AS THE LEADERSHIP OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES POSITION THEIR institutions to meet the growing challenges of the 21st century, I am excited by the potential of a partnership that has the possibilities of transformational empowerment for these institutions.

The partnership I am suggesting is one in which HBCUs partner with Black investment banks and asset management firms to conduct these schools’ capital campaigns.

I considered this concept when I read about Black CEOs and owners of investment banks and asset management firms; these outstanding Black Wall Street power brokers are responsible for billions of dollars at their respective firms.

HBCUs have played and will continue to play a significant role in the production of trained human capital to assist with this nation’s global market competitiveness. However, HBCUs have often been underfunded. The continued lack of private philanthropy to this sector is significant given that institutional endowment growth primarily occurs through successful capital campaigns. Therefore, the challenge for HBCUs is to upgrade their institutional capital infrastructure to do the capacity-building needed to train 21st-century students for leadership roles.

Like other institutions, HBCUs have turned to comprehensive capital campaigns to generate millions of private dollars to fund what simply cannot be achieved via annual operating budgets. Capital campaigns as major fund-raising platforms have become so popular with colleges and universities that it is commonly understood that a college or university is either coming out of or going into a capital campaign. However, the stated goals of the typical HBCU capital campaign are, on average, less ambitious than those of majority institutions. Nonetheless, the resources these campaigns seek to raise are essential as they contribute to student scholarships, fellowships, endowed chairs/professorships, brick-and-mortar projects and endowments.