Fisk University Makes Progress in Fundraising

Fisk University president Hazel O’Leary announced that the historically black educational institution in Nashville, Tennessee, had raised $8.3 million in the past year, more than doubling the donations from the prior 12 months. Fisk’s fundraising success qualifies it to receive an additional $2 million in matching funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

At Fisk’s recent alumni reunion week, $800,000 was raised. This quadrupled the amount raised at a similar event last year.

For the past three years, Fisk has been trying to raise funds by selling one or two paintings from its art collection. But the courts have blocked the sale due to stipulations from the paintings’ donor that Fisk not break up the original collection.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.