Oprah, P&G boost morehouse, Tuskegee fund-raising campaigns - Noteworthy News - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 13, 2003

ATLANTA

Morehouse College and Tuskegee University both edged closer to their fund-raising goals last month with single donations exceeding the $1 million mark.

Oprah Winfrey will donate $5 million to Morehouse College, according to school officials.

The talk show host's pledge came as Morehouse launched its largest-ever fund-raising campaign, hoping to receive at least $105 million by 2006.

Winfrey, who had previously donated $1 million to the historically Black college, is the school's top donor.

Morehouse president Dr. Walter Massey said the school will use the money to offer more scholarships, upgrade the campus and make the college more competitive.

"Our mantra has been that we want to be considered among the finest liberal arts colleges in the country while still remaining the college of choice for African American men," Massey says.

Proctor & Gamble is making a $2 million donation to Tuskegee University, the company's largest donation to a historically Black college.

The gift is earmarked for construction of an $11 million, 45,000-square-foot building that will house the College of Business and Information Science.

It is being made to the Alabama university's $60 million Legacy Campaign.

"We fully expect that a commitment of this magnitude will have a strong catalytic impact as we reach out to the broader corporate and philanthropic community," says Tuskegee president Dr. Benjamin F. Payton.