Catching up with the PVAMU alumni who won the 2020 races for Prairie View Mayor, City Council

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (November 18, 2020) – Earlier this month, Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) alumni swept the 2020 election races in the City of Prairie View, which, of course, is home to “The Hill.” The former PVAMU students received the most amount of votes for the city’s four open positions.

Brian E. Rowland, Ph.D., took home the race for mayor, and Nathan G. Alexander, Wendy M. Williams, and Xanté Isaiah Wallace scored the top spots for City Council Places 3, 4, and 5, respectively.

Rowland gives all the credit to PVAMU for guiding him to victory.

“PVAMU taught me how to use my knowledge and experiences to empower and build partnerships and capacity in people and organizations to promote structural change,” he said. “My mission to apply pressure and be a driving force in the community was created by my desire to facilitate community-driven change and improve as many lives as I can,” said Rowland, who earned a master’s in community and economic development, an MBA, and a doctor of philosophy from PVAMU.

“Dr. Brian Rowland is definitely an example of what PVAMU stands for,” said Rick Baldwin, Ph.D., one of Rowland’s former professors in the College of Business and the Community Development Graduate Program. “He has been committed to the City of Prairie View [by] serving on the City Council, the Prairie View Chamber of Commerce, and, now, as the mayor of Prairie View. Both as a student at PVAMU and as a Prairie View city official, Brian has been involved in the city’s growth and development for the last ten years. As the mayor of Prairie View, he will bring great leadership wealth and direction for the city.”

Also continuing on their journeys to improve the City of Prairie View are Williams and Wallace. Williams, who was re-elected to the City Council, earned a bachelor’s in social work and a master’s in counseling from PVAMU in 1998 and 1999. Wallace graduated with a bachelors’ degree in mathematics in the spring of 2018. He also served as vice president of PVAMU’s Student Government Association. Since graduating, Wallace has also been serving as a council member for Prairie View while pursuing a master’s degree in community development in PVAMU’s School of Architecture.

“Xanté demonstrates the essence of the community development graduate program,” said Assistant Professor Tiffany D. Thomas. “We provide rigorous critical thinking and development so our students can see themselves as agents of change in their local community either as a practitioner or public servant. We are truly proud of Xanté and his re-election.”

“Prairie View A&M University has been a beacon of self-discovery for me from the moment I stepped on what I call ‘the land of opportunity’ as a freshman,” said Wallace. “Preparation for this position lies in the hallways, where strangers become friends. Preparation for this position culminates in the trials we endure as student leaders, warily placing the puzzle pieces of people together to work towards a common goal. Preparation for this position resides in the library archives, where we learn that we stand on the shoulders of giants, who, at once, had their own stairs to climb to help us see a view we could not once see at the bottom. I cannot pinpoint a moment that truly prepared me for this opportunity because the preparation was inscribed in every experience I encountered, every person that I connected with, and every morsel of knowledge I consumed within my journey on ‘The Hill.'”

Alexander, who’s also young on the political stage, just graduated from Prairie View in May with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Alexander says he is the first person in his family to earn a degree. Now, he can add being one of the youngest elected officials in the state to his résumé. His goal – reinventing the future for Prairie View and Waller County.

“The Rewriting Our Destiny campaign focus will be the next phase of our city,” he said. “Every other city in the county is growing, and year after year, Prairie View is left out of that growth. I look forward to working effectively with my colleagues on the City Council to improve our quality of life, economic development, city infrastructure, and stand against attacks on the right to vote.”

Those voting challenges include an ongoing case between Waller County officials and PVAMU students. PVAMU students allege the county offers easily accessible locations to “non-Black and non-student voters” instead of the more than 8,000 students who live in Prairie View. Alexander serves as a consultant in the suit, which first emerged in 2018.

“This lawsuit is historical and is just another example of how Prairie View students will continue to fight for adequate access to the ballot. We have been the example for college students across the country and will continue fighting social injustice in our community,” Alexander said.

It’s clear; all of these PVAMU alumni desire to influence history and make Prairie View a great place to live for generations to come. Regardless of who you are looking at on the winning ballot this year in Prairie View, it’s undeniable – Prairie View Produces Productive People.

-PVAMU-