“I said, ‘Are you insane?’” Artis recalls. “I can give one HBCU that you can give a million dollars.”
That one HBCU was Benedict College, a small, private nonprofit institution in Columbia, South Carolina, where Artis has served as president and CEO since 2017.
For Artis, the shrewd response was based on some simple math – that one million dollars divided four or five ways won’t go as far as a single $1 million contribution. The anecdote also reveals much about Artis’ leadership style, her vision, her advocacy, and how she makes sure Benedict is fulfilling workforce needs.
“I said, ‘Look, we want to make an impact. We don’t want to just make [it] a one-time gift,” Artis says. “We want to make [it] an investment.”
ServiceNow made what Benedict College materials describe as a $1 million “investment and partnership commitment” in 2021. The partnership involves a ServiceNow Tech Center on campus, scholarships for Benedict students, internship opportunities, and a ServiceNow Tech Scholars Program that helps prepare students for success in tech careers.
As the leader of a Baptist college, Artis is not shy about giving credit for Benedict’s success where she believes it is due.
