The nation's first private historically Black university is notching up another first. Wilberforce University is one of 11 Historically Black Colleges and Universities named to the Brilliance Initiative's first cohort.
The Brilliance Initiative is a program announced earlier this year by the Reinvestment Fund, a nationally focused Community Development Financial Institution. It aims to support the financial health of HBCUs and bolster their futures.
The Brilliance Initiative will provide $40,000 in grants and up to $1,000,000 in financing to each cohort institution. The schools will then use the funds to pay for development projects like campus infrastructure, planning, and sustainability and environmental initiatives.
"We are growing rapidly," President Vann R. Newkirk, Ph.D. tells WVXU. "We've got new majors — we've got five engineering programs — and we're adding four dorms, which will increase our capacity on this campus to almost 500 beds. The rest of our students live on nearby campuses, and we're trying to continue to grow. We have a plan to do 10, eventually, 10 new, small, mini dorms."
Newkirk says the money will help building the residence halls as well as improving the technology in those dorms. Construction on the dorms began in late 2023 but has been slowed by the costs of materials, though Newkirk says they're back on track now.
Housing is a key priority as enrollment has been increasing, Newkirk says, who adds Wilberforce has gone from 450 students to nearly 900 in two years.
In fact, Wilberforce currently is leasing space on three other college campuses to house students. Some professors are even traveling to the other campuses to hold classes in order to make it easier for students.
Newkirk says another important goal is student retention, part of which goes hand-in-hand with providing an on-campus living experience.
"We want our students to persist and graduate from the university. When I got here, we had about a 40% retention rate. It's now in the mid-70s," he says. "What's good about that is that the more students we retain, the more students that become viable taxpayers right here in the state of Ohio."
He adds, "We believe that having this partnership is going to allow us to grow many of the things that we need to grow to retain students and to make Ohio a stronger state. By bringing these funds in, we can do that with our students. Making a stronger Ohio will make a stronger nation, so that's what's important for us."
The other cohort members are:
- Bethune-Cookman University – Daytona Beach, Florida
- Coahoma Community College – Clarksdale, Mississippi
- Fort Valley State University – Fort Valley, Georgia
- Interdenominational Theological Center – Atlanta, Georgia
- Paine College – Augusta, Georgia
- Shorter College – North Little Rock, Arkansas
- Stillman College – Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Tougaloo College – Tougaloo, Mississippi
- Virginia Union University – Richmond, Virginia
- Voorhees University – Denmark, South Carolina
According to a release, Ibram X. Kendi, Ph.D., a professor of history and founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Howard University, and Leah Rothstein, author and housing policy leader, will serve as key advisors for the program.
"HBCUs have long been incubators of Black brilliance, scholarship, leadership, and multiracial democracy. Investing in these institutions is not just an investment in higher education but it is an investment in an equitable, knowledgeable, and just future," Kendi says.
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