2 The HBCU Advocate


Volume 2 Number 6


AKAs to present Bennett College with $100,000 Endowment during Black History Month


Winter 2019


New Lecture Series Begins with Martin Luther King Program


BY BENNETT COLLEGE GREENSBORO, N.C. – Alpha


Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the country’s oldest African-American sorority, has pledged an endowment in the amount of $100,000 to Bennett College. The gift is one of the largest the


Institution has received since


announcing on Dec.11, 2018, that it must raise a minimum of $5 million to remain accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.


Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded


on Jan. 15, 1908, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. The sorority has about 300,000 members worldwide. Notable members include Congresswoman Kamala Harris, who this week announced her candidacy


Bennett College President Dr.


Phyllis Worthy Dawkins was notified of the gift in a letter from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. International President Dr. Glenda Glover, who said the sorority wanted to support Bennett because of its national goal to support and make an impact on Historically Black


Colleges and Universities


(HBCUs). The endowment will be presented at a Black History Month gathering of HBCU presidents at Alpha Kappa Alpha’s International Headquarters in Chicago.


“As an HBCU graduate and


someone who has dedicated my life’s work to the HBCU community, I


or


prospects,” said Glover. “Our organization


has established the


AKA-HBCU Endowment Fund with the goal of investing in the future of our young people and the sustainability of our treasured Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Over the next four years, we have pledged to donate a total of $10 million towards the endowment. We are honored to provide Bennett College with their full endowment immediately to support their fundraising goals.”


Dawkins said the Bennett College


family is grateful to Alpha Kappa Alpha for the generous donation. In addition, local AKA chapters have been very supportive of Bennett.


“On behalf of the Bennett


College Board of Trustees, as well as our faculty, staff and students, I can’t thank President Glover and the members of AKA enough for their donation to Bennett College,” Dawkins said. “While we appreciate all of the support Bennett has received


personally know the impact that establishing an endowment has on a student’s enrollment


from individuals, foundations and corporations, substantial gifts like the one from AKA will go a long way toward helping us reach our fundraising goal of a minimum of $5 million by Feb. 1. We are truly appreciative to the women of AKA for their amazing support.”


College


On Dec. 11, 2018, Bennett was removed


from membership in the Southern


Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Bennett immediately appealed the decision and remains accredited during the appeal process. Bennett was removed strictly for financial reasons and was not issued sanctions against its academics, leadership, faculty or students.


for the


Democratic nomination for President of the United States, actress Phylicia Rashad and author Toni Morrison.


Founded in 1873 as a


coeducational institution, Bennett became women’s only in 1926. Spelman College in Atlanta is


the


country’s only other all-women’s HBCU.


Bennett has a history of producing graduation


outstanding women leaders, including: the first woman or African-American to head the U.S. Peace Corps; the screenplay writer for “The Loving Story,” which in 2016 was made into an Academy Award-nominated motion picture; the Deputy Minority Leader in the N.C. General Assembly; the first African-American female dentist in Indiana; the first African-Ameri- can woman to serve as an Assistant Attorney General in Massachusetts; the first woman to hold the position of Director of Drug Program and Policies within the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA); and the first active teacher and youngest person to be elected to the Berkeley (California) Unified School District School Board.


Current


recent grads are also impressive, including


Bennett senior


administration major Tyler Binion, who was selected among 63 students to serve as a Competitiveness Scholar through the White House Initiative on HBCUs, and Delrisha White ’13, who enrolled in Bennett from the foster care system in San Francisco and became SGA President. She graduated with honors and is now earning her master’s degree at Harvard.


Ways to give to Bennett College: Online: bennett.edu/donate


Text2Give: Text the word BELLES to the number 444999 Cash App: $StandwithBennett S. Mail: Send a check to Bennett


College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 900 E. Washington St., Greensboro, N.C. 27401


students business Norfolk State and FROM PAGE 1


1969. “It is an honor to serve on the Board of Visitors and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the board as we collaborate and build upon NSU’s mission of providing a quality educational experience for our students,” Wilmer said. “As we work towards this shared vision, we will also work to redefine the HBCU experience at Norfolk State.” In addition to the rector and vice rector posts, the board elected Devon Henry to serve as secretary of the NSU Board of Visitors. Henry is CEO and president of Team Henry Enterprises, LLC, a contracting firm


based in Newport News. Henry is a Norfolk State University graduate and has served on the board since 2016. He is a 2013 Distinguished Alumni recipient and is a longtime donor to the university. The terms for all three officer positions will expire on June 30, 2021. In summary, the Board of Visitors took the


following actions on


Monday. The board approved: o General Hiring Policy o BOV Policy #32 (2019) Parental Leave The next NSU Board of Visitors meeting will be held on March 1, 2019.


BY LINCOLN UNIVERSITY Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and


CEO Jefferson City, MO- A new


discussion series on the Lincoln University campus will begin with the institution’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Program. “A Dream Fulfilled: The Presidential Lecture Series” will premiere Thursday, January 31 at 6 p.m. in Robert and Charlene Mitchell Auditorium in Richardson Fine Arts Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The featured speaker is Mr. Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The event is free and open to the public.


Johnson, a graduate of Tougaloo


College (Jackson, Mississippi) and the South Texas College of Law (Houston, Texas), most previously served as


Vice Chairman of


the NAACP National Board of Directors before being named to his current position in October 2017. He also served as state President for the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP. As an activist, he has devoted his time to defending the rights and improving the lives of the residents of Mississippi. He has held appointments


on the Mississippi


Access to Justice Commission and as Chair of the (Mississippi) Governor’s Commission


for


Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal, which was formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Johnson is


Dr. Jerald Woolfolk, Lincoln University President


the founder of One Voice Inc., an organization


engagement training


that provides civic for African


Americans. In academia, he has served as an annual guest lecturer at Harvard Law School and as an adjunct professor at Tougaloo College.


Award is presented


Per tradition, the Drum Major during the


annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Program at Lincoln University. This year’s honoree is Ms. Liz Morrow, Registrar for Lincoln University. The Drum Major Award is presented to a Lincoln University faculty or staff member who has demonstrated the principles set forth by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


Presidential Lecture Series” will feature nationally speakers


monthly from


“A Dream Fulfilled: The renowned


January


through April. This unique college lecture series, hosted by Lincoln University, showcases well-known scholars, entertainers, politicians, authors, motivational speakers and activists


who deliver messages


that resonate with the millennial generation. The series is designed to equip and empower students to overcome the economic, social, cultural, and political challenges of today, as they prepare to reshape the fabric of America as the leaders of tomorrow.


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