(ThySistas.com) College was an issue on both sides of my family. Either you went to college, started a job, or went to the military. In most African American homes, these are the options given to our children upon graduation. There are parents who would rather their child start their own business, so they are never in the never-ending work grind. However, in black households, certain colleges hold a place in our hearts and those are historically black colleges and universities. These institutions nursed some of the best and brightest minds our ethnicity had. On both sides of my family, Grambling State University is the flagship.
I attended as did my mother and her mother before her and her mother before her. For my father’s side of the family, everyone except my father attended GSU. My father chose the United States Marine Corps to be his college. There is tremendous pride in attending an HBCU because of the legacy and the bold trailblazers that walked their campuses. That’s why it warms my heart that the United States, its multi-million dollar businesses, and even private citizens have begun giving charitable donations to further the mission of this cadre of schools.
Mackenzie Scott (née Tuttle, formerly Bezos), the American novelist and philanthropist, tried to quietly make donations to certain HBCUs. Here a list, just to give you the breadth of her donations alone in 2020:
Prairie View A&M University – $50 million with $10 million toward an emergency fund for juniors and seniors with unpaid tuition and fee balances due to financial challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The remaining funds were to grow the university’s endowment from $95 to almost $130 million.
North Carolina A&T State University -$45 million
Morgan State University -$40 million
Norfolk State University – $40 million
Virginia State University- $30 million
Alcorn State University – $25 million
Bowie State University – $25 million
Claflin University – $20 million
Clark Atlanta University – $15 million
Elizabeth City State University – $15 million
Dillard University – $5 million
These gifts are more than most of the school’s individual endowments and are greatly needed. HBCUs serve many underprivileged students who otherwise would have no option or access to college. Historically black colleges and universities are one of the main producers of black female graduates who go on to become CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (see Rosalind Brewer of Wal-Mart) and quiet background titans in the banking field (see Dr. Deborah A. Cole of Citizen’s Bank).
Those who attended these universities praised the donations as many of our institutions are cash strapped and falling into disrepair. On the flip side of this, HBCUs and their progenies hope that this isn’t a one-time deal for other businesses and individuals that have chosen to invest in schools that were started by and for African-Americans. The clamor to support these schools seems to only be heightened by the Black Lives Matter Movement and social unrest by African-Americans asserting their personhood and right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness just as any other natural-born American citizen is.
It is evident that the importance, power, and legacy of these institutions cannot be ignored as even the Vice President of the United States of America Kamala Harris attended Howard University for her education. With all these opportunities knocking on our door, those who are alumni must begin to take giving back to our institutions more seriously. I will be the first to admit that I have only given a microscopic amount to my alma mater. Yet, if all HBCU graduates banded together for our “dear mothers” we could be the change we want to see. These vibrant villages cannot be relegated to wait when the general masses are finally interested in giving us a hand in our purpose.
Staff Writer; Jessieca Carr
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