Abbreviation | UNCF |
---|---|
Founded | April 25, 1944 |
Founder | Frederick D. Patterson Mary McLeod Bethune |
Type | Educational |
13-1624241[1] | |
Legal status | 501(c)(3)[1] |
Purpose | To build a pathway of educational support from K–12 through college and career. |
Headquarters | 1805 7th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20001 |
Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] : 38°54′51″N 77°01′17″W / 38.9143°N 77.0214°W |
Area served | United States |
President, Chief Executive Officer | Dr. Michael L. Lomax[2] |
Revenue (2018) | $89,277,523[3] |
Expenses (2018) | $171,722,769[3] |
Endowment | $103,734,086 (2018)[3] |
Employees (2017) | 281[3] |
Volunteers (2017) | 2,584[3] |
Website | www |
The United Negro College Fund, also known as UNCF, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for underrepresented students and general operating support for 37 private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In 1943, Dr. Frederick D. Patterson (then president of what is now Tuskegee University) wrote to The Pittsburgh Courier proposing the creation of an alliance of Black colleges that would raise money for their mutual benefit. UNCF was founded on April 25, 1944, under the leadership of Dr. Patterson, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and others on the belief that there is strength in numbers—that HBCUs ought to make a joint effort to appeal for funds—as well as the belief that education was crucial to Black economic and social mobility. At the start, UNCF served 27 member colleges and universities, totaling 12,000 students. Its first campaign received the support of many prominent Americans including President Franklin D. Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller, II. During its first annual campaign, the collective effort raised $765,000, equivalent to $10 million today, which is three times what its member institutions had raised separately the previous year.
At a time when a college education is more important—and more expensive—than ever, each year, UNCF enables nearly 50,000 students to attend its 37 member historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions and help over 8,000 students to graduate annually by:
· Providing operating funds that make it possible for UNCF’s member HBCUs to offer their students quality academic programs in a small-college environment and still keep their average tuition approximately 27% lower than comparable institutions.
· Awarding nearly 11,000 scholarships and internships each year so students from low- and moderate-income families can afford college tuition, books and room and board.
· Serving as a national advocate for the importance of HBCUs, minority education and college readiness by representing HBCUs’ and students’ public policy interests in Washington, DC, and in cities around the country and in the media.
UNCF aims to increase the total annual number of African American college graduates by focusing on activities that ensure more students are college-ready, enroll in college and persist to graduation. This is done through a three-pillar strategy—positioning member institutions as a viable college option for students and investing in institutional capacity to improve student outcomes; creating transformational support programs to ensure students are enrolling and persisting through college completion; building awareness of educational attainment and cultivating college-going behaviors within the African American community. UNCF envisions a nation where all Americans have equal access to a college education that prepares them for rich intellectual lives, competitive and fulfilling careers, engaged citizenship and service to our nation. Its mission in the 21st century is to “build a robust and nationally recognized pipeline of underrepresented students who, because of UNCF support, become highly qualified college graduates and to ensure that our network of member institutions is a respected model of best practice in moving students to and through college.”
UNCF is headquartered at 1805 7th Street, NW in Washington, D.C.[4]
UNCF's ninth president and chief executive officer is Dr. Michael L. Lomax. Past presidents of the UNCF include Benjamin E. Mays, William H. Gray[5] and Vernon Jordan.[6]
In 1944 William J. Trent, a long-time activist for education for black people, joined with Tuskegee Institute President Frederick D. Patterson and Mary McLeod Bethune to found the UNCF, a nonprofit that united college presidents to raise money collectively through an "appeal to the national conscience". As the first executive director from the organization's start in 1944 until 1964, Trent raised $78 million for historically Black colleges so they could become "strong citadels of learning, carriers of the American dream, seedbeds of social evolution and revolution".[7] In 2008, reflecting shifting attitudes toward the word Negro in its name, the UNCF shifted from using its full name to using only its initials, releasing a new logo with the initials alone and featuring their slogan more prominently.[8][9]
Thirty-seven historically Black colleges and universities currently belong to the UNCF network of member institutions. UNCF provides these colleges and universities with a range of support that enables them to keep their academic programs strong and their tuitions affordable.
