For the ninth straight year, Delaware State University hosted the 2019 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Philanthropy Symposium from July 22-25 at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino.
Attended by more than 100 fundraising and institutional advancement professionals from many of the 101 HBCUs in the U.S., the symposium — held this year under the theme of “Bridging Advancement and Student Success” — featured as its keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Alma S. Adams, who has represented North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District.
Adams will gave her address during a July 23 session, and was introduced by Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester.
Adams is an HBCU product who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art education from North Carolina A&T State University, before completing a Ph.D. at Ohio State University. She has also served as a 40-year professor of art at Bennett College. Throughout her career in Congress and as a 10-term North Carolina state legislator, Adams has promoted quality education for all students and has worked to spearhead legislation to boost funds for HBCUs.
The HBCU Philanthropy Symposium hosted institutional advancement professionals who discussed the challenges facing such schools and share their perspectives on innovative ways to address them.
A July 23 session featured a panel discussion with major funders, featuring representatives from the Kresge Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Strada Education Network.
The same day, a President’s Forum consisting of a panel of HBCU presidents including Dr. Wilma Mishoe of Delaware State University; Dr. Brenda A. Allen of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania; Dr. George T. French Jr. of Clark Atlanta University; and Dr. Quinton T. Ross Jr. of Alabama State University.
A July 24 session on Innovative Strategies for Corporate Funding featured information and perspectives from panel representatives from Pepco Holdings, Discover Financial Services, FMC Corporation, Wells Fargo, Toyota, JP Morgan Chase and Technology for Social Good, Diversity and Inclusion.
The four-day symposium also featured other panel and workshop sessions on fundraising topics led by participants such as Tom Joyner Jr. of the Tom Joyner Foundation, Dr. Yolanda Adams of Complete College America and David Sheppard of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.