Jeanene Harris On .... Professor Wyatt and Great Teachers

“Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.” These are the famous words of William Shakespeare.

While attending college, I learned their true meaning from a most treasured teacher. During my four-year matriculation, I had the opportunity to study with a professor named Dr. Bryant N. Wyatt. Through Professor Wyatt’s passion for teaching and brilliant instruction, I experienced the heavenly joy one can encounter when studying languages and literature in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Virginia State University (VSU). 

The late Professor Wyatt taught me that confidence and motivation can lead to great things. He offered lessons of value and had a responsive teaching style when it came to class queries. He frequently prompted me to recite The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. My recitations were also encouraged by my classmates (who constantly deferred to me to avoid giving their own oral recitations). I graciously accepted. While pursuing my undergraduate degree, I gained more confidence in my literary writing, oral presentations, and knowledge of the great American writers—Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Updike, Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and others. In Dr. Wyatt’s class, with his direction and wisdom, I developed an appreciation for several literary giants and a genuine love of English literature and writing. 

Dr. Wyatt taught at VSU for 29 years. Upon his retirement from the university, he was profiled as an educator and writer in the 60th Diamond Edition of Who’s Who in America (2006). He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia State College, Master of Arts degree from Boston University, and doctorate from the University of Virginia. In addition to serving as a captain in the United States Army, Dr. Wyatt belonged to a number of membership organizations, including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, The American Legion, The National Society of Scabbard and Blade, and the Kappa Delta Pi and Sigma Tau Delta honor societies. He was also a writer whose stories, poems, and critical articles were published in a variety of literary publications.

Great teachers have the ability to change lives. This column is an ode to Professor Wyatt for helping me to perfect my command of the English language. Professor Wyatt, thank you for setting me up for success and pushing me to follow my dreams and move forward to a fruitful career in journalism, writing, and communications.