Gospel singer Hezekiah Walker became a student at Virginia Union University two years ago and now he’s about to school the campus on gospel music with his special level of expertise. The Grammy-winning gospel singer is opening a gospel music center on the campus that he’ll lead called the Hezekiah Walker Center of Gospel Music at Virginia Union University, in Richmond, Virginia.
The Center is being recognized as the first academic center focused on gospel music at a historically Black college or university where students can learn the cultural and business aspects of the genre and industry. Walker said the center, which will open in the spring of 2022, will provide a tremendous repository to “house our music.” He also hopes the program will bolster enthusiasm and attract more young people to the gospel genre.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to invite people to come to Virginia Union for gospel music and they can learn about our heritage. When we send our kids to [white] schools, they kind of learn their music. They learn their way of doing gospel. When those kids come back to our churches and come back to our culture, they go ‘We don’t want that.’ We’re losing our kids by the day,” Walker told the Washington Post.
The “Every Praise” singer will work with the school’s administration to curate the center’s curriculum geared to assist aspiring songwriters, instrumentalists, vocalists, producers, managers and publicists in the realm of gospel music. Walker maintains that the center will teach students about gospel music, unlike any other college. Courses will be available to all Virginia Union students. Certification courses related to work in the music industry will also be available to the general public.
Walker was accepted into Virginia Union’s Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology, where he’s currently a second-year student.
