy career in academia, including stints at South Florida, Florida A&M, Florida State and Syracuse. He served as Dean of the School of Business at FSU and Dean of the School of Management at Syracuse.
Dr. Stith has served on many boards, including AFLAC and the Keebler Food Company. He was named a top influential black corporate executive by Savoy Magazine in 2016 and 2017. Dr. Stith left retirement in 2017 to serve as interim president of NSU.
Culpepper and Stith are both members of the 2020 induction class. Since last year's induction ceremony was canceled by the pandemic, both the 2020 and 2021 classes will be honored at the virtual ceremony on June 25. Fans can RSVP for the ceremony using
this link, after which they will receive a Zoom link for the ceremony. Former NSU athletics director Marty Miller, himself a VIA Hall of Fame member, will serve as the keynote speaker.
