Close
Current temperature in Boston - 62 °
BECOME A MEMBER
Get access to a personalized news feed, our newsletter and exclusive discounts on everything from shows to local restaurants, All for free.
Already a member? Sign in.
The Bay State Banner
BACK TO TOP
The Bay State Banner
POST AN AD SIGN IN

Trending Articles

Sarah-Ann Shaw, Boston's reporting legend, 90

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey honors first African American Master Distiller’s legacy

NAACP urges Black student-athletes to consider alternatives to Florida public schools

READ PRINT EDITION

Black college alumni seek support for students

Yawu Miller
Yawu Miller is the former senior editor of the Bay State Banner. He has written for the Banner since 1988.... VIEW BIO
Black college alumni seek support for students
Delaware State University President Harry Williams, alumna Carolyn Golden Hebsgaard and Fish & Richardson Managing Principal Timothy French enjoy a moment during a Boston fundraiser for the historically black university.

Yawu Miller

Carolyn Golden Hebsgaard says the four years she spent at Delaware State University prepared her for a lifetime of civic engagement.

“I took away a sense of being a good citizen,” she says.

Of the 120 people in the class of 1965, Hebsgarrd says 98 percent graduated, which is not bad for an historically black school that has traditionally served a disadvantaged student body, many of whom are the first generation to attend a college.

And, like Hebsgaard, an attorney and executive director at the Boston Lawyer’s Group, many have gone on to successful careers.

“We’ve come out and we’ve gotten some amazing jobs,” she said. “We are all living well. Giving to our alma matter should be a priority.”

Sunday, Hebsgaard and many of her classmates are going to give back in a demonstrative way. As the class of 2015 prepares to walk for graduation, members of the class of 1965 will present the largest single donation in the school’s history — a check for $100,000.

The donation comes in response to a call from Delaware State University President Harry Williams, who has embarked on an ambitious goal to raise $20 million through an effort titled Greater than ONE: Campaign for Students. All of the funds raised through the campaign will fund scholarships, according to Williams.

“The majority of our students are first-generation college students who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds,” Williams said, during a fundraiser Hebsgaard pulled together at the offices of Fish and Richardson, a law firm located in the Seaport District. “Finance is a challenge. We don’t want the burden to be on our students.”

So far, the campaign has raised $13 million.

“We feel very good about achieving that goal,” Williams said.

Williams, who assumed the presidency at Delaware State University in 2010, said the family atmosphere on campus drew him to the school.

“It’s a place where people take care of each other,” he said. “You feel that. It feels like a private school. You can walk from one end of the campus to the other in ten minutes. Everybody there knows each other.”

Founded in 1891 as the Delaware State College for Colored Students, Delaware State University currently has 3,400 students and is located in Dover, Delaware.

U.S. News and World Report has consistently ranked the school among the top historically black colleges and universities.

For Hebsgaard, giving back to Delaware State University was just the right thing to do.

“I believe in the power of giving,” she said. “And this is an institution that has done so much for me. Those were the best four years of my life.”