United Negro College Fund

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The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is a Fairfax, Virginia-based American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for black students and general scholarship funds for thirty-nine historically black colleges and universities. The UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson (then president of what is now Tuskegee University), Mary McLeod Bethune, and others.

In 2005, the UNCF supported approximately 65,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities with approximately $113 million in grants and scholarships. About 60% of these students are the first in their families to attend college, and 62% have annual family incomes of less than $25,000. UNCF also administers over 450 named scholarships.

The UNCF's current president and chief executive officer is Michael Lomax. Past presidents have of the UNCF included William H. Gray, Vernon Jordan and John Lewis.

1 Scholarships
2 Fundraising and Lou Rawls' Parade of Stars
3 Motto
4 UNCF Member Institutions
5 External links

Though set up to address funding inequities in educational resources for African Americans (the more recent term for the people known then generally as Negroes), UNCF administered scholarships are open to all ethnicities. It provides scholarships to students attending its member colleges as well as going elsewhere.UNCF FAQ

Graduates of UNCF institutions have included many blacks in the fields of business, politics, health care and the arts. Some prominent UNCF alumni include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and leader in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s; Alexis Herman, former U.S. Secretary of Labor; noted movie director Spike Lee; actor Samuel L. Jackson; General Chappie James, the U.S. Air Force’s first black four-star general; and Dr. David Satcher, a former U.S. Surgeon General and director of the Centers for Disease Control.[1]

The UNCF has received charitable donations for its scholarship programs. One of the more high profile donations made was by former U.S. President John F. Kennedy who donated the profits from his book Profiles in Courage to the Fund.

Beginning in 1980, singer Lou Rawls began the "Lou Rawls Parade of Stars" telethon to benefit the UNCF. The annual event, now known as "An Evening of Stars", consists of stories of successful African-American students who have graduated or benefitted from one of the many historically black colleges and universities and who received support from the UNCF. The telethon featured comedy and musical performances from various artists in support of the UNCF's and Rawls' efforts. The event has raised over $200 million in 27 shows for the fund through 2006.[2]

In January 2004, Rawls was honored by the United Negro College Fund for his more than 25 years of charity work with the organization. Instead of Rawls' hosting and performing, he was given the seat of honor and celebrated by his performing colleagues, including Stevie Wonder, The O'Jays, Gerald Levert, Ashanti, and several others. Prior to his death in January 2006, Rawls' last performance was a taping for the 2006 telethon that honored Wonder, months before entering the hospital after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year.[3]

In addition to the telethon there are a number of other fundraising activities, including the "Walk For Education" held annually in Los Angeles, California, which includes a five kilometer walk/run. In Houston, Texas, the Cypresswood Golf Club hosts an annual golf tournament in April.[4]

Since 1972, the UNCF motto has been "A mind is a terrible thing to waste", and has become one of the most widely recognized slogans in advertising history [5]. The motto has been used in award-winning UNCF ad campaigns and was created by Forest Long of the advertising agency Young & Rubicam.

The line was famously flubbed by then-U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, who attempted to paraphrase it at a UNCF fundraiser as "what a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."[6]

Industrial metal band Ministry spoofed the slogan with the title of their 1989 album, The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste.

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Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, FL

Fisk University, Nashville, TN

Florida Memorial University, Miami, FL

Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, TX