WASHINGTON — Invest in, give to and support historically Black colleges and universities and their students was the charge United Negro College Fund president and CEO Dr. Michael Lomax gave Thursday morning in remarks commemorating the advocacy organization’s 75th birthday and anniversary in D.C.
In his address, Lomax reflected on the organization’s accomplishments over the last 75 years, including raising nearly $5 billion to advocate for and support more than 500,000 students and their HBCUs. But even more must be done in the next 25 years, he said, announcing the launch of UNCF’s inaugural National Day of Giving.
This year’s National Day of Giving aims to provide, at minimum, 75 HBCU students with $5,000 scholarships to pursue their academic and professional goals. The initiative follows UNCF’s fundraising gala that raised $3.4 million last month.
“Today’s call to action is to the nation at large as UNCF redoubles our commitment to support historically Black colleges and universities and to provide education for all who wish to get it,” Lomax said. “We are issuing a challenge to individuals, communities, philanthropy, public and private sector leaders to increase their investments in our nation’s great resource – our young people.”
Although HBCU enrollment is growing, UNCF leaders pointed out that the day of giving and other philanthropic efforts are significant because it is largely financial barriers that prevent many students from attending or returning to the HBCU that best fits their needs. Noting that HBCUs historically have done “more with less,” Lomax added that it is past time for HBCUs to receive the full support they need to better serve the hundreds of thousands of students enrolled at the institutions.
“Just think how much more they could do with more,” Lomax said. “And that’s our goal – not to have them do more with less, but to have the kinds of investments that these institutions, over the last 150 years, have demonstrated they have earned the right to get.”
Nzinga Jordan, a senior at Virginia Union University and UNCF scholarship recipient, said UNCF has been a “big part” of her family. On her journey to college, she did not know much about scholarships, she said.
