Dr. Cicero M. Fain, III, is a native of Huntington, WV. He received his B. A. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a M.Ed. from George Mason University. He is the recipient of the Carter G. Woodson Fellowship from Marshall University and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in History from The Ohio State University. His teaching career includes positions at Marshall, Ohio University-Southern, Niagara University, and the College of Southern Maryland. He has authored several articles in peer-reviewed journals, including “Buffalo Soldier, Deserter, Criminal: The Remarkably Complicated Life of Charles Ringo,” in the Ohio Valley Journal, which is his current book project. His first book, “Black Huntington: An Appalachian Story,” published in 2019 by the University of Illinois Press was a finalist for the Appalachian Studies Association Weatherford Award. In 2021 the West Virginia Library Association awarded it the Literary Merit Award. In fall 2022, Black Huntington was chosen as the inaugural book selection for campus-wide reading by Marshall University’s Higher Learning Commission’s Quality Initiative Committee. He was recently appointed as the inaugural Assistant Provost of Inclusive Excellence & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellow at Marshall.

Dr. Andrew Feight is a Professor of American History and the Director of the Center for Public History at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio. He also serves as the Coordinator of the History Major and the Digital Appalachian Studies programs and is the Developer and Editor of Scioto Historical, a public history mobile app and website that explores the history of Portsmouth, Ohio and the surrounding Appalachian region. Professor Feight is a native of Sandy Springs, Georgia; a graduate of Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina; and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, where he specialized in the history of the abolition movement.

Darrell Smith, a co-founder of the C.B. Nuckolls Community Center and Black History Museum, was born and raised in Ashland, Kentucky. A trustee and financial secretary with New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and an avid volunteer at the Highlands Museum & Discovery Center, Darrell has been appointed the first African American to the Board. He is a champion of black history and racial tolerance, and in an effort to stop the erasure of black history in the area, Darrell created the Ashland, Kentucky Black History Facebook page to showcase the efforts and accomplishments of African Americans who have contributed to our collective history and culture.

Dr. Veella R. Grooms has an expansive background working with diverse populations and encouraging success within cross-cultural environments.  After providing counseling and referral services in the mental health field for 12 years, she transitioned to higher education.  Over her 25 years higher education career, she has developed and provide training on intrusive counseling to all of the community and technical colleges throughout the state of West Virginia, and established programs, policies, and practices that are fundamental to the advancement of student success and diversity, equity, and inclusion of racially minoritized students transitioning into college.  She has a demonstrated leadership career in higher education, serving as a Director for Diversity and Inclusion and Title IX Coordinator and Vice President/Dean for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning.  Dr. Grooms has also held faculty appointments, developed curriculum and taught new student seminar courses to support success, and has presented at local and national conferences on various topics, including assessment of prior learning, student retention, and successful intrusive counseling strategies and techniques.  In her current position as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs for Civility Initiatives, Dr. Grooms’ efforts are aimed at increasing opportunities for respectful discourse, enhancing students’ capacity to resolve conflicts and assisting with cultivating a deep sense of self-awareness, intercultural understanding and belonging through dialogue and restorative practices.

In additional to a bachelor’s degree in Counseling & Rehabilitation from Marshall University, Veella also holds a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and a doctorate degree in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Pittsburgh.  Veella’s dissertation and research interests focus on disrupting racially biased ideologies and developing institutional initiatives and strategies that promote engagement and inclusion of racially minorities students attending predominantly white institutions.

Veella is married to Dr. Craig S. Grooms, who is the Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Planning at the University of Pittsburgh.  Veella and Craig have two children, Danielle and Donovan, and a six-year-old granddaughter, Kendel.

Dr. Teresa McKenzie is an Air Force veteran, who served during the Persian Gulf War where she worked on an inpatient psychiatry unit. She currently serves as the accessibility and veterans’ services coordinator and an adjunct faculty member at Ohio University. Dr. McKenzie has worked in higher education for 20 plus years and has spent most of that time working with students from diverse backgrounds. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Western Carolina University, her master’s degree in professional studies and her doctorate in adult education from Capella University and completed a graduate certificate in veterans' health from Ohio University. Dr. McKenzie has co-facilitated conference workshops at the Tri-State Diversity Conference, presented at the Women in the Military Conference at the Hershel "Woody" Williams VA Medical Center and was the keynote speaker for veteran's programs at OHIO Southern, Ashland Community and Technical College, and Collins Career Technical Center.