Wilberforce University, founded at Tawawa Springs in 1856 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, is the first private historically black college or university in America. Its inspirations included an unwavering faith in God, recognition of the contribution of British abolitionist and Member of Parliament William Wilberforce, the leadership of AME Bishop Daniel Payne, and belief in the potential of all women and men to learn and prosper. The university embraces love of learning and education as a tool of personal and community empowerment, and seeks to cultivate and meet the historic hunger for freedom and liberty of all people. Today it is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, educates diverse students from across the nation and around the world, and continues to serve as a beacon for learning and research. Among distinguished Wilberforceans are Leontyne Price, William Grant Still, Bishop Robert Webster, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, President H. Kamuzu Banda of Malawi in Central Africa, Dr. William Julius Wilson, Dr. Jayme Coleman Williams, Dr. Yvonne Walker Taylor, Bishop Daniel Payne, U.S. Representative Floyd Flake, and Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.