By Rashad Grove
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) announced that HBCUs will receive a $100 Million gift from Lilly Endowment Inc. In 80 years of existence, the gift is the largest donation to the 37 HBCUs affiliated with the UNCF, reports The Hill.
The UNCF is currently raising funds for a $1 billion capital campaign that will enhance student scholarships, HBCU endowments, technology and research for HBCUs, cash reserves, and endowed funds for UNCF and to support its annual campaign.”
Marc Barnes, senior vice president of capital campaign at UNCF, shared the importance of receiving the generous gift from the Lily Endowment and how it would impact the future of HBCUs.
Since 1944, the United Negro College Fund has supported 37 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the country, which educate over 60,000 students each year. These HBCUs depend on UNCF for financial support for things like academic programs and student scholarships. Lilly Endowment Inc.’s gift is unlike any other because it is unconditional, leaving the power with the UNCF to decide how to use the funds.
According to a study conducted by The Century Foundation, private non-HBCU endowments are about seven times the size of private HBCU endowments, on a per-student basis. Additionally, public non-HBCU institutions are three times larger than their public HBCU counterparts.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Michael Lomax, CEO and president of the UNCF said that gifts from the Lilly Endowment can close the wealth gap and help to sustain HBCUs for years to come.
“Black families have fewer assets than non-Black families,” Lomax said. “They live paycheck to paycheck. Many of our smaller HBCUs live on the tuition revenue semester by semester. They need a cushion. This is that cushion.”
Lomax also noted that other philanthropic entities should follow the example of Lilly who trusted UNCF and invested in its vision by making an unrestricted gift.
“They’re trusting the judgment of the United Negro College Fund to make a decision about where best to deploy this very significant and sizable gift,” Lomax added. “We don’t get a lot of gifts like that.”
Although HBCUs represent only three percent of the colleges and universities in the country, they produce nearly 20 percent of all Black college graduates. But their endowments, financial assets used for things like capital improvements, financial aid for students, and employee salaries are traditionally much lower than predominately white institutions (PWIs). Public PWI endowments are, on average, three times larger than HBCUs. And when it comes to private PWIs, their endowments average seven times larger than private HBCUs. For some member institutions, the funds they will receive from their share of the $100 million Lilly gift will be more than twice the size of their individual endowments.