"By ancestral interest and right, Hampden-Sydney was his College. He did not seek the position, but made himself available when he was approached about it; he was 69, and had been officially retired for fourteen years. He was willing to help, to serve, but not as a caretaker or Acting President; with the support of every constituency, the Board elected General Wilson President on 30 July 1992. From his office window you can see the Birthplace, the office of Slate Hill Plantation, where a bright young minister led some of his ancestors and their neighbors in founding a little college in the woods."