As a result of this and other support, member institutions educate more than 50,000 students each year and have produced over 500,000 graduates. The economic impact of member institutions extends beyond just the students they educate. In 2017, UNCF commissioned a landmark study to measure this impact; HBCUs Make America Strong: The Positive Economic Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities which details the individual impacts each institution has on its communities.
John D. Rockefeller, II, was essential to UNCF’s founding in 1944. In fact, UNCF was the first charity to which he gave his public support. He donated $25,000, equivalent to $300,000 today, and wrote letters to other businesspeople and philanthropists to garner support for UNCF. Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman College, won the support of President Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt. During his term, President Truman also supported the fledgling organization.
In 1957, Sen. John F. Kennedy donated the proceeds from his Pulitzer Prize to UNCF. Nancy Wilson and Clifton Davis made history in 1974 when they hosted the first UNCF telethon, “Something Special,” and raised $300,000. In 1989, after years of supporting HBCUs, President George H.W. Bush created the Presidential Advisory Board on HBCUs to advise the president and the U.S. Secretary of Education on best strategies to strengthen HBCUs. In 1991, Bush and 50 governors urged Congress to fund matching grants for students at HBCUs. Bush donated a portion of the proceeds of his autobiography, Looking Forward, to UNCF. And in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, both George H.W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton partnered with UNCF to raise $20 million to support HBCUs damaged by the storm.
In June 2020, Netflix founder Reed Hastings donated $120 million to the UNCF to be used as scholarship funds for students enrolled at UNCF institutions. His donation was the largest in UNCF history.[10][11]
In January 2023, UNCF received its largest philanthropic corporate gift of $190 million from Fidelity Investments to launch the Fidelity Scholars Program.[12]
In January 2024, UNCF announced that Lilly Endowment Inc. had awarded a $100 million unrestricted grant to support UNCF’s capital campaign.[13] It was the largest unrestricted grant UNCF had ever received.
UNCF scholarships and programs help to put a college education within reach of students from low-and moderate-income families and increase their recipients’ chances of graduating. UNCF annually awards more than 12,000 scholarships worth about $70 million. African American UNCF scholarship recipients have a 70% six-year graduation rate, more than 1.5 times the 42% six-year graduation rate for all African American college students nationwide and higher than the 62% six-year graduation rate for all students. UNCF scholarships’ rates of success, extrapolated to the entire population of African American college students, would increase the annual number of African Americans earning college degrees by 15,876 annually, contributing significantly to the country’s college completion goals. UNCF programs include:
• Fund II/UNCF STEM Scholars Program—A $48 million initiative designed to create a national pipeline to prepare African American students for careers in technology and innovation.
• UNCF Emergency Student Aid—A just-in-time scholarship program that enables UNCF-member college students to meet unexpected financial emergencies, so they can stay in college, graduate and begin their careers.
• Fidelity Scholars Program—A $190 million partnership with Fidelity Investments assisting students in certain geographic regions that have mid-level GPAs with scholarship funds and other services attend, thrive and graduate from college.
In 1999, UNCF announced its administration of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, which is funded by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The program is aimed at increasing the number of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian Americans enrolling in and completing undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Individuals with academic promise, significant unmet financial need and demonstrated leadership are eligible for renewable awards. UNCF administers the program in partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the American Indian Graduate Center Scholars, and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund.
UNCF also manages a variety of scholarship programs, such as the UNCF/Koch Scholars Program, K-12 Education Fellowship and the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Scholarship Program.
