M. Antonio Silas
Business & Technology Editor
Historically black colleges and universities have seen lower rates of alumni donating funds to their Alma mater. While predominately white universities may see a higher rate of retention in terms of gifts and donations, schools like TSU may rarely see their full potential of alumni donating back to the university.
Some students do not mind contributing back to their university.
"Depending on how much money I will be making, I wouldn't have any problem donating back to the school," said Vernon Barker, a junior supply chain management major from Wisconsin.
Shereitte Stokes, Vice President of University Relations and Development, deals directly with Alumni Relations. As a previous employee of two predominately white institutions, Stokes was able to differentiate the amounts given among the institutions.
"Alumni donations are not just a problem at (TSU), it's a problem with HBCUs in general," Stokes explained. "At the previous universities I worked at, about 40 percent of alumni donated back to their respective schools. Here at (TSU) about 1.5 percent of alumni donate money back."
While this may seem like a startling statistic, Stokes explained that the 1.5 percent does not account for all that the university receives.
"The funds we count on our records come through our foundation," Stokes explained. "As a result, all of the money that is donated isn't counted. We can't really see all that the alumni are donating. The actual percentage of alumni that donate to the university is probably closer to 5 percent."
President Melvin N Johnson's and Stokes' office, which include the foundation that directly counts funds received by alumni, are the only two offices that can receive gifts and be included in the accountable funds.
Stokes also noted that it is important for students to remember that TSU is a state assisted school, not a state support school, which means that TSU is not fully supported by the state and must seek funds from numerous sources, including alumni donations.
When asked why students do not donate back to the school, Stokes attributed it to several factors.
"I believe it has a lot to do with tradition," Stokes said.
"Students at HBCUs historically give more money to the church. It also has to do with exercising good stewardship."
As per the university's definition of stewardship, stewardship is "the act of managing and supervising another's property while caring for the owner of that property." The university actively practices stewardship by maintaining regular correspondence with alumni of the university and thanking them for their contributions.
"I've always made a large effort to work with stewardship," Stokes said. "Every individual that sends us a gift receives a 'thank you' within the next three days. We also recognize our donors at our annual inaugural luncheon."
Stokes also noted the typical student's plight with debt and loans.
"It typically takes alumni 10 years to give back to the school," Stokes said. "Loans interfere, and those loans tend to become even larger with grad school."
Anywhere from 8-12 percent of the money received from the university is given by corporations. Corporations usually ask the institutions they donate to about their alumni donations. If they are at a lower rate, corporations may be hesitant to donate to the university.
Logically, if the university's own students don't donate back, the company would see just cause not to support the university either.
Stokes encourages students to actively give back to the university, even while they are in undergrad.
"Start donating now," Stokes insisted. "Things will move much faster and problems will be solved. Commit to giving the university $25 a year, and upon graduation increase that amount."
When asked about the importance of donating back to TSU, DeAndre Payne, a junior criminal justice major from Memphis, said that he would willingly give back to his institution.
"It's my university. I would start donating within three years," Payne said. "I owe my education to (TSU)."•
Posted By: Jehan Bunch
Friday, December 7th 2007 at 12:47PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
