The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) just announced tens of millions of dollars in donations from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The gift, the largest the organization has received in its 80-year history, will go towards a collective endowment to support the UNCFs member institutions.
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.
“The UNCF programs we have helped fund in the past have been successful, and we are confident that the efforts to be supported by this bold campaign will have a great impact on UNCF’s member institutions and their students’ lives,” chairman and CEO of the Lilly Endowment, N. Clay Robbins said in a statement.
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.
According to Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, the gift from Lilly will make a major difference in helping HBCUs continue to provide quality education and support Black students and families. “Black families have fewer assets than non-Black families,” he 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.”