To find and apply for a UNCF scholarship:
· Go to UNCF.org/Scholarships to explore UNCF scholarships available to those who meet the following criteria:
· Minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale
· Full-time enrollment in a college or university, presently or prospectively
· FAFSA application filed
· Financial needs verified by the financial aid director of the college or university that students wish to attend
UNCF has seen remarkable growth since its founding. In 1948, about 15,000 students had graduated from UNCF-member institutions. By 1972, that number was up to 120,000. It was in this year that UNCF coined its iconic “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”® motto, which later became one of the most famous advertising slogans in history. The motto, which has been used in numerous award-winning UNCF ad campaigns, was created by Forest Long, of the advertising agency Young & Rubicam, in partnership with the Ad Council.[14]
A lesser-known slogan UNCF also uses, in reference to its intended beneficiaries, points out that they're "not asking for a handout, just a hand."[15]In the ’70s and ’80s, UNCF made an important step by incorporating scholarships into its organizational mission. Prior to this, UNCF exclusively funded its member institutions.
In 1991, Rep. William H. Gray, III, became UNCF’s eighth president. By 1994, Gray had brought in $250 million of the nearly $1 billion UNCF had raised since its founding. Also in that year, UNCF-member college enrollment reached an all-time high of 54,000 students, a 28% increase since 1986.
The Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute was founded in 1996 as a part of UNCF’s commitment to producing research on the educational status of African Americans from pre-school through college and in 2006 UNCF formed the Institute for Capacity Building to provide direct support and technical assistance to their member institutions.
The UNCF Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI) is the nation’s foremost research organization focusing on the educational status of African Americans from pre-school through college.
Committed to understanding and expanding the pathways that lead to educational attainment, FDPRI conducts and disseminates research that informs policymakers, educators, philanthropists and the public on how to best improve educational opportunities and outcomes of African Americans and other underrepresented minorities. FDPRI’s research focuses on pathways to educational attainment, as well as the obstacles and barriers that African American and other underrepresented minorities encounter on their educational journeys. The economic impact report, social mobility report and various programmatic evaluations.
In 2006, UNCF formed the Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) to further its partnerships with HBCUs and support their ongoing transformation. Since its founding, UNCF ICB has provided a range of direct support and technical assistance to 42 Black colleges and universities by:
· Promoting the adoption of best practices emerging from the country’s network of HBCUs and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).
· Advocating for policy and fundraising priorities to help Black institutions and students thrive.
· Innovating new partnerships, processes, technologies and strategies, all focused on institutional sustainability.
· Storytelling, by marshaling research, evaluation, communications and communities of practice to offer accurate perspectives on HBCUs and Black students.
UNITE is the nation’s premier annual gathering for accelerating strategies for Black higher education and support for the institutional transformation of Black colleges and universities.
UNITE is organized each year by UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building, whose mission is to partner with HBCUs and PBIs to help them propel student success, community impact, and the advancement of educational equity and racial justice.
As the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization, UNCF has always been committed to increasing the number of African American college graduates. In the past decade, they have expanded their focus to include increasing the number of African Americans who are college ready. The organization provides research and statistics on the experiences of Black children, families and communities as they navigate K-12 education and pursue a higher education.
The growing need for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) expertise in today’s job market means that society cannot afford to overlook talented STEM graduates from HBCUs. HBCUs represent just 3 percent of all higher-education institutions in the United States, yet they produce 25 percent of African American graduates in STEM fields. This is significant because African Americans continue to make up a lower share of STEM graduates relative to their share of the adult population. According to the Pew Research Center, HBCUs are powerful engines of social mobility,[16] and a 2021 UNCF FDPRI study found that more than twice as many HBCU students come from low-income backgrounds compared to the national average of 4-year institutions (51% vs. 23%) and more than five times as many compared to Ivy Plus institutions (9%). Additionally, more than twice as many HBCU students moved into the middle class or higher compared to the national average of 4-year institutions (34% vs. 16%) and almost five times as many compared to Ivy Plus institutions (7%).
UNCF’s Government Affairs and Public Policy work is centered on investing in better futures for young people by ensuring that the needs of students of color and the colleges and universities they attend are prioritized by policymakers.
Their efforts center on two key goals:
1) Ensuring lawmakers have the information they need to make smart, well-informed decisions about UNCF students and member HBCUs, and
2) Ensuring that stakeholders have the information and tools they need to make their voices heard.
UNCF has received charitable donations for its scholarship programs. One of the more high-profile donations made was by then-senator and future U.S. President John F. Kennedy who donated the money from the Pulitzer Prize for his book Profiles in Courage to the Fund. When President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 he donated $125,000 of the prize money to UNCF. [17]Another significant donation was made in 1990 by Walter Annenberg, who donated $50 million to the fund.[18]
Beginning in 1980, singer Lou Rawls began the "Lou Rawls Parade of Stars" telethon to benefit UNCF. The annual event, now known as "An Evening of Stars®", consisted of stories of successful African American students who graduated or benefited from one of the many UNCF-member HBCUs and who received support from UNCF. The telethon featured comedy and musical performances from various artists in support of UNCF’s efforts.
In January 2004, Rawls was honored by UNCF for his more than 25 years of charity work with the organization. Instead of Rawls' hosting and performing, he was given the seat of honor and celebrated by his performing colleagues, including Stevie Wonder, The O'Jays, Gerald Levert, Ashanti, and several others. Before his death in January 2006, Rawls' last performance was a taping for the 2006 telethon that honored Wonder, months before entering the hospital after being diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year.[19] The event has raised over $200 million in 27 shows for UNCF through 2016.
In addition to the telethon, UNCF engages in several other fundraising activities, including the “Mayor’s Masked Ball,” which started in Atlanta, GA, in 1984 by baseball legend Hank Aaron and then Mayor Andrew Young. Due to the success of the event, it has now spread across 14 cities in the United States.[20] Other fundraising events include "Walk for Education" held annually in Los Angeles, California, which includes a five kilometer walk/run. In Houston, Texas , the Cypresswood Golf Club hosts an annual golf tournament in April.[21]
In June 2020, Netflix founder Reed Hastings donated $120 million to the UNCF to be used as scholarship funds for students enrolled at UNCF institutions. His donation was the largest in UNCF history.[22][23]
On Jan. 11, 2024, UNCF announced that Lilly Endowment, Inc., had awarded a $100 million unrestricted grant to support UNCF’s capital campaign. It was the largest unrestricted grant UNCF had ever received.
UNCF’s bold $1 billion capital campaign[24] includes five components: student scholarships, unrestricted funds to enhance the endowments for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), capacity-building programs for member HBCUs (such as technology, training and research), cash reserves and endowed funds for UNCF and support for UNCF’s annual campaign.
UNCF decided to deploy Lilly Endowment’s $100 million unrestricted grant to the capital campaign’s objective of building a pooled endowment fund that will increase the endowments at UNCF’s 37 member institutions by $10 million each.
Graduates of UNCF member institutions and recipients of UNCF scholarships have included many Black people in the fields of business, politics, health care and the arts. Some prominent UNCF alumni include: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader in the civil rights movement; Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund Founder; Alexis Herman, former U.S. Secretary of Labor; movie director Spike Lee; actor Samuel L. Jackson; General Chappie James, the U.S. Air Force ’s first black four-star general; and Dr. David Satcher, a former U.S. Surgeon General and director of the Centers for Disease Control.[25]
The UNCF National Alumni Council (NAC) is a UNCF-sponsored organization of concerned graduates, current students of the 37 member institutions supported by UNCF and individuals who want to advance the cause of Black higher education. The NAC was founded in 1946 by Fisk University alumnus James E. Stamps. Its mission is to support, promote, influence and strengthen HBCUs.
Dr. Michael L. Lomax took his current position as UNCF’s president and CEO in 2004. Today, UNCF is the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to students of color and the most effective minority education organization.
