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The Kresge Foundation has created two permanent $1 million endowment funds to support Detroit Public School graduates pursuing education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The funds will be managed by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Kresge will provide an additional challenge grant of $500,000 to each of the national organization if they raise matching funds.
“We wanted to create a Detroit HBCU Fund, not a Kresge HBCU fund, to encourage other donors to come forward to recognize the importance HBCUs play in our community,” said Rip Rapson, CEO of The Kresge Foundation, who was recently honored by TMCF. “All told, we hope to provide at least $3 million in funding to support Detroiters to go to HBCUs. We hope other foundations, corporations and individuals will join us in making these donations.”
Kresge has a long history of investing in HBCUs, said Bill Moss, managing director of the foundation’s education program and a member of President Biden’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs. “HBCUs elevate students from lower-income backgrounds to higher post-graduate incomes at nearly double the rate of predominantly white institutions,” he said. “The endowments and additional challenge grants announced today will generate more funding to support Detroit students with meaningful scholarships to attend their preferred colleges and ultimately produce more Detroit success stories.”
Since its founding in 1924, Kresge has made more than 60 grants to strengthen HBCUs, exceeding $75 million.