Bennett College, the private, all-women’s historically Black college (HBCU) in Greensboro, North Carolina, received two major financial gifts on Thursday, bringing its fundraising total to $2.7 million, Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, the college president, announced at a news conference.
The $500,000 gifts from both The Papa John’s Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation are the largest contributions in the 146-year-old institution’s $5-million fundraising campaign to reinstate the college’s accreditation by Feb. 1. With the fundraising deadline a week away, Bennett leaders believe the latest gifts will inspire others to continue donating and investing in the college’s future.
“We are so thankful and grateful for the support given by organizations, faith leaders, corporations, foundations, individual donors and especially the individual donors who give anywhere from $1 to $50,000,” Dawkins told Diverse. “We are amazed at the amount of support that we are receiving.”
Last month, Bennett appealed a Dec. 11 decision by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to remove the all-women’s HBCU from membership due to its financial standing. Leaders issued a call for support in advance of a Feb. 18 formal accreditation hearing, sparking the #StandWithBennett campaign.
Recent contributions to the college have come in from Black fraternities and sororities, such as Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., which donated $31,000 last week, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., which raised $30,000 for Bennett. In addition, Newmark Knight Frank, a commercial real estate advisory firm, recently donated a check for $10,000 on Thursday.
“Every day, donations are coming in,” Dawkins said, adding that receiving the gifts from the Papa John’s and Z. Smith Reynolds Foundations back to back “was overwhelming.”
During the news conference, Bennett board chair Dr. Gladys A. Robinson thanked Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation executive director Maurice “Mo” Green for the foundation and trustee’s generous gift of half a million dollars and acknowledged the foundation’s investment in education.