Name | City | State | Established | Endowment | Religious affiliation | Sporting affiliations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allen University | Columbia | South Carolina | 1870 | $0.31 million | African Methodist Episcopal Church | NAIA, AAC |
Benedict College | Columbia | South Carolina | 1870 | $21.6 million | American Baptist Churches USA | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
Bennett College | Greensboro | North Carolina | 1873 | $13.7 million | United Methodist Church | unaffiliated |
Bethune-Cookman University | Daytona Beach | Florida | 1904 | $28.9 million | United Methodist Church | NCAA Division I FCS, SWAC |
Claflin University | Orangeburg | South Carolina | 1869 | $28.6 million | United Methodist Church | NCAA Division II, CIAA |
Clark Atlanta University | Atlanta | Georgia | 1865 | $72.5 million | United Methodist Church | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
Dillard University | New Orleans | Louisiana | 1869 | $94.2 million | United Church of Christ,
United Methodist Church |
NAIA, GCAC |
Edward Waters College | Jacksonville | Florida | 1866 | $1.68 million | African Methodist Episcopal Church | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
Fisk University | Nashville | Tennessee | 1866 | $25.5 million | United Church of Christ | NAIA, GCAC |
Florida Memorial University | Miami Gardens | Florida | 1879 | $4.0 million | American Baptist Churches USA | NAIA, TSC |
Huston–Tillotson University | Austin, Texas | Texas | 1875 | $10.9 million | United Methodist Church,
United Church of Christ |
NAIA, RRAC |
Interdenominational Theological Center | Atlanta | Georgia | 1958 | $7.68 million | n/a | n/a |
Jarvis Christian College | Hawkins | Texas | 1912 | $10.7 million | Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) | NAIA, RRAC |
Johnson C. Smith University | Charlotte | North Carolina | 1867 | $69.0 million | Presbyterian Church (USA) | NCAA Division II, CIAA |
Lane College | Jackson | Tennessee | 1882 | $4.9 million | Christian Methodist Episcopal Church | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
LeMoyne-Owen College | Memphis | Tennessee | 1968 | $52 million | United Church of Christ | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
Livingstone College | Salisbury | North Carolina | 1879 | $4.97 million | African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church | NCAA Division II, CIAA |
Miles College | Birmingham | Alabama | 1898 | $23.3 million | CME Church | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
Morehouse College | Atlanta | Georgia | 1867 | $156.0 million | n/a | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
Morris College | Sumter | South Carolina | 1908 | $10.3 million | Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina | NAIA – Independent |
Oakwood University | Huntsville | Alabama | 1896 | $19.7 million | Seventh-day Adventist Church | USCAA Division I |
Paine College | Augusta | Georgia | 1882 | $12.1 million | United Methodist Church,
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church |
NCCAA |
Philander Smith College | Little Rock | Arkansas | 1877 | $9.28 million | United Methodist Church | NAIA, GCAC |
Rust College | Holly Springs | Mississippi | 1866 | $37.0 million | United Methodist Church | NAIA, GCAC |
Saint Augustine's University | Raleigh | North Carolina | 1867 | $20.6 million | Episcopal Church | NCAA Division II, CIAA |
Shaw University | Raleigh | North Carolina | 1865 | $10.9 million | National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.,
American Baptist Churches, USA |
NCAA Division II, CIAA |
Spelman College | Atlanta | Georgia | 1881 | $390.0 million | n/a | n/a |
Stillman College | Tuscaloosa | Alabama | 1876 | $19.1 million | Presbyterian Church (USA) | NAIA, SSAC |
Talladega College | Talladega | Alabama | 1867 | $2.59 million | United Church of Christ | NAIA, SSAC |
Texas College | Tyler | Texas | 1894 | $5.43 million | Christian Methodist Episcopal Church | NAIA – RRAC, SAC |
Tougaloo College | Tougaloo | Mississippi | 1869 | $17.6 million | United Church of Christ,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) |
NAIA, GCAC |
Tuskegee University | Tuskegee | Alabama | 1881 | $129.0 million | n/a | NCAA Division II, SIAC |
Virginia Union University | Richmond | Virginia | 1865 | $33.4 million | American Baptist Churches USA | NCAA Division II, CIAA |
Voorhees College | Denmark | South Carolina | 1897 | $8.06 million | Episcopal Church | NAIA – Independent |
Wilberforce University | Wilberforce | Ohio | 1856 | $6.71 million | African Methodist Episcopal Church | NAIA – Independent |
Wiley College | Marshall | Texas | 1879 | $6.17 million | United Methodist Church | NAIA, RRAC |
Xavier University of Louisiana | New Orleans | Louisiana | 1925 | $171.0 million | Catholic (Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament) | NAIA, RRAC |
Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNCF.
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