Ray Charles Gives Wilberforce University $2 Million Gift To Fund Music Scholarships

Jet, July 10, 2000

Blues legend Ray Charles recently gave Wilberforce University a $2 million gift through his Robinson Foundation for Hearing Disorders, making it the largest single gift in the university's history.

The $2 million will be used to establish the Ray Charles Chair in Music and the Arts and the Ray Charles Scholarship Endowment in Music and the Arts with each program receiving $1 million.

We are deeply indebted to Mr. Charles for his tremendous generosity," said Wilberforce University President John L. Henderson. "Wilberforce has long recognized the creative and performing arts as an integral part of a liberal arts education."

Last December, in a special convocation on the Wilberforce, OH-based campus, the university awarded Charles an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.