Five Young Men Develop Program to Help Black Colleges

When five young African-American men returned to their old school, Knoxville College, for homecoming a few years ago, they were deeply disturbed. The college which they remembered as an exciting and friendly place was barely surviving. Fewer than 100 students attended the college and the buildings and grounds were in a sad state of disrepair.

 

Leonard Adams is immersed in thoughts of generating funds to spruce up Knoxville College and other historically African-American colleges and universities.

Leonard Adams, Clarence Jones III, Efferem O. Williams, Orlando McCleod and Anthony Benson decided then and there that they needed to do something to help the struggling historically African-American college.

The five Knoxville College alums are launching a fund-raising drive in nine cities during February, African-American History Month. The cities involved are Memphis, Atlanta, Detroit, Knoxville, Houston, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Raleigh, and Durham. All African American colleges, not just Knoxville College, can receive support from this fund drive.

The effort – dubbed the “Over 100 Years – Paper College Project” – will ask customers of African-American businesses to give one dollar and sign their name on a paper cut out of a college building. The paper cutouts will be hung on the walls of the business to call attention to the need to support African-American colleges. They hope to expand this effort to more than 30 cities in 2009.

The experience of Knoxville College is similar to that of many historically African-American colleges. The United Presbyterian Church founded Knoxville College and opened its doors in 1875. The church saw the college as an important training ground for African-Americans who would become teachers and ministers for the African-American population of the South. In 1957 Knoxville College was one of the first historically African American institutions to achieve full accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

For more than a hundred years, Knoxville College prospered and prepared many young African-Americans for lives of service to their communities. But like many other such colleges, Knoxville College began to suffer financially as more and more mainly white colleges and universities began to recruit and admit African American students. In 1997, Knoxville College lost its SACS accreditation. Enrollment dropped significantly because students were no longer able to get federal loans and grants to finance their education.

For the five young Knoxville College graduates, seeing only a handful of students and seeing the historic buildings of their beloved school beginning to crumble was just too much. At first they began holding “parties with a purpose” called the Blackout. These were parties where they charged admission and gave the earnings of these events to Knoxville College. While their parties attracted good crowds, they produced small sums of money when the college needed large sums.

As the Knoxville College alums began to talk to friends who were graduates of other historically African-American colleges they realized that many other colleges needed help. Leonard Adams the group’s president, said, “In our research we found several groups who provided scholarships for students, but there was little money available to improve the campus buildings and grounds.”

Adams’ group will give out its funds through a “Campus Impact Grant Program” where campus organizations will be able to apply for funds for specific projects beginning in August of 2008. All historically African-American college, public and private will be eligible to apply for grants from this project.

The February, “Over 100 Years-Paper College Project” is similar to the fund-raising efforts of many children’s charities which large chain stores often sponsor. By giving one dollar the founders of the African-American college effort hope to not only raise money but also make people aware of the needs of African-American colleges.

Clarence Jones III, the group’s vice president, says, “too many Black colleges have neglected their buildings because of a lack of funds.”

“There are students who might otherwise be interested in attending a Black college but are turned off because the campus is in need of repair.”

The Knoxville College alums have created a charitable foundation called, The Black Foundation. Besides their February fund-raiser, they have plans to hold a “Football Classic” where two African-American colleges will compete in Knoxville in the years to come. The group hopes other alumni of historically African-American colleges will join them in this effort.

The group’s Web site, which also lists the supporters of this year’s effort, can be found at www.theblackfoundation.org.

Copyright Tri-State Defender 2008