Unlikely Partners in Philanthropy Traditionally White colleges and universities increasingly look to minority communities for institutional support.
By Ronald Roach

Fairfax, Va.
George Mason University, located just outside of Washington, D.C., is known as the academic home of some of the most influential conservative scholars in the nation, most notably in economics and in law. Among its board of visitors, the school's chief governing body, a host of former Reagan and Bush presidential appointees, including Edwin Meese, an attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, occupy a bulk of the board seats. And the conservatism of its public profile is also reflected in the school's strict adherence to race-neutral admissions and university policies.
Yet what may catch observers of George Mason by surprise is that prominent local minority businesspeople belonging to a unique university advisory board recruit minority students for internships and mentorships, and raise and award funds for scholarships largely targeting students of color. 
The group is known as the George Mason University Minority Advisory Board, and it's establishing a fund-raising and organizational model seldom seen in higher education. The board idea advances the notion that local Black, Hispanic and Asian citizens represent as much a resource for school advancement for majority White higher education institutions as they do for minority-serving institutions. This idea has reached fruition in a few places where it's taking flight in schools, such as GMU.  
At the University of Louisville in Kentucky, the university recently announced a partnership with the Black community in Louisville that is seeking to establish eight endowed chairs in academic areas around which public policy solutions and health innovations could benefit the local Black community. The initial stage of the partnership is being funded at $9 million, $4 million of which is coming from private donations (see Black Issues, July 5).
The partnership is being spearheaded by Nat Green, an African American businessman and a member of the university trustee board. One chair, endowed by a $1 million gift, was established by Charlie Johnson, a Black businessman who owns one of the largest minority-owned trucking companies in the United States. 
For both majority and minority-serving institutions, nurturing deep support from their local minority communities represents a philanthropic challenge that is seen as promising but rarely attempted. Nevertheless, what a few majority White schools are finding are local minority communities in which business-
people and others are eager to assist in the advancement of institutions that demonstrate commitment to inclusion and diversity.