This year’s faculty and staff endowment campaign contributions currently equal $148,000- increasing more than $16,000 from last year.
57 faculty and staff members contributed over $1,000 to this year’s 16th annual Faculty and Staff Scholarship Endowment Campaign. 15 of the donors were honored with small silver lapel pins at a reception Nov. 10.
This year marks the first time that faculty and staff made contributions to any individual Florida A&M university program, such as law, architecture, nursing and education.
Nairobi Abrams, faculty and staff endowment campaign manager said officials implemented the new procedure to help manage donations better.
The purpose of the endowment is to give faculty and staff the opportunity to support FAMU students and provide the University’s programs with more money.
“I believe [it] is important for students to know where funding for their scholarships comes from,” Abrams said.
The original endowment began with only a general endowment donating category that partially funded four types of scholarships: Adopted High School Scholarship, Community College Scholars Award Scholarship, Life Gets-Better Scholarship and the President’s Special Scholarship.
These funds are matched with state funding to help the University give more recipients scholarships because the university’s programs and scholarships aren’t fully funded by the state.
However, this year’s funding has not been matched yet because Abrams said more money is trickling in.
Next year’s scholarship recipients can expect to benefit from this year’s campaign. The different departments will determine how many scholarship recipients there will be.
Throughout the 16 years of contributions, $1.5 million has been raised, which includes the state matching funds. Over the past years, contributions and donors continued to fluctuate; however, there were 539 donors this year.
Dhyana Ziegler, assistant vice president of instructional technology and academic affairs, who received a lapel pin, has donated over $1,000 since 1998. Ziegler said she enjoys helping others achieve success.
“It’s important to invest in this scholarship because you are investing in yourself,” Ziegler said. “The younger generation will become the new crop of African-Americans who will have to give me a job.”
Although this year’s goal was $175,000, the faculty and staff donors say they are happy to have collected the amount they did. Of the 16 departments expected to participate, only three didn’t meet their goals: engineering, graduate studies and architecture.
Another faculty donor since 1992, Angela Massey, an associate professor of pharmacy, said she likes to support students who attend school and work full-time.
“It’s an opportunity for FAMU faculty to show students their support,” Massey said.
The reception was held at the Foster Tanner Fine Arts Gallery. Volunteers, team leaders and area representatives were presented with portfolios at this year’s campaign reception also.
Ronald Joe, interim vice-president of development, congratulated and thanked everyone for their donations and support during the reception. He said he was excited about the availability to designate contributions to the different departments.
“I am happy that the campaign did raise $148, 000,” Joe said. “Any little bit of money counts.”
Contact Jequisha Williams at cbkw22@yahoo